Every muscle in Sophia’s body screamed for her to stay in bed. If she’d been beaten with a stick, she would hurt less. Of course, that was nearly what happened as she tumbled through the cursed brambles. She groaned and rose slowly from the soft mattress.
Marie helped her into a simple dress of pale peach. Her hair was pulled off her face, but was left loose to fall gently over her shoulders and back. By the time she descended the stairs to the breakfast room, she felt a bit better. Her legs didn’t hurt as much and her shoulders hardly ached at all. Her slower pace that morning meant most of the party was already there.
Sophia made a pretty curtsy. “Good morning.”
“Are you all right, Miss Braighton?” Lady Marlton asked.
Sophia smiled. “A bit scratched up and bruised, but otherwise I’m fine. Thank you, my lady.”
Cissy fussed with her napkin. “We missed you at dinner last night. After dinner we played games in the parlor. I wish you had been there to entertain us with your voice tricks. I want to see if you can do mother.”
Embarrassment flooded Sophia’s cheeks. She looked at Daniel’s stepmother about to apologize for something she hadn’t even done yet. The apology died on her lips as Lady Marlton beamed and didn’t look at all affronted.
“From what I’m told, I’m sure Miss Braighton is capable of doing a fine impression of me and probably everyone else at the table.” Lady Marlton called the footman to refill her coffee.
The heat rushed from her face down to her toes, which were possibly the only part of her not either bruised or scratched. Sophia drank her chocolate and picked at a piece of bread.
“Eat something, girl,” Lady Blyth said. “It is no wonder you’re naught but skin and bones. You eat like a bird.”
She looked back at Lady Blyth and forced what she hoped was a pleasant expression.
Daniel watched her.
She glanced at him but quickly turned away.
After breakfast, she walked in the garden with Aunt Daphne until a light rain forced them inside where they took tea in one of the parlors with the other ladies. She didn’t remember the name of the parlor with the red chairs. The house had so many rooms, Sophia had all but given up trying to find her way around without a footman’s help.
It seemed she was to be watched like a hawk by both her aunt and Lady Marlton. The two women would not leave her in peace. By afternoon she begged to be allowed to return to her own room for a rest.
On her pillow was a small card and on it written only “Tonight” and signed by Daniel. Her stomach quivered as if she were on another sea voyage.
She tucked the little card into her personal things and tried to rest. She was nervous, excited and maybe a little scared. She didn’t know why she was afraid since Daniel had been so kind and thoughtful. She vaguely remembered him hovering over her the night before and, finding her sleeping, only kissed her head. Perhaps the answer was to pretend to sleep when he arrived. It would be late since he had to wait for the party to break up and go to bed. It would be believable if she were asleep. Coward. No, she would keep her word.
She dozed and slept until Marie woke her for supper. The meal and the card games after were a foggy memory. Her mind was so occupied with the night ahead, she lacked capacity to concentrate on either conversation or cards. When she went to her room and told Marie she would undress herself, her voice cracked a little.
“Are you all right, miss?”
She tried to sound calm. “I’m fine. I just slept too long this afternoon and think I’ll read for a while before I go to bed. You go to sleep. I’ll be fine. I’ll ring if I need anything.”
Sitting on the edge of her bed, Sophia conjured a hundred different ways to distract Daniel from his quest. She could vomit. She giggled. It would work.
She was still laughing when she turned, and he was there, just inside her door. Her laughter halted as her fear returned.
“Good evening, Sophie.” He bowed deeply.
She made a poor effort at a curtsy but any words stuck in her throat.
He lifted a bottle of wine and the two glasses he carried. “Shall we have a glass of wine and talk a while?”
“You want to talk?” she asked.
He chuckled and walked to the small table where he poured the wine and handed her one.
Mesmerized by his gaze, she timidly took hold of the wine. “I don’t drink wine.” She stared at the candlelight reflected in the deep ruby liquid in the glass.
“Don’t you? I thought a glass of wine and a talk might help relax you.”
