Lady Falls (Black Rose Trilogy) (15 page)

Chapter Sixteen

Dinner that night was a subdued affair as most of the conversation reviewed the successes of the ball or lamented the lack of sleep.  Lady Morley showed no sign of injury but Raven was grateful for her presence.  Millicent avoided looking at her friend.  Raven deliberately waited until the dessert was served before she brought up her last proposal for the holiday.

“There are only a few days left before everyone leaves,” Raven said clearly enough for her voice to carry to the entire table.  “But perhaps there is time for one more planned diversion?”

“I would say not,” Lord Morley said firmly.  “Or I will forfeit my next country holiday for the dull pace of the city!”

The earl laughed.  “Damn it, Morley!  You are consistent!  I’ll give you that much!”  He waved his spoon like a scepter toward Raven. “Pray, continue!”

“I was thinking that it would be lovely to provide a memorable finish to the holiday.”

“Oh, I hope so!” Mrs. Carlton said quickly.  “Though it has already been one of the most memorable country parties of my life.”

Raven looked at Mr. Warrick and their gazes locked.  “Days and nights I will treasure for as long as I live,” Phillip said softly. 

Mr. Carlton took his wife’s hand with a tender smile.  “I agree.”  He glanced at his host and his ward.  “Your hospitality has no equal.”

“There you have it,” the earl sighed and leaned back against his chair.  “Raven, you will have to rise to the challenge and come up with something unique and unforgettable if you are to deliver a fitting grand finale to this holiday!”

“I propose a theatrical evening!” Raven said forcing herself to look away from Phillip’s heated gaze.  “Nothing too polished, but what fun if the ladies put on a small performance of scenes for the gentlemen’s amusement.”  As Lord Morley began to clear his throat to protest, she quickly added, “Nothing scandalous or unseemly!  I was thinking a few short snippets from Shakespeare to edify our souls and only scenes that my guardian approves!”

“I love Shakespeare!” the earl said enthusiastically.  “And what fun to watch the women muddle through the classics!  Though I shall insist that all of you make a complete effort.  No half-hearted squeaks if you are performing ‘King Lear’!”

Mrs. Carlton grew pale.  “Oh, my!  I am hardly one for public speaking.”

Lady Baybrook rolled her eyes.  “As if anyone would give you a role requiring a thunderous presence.”

“Then it is clear that Lady Baybrook shall be sure to recite the meatier and more royal parts,” Trent noted.  “I am already anticipating your glorious performance, your ladyship.”

Raven added, “That is…if you will agree to participate in our humble offerings.”

“I suppose I could—if there is no nonsense in the scene I am assigned!  I shall approach it as a dignified reading and not make a scandalous theatrical display of myself.” Lady Baybrook took a small sip of her wine to hide a smile.  “In my youth, I was often asked to read aloud for my beautiful voice.”

  “And Lady Morley?” Mrs. Carlton asked.  “Are you disposed to play?”

Millicent looked at her husband, waiting to see his reaction before answering, but Lord Trent pounded his hand on the table.

“Of course, she is up for it!” the earl pronounced.  “Come, Morley, bid your wife to perform for I tell you, it’ll be a poor showing without her don’t you think?”

“I’m not sure it is proper…” Lord Morley began but his words faded as the dowager Lady Baybrook’s eyebrows lifted in disapproval at the objection since she had already agreed to it.  “Millicent is unskilled.”

“It’s an amateur theatrical,” Lord Trent said firmly.  “And no one assumed she is a grand actress, old boy.  Don’t be ridiculous!  That’s what makes it amusing!  No offense ladies, but the satire of watching you butcher the ethereal language of the Bard will likely warm my toes for many months and years to come.”

Raven blushed but bravely continued.  “We may surprise you, Lord Trent.”

“If Millicent wishes to risk humiliation, then I won’t forbid it,” Lord Morley said grudgingly.

“Lady Morley?” Trent looked at her.

She nodded happily.  “I would love to try.”

“Then it’s settled!” The earl struck the table again and the crystal rang obediently.  “Let’s have it ready for Thursday night since everyone is slated to leave within a day or two afterward.”

