The Libertine (11 page)

CHAPTER NINE

The yearning that Chloris felt to see the Witch Master
again was immense. It was a burden every bit as weighty as her guilt. Morbid
thoughts crept up on her easily that evening, the realization that she might
never see him again affecting her badly.

The dinner conversation did not help.

Tamhas rambled about council matters, occasionally making
disparaging remarks about Lennox, which made her discomfort grow. Not only that,
but his opinion of Lennox was so very low that she had to bite her tongue in
order not to challenge her cousin. Lennox was by no means a perfect man, she was
not foolish enough to believe that, but she felt her cousin did him a great
disservice. Besides which, Tamhas was no saint, and each time he caught her
attention there was an unwelcome intimacy there, a reminder of how untoward he’d
been that very day.

It had been the same with Eithne, she recalled. Tamhas had an
instant distrust of anyone who was attempting to heal others and provide comfort
where there was none. He had listened to too many tales about those who
practiced witchcraft and his mind was made up on the matter.

When she took her leave, Jean frowned.

“You look a little pale this evening,” Jean commented.

“I am well, do not concern yourself.”

Jean did not seem convinced. She rose to her feet and rested
the back of her hand against Chloris’s cheek. “No fever. That is a relief. If
you feel unwell you must tell me, we can arrange for the physician to call.”

“Please, don’t fuss. I am just a little tired.” She glanced at
Tamhas.

Tamhas pressed his lips together and stared down at his goblet
of Port. If she was not mistaken he looked a mite sheepish. He thought it was
because of him that she was pale. Well, it wasn’t, although Chloris was content
to let him believe he was right.

She almost ran to her bedchamber, relieved to be away from the
difficult situation. She could only hope that it would get easier now that she
had ceased her involvement with Lennox.

Once inside her chamber, she reached for the candle that stood
on a shelf inside the door and struck the flint next to it. Lifting the lit
candle she carried it to the mantel where she set it down near a small looking
glass to reflect the light. The fire burned low in the grate. She stared down at
it. As she did the skin on the back of her neck prickled with anxiety. Turning
on her heel she scoured the dark shadows of the room.

That’s when she saw him standing there.

Shocked by his presence, she put her hand to her throat.
“Lennox.”

“I had to come. I had to be sure you were safe.”

Chloris couldn’t see his face clearly, but she could hear the
concern in his voice.

He’d come to her, that indicated he cared enough to fear for
her safety. Her heart swelled, emotions brimming. She’d longed to see him, and
he was here. “You received my letter?”

“I did.” He stepped out of the shadows.

“You shouldn’t have come here, it is too dangerous.” She was
about to dart over to him, to chastise him for taking the risk, when she heard
the floorboards in the corridor outside her chamber creaking. “Oh, no, it is the
serving girl. She will come in to stoke the fire and turn down the bed.”

“Fear not. Act as you normally would.”

His voice was calm, but Chloris felt only distress. Then she
blinked and stared, but could barely see him at all. He had retreated into the
dark shadows. A moment later there was a tap at the door and it opened. If she
distracted the girl, perhaps she would not notice him. Chloris turned and
smiled.

“Mistress Chloris.” The upstairs serving girl curtsied, then
darted over to the fire and stoked it from the nearby basket.

Chloris could scarcely believe it was happening. Lennox was in
her chamber and the threat of discovery was immense. She took another glance at
the spot where he’d stood. Mercifully, she could not discern his outline.

“Do you require any assistance with your disrobing, mistress?”
the girl said as she straightened up. She always asked. It was her duty to do
so.

“No, thank you.” She realized her voice was barely audible
because she was so tense. She forced another smile.

The girl wiped her hands on her apron. “I will just turn down
the covers, in that case.”

“No, that will not be necessary.” Usually the girl undertook
the task, but Chloris could not risk her moving closer to the place where Lennox
stood.

The girl needed no further encouragement to be on her way. She
bobbed another curtsy. “Good night, mistress.”

