The Fire's Center (27 page)

"Firstly, take the carriage home now, and secondly, please stop calling me Dr. Woulfe as though I've mortally offended you," Lucien whispered, standing close beside her.

Riona blushed to the roots of her hair. "I’m sorry, it’s nothing to do with you, but I wouldn’t like anyone to think I was taking advantage of my position in your household."

"And I tell you now, I don’t give a damn what anyone thinks so long as we're happy with our domestic arrangements. I will not have you acting like a servant, and that is the end of the discussion, Riona, is that clear?"

In the end Riona had to give in, if only because Lucien escorted her out into the street and placed her in the carriage himself.

She savoured his warmth and strength as he held her arm firmly, and put his hands around her tiny waist to help her up the steps of the coach. Then he tucked her shawl around her, and closed the door on her, waving as she drove off.

 
Once Riona was back at Merrion Square West, she hurriedly bathed and dressed, and threw on her flowered calico, fastened with small pearl buttons from the high neck to the bosom, and long flowing sleeves. The skirt of the gown was full and helped to emphasise her tiny waist and very feminine figure. Riona plaited her hair and piled it up high on the top of her head, and then as a concession to her special guests she tied a ribbon around her coiffure, and put on a new pair of high heeled boots Lucien had brought home for her one day.

 
Mr. Sturgess, Mr. Allen, and their wives proved to be very gracious people, and she had to admit she enjoyed their company. But all the same, she began to feel that the supper dragged on, since she was so impatient to get back to her medical textbooks.

Lucien had come home just after seven-thirty, and was pleased to see that she didn’t need rescuing after all. He took no active part in the proceedings, allowing Riona to use her judgement and organisational skills to the full.

He entertained the men over port and cigars whilst Riona consulted with the women in the drawing room over coffee. She made copies of the lists they drew up in a quick and efficient manner, went over the menus with the ladies and promised to attend the meeting at three the following day at Mrs. Allen’s, albeit reluctantly.

"I know you spend a great deal of your time doing little jobs at the clinic, writing letters and so on, but we really need you to take notes and chivvy people along," Mrs. Allen said a trifle patronisingly.

"All right, I shall do my best to be there. But please, do start without me if everyone else arrives before I get there."

 
Riona cordially shook hands with them all as they finally left at about ten, and then went into the back room, where she took out the microscope and then studied all the slides over and over again, trying to identify them by sight.

She then sat down on the day bed with a pile of books next to her and reviewed the circulatory and respiratory systems, as well as organ functions. So absorbed was she in her books that she didn’t even hear Lucien when he came in…

Chapter Nineteen

Lucien came in to propose another cup of coffee together in the drawing room, disliking the silence and the empty room, and the lack of playful banter over their baths and supper which had become part of their nightly routine after they finished work each day.

Now he silently watched Riona from the medical room doorway as she sat stretched out with a pile of books beside her, studying the drawings carefully.

Once alone, she had unbuttoned the high-necked flowered gown she wore to the top of her bosom, and had rolled up the long flowing sleeves to the elbows. With her hair in a new style and bedecked by a ribbon, Lucien thought Riona had never looked lovelier.

"There’s my girl," Lucien said, going over to her and planting a kiss on her temple, wondering what sort of mood she was in at the moment. "So this is where you’ve been hiding!"

"Not hiding, studying. I’ve been going over everything I’ve learnt so far, including all your wonderful slides. Will you test me?" Riona asked, looking up at him with her sapphire blue eyes sparkling.

"Of course I will," Lucien said indulgently, his own golden orbs glowing as he feasted his eyes on her loveliness. "But first I wanted to compliment you on your great success tonight. They really admired you, and the supper was superb." He stroked her cheek fondly.

Riona grew nervous at his nearness then, and stood up to put the books on the day bed back onto the shelves where they belonged.

"Now test me," she instructed, resuming her seat, but at a distance from Lucien on the sofa. After an hour of quizzing her verbally, Lucien pronounced himself more than satisfied with her medical knowledge, and decided to give her a slide test.

"Here, you keep looking down the microscope, and I'll hand you the slides one by one, so you can’t peek at the labels," he suggested.

"All right," Riona agreed, and soon began rattling off the names of the samples he handed her.

Lucien stood close bedside Riona, as if drawn there by some magnetic force. Try as he might, he couldn’t take his eyes off the tempting flesh of her arms and the shadowy curve of her breasts as they worked side by side.

Though surrounded by flowers in the study, which the maid had put there to brighten up the otherwise rather dull room, Lucien could also smell her own distinctive perfume, fresh, wholesome, and infinitely more alluring that the Parisian concoctions his female acquaintances practically bathed themselves in for formal functions.

Suddenly she held out her hand and asked, "Next one, please?"

