The Seduction of Sarah Marks (13 page)

“What’s a hookah?”

“‘Tis the thing to do in Turkey.”

At the realization her spine had grown rigid, Lilith forced her shoulders and chin to relax. She would conquer that ridiculous stance if it killed her. “Do women there engage in this act as well?”

Mum shrugged and sucked on the end of the hose while her scrutiny of Lilith never faltered. “I care not a whit what women in the desert do with their lives. What I do concern myself with is the contentment of the Malvern family. And at the moment, one in particular. Prince Augie cares a great deal for you, don’t you know?”

A frisson of trepidation skittered through Lilith. “Nothing like jumping right into the subject, is there?”

“Why waste time when he’s about ready to hunt you down and take you into a new and delightful world? As soon as he’s up and around, he’ll be coming after you. Best if you time it right and seek him out first. Surprise him and give him a night he’ll never forget.”

Lilith’s cheeks flamed. She pressed her hands to her blistering face.

Mum laughed. “His headache is gone, so if I were you, I’d go to him in a couple of hours. Let him know you not only approve of him as a husband, but you intend on making him prick-proud at every turn.”

Lilith gasped. It took another couple of deep breaths before she could manage to speak. “There are certain things that are…well, that were quite…”

A spark flashed in Mum’s eyes. “Ah, I am not thick-headed, gel, merely forgetful now and then. It won’t hurt the next time.” Mum’s voice gentled. “And if you relax and give in to what’s buried inside you, there’s going to be a good many years of getting to know my fine prince in ways you never dreamed of. Your mother told me you were once a beautiful, high-spirited child, until your father beat the joy out of you. Believe me, there’s magic to be had when two people are willing. You’ll find the joy you lost, dear, wait and see.”

Heat burned Lilith’s cheeks, yet she couldn’t help a foolish grin. “You speak rather intimately of your own grandson, Mum.”

“Bah, I’m speaking of a man. Doesn’t matter whose blood runs in his veins. You’ll need to work at purging yourself of a few rigid moral codes, the likes of which serve no purpose other than to drive a man to a mistress and his wife into utter despair. Doesn’t it tell you how wrong things are if the only way I could shed such inequities was to traipse around in men’s clothing in strange countries where women get their noses cut off just for looking at another man?”

“Is that why you traveled far and wide with Lady Stanhope?”

“Now that I can set you to rights, you’ll have no need to run off to a foreign country to discover that what is considered a natural instinct in males lies in the marrow of the female as well. We aren’t meant to suffer in the marital bed. And the notion that only women of low character enjoy the physical act is sheer poppycock.”

Mum studied Lilith with a purpose that set her heart thumping in her chest. “You’re not so much afraid of the pain, but of your own feelings, gel. You don’t think ‘tis right to enjoy the pleasures a man can bestow upon you.”

At the memory of Eastleigh’s hands all over her that day in the stable, Lilith’s face heated once again. “I confess to having little knowledge of…of such intimacies.” She swallowed hard to keep from stumbling over her words again. “And how do you know he cares about me if I do not know that myself?”

Mum’s eyes twinkled. She sucked on the pipe and gave a little shrug. “Mayhap it’s the way he can’t take his eyes off you when you are oblivious of his attention. Or the way he says your name—different from how he says any others—kind of rolls around in his mouth, as if he’s tasting you at the same time.”

Mum’s risqué words sent Lilith’s heart racing. “I am desperate to change my ways, Mum. And I need to do so quickly. I do not want to lose him.”

The old woman chuckled and patted the settee. “Come, gel. Sit beside me. I’ve much to tell you.”

Chapter Fifteen

By the time Lilith slipped back into Eastleigh’s chambers, darkness was nearly upon them. The chair still sat next to his bed at the same angle as when she’d nearly knocked it over in her haste to exit the room. Quietly making her way over to where he lay with his eyes closed, she sat and studied him.

Her mother was right—he was a good man, a decent man, and she would protect him now as he’d protected her when she’d had no memory. Good Lord, to think Mrs. Hazelthorpe might have unknowingly matched her up with someone like her own father who’d been all sonnets and roses in the beginning.