As soon as the door closed and the sound of creaking boards
faded away down the corridor outside, Chloris turned and ran to him.

He captured her in his arms.

“You should not have risked coming here,” she chastised.

“I had to. I do not believe that you want to put an end to our
endeavor.”

She stared up at him, taking in the intensity of his
expression. “It has gone far beyond an endeavor, even you cannot pretend
otherwise.”

He gave a gentle chuckle. “You are a brave and honest woman,
and it is one of the things that draws me to you.”

“Brave, because I have faced the truth of it, that we have
become lovers when that was not my original intention?”

“Aye.” Reaching for her hand, he drew it to his lips and rested
a gentle kiss there. “We became lovers, and you cannot deny that you wanted it
as much as I did.”

His forthright remark only served to remind her how pleasurable
it had been, and Chloris could not respond immediately because her body was
wildly stimulated by his proximity. She could smell his aroma, hot and male and
alive with the scent of the forest. “Lennox, please.”

With his free hand pressing her close to him he ducked his head
and kissed her mouth. Firm and persuasive, his lips covered hers. His hands were
around her hips and he kissed her deeply, passionately, his mouth opening hers,
forcing her to receive him. Locking her hands over his shoulders, she moaned
into his mouth, unable to hold back for the touch of his mouth on hers made her
clamor for him.

“This is too good to deny,” he said as he drew back, his voice
husky and determined, “and you will not send me away until we’ve coupled
again.”

“But we cannot. The serving girl might come back—”

He held her tumbling hair in one hand, drawing her head back so
that he could look into her eyes. “You are as needy for it as I.”

She was, and the hot tide of shame she felt was momentary in
the face of her desire for him. She nodded.

He smiled. “You will not regret it.”

“I will not, if you are fast and then make your escape,” she
blurted, “before my cousin finds you under his precious roof.”

Lennox laughed beneath his breath as if delighted by that. “He
could not stop me, for right now all I can think of is being inside you. The
taste I had of you yesterday only whetted my appetite for more.”

The appetite he referred to was there in his face, and she
could not refuse him because she wanted it, too. Chloris could scarcely control
her breathing. Her corset felt painfully tight, her pulse racing.

“Make haste,” she whispered, clutching at his hips.

Backing her into the shadows beside the curtained bed, he
pressed her to the wall. He cupped her head in one hand, stroking her hair as he
did.

In the hidden shadows her desire intensified. Chloris ached for
him at her center. Her head dropped back, her lips ready to accept his fierce,
hungry kisses. In the gloomy niche they were shielded from the fall of the
candlelight and she could not see him clearly, but she felt his passion
enveloping her.

Hitching up her skirts, she lifted one foot from the floor,
riding her knee up the side of his leg. “You have made me wild with your spells
and your wicked ways.”

“If you wish to give me credit that is your prerogative, but I
fancy it was there in you all along, Mistress Chloris, begging to be
unleashed.”

He undid the lace that held his breeches closed and freed his
manhood. Chloris went to touch it, but before she had the chance he lifted her
with his hands around her buttocks and encouraged her to wrap her legs around
his hips. It made her feel so wanton, so womanly, cleaving to him that way that
she had to gasp for air.

He pressed hard against her and she leaned into the wall at her
back, one hand clutching at the velvet bed curtains at her side. Between her
spread legs she felt his hard length pressed against her splayed flesh. She
caught her lower lip between her teeth to anchor her emotions. They were about
to couple, here, where her cousin would have Lennox strung up if he found him.
She squeezed her eyes shut. Even though she knew it was wrong and dangerous,
there was nothing she could do but submit to him because her body craved him
so.

Lennox was calm and focused. That made her doubt the wisdom in
this all the more. How could she have fallen into this so quick and so deep that
all her reason was gone, that she took such great risks to be with him?

Because I’ve never had a taste of anything
like this before.

Tears dampened her cheek. She brushed them away, annoyed.

Then his hard length was against her most sensitive places. Her
breathing altered, speeding, for it was as if he freed life itself in her
swollen bud, the pressure of his erection massaging it so intimately.

