Part 11 (1/2)

For that was all he felt, wasn't it? Pure l.u.s.t-with a dash of territorial protectiveness to keep what was his safe. For she was still his, at least in the eyes of the law.

”Suit yourself,” he said gruffly. ”I can't stop you.”

”No, you can't.” She bounced out of bed, the candleholder wavering in her hand and casting gobliny shadows in the room. ”It is still my home, for as long as I live, at least according to those papers Will Maclean drew up for you. Tenancy for life. Very generous terms for a fallen woman like me, according to him. He was quite put out about it as I recall. But,” she said, a mischievous smile on her face, ”perhaps you want this mysterious duo to kill me off. I imagine you'd get a pretty penny for the house if you sold it.”

”Don't be absurd. I'd not give up the comfort of Christie House and find myself on your dusty floor if I wanted you dead.”

She reached up and stroked his cheek. Her fingertips were warm and gentle. Edward felt as if five b.u.t.terflies had landed, causing his skin to tingle. ”Poor thing. I'm sure the floor is not dusty. Mrs. Hazlett would permit no such thing.”

”Hmpf.” He wished she'd drop her hand. He wished she'd drop it lower. He stepped backward. ”What do you suppose she has in the larder?”

”I'm sure I don't know. She's quite immune to my suggestions.”

”A wise woman.”

Caroline swatted at him. ”How can you say that? I'm quite a good cook, you know. I taught myself after a bit of trial and error. Just because you never eat anything but dull and bland and boring fare-”

”Are you calling me dull and bland and boring?”

She shrugged. ”Dull and boring-I'm repeating myself, aren't I? Not very accomplished for a wordsmith, but it is very late and I'm very tired. You must admit you are not one bit adventurous when it comes to your palate.”

For an instant, Edward remembered how she tasted when he kissed her smooth pink inner folds. Sweet. Tangy. Undeniably Caroline. He wondered if she had allowed her nether hair to grow back in the time they had parted, and wondered too if she would ever permit him to taste her there again. His mind in a fog, he b.u.mped into a table in the hallway.

”Watch your step. If you fall, you'll wake the whole household.”

Edward concentrated on navigating down the stairs. He'd concentrate on another deadly sin, gluttony. He'd torture himself watching Caroline eat, licking her lips and fingers, biting into some juicy morsel with relish. He s.h.i.+vered as they reached the landing.

”You aren't cold, are you? I vow, I've never experienced a hotter summer.” Tempting tendrils had escaped from her strict braid, and she pushed them behind her ears. She had not donned a robe for their late night snack, so her ripe body was on display under the sheer nightdress. Edward was certain she must be aware of the image she presented, saucy and sweetly disheveled. Caroline was deliberately setting out to make him the sorriest man in England.

She flitted around the kitchen, lighting lamps which only illuminated her near-nakedness. He'd had the sense to put on his dressing gown, which at least disguised his rampant manhood from her too-knowing silver eyes. It was hotter than h.e.l.l, but he belted the robe tighter.

”Now, let's see. You said you were thirsty. Ale or wine? Or perhaps tea? I could put the kettle on.”

The thought of hot liquid vying with his hot blood was too much for the summer night. ”Just water, if you please.”

She set a tumbler and a jug before him. ”See? Just as I said. Dull. I keep a very good cellar. Some wine might help you sleep.”

Some wine would loosen his tongue. Loosen his resolve. There was something to be said for the watchful tension he felt in Caroline's presence. He shook his head and poured a splash of water into the gla.s.s. As he drank, he examined her pert backside as she a.s.sembled a plate at the sideboard. It resembled the peach she balanced on the scalloped edge. ”You will join me, I hope. I've fixed enough for two.” She placed the little feast beside him and dragged a chair closer.

It was simple fare-two thick slices of bread, a wedge of cheese, a cl.u.s.ter of grapes, two figs, and the golden peach. Caroline popped a deep purple grape in her mouth and sighed. ”Almost as good as wine. I forgot it. There's a half bottle left from our dinner in the pantry. Would you get it please? And a gla.s.s, too.” She ripped a corner off her bread with determination and held it under her nose. ”There's nothing I love so much as the smell of fresh bread.” She smiled up at him and extended the chunk to his mouth, brus.h.i.+ng it against his lips. ”Isn't it divine?”