Once Mum had delved into the mysterious secrets of intimacy with a man, a whole new world had been unveiled for Lilith. This, too, gave a new edge to her that left her feeling even more empowered. How bizarre to have a feisty old lady be the one to enlighten her of what magic could transpire between a man and a woman. And in terms filled with so much spice they belonged in a bawdy house. Wrestling a grin down to a tiny smile at her considerations, she folded her hands in her lap.

Eastleigh opened his eyes, and with no change in demeanor, focused on her. “If you’ve come to say goodbye, don’t bother.” His words came flat and without emotion, but gone was that fiery anger.

Had he thought she’d been packing when all this time she’d been following Mum’s direction to stay away for a while? “I know my hour was up some time ago, but I had things to sort out. Now I’ve returned,” she said quietly but with decided conviction. “And here I shall remain.”

She stood and lit the lamp next to his bed. Expressionless, his dull gaze roved from her head to her toes and back again. Mum’s words echoed in her head.
He can’t take his eyes off you.

Returning to her seat, she sat tall with her hands folded in her lap. She looked him square in the eye. “I’ve had my things moved into the chamber connecting with yours. I’m not going anywhere, so if you don’t want me here, you’ll have to toss me off the balcony.”

He studied her for a long moment, and then a familiar sparkle touched his eyes. “I’ll do that very thing. Straight away.”

She wanted to laugh. And cry. So this was the reckless tide of emotion Mum spoke of. It washed through Lilith and made her mindless—made her want to shout out how utterly mad he drove her.

His hand slid to the edge of the bed, palm up in offering. While there was no mistaking the desire in his eyes, his act of offering his hand seemed born of pure and simple affection. She leaned forward and placed her hand in his. He squeezed. Somewhere in the warmth of their connection, his pulse beat faintly against her skin. The subtle scent of chamomile soap drifted her way. She caught her bottom lip between her teeth.

And then, as though they’d been merely discussing the weather, he lifted the covers and peered under them. “I’d remove myself from this bed, madam,” he said in a lazy drawl, “but I am utterly naked.”

She nearly expired on the spot.
That was it? That was all it was going to take to settle things between them?
She breathed a sigh of relief and smiled. “Indeed.”

The covers dropped. “Was this your doing, wife?”

She shook her head. “Entirely your brothers. The scamps. They said you all sleep that way and insisted you be comfortable.”

A corner of his mouth curled. “Entirely their doing?”

He was teasing her. And oh, how she liked it. “You grumbled and moaned that your bedclothes were twisting about until you felt tied and bound, so they removed them. At least, that’s what I’d been told to expect when I came to you.”

Amusement flashed through his eyes—along with something else she couldn’t quite fathom. “It was them who took care of me?”

“Except for Doctor Hemphill checking on your progress and Mum hanging over his shoulder. Your brothers insisted on seeing to you all the while, including bathing you. Since I was heavily dosed with laudanum by that bully of a doctor, I could barely make it out of my room but a few times.” She decided not to mention Will and her theatrics.

He bent his other arm and, sliding it behind his head, settled deeper into the pillows. “And did you sleep well at night?” His voice had grown husky, and the warmth of his hand intensified.

She stole a glance at the large bed with its high, carved mahogany headboard and the stack of pillows beside his that she hoped to occupy.

A light of awareness flashed through his eyes, and it was as though his heated musk enveloped her completely. “Do you wish to be my wife in every sense of the word, Lilith?”

His words no longer resonated from his throat, but from somewhere deep in his chest, a low rumble that caused her every nerve to quake.

Oh, Lord, she had a lot to make up for. She slipped her hand from his, rose, and made her way across the room. Her back to him, she ran her shaky fingertips along the carved mahogany fireplace and over the curve of the ormolu clock. She had so much to say. If only she could find the right words.

She lifted her chin. “I…I have been a fool, and I am sorry I treated you badly. That wasn’t right of me.”

“You weren’t ready,” he said quietly.