“Hold tight to me, for I must be inside you, now.”

It was so true, need had them both. Not magic or her quest for
fertility, but pure mutual need. She moaned and clutched at him, resting her
weight back against the wall where she pivoted. He held her steady with his
palms beneath her bottom. Then he eased the crown of his cock inside her,
stretching her open. She breathed even quicker, her mouth opening in response to
his penetration.

“You are so damp, mistress, my cock is doused in your precious
juices.”

Her entire body flamed. “Lennox...”

“Oh, aye, you’re lush tonight, my beauty, tears or no
tears.”

The husky way he spoke and his warm breath on her face were
maddening. She clutched at him. “Please, Lennox, please.”

Shifting his weight, he pressed the blunt head of his cock
deeper.

“Fill me,” she whispered.

As he drove his full length into her, she cried out with
pleasure.

Lennox covered her mouth with his, silencing her, then slid
deep to her core in one fast move. He was inside her, his blood pounding inside
hers. Her hips were angled to take him in, her flesh melting onto the hard, hot
shaft. Sensation burst at her center and rolled through her. It felt too good.
Her hands went to his head, holding him as she arched her hips to accommodate
him.

Chloris moaned in ecstasy, her head falling back against the
wall. He moved his face into the curve of her neck. Her sheath clutched at him,
and Lennox cursed. He drew back, and then reached farther inside. She rose up,
her hands on his shoulders, matching him. He was riding her hard and Chloris
struggled for breath. Her hands fisted on the fabric of his coat. She
contracted, tightening on his throbbing length.

He pushed one hand between them. She cried out in ecstasy,
another rush of pleasure taking her.

“Chloris, oh, yes.” His thrusts grew urgent.

She responded, wanting more, wanting it all. Pressing down hard
onto his length she relished that it brought about both pleasure and pain in
her. She wanted to feel it all, for it made her feel vital and alive. Her hands
roved over his back, and as she did he whispered her name on a sigh and pulled
free.

Chloris found herself lowered to the floor, swaying unsteadily
as her feet met the floor. Staring down she watched as he rode his erection with
his fist until he spilled.

The ache that loosed in her inflamed body was almost too
much.

He put his hand to the wall behind her head, his head bent
close to hers while he gasped for breath in his release.

Silence surrounded them, but for the sounds of their mutual
labored breathing.

Then he sought her mouth with his.

The tender kiss they shared was interrupted a moment later.

A noise sounded in the corridor outside the door. It was the
boards creaking again, signaling someone’s approach. Chloris reacted, drawing
him deeper into the shadows next to the head of the bed. Chloris had almost
forgotten their surroundings, and the discussion had been heated earlier, their
lovemaking fierce, perhaps too loud. Had they drawn attention to themselves?

Footsteps approached her door. She held her breath, one hand on
Lennox’s chest, protectively, her eyes trained on the door. Then Lennox
whispered something. The strange words made her look his way. His eyes went
bright, then faded. He smiled softly and put one finger to her lips. “Stay
quiet.”

There was a tap at the door. A moment later Jean entered the
room. Her shoulders were shrouded in a heavy shawl and it hung down and covered
most of her nightgown. She glanced over at the bed.

Chloris’s heart hammered in her chest. She recalled the way
Jean had fussed over her at dinner. She was obviously still concerned. Chloris
rued the fact she had not sent Lennox on his way as soon as they’d talked. They
were going to be found. In a moment she would be discovered harboring the Witch
Master in her room at night. Jean would call out for help, and Cousin Tamhas
would find Lennox here.

Jean lifted the candlestick from the mantel and held it aloft
as she looked toward the bed. Chloris dared not breathe. Jean replaced the
candle, then turned and left the room, closing the door quietly behind her.

“She did not see us?”

“I made it so.”

Chloris realized the curtains around the bed had obscured
Jean’s view. Jean must have assumed she was asleep and decided not to disturb
her. But the curtains had been open before, she remembered it distinctly. “You
obscured the bed by magic?”