She took a sip and made a face at the sharp flavor. “Conking me on the head with a bludgeon might work better.”
His laugh was a deep rounded sound that filled the room and made her stomach do a little dip. “I think my way is better. How are you feeling?”
“I’m fine, my lord.” Still, she hadn’t moved from her statuesque position near the bed.
He walked to the window perhaps to hide the deep frown.
She assumed his expression was a result of her use of his title.
He opened the window and a warm breeze brought in the scent of grass and wildflowers. “It’s a warm night.”
She took another sip of wine and found it didn’t improve the flavor. “Why me?”
He turned and looked at her.
She still wore her gown from dinner. It was a dark blue, almost black, dress with red beading on the bodice. It made her look quite regal.
“I don’t know.”
She giggled and took another sip of the wine, but a wave of lightheadedness forced her hand to the bedpost. It had been a few days since she’d eaten much. She put the glass on the table. It wouldn’t do to be in her cups with a man already in her room.
He didn’t say anymore and the silence drove her curiosity. She moved from her spot and crossed the room to the window.
“You make me feel.”
She turned toward him. “Feel what?”
He shook his head. “When I’m with you, I feel everything. I care about things and not only with regard to you. I have sat on my family seat in the House of Lords for a month now, but until the other night’s conversation about coal miners, I did not really care about the miners, only the money the coal extraction provides.”
“You had no opinion about the workers?”
“Oh, I had an opinion. I have many opinions. But it was your concern that made me think of them as more than a distant issue about how we will heat our homes.” He paused a long time and stared out into the darkness. He looked into her eyes. “I think you make me a better man.”
“I don’t know what to say.” Her skin tingled and her heart ached. It was impossible he meant such a thing. Not really.
He touched her arm. “I hope that does not offend you.”
“Offend, No. Frighten, yes.” She kept her back to him.
“Why does it frighten you to know you make me want to be a man you would be proud of?” His fingers traced a path up and down her arm.
“If what you say is true, you think I’m special, and I’m not. You will be disappointed as my parents were. My brother will not even speak to me because I have let my family down.” Tears spilled from her eyes and she dashed them away.
“Sophia, you have not disappointed anyone. It is a marvel you have survived as spectacularly as you have. Most women would have crawled into a cave and let the world go by them or become bitter. You might have married out of duty and made your husband’s life hell and your own as well. You did none of those things. You are a remarkable woman.”
She laughed, but the sound rang hollow. “That cave sounds rather wonderful to me.”
“Yet you did not crawl inside. You became a woman who is a true friend to people she had never met before and for no other reason than you saw they needed you. Miss Burkenstock’s reputation might not have recovered had it not been for you. Do you think Dorothea or Thomas would have befriended a person of lesser character? They see in you the same strength I see. It draws people in and makes them want to know you.”
Her own parents had banished her from home because she refused to do her duty. Her only sibling had barely spoken to her in years. “I appreciate your words, but I’m no one to be admired.”
Daniel turned her around and pulled her close.
Every inch of her body melted into the hard planes of his.
“But you are admired.” Smoothly, he removed the pins that held her hair away from her face.
With the removal of each one, her hair came loose and the pins tumbled to the floor.
He threaded his fingers through and traced his thumb over the light scratch just below her eye. “A reminder of yesterday’s events?”
“One of many.” Her voice sounded distant.
His fingers, as they combed through her hair, sent pleasant shivers down her neck and arms. His eyes were so bright and so blue, he captivated her. “I’m sorry, Sophie. Such a thing should not have happened on my property.” He kissed the scratch gently.
She couldn’t catch her breath. “It was not your fault, my lord.”
“Daniel. My name is Daniel.” His fingers traced up her arm and down again. He lifted her hand and kissed a small scratch on her knuckle. Then he turned her palm up and put his lips there for a long second.
She swayed and put her hand on his chest to steady herself. The room grew smaller or perhaps Daniel just took up more of it. His scent filled her head and everywhere his lips touched drew a new sensation, not at all unpleasant.
Emma’s words rolled through her head. Could she trust Daniel?
His