“On the contrary. Whenever you happened to touch me…the very nearness of you, it…it did things to me that I did not understand, especially after our first night together. My thinking was corrupted by a lifetime of ill treatment, so I tried to cast you off at every turn lest I encounter something I could not tolerate. You were so far out of my shallow depths; I was like a frightened fish out of water.”

“You think differently now?” His voice, a bare rasp fell in the air around her.

Feeling his gaze piercing her back, she nodded. “I once thought tears and emotions utterly useless in seeing one through life. Strength and courage were all that mattered. And self-discipline without folly. I was also taught to make a decision and once done, never question it or change my mind. I had no idea how such narrow thinking could scar a relationship. The effect you had on me was at the very pinnacle of challenging these skewed principles.”

“But now?”

Her heart jumped into her throat. Oh, this was more difficult than she had anticipated. “The rarity of two people being matched as equally as us through a matrimonial service…well, think of the odds.”

“So you think we might be evenly yoked?”

Her breath quivered. If only she was certain how he was taking this…this confession of sorts. “I believe there is promise in us, sir. What a pity I don’t even know what to call you now.”

“Anything but Augie will do.” Humor wove through his deep tones.

She swept a hand over her brow. “I’ve been such a prudish bore. But I…I do believe I am quite redeemable if given the chance. I…I ask you to help me learn to relax a bit…help me uncover whatever might be buried in me….help me find joy and freedom in living a less restrictive life. What I am trying to say is… Oh, I guess Mum said it right all along—I have been fraught in many areas, and I’d be a lot better off without a rod up my arse.”

He chuckled—laughter filled with kindness.

She ran her hand over the mantel, her fingers ceasing to tremble at the sound. Despite her nervousness, her sense of self and the feeling of liberation were growing by leaps and bounds. “I know the two of us are rather stubborn people, which hadn’t been revealed in our exchange of letters, but nonetheless, I do believe we have possibility.”

In the long silence that followed, she kept her back to him. What was he thinking? What would he want of her?

“Then you require lessons, Lilith,” he finally said. “And if you will turn around, we can begin with lesson number one.”

She turned.

And gasped.

He stood beside the bed wearing nothing but a sultry smile. “Your first lesson, dear wife, is to know what your husband looks like naked when not in a supine position.”

Her fingers splayed over her breast.

“Go ahead, have your fill,” he urged. “Start at the top of my head and work your way down. And…” His pause seemed a purposeful beat meant to envelop her in a space filled by him alone. “Take all the time you need.”

Focusing on his brown curls tumbling over his forehead, pleasure washed through her. She’d run her fingers through those thick locks. Indeed, his hair was as silken and lush as she’d imagined.

A smile tugged at her lips. And then his eyes caught her attention. It was all there in his hungry look—he wanted to devour her. Lusty chills danced over her flesh.

As she worked her way to his mouth, cohesive thought left her brain. His roguish half-grin sent a thrill swimming through her blood. He must have known the effect he had on her, for the tip of his tongue scraped the edge of his chipped tooth, and a sensuous curve played about the edge of his enticing mouth.

Some primordial part of her took over—suddenly she wanted
her
tongue in that little space. Truth be told, she wanted her tongue all over him.

He drew in a visible breath that seemed to steal the air from her lungs. She relinquished all willpower to slowly study his glorious form inch by inch as he’d instructed. Instead, like a lost soul coming off a parched desert, she drank him in all at once—from his broad shoulders and beautiful, sculpted chest, to his narrow hips and long legs. And then there was that part of him she’d once thought might split her in two. It thickened as she stared.

His quiet laugh startled her, and her cheeks scalded. How long had she been staring at that one particular spot? If the very sight of him corrupted her body, mind, and soul, what would their coming together, flesh to flesh do to her? Gracious, she suddenly had to will herself to stand upright. Was every bone in her body dissolving? And this excitement that rolled through her belly—it felt akin to being afraid, only deliciously so.

“Time for lesson number two, Lilith.”

As if he’d reached through the ethers, his presence surrounded her. She drew in a shaky breath. “And my next lesson?”

“Come, my dear,” he said, low and husky. “Come over here and touch me.”

