You, and Only You (36 page)

With the weather outside worsening by the minute, Alex had
insisted that Tiffany, along with her driver and footman, stay the night at
Chesterfield.
 
Reluctant to leave Alex’s
side for even a moment, she had readily agreed.
 
And now, having just finished the evening meal, a scrumptious repast
that had been both satiating and delicious, she was feeling both relaxed and
utterly carefree as Alex led her into the massive library at the rear of the
house.
   

Having offered to teach Tiffany the game of chess, Alex led
her over to the large square table that held the ornate, antique chess set that
had once belonged to his grandfather.

“Oh, it’s beautiful,” Tiffany exclaimed as she eyed the
finely-detailed ivory pieces, each and every one an exquisite work of art.
 

“My grandfather discovered it during a trip to India, in a
tiny little shop on the outskirts of Bangalore,” Alex said as he pulled out her
chair.
 
“It was one of his most prized
possessions.”

“Did he teach you to play?” Tiffany asked as she took her
seat.

“He did.”
 
Taking his
own seat, directly across from her, Alex smiled at the memory.
 
“He caught me playing with the pieces one
day, even though I had been told repeatedly by my parents that they weren’t
toys and instructed not to touch them,” he said with a mischievous grin.
 
“And although I couldn’t have been more than
five or six-years-old at the time, instead of scolding me as I had expected, he
immediately sat me down across from him at the table and gave me my first
lesson.”

“The two of you were close?”

“Very.
 
He was a
wonderful man.
 
And while I was close to
my father as well, it was my grandfather and I who seemed to share the most
similar interests,” he revealed.

“Excuse me, my lord.”

Alex and Tiffany both turned to the open doorway.

“Come in Patrick,” Alex said, motioning the young footman
forward.

“Your port, my lord, and sherry for the lady,” he said as he
lowered the silver tray he carried onto a nearby side table.

“Thank you, Patrick,” Alex said, as the footman then handed
them each a liquid-filled crystal glass.
 
“That will be all, for now.”

“Yes, my lord,” he replied, and then promptly took his
leave.

Taking a sip of the wine, Tiffany smiled
appreciatively.
 
It was delicious.

“Alright then,” Alex said, after taking a healthy sip from
his own tumbler and then setting it aside.
 
“Shall we begin your first lesson?”
 
Teaching Tiffany to play chess wasn’t exactly how he would have
preferred to spend the evening with her, but since taking her upstairs to his
bedchamber wasn’t a viable option, it seemed the safest course.

Nearly an hour and thirty minutes later, Tiffany had a
rudimentary understanding of the game.
 
However, after consuming another two, or was it three, glasses of the
surprisingly potent sherry, it was becoming more and more difficult to focus
upon Alex’s instruction.

Noticing Tiffany’s waning concentration and the slightly
glassy look that had entered her eyes, Alex cast a glance to her empty sherry
glass and chuckled softly.
 
“Perhaps we
should call it a night,” he suggested.

Tiffany blinked and attempted to focus.
 
“So soon?”

“It is getting rather late,” he said, motioning to the
clock.

“Oh, so it is,” Tiffany replied as she noted the time.
 

“We can continue your lesson another time.”
 
Rising from his chair, Alex held out his
hand.

Slipping her fingers into his, Tiffany stood up, swaying
slightly as she gained her feet.

Reaching out to steady her, Alex clasped his hands around
her upper arms, inadvertently drawing her closer.
 

Their faces mere inches apart, Tiffany could see the sudden
spark of desire that entered Alex’s eyes, likely a mirror image of her own in
that moment.
 
And then suddenly his hands
were at her back, his mouth lowering purposefully over hers.
 
He kissed her hungrily, masterfully and oh so
thoroughly as she pressed forward, molding her body to his.
 
It was wonderful and perfect and she never
wanted it to end.

For Alex, holding Tiffany in his arms again, feeling the
welcoming, eager movements of her body and her lips against his and knowing
that she wanted him just as much as he wanted her, was all that he could have
hoped for.
 