Edward had no choice but to eat it. It was d.a.m.n good bread. Caroline nibbled on another piece topped with a sliver of cheese and offered him the same, the ribbon tie of her nightdress slipping down her shoulder. She leaned forward seemingly oblivious to the fact that she was losing what little clothing she had on. From his height advantage, her b.r.e.a.s.t.s were impossible to conceal from his starved gaze. No amount of food would quell that particular desire. Once he finished chewing, he reared up quickly from his chair to fetch the wine. He was glad to escape, glad to get away from the sinful bread and cheese and his entirely enticing wife. If bread and cheese had that effect on him, what would happen if she served him oysters? He knocked his forehead into the cabinet in an attempt to draw his blood upward.

”Edward? What was that noise?”

”Nothing, nothing. I'm just clumsy tonight.” Grasping the bottle of wine and a goblet, he returned to the kitchen and poured them a healthy tot. Caroline was in the midst of a fig, its jewel-like center glistening in the lamplight. Her tongue darted across her lower lip to catch a sticky wayward seed. He downed his wine in one swallow.

”Here. Let me cut up the peach. They seem to be especially delicious this year. I meant to make some peach chutney, but they are too good to spoil with vinegar and onion.” She picked up the silver fruit knife and sliced through to the stone, carefully pulling the peach in half. Edward stared at the golden circle in her palm, its juicy center tinged deep pink. Dear G.o.d.

”I'm not hungry,” he rasped.

”You don't know what you are missing.” Her teeth sank into the flesh of the fruit and her eyes closed in bliss. ”So very sweet, Edward. You must taste it.” She held out the peach half. He would choke on it, but she was not to be resisted. He took a bite and the consummate flavor of summer burst in his mouth. He'd never tasted anything so incredible in all his forty years.

Except for Caroline. She would taste of peaches and herself tonight, a combination he could no longer fight. She was busy with her own half of heaven, clear nectar edging from the corner of her mouth. Edward longed to lick her clean and make her dirty again on the spotless kitchen table. He imagined her arching up against him, her flimsy nightrail tattered-no, torn off and thrown in the banked fire. She would be as golden as the peach, beneath him in the amber lamp-light, as pink within and hot as the summer night. He could feel her hands sweep his back, hear her fevered cries, bury himself so deep- Her cool hand on his cheek broke the spell. There was nothing but concern in her huge gray eyes. ”Edward, are you ill? You look very odd.”

He mopped his brow with a linen napkin. ”You're right. It's excessively warm this evening. I think I'll just step out into the garden. Try to catch a breeze.”

”Mind Harold. He's out there somewhere. I don't know why he dislikes you so.”

Edward knew why. Anyone who usurped his pillow in his mistress's bed was the enemy. Well, Harold had nothing to worry about. Edward was relegated to the floor forever.

Caroline stifled her giggle just long enough to hear the tradesmen's door close. Oh, but she was wicked. When she had woken up to find Edward on the balcony, his body lit by moonlight, she had seen how very, very uncomfortable he was, and not from lying on her carpet. The man was stiff as a poker and nearly as long. She had done nothing that past half hour but prolong his agony.

She straightened the strap of her nightrail. Usually she wore something prim and practical to bed, but tonight she had sent Lizzie to Victorina's to borrow the indecent bit of tissued silk. Even if Edward was moving in because of some sudden urge to become her knight in s.h.i.+ning armor, she did not want him to get complacent-to take her for granted as he had. Oh, she knew it would not be long before he was elevated from the floor to the mattress, but he would have to suffer a bit first.

She sipped her wine and plucked a few more grapes from the stem. She really was famished. Food had become much too comforting to her since Edward disappeared again. It was a good thing Mrs. Hazlett didn't permit her in the kitchen, else she'd be up to her eyelashes sampling new recipes that she surely didn't need. All her new crimson clothes would soon be useless to her.

Too bad Victorina was not in possession of a red nightgown, but the whispery cream silk was temptingly transparent. It had served its purpose, but something new would be necessary for tomorrow. Caroline would send Lizzie forth to borrow more courtesa.n.a.l nightwear for the duration of Edward's stay. It would be frivolous to order such things to hang permanently in her dressing room cupboard, and she knew the Jane Street girls would not mind contributing to the downfall of Baron Edward Christie. When Caroline was through with him, he would be contrition itself.