“Yes, that sounds perfect.”  Raven agreed.  “We’ll begin our rehearsals tomorrow.”

“Three days.”  Mrs. Carlton fanned herself with her hand.  “Please tell me we are not memorizing our lines!”

“If you apply yourself, Mrs. Carlton,” Lady Baybrook said archly, “I’m sure you can accomplish it.  My concerns lie with the far weightier challenges of my costume.  I expect we will not be wearing shapeless sack cloths, Miss Wells.”

“No, Lady Baybrook.  With Lord Trent’s permission, I will enlist the help of the house staff to accomplish all.  Masks, costumes and sets, will all be provided and sure to exceed your expectations, your ladyship.”  Raven smiled.

“Good!” the earl signaled an end to the meal.  “Let’s allow the ladies to retreat to begin their scheming as I for one, am ready for a splash of brandy!”

Lady Baybrook rose first and all the women followed her lead to yield the dining room to the men.

Chapter Seventeen

Later that night in the sanctuary of his room, Phillip enticed her to join him for a small taste of sherry before they retired.  “A theatrical evening?” he asked as he held out her glass.

“You do not approve, Mr. Warrick?”  Raven took it, sniffed the sweet and potent spirit only to wrinkle her nose at the assault on her delicate sensibilities.  She set the crystal on the table without tasting it.

He smiled at her refusal and focused instead on the topic at hand.  “I approve.  Honestly, I approve a bit too much for when you said it all I could envision was you wearing some diaphanous thing as Juliet to my Romeo, bidding me to kiss you.”

“Did you?” Raven held up her hand to his, her smaller fingers warming the sensitive pads of his.  “And?”

“If I profane with my unworthiest hand this holy shrine, the gentle fine is this—my lips, two blushing pilgrims, ready stand to smooth that rough touch with a tender kiss.”  Phillip struggled to keep from grinning as he wrestled up the lines from some dusty vault inside of his head, thanking a long forgotten tutor for the lesson.

“Good pilgrim, you do wrong your hand too much,” Raven said and planted a wicked kiss on the palm of his hand, her tongue darting out to touch the sensitive well tracing the subtle lines there.

“Oh, hell!” Phillip sighed.  “Now I can’t remember any of it.”

“No?  Not even…Thus from my lips, by yours, my sin is purged?” She kissed the outer slope of his neck, trailing hot sweet paths up to finally nip at his earlobe.  “Not event that part?”

He tried again.  “Sin from my lips?  O trespass sweetly urged!  Give me my sin again!”

He bent over to kiss her, the warm velvet of her mouth making him feel drunk.  She clung to his shoulders and Phillip reveled in her touch because he was a giant holding wildfire in his arms.  It was magic.  He lifted his head to look down into her eyes, confident of his prowess.

“You kiss by the book.”  It was the next line but the tease was so perfect, Raven hoped Shakespeare didn’t mind their wicked play.

“By the book?” His eyebrows knit together in dismay.  “And how would you rather kiss me, Raven Wells?”

Ever since Phillip had undone her so thoroughly the other night, Raven had been gathering her courage.  For if he was her masculine mirror, then she longed to gift him with the pleasure of her mouth.  He had already taught her how he liked to be touched, so the leap was not too far for her desire to make.

She trailed her fingertips down his shirt front slowly dropping downward until her touch skirted the buttons of his breeches.  His flesh was already thickening and the weight of it aided her as the buttons gave away easily.  She freed him to take in the raw beauty of his arousal.  She loved this part of his anatomy, not only for its delicious power and ability to please, but for the way it responded to her lightest touch.  It was as if it had a mind and heart of its own, and as if Raven had them both to master.

“Raven,” he said softly, his jaw clenched to make it a growl betraying his needs.

She ran her fingers along the silken length, gripping and measuring him, firmly enough to make speech useless as he reached a hand out to steady himself against the table.