Lucien jumped out of his reverie for a moment to hand her the glass slide, but all of a sudden he found himself grasping her fingers tightly instead.

As Riona looked up from the microscope in surprise, Lucien took a step closer to her and pulled her into his warm embrace.

Riona’s lips parted with a gasp, so that Lucien had free access to the tempting delights of her mouth, and the hungry kiss they shared soon left them wanting more.

Lucien ran his hands up and down the length of Riona’s spine, and he thanked God silently that she wore no corsets as he caressed her feminine fullness above and below.

Riona for her own part tried to remain stiff and unyielding in his torrid embrace, but the heat of his passion melted her reserve. She soon found her arms creeping around his neck, while her lips slanted across his mouth to deepen the kiss even further.

Lucien laced his fingers through Riona’s hair, scattering pins and her silk ribbon all about the room as her auburn locks tumbled down around her shoulders. He began to kiss her face and neck then, nuzzling her hair, before whispering, "Lovely, so lovely," in her shell-like ear.

Lucien knew he ought to stop. Had to stop. But the vibrant woman he held in his arms worked on him like some powerful drug. The more he took liberties with Riona, the bolder he became. The more she matched his caresses, and the more inflamed he grew.

He couldn’t recall the last time he had had a woman in his arms. Even then, she had been a hired companion, far more eager for money than even the remotest tenderness, not even a kiss.

Lucien savored Riona’s lips like a fine wine, but even as the kiss deepened, he couldn’t content himself with kisses any longer. He knew he needed more. His long fingers began to undo the fastenings at the front of her dress. At last he was able to help Riona shrug out of it.

With Riona standing there clad only in a thin lacy chemise and petticoats, Lucien feasted his eyes on her for a long time, stroking the soft skin of her arms, shoulders and breasts, before murmuring, "Beautiful, beyond my wildest dream," against her lips.

Riona’s eyes were open too, marveling at the softness of his skin as she tugged at the starched stock at his throat. She moved down to undo the fastenings of his shirt, which he removed along with his open waistcoat. His muscles rippled supplely under his soft skin. His chest was lightly furred with tantalizingly crisp curls which trailed down to the waist-band of his trousers.

Riona was not completely ignorant of men, having been raised with such large family of boys. She assumed Lucien would think she should be shocked by what they were doing.

But why should she pretend that she was afraid? Her innate curiosity about Lucien, as well as her own burgeoning needs, compelled her to tug at the fastenings of his trousers, until they pooled around his ankles and he gasped.

Riona nearly fainted with desire when his all-too-obvious arousal burned into her like a hot brand through the thin linen of her chemise. She ran her hands down his buttocks to press him more tightly against her, as much to prevent him from changing his mind as to more fully enjoy the tremors of passion which were now running through them both.

Suddenly Lucien swung Riona up into his arms, and carried her over to the day bed. He tugged the covers back impatiently with one hand, and then laid her down gently, while he knelt at the side of it, and began to run his hands down the length of her almost worshipfully. He caressed every inch of her with his fingers, before trailing after them with his mouth.

Riona gasped as he took each rosy nipple into his mouth in turn, and sucked gently. Fresh from her recent bath, Lucien couldn’t think, he could only feel as her heady scent surrounded him. His urgent needs compelled him to dare to try things he had only ever heard his friends boast about.

The new and erotic sensations filled Riona and rippled down to her toes. She nearly flew off the bed when he parted her thighs and began to caress the small rosy nub between them.

"Lucien! Oh, Lucien!" she gasped in a voice she barely recognised as her own.

Lucien lifted his head from her stomach to stare at her. "Do you want me to stop?" he asked in a husky whisper.

"No, no." Riona shook her head, as she caressed his cheek and ran her fingers through his thick black hair. "It’s just, I had no idea..."

"Neither did I," Lucien chuckled throatily as he moved up to kiss her breasts again, and lay down on the bed next to her, his full length moving against her seductively.

But now suddenly Riona was in control as she moved her hand lower, and she kissed his face and neck. She felt his masculine fullness and wondered to herself how any joining between them would be possible.

But as Lucien moved his hand to gently stretch her, Riona could feel him stroking her until the burgeoning moistness proclaimed her more than ready. Her hips thrust upwards, eagerly seeking more than just his fingers. Soon he poised himself against her, and patiently pressed downwards until her untried flesh at last began to give.

All the blood rushed to Riona’s face as he entered her, for though she felt a slight twinge, it was as nothing compared to the awesome sensation of Lucien filling her. She gasped as her hips arched uncontrollably, causing him to plunge even more deeply into her.

A groan was torn from Lucien now as he grasped her buttocks with both his hands and began to move rhythmically inside her, sending her whole world reeling. She clung on to him and kissed with him with all the ardor she possessed, until a rainbow of colours exploded in her head, and they lay gasping and panting in each other’s arms.