Unfortunately however, with a
houseful of servants wandering about, he also knew that it was neither the time
nor the place to assuage their rapidly escalating hunger for one another.
 
And so, though he wanted nothing more than to
carry her upstairs to his bed, he forced himself to temper his need and slowly
gentled his assault upon the sweet perfection of her luscious mouth.

When he finally pulled back, Tiffany dropped her forehead to
his chest, struggling to catch her breath and slow her racing heart.

“I’ve been wanting to do that all night,” Alex admitted, his
voice hoarse with unremitting desire as he rested his cheek atop Tiffany’s
bowed head.

“Well then, that make’s two of us,” Tiffany murmured softly
against his shirtfront, her lips curving into an impish smile as she pulled
back then to look into his eyes.

Alex emitted a sound that was part laugh, part groan.
 
“Be careful my little wanton,” he teased, “or
I may not be able to wait until our wedding night to finish what we started.”

Despite the lingering effects of the sherry, Tiffany had
been tossing and turning for the past two hours and had finally given up on
falling asleep.
 
She knew what the
problem was of course.
 
It was Alex.
 
Knowing that he was so close, just a short
distance down the hall, was a temptation she found nearly impossible to ignore.
 
Regrettably, after their passionate kiss in
the library, he had promptly sent her off to bed, leaving them both feeling
frustrated and woefully unfulfilled. She understood his decision, for he was
behaving as a gentleman should, but that didn’t mean she had to like it.
 
She smiled then.
 
My
little wanton
, he’d called her.
 
How
right he was, she thought shamelessly.
 

Rolling onto her side, her restless gaze fell upon the
bedchamber door.
 
How easy it would be to
open that door, she thought, and walk the short distance to Alex’s own
chamber.
 
But she certainly couldn’t do
something so bold, so utterly brazen.
 
Could she?
 
No, what on earth was she thinking?
 
Of course she couldn’t do that, she thought
with a dejected sigh.

Ten minutes later, Tiffany slowly opened the door to her
bedchamber.
 
Leaning her head around the
wooden panel, she looked cautiously up and down the hallway.
 
Seeing that it was empty and confident that
the servants had long-since retired to their beds, she slipped through the
narrow opening, pulling the door shut softly behind her.
 
Padding along the carpeted floor, her bare
feet made nary a sound as she moved along the darkened hallway in the direction
of the master bedchamber.

As she approached the door at the end of the hall, she could
discern a faint glow at its base.
 
Was
Alex still awake, she wondered?
 
Tapping
softly upon the thick oaken panel, she listened for any sound coming from
within, but she couldn’t hear a thing.
 
Afraid to knock any louder lest someone else hear, she reached for the
solid brass knob, and then turned it ever so slowly, pushing the door
open.
 
Stepping inside, she shut it
softly behind her and then turned to peer about the room.
 
Her eyes immediately went toward the bed, but
after casting a quick glance at the large four poster, she could see that it
was empty.
 

Walking forward into the room until she could see around the
side of the enormous bed, she suddenly stopped as the stone fireplace came into
view.
 
Alex was standing before it, still
dressed in his shirt and breeches, though his feet were bare.
 
With one of his hands braced against the
mantel, he stood unmoving, gazing into the dancing flames.
 

She too, stood unmoving, simply watching him for one long
moment, drinking in the sight of him.

Alex wasn’t sure what drew his attention, but suddenly he
turned from the flames, his eyes scanning the darkened room.
 
He saw her then, standing in the center of the
room, wearing only a thin, sleeveless chemise of white linen and lace that fell
to the middle of her naked calves, while her glorious hair fell in a wild mass
of curls around her shoulders.
 
For a
moment he was simply too stunned to speak.
 
“Tiffany,” he began, once he found his voice, “is everything alright?”

For a moment her eyes were riveted upon Alex’s chest.
 