Chapter Sixteen

Lilith stepped forward, her breath catching in her throat. She moved closer. Eastleigh’s eyes laughed into hers, yet there was power in him—restrained, measured—feral. Closer still, and the heat and musk emanating from his naked body clung to her skin like a midnight fog. His lids lowered, veiling his thoughts.

He knows what he does to me. And he’ll make full use of this knowledge.

Her focus shifted to the heady pull of his dizzying energy. Her heartbeat stuttered, then made a great leap, as if it might pierce the surface of her skin. Oh, she wanted to touch every inch of him. “Would you consider me terribly ill-mannered if I did not ask your permission, but instead charted my own territory?”

“Ah, an excellent student.” His ragged exhalation fell against her mouth. “Do take your time, though.”

She reached up and traced the rich outline of his parted lips, then slipped a fingertip between them. He scraped his teeth over its pad, sending a thousand sparks shooting through her. “Oh!”

She ignored his suggestion to touch him slowly, just as she’d disobeyed when he’d said to take her merry time ogling. Instead, she set her hands to the solid density of his chest. At her touch, his muscles bunched. Scars marked his skin. She bit her bottom lip and ran a finger over each one. “From the war?”

He nodded.

Heart drumming, her hands coasted along the hard planes of his belly. A tactile intensity shot through her fingers—like unleashed lightning—twisting her stomach into knots. Sheer ecstasy. As she set her mouth to his flesh, her eyes drifted shut. His hot skin tasted clean, hinting of salt. She licked, and a small moan escaped him.

He settled a curled fist beneath her chin and nudged it upward. “Eyes open, darling. Closing them is part of the next lesson. Go on—keep touching me while you look your fill.”

She turned her attention to the bed, and then back onto him. “I doubt I can stand upright much longer.”

Amusement broke over his countenance. He shook his head. “The bed belongs in lesson number three—we’re only on the second one.”

“Well, then.” She began a slow descent with her fingers, tracing the fine line of hair that swirled around his navel and trailed down to the part of him that had once frightened her but now entranced her. Blood quickening, the back of her hand brushed against his hard arousal.

He hissed, and for a moment, his eyes lost their focus. “Witch.”

“You said I could chart my own territory,” she murmured. “But in any case, you had better take hold of my hips because my knees are about to lose their bones.”

A deep breath escaped him, and with one hand, he complied. With the other, he freed her pinned hair, shook it loose, and began working the buttons on the back of her gown.

Undiluted lust gripped her. She closed her fingers around his arousal, amazed that skin could remain so soft and supple, yet cloak such hardness. Her thumb traced the plump head and found a slick bead of liquid. Spreading it about the tip, she squeezed his shaft, and then slowly moved her hand up and down, the action sending a thrill running through her. A low sound left her lips, and she clutched the hard curve of his flexed buttock with her other hand, digging into his flesh.

“Sweet Christ!” His gaze followed the slow slide of her fingers, a fever shadowing his eyes.

Oh, she could be wicked after all! Throaty laughter escaped her lungs.

He pushed her dress off her shoulders and effortlessly worked the garment to the floor. Sweeping his arms around her, he pulled her to his naked body. His mouth settled soft and warm against her lips. And then his tongue slipped inside, and the kiss deepened, drawing her into a pleasure so intense she had to grab his shoulders for support.

How had he managed to dispense with the rest of her clothing? She did not know, but suddenly they were skin to skin. She ran her hands over his shoulders, along his back, raked her fingers through his hair. Had his hold on her been any less firm, she would have sunk to the floor.

He eased away and lifted his head, studying her for a long moment, his chest heaving. She could not read his expression. And then, without letting go, he leaned over and drew back the covers. Straightening, he lifted her in his arms. “We did things your way on our wedding night, and it wasn’t so pleasant, was it?”

She shook her head.

He planted light kisses along her forehead, across her cheek, and along the curve of her neck. “Now we do things my way. Time for lesson number three.”

His movements were smooth and graceful as he laid her gently on the bed and slid in alongside her. Cupping her bottom in his hands, he pulled her against him, the long length of his erection pressing into her belly.

She could no longer think at all, could only feel and react as though she had fallen into a dizzying trance. He ran the back of his hand, feather soft, across her cheek. “You’ll share my bed all night long. But I suppose you already guessed as much.”