If she was still alive, of course.

Chapter 13.

There was nothing like a little good company to light her lonely life. A pity there were nothing but bats and spiders skittering about in the dark.

-Saving Cecilia.

Caroline waited in the kitchen for Edward until every last crumb was gone from the plate. He must have found the garden absolutely fascinating, for she grew weary waiting for him. Maybe he was making friends with the cat. More likely, he was using his hand to relieve his masculine need that she had set out to inflame. If so, she would be safe from him in the bedroom, if not from herself. Putting their dishes in the scullery first, she climbed the stairs with her candle stub and crawled back into bed. She was nearly asleep when the door opened and Edward quietly returned to his spot on the carpet.

After a decent interval, she rolled to the edge of the bed and peered down. Edward had removed his nights.h.i.+rt but was half covered with a sheet, his broad shoulders gleaming in the slanting shaft of moonlight. His lips were parted, warm breaths rising to Caroline's face, his lashes dark crescents above his chiseled cheekbones. She could throw one leg over the bed and step on him if she chose. But his breathing was even, and it would be a shame to rob him of sleep, no matter how irritating he was. She didn't believe she was truly in danger, but it was gratifying to know Edward's concern.

The air was still. The room felt close, cloistered, especially with Edward's long form radiating scorching heat. He must be quite naked beneath the sheet. Caroline settled back in the middle of her lonely bed and gazed up at the mirrored ceiling. Although the room was bathed in moonlight, there was nothing to be seen in the silvered gla.s.s save s.h.i.+fting shadows.

When Caroline and Nicky were children, they'd done much of their exploring by moonlight, wandering far afield to catch glimpses of nature by night. In the winter when the blanket of snow reflected the January moon so brilliantly, they had even deigned to take their schoolbooks outside to see if they could read them. When Caroline recounted that tale to Andrew, he had been disbelieving. So they'd stepped out into the snow to test its dazzlement and read love poems to each other, then he had taken her atop and beneath fur blankets in the frost-covered garden. She had thought then it was the most remarkable, romantic night of her life. She'd felt nothing but his heat as she opened to him, tasting brandy on his tongue, s.h.i.+vering not from cold but desire.

It was so long ago. She never let herself think of Andrew. That chapter of her life was not to be reread.

She had forgiven herself for her stupidity, and nearly forgiven Andrew for his duplicity. Nicky's journal had been most explicit. Andrew had suffered unimaginable torment from the time he was a child. It was no wonder he couldn't comprehend right from wrong, why he used whatever was convenient to advance himself.

When he came to her with the letters, he'd been almost apologetic as he attempted extortion. She had the feeling he would have preferred her body over the pounds he had requested, and she had been so miserable she would have given it. Almost had-until Edward walked in and saved her even as he condemned her.

Caroline pushed the covers off. It was far too hot, and her brain was broiling with unpleasant thoughts. In a fit of pique she pulled Victorina's nightgown off and tossed it to the floor. Not on Edward's side, of course. She wouldn't want him to smother in silk, although his light snoring was annoying. It had awakened her earlier and abandoned her to night devils.

She was perfectly naked. No, not perfect. Her poitrine was opulente if she remembered her French correctly, but the rest of her was growing as well. With a rueful sigh, she stroked her belly, then allowed her fingers to dip lower. She was still as smooth as Edward required. For some odd reason she had remained so throughout their five-year separation. It would be so easy to wake Edward, but she was not ready to cede control to him just yet. Slipping her fingers within to stroke the plump fleshy bud, she held back her groan of satisfaction, pressing and circling above it as she had so very many nights alone. She knew what she needed, and knew who held the favored spot in her fantasy.

It didn't take her long. It never did. She waited for G.o.d to smite her or Edward to wake-either one would be disastrous, but the waves of blessed relief juddering through her body were almost worth it. Still greedy, she continued to touch herself until she was exhausted from her pleasure. Surely now she could fall asleep, boneless and sated. With a sigh, she pulled the sheet up and curved into the mattress.