His shirt, untucked from his trousers, hung
open, revealing the muscled planes of his naked chest.
 
She swallowed reflexively, her mouth suddenly
dry.
 
“I…couldn’t sleep,” she replied
softly, forcing her eyes upward, meeting his gaze.

“You couldn’t sleep?” he replied inanely, feeling as if he’d
suddenly lost his wits.

Her lips curling upward into the barest hint of a smile,
Tiffany shook her head slowly from side to side.

Seeing the seductive little smile that tugged at her lips,
Alex felt as if he’d just received a blow to his solar plexus.
 
An instant later he was striding across the
floor.
 
When he reached her, she met his
hungry gaze unflinchingly.
 
Reaching out
his hand, he laid it against her cheek, staring into the endless depths of her
expressive eyes.

Turning her head, Tiffany’s eyes never left his as she
placed a feather-soft kiss upon the center of Alex’s palm.

“Tiffany,” Alex groaned.
 
Then delving his hands into her hair, he drew her to him, capturing her
lips with his in a kiss that left them both breathless.

“I want you to make love to me,” she whispered against his
parted lips.

Scooping her up and into his arms, Alex needed no further
invitation.
 
Turning to the bed as
Tiffany wrapped her own arms around his neck, placing tiny little kisses all
along the line of his jaw, he carried her to the edge of the mattress.
 
Placing her upon the silken counterpane, he
gazed down upon her for a moment, knowing that there was nothing in the world
that he had ever wanted more.

As Alex knelt down upon the side of the bed and leaned over
her, Tiffany reached for him, her hands seeking out the naked breadth of his
chest, her fingers splaying across his muscled abdomen as she began a tentative
journey of discovery.
 

Alex drew in a long, quivering breath as Tiffany’s fingers
traced gently down the center of his chest and then moved to the contours of
his ribs, her innocent exploration stoking the flames of his already burning
desire.
 
When he could stand it no
longer, he pressed forward, lowering his mouth to hers, the kiss both consuming
and demanding in its intensity.

Tiffany arched against him, her fingers moving from his
chest to twine in his thick hair as she returned his kiss without restraint.

When Alex was finally able to tear his mouth from hers, he
sat up and then quickly shed his shirt, relishing in the sight of Tiffany’s
appreciative gaze as it travelled over his nakedness.

Lying there, Tiffany watched in fascination as Alex
discarded his shirt and then rose from the bed.
 
His body was so different than hers, utterly masculine, yet remarkably
beautiful at the same time.
 
Then, as he
reached for the waistband of his trousers, pushing them down and stepping free,
his every movement was illuminated by the flickering orange glow from the fire;
her gaze became riveted upon his jutting manhood.
 
Good heavens, it was long and thick, and so
much larger than she had ever imagined, she realized, feeling a moment of
unease.

Alex noted Tiffany’s changing expression with a hint of
amusement.
 
“Do not worry, my love,” he
said reassuringly.
 
“Our bodies were
designed to fit together perfectly.
 
You’ll see.”
 
Then, without giving
her time to think any more about it, Alex stretched out beside her on the bed
and set about distracting her with another round of impassioned, mind-drugging
kisses.

When she felt his hand move slowly up the length of her
thigh, pushing her chemise upward inch by inch to the juncture of her thighs,
Tiffany felt that now familiar, and oh so pleasant sensation begin to unfurl in
the pit of her stomach.
 
With only the
slightest encouragement from Alex, she opened her legs to his searching
fingers, allowing him access to the moist heat that radiated from her core.

Sliding his fingers over Tiffany’s slick opening, Alex was
delighted to find her hot and wet, unmistakable proof of her desire.
 
Smiling as he explored her damp cleft with a
practiced hand, he was soon rewarded with a tiny moan of satisfaction as
Tiffany arched her hips against his palm.
 
Then, parting her delicate folds, he slid his finger into her tight
passage as he began to slowly flame the fire burning inside of her.