His gaze skated up and down her body, and then he buried his face in the curve of her neck. “Dear God, but I want to possess you.” His voice reverberated low and seductive across her skin. “Help me to be strong against this terrible urge to have all of you at once.”

Dear angels in heaven! Blood thundered in her ears. “I cannot help you since I am nothing but greedy myself.”

His tongue touched hers, warm and wet, and his hand moved to her breast. She shivered as his thumb and forefinger rolled the taut peak. But then he leaned down, took it in his mouth, and swirled his tongue around it with a groan. He used his teeth then, turning insignificant pain into unbearable pleasure. Her pounding heart sped up. She’d been raised on shame, and this had to be pure sin whipping through her, but oh, the gods were so very wrong—this was nothing short of glorious pleasure.

Aching with need, she cried out his name and clutched his shoulders. “Fill me up,” she said breathlessly. “Oh, please, I need you.”

His fingers gripped her bare hips, and he rolled her under him, his erection pulsing between them. That frantic need to have him inside her made her writhe with want, made her limbs spread wide to take him in.

“Sweet. So sweet, but oh, so wild,” he whispered hoarsely as he planted kisses all over her skin. “I knew from the first there was great passion in you.”

He worked his way down her body until his mouth touched the inside of her thigh. He trailed kisses along her calf to her foot. And then to the other, his lips scorching her skin, working upward until he found the apex of her thighs.

He set his tongue there.

The clamorous beat of her heart nearly drowned her own whimpers. She hadn’t known…hadn’t a clue such an act existed!

“I’ve wanted to explore you in every way.” His tongue found her recesses. “For a very long time.”

She could no longer feel the bed beneath them. She became his entirely—his world to map of his own accord.

Something far beyond her control suddenly took over. Her body stiffened. With a helpless cry, she set herself free from all restraint. Magic exploded within her, so powerful and astonishing it overtook her body until she quivered from head to toe. And then liquid pleasure rolled through her. She gasped his name.

He moved up against her and kissed the side of her throat. “I’m not finished.”

Spreading her legs wider, he poised over her like a graceful cat. “I could lose my mind over you.”

His low, rough voice skimming over her skin shot another hungry pang of lust through her. “Now. I need you now. Oh, please.”

“As you wish.” Reaching down with one hand, he fitted the tip of himself against her and slowly slid inside, withdrawing and easing in, little by little. And again. Her flesh closed about him, and at his groan, she clasped his hips and lifted her own to meet his. And drew him into her, stretching her, filling her.

Oh, God, this was her husband inside her—huge and hot.

“Lilith.” A husky moan slipped past his lips as he stilled, hovering over her. “Are you all right?”

“How could I not be? You feel so good.”

He looked down into her eyes and slowly withdrew, nearly out of her, and then back in. “Does that feel better?”

She could only moan in response.

“Wrap your legs around my back.” He began a slow slide in and out, his weight resting on his arms, his head back, watching her. And then gradually, he moved faster, stroking her insides in a timeless rhythm. “You’re so beautiful…so hot and slick…so…”

He grunted and penetrated deeper. Harder. “So everything.”

She rocked her hips in rhythm with his and dug her fingers into his back. A pressure started deep in her inner core, but this time she knew what was coming and held nothing back. It intensified and then radiated outward, seizing her soul and leaving her helpless to do anything other than cry out his name.

His hands gripped her hips, and he set his face to the curve of her neck, nipping and sucking on her skin. With a deep groan, he buried himself to the hilt.

He stilled. A great shudder swept through him, and she felt him pulsate inside her.

Breath escaped him, and then his lips traced a line of kisses from along her cheek to her mouth. And then his kiss turned rough, filled with…with what? She couldn’t name the emotion that radiated from him and into her. He drew back, enough to press his brow to hers.

Suddenly, he stilled.

A fragmented sound left his throat.

“My God, Lilith.” With a low moan, he rolled off her and collapsed, his hands clenched to his head.

“What is it?”

“The megrim. It’s back. Hemphill. Get him.”