She knelt before him, her skirts spreading out around her and knew that she had stumbled onto something magical.  She leaned forward, still working his flesh, drawing him out and dragging her fingernails lightly underneath his shaft until he moaned.  She kissed him, tasting his ripe head against her tongue and savoring the sweet musk and salt of the pearl of moisture she evoked from his body.  Her mouth enclosed him and pulled him slowly into the pocket there, her tongue lathing the sensitive juncture under the swollen tip, flicking and pressing into his flesh the way he had teased and worked the flesh between her thighs.

If kissing him was a sin, she was happy to drown in the glorious feelings that coursed through her.  Phillip’s hips moved of their own accord, pressing forward to give her more of him before he retreated and robbed her of her feast.  He lifted her to her feet and carried her without another word to the bed.  Clothing flew fast and Raven found herself on her hands and knees on the bed, his thighs against hers, and the cock she had worshipped was poised to fill her completely.

“Yes!” she sighed.  “Please, darling, hurry!”

He obeyed but rebelliously as slow as he could manage.  Inch by inch, he generously gave her what she demanded but at a pace that he controlled.

“Phillip!” she protested.

“Shh! I want to prove that not everything has to come at a gallop.”

She threw her head back, and was finally rewarded as her body stretched to accommodate him, their limits edging them both toward the finish.  Raven cried out as she began to shatter, the quick tangle of her pending release catching her off guard.

But Phillip mercifully shifted them both to land squarely in the bed, moving with her so that she was beneath him again, her legs wrapped around his waist with her ankles pressing into his lower back, driving him on.  He rode her, each stroke a lazy study in memorizing their desires and Raven sighed at the dream of it.

“Oh, Phillip!  I am glad that we are not Romeo and Juliet!  But can we be this happy and not fear?”

“Our houses are hardly divided.  Let us hope to end better, my beauty.”

“Lord Trent is sure to give you his consent.”

“I have to ask him tomorrow.”

“Please.  Please wait until after the theatrical performances on Thursday night.  There is a…matter I must see to.  Then I will feel free to pursue my own permanent happiness and my instincts tell me that after our play, my dear guardian will be grateful and relieved to know that I have met my match.”

“Grateful and relieved?  Raven, what are you up to?”

“I am asking you to trust me.  Do you trust me, Phillip?”

He nodded slowly.  “Trust you?  You have me, lady.  Everything I am and all I hold dear appears to be in these beautiful little hands.”  He kissed her fingertips, his tender gesture transforming into a sensual assault that unfurled raw longing inside of her.

Those beautiful little hands began to itch to touch him.  “Phillip,” she whispered.  “I am too restless for a tender game.  Please.  I wish to be ruined.”

Ruin came in a passionate blaze and leisure was left behind.  Raven matched him, his every move, his every thrust was met with her eager hips, her sensual hands and the magic of her mouth against any part of him she could reach.  The frenzy of their coupling overtook them both at the same time and when Raven cried out her release, he covered her mouth with his own and exhaled a groan as his climax matched hers.

She was sustenance and light, and Phillip was humbled at the force of his climax.  Orgasm knifed from his body and he clung to her until the waves of ecstasy passed and allowed him to breath again.

They stayed in the tangle of his bed to smooth each other’s skin and playfully extend the contact.

“Am I too forward, Phillip?”

He shook his head.  “So long as your boldness is reserved only for me, I cannot find fault.”

“You alone—inspire such a fire in me that I am terrified sometimes.  I am a glutton when it comes to you, and surely that is not an attractive thing, Phillip.  Perhaps that is why there is so much said of refraining from indulgence in carnal desires.  For I swear, from that first kiss in the gazebo until, yes, even until this moment, I am in an eternal fever for you, sir.  It is ridiculous!  Is this what you meant to warn me about?  Have you experience with this malady?”

He shook his head, biting the inside of his cheek to keep from smiling.  “I thought I had but I was wrong.  I have fallen victim to the same state of addiction, Miss Wells.  Whatever I knew of the connection between a man and a woman has faded into useless and forgotten noise.”  He lowered his lips to glide down the firm outer lines of her neck, teasing the sensitive juncture at her shoulder.  “This is a love I have never known.”

Raven sighed in contentment, yielding yet again to his touch.  “Then let us never recover from it, my love.”

“Never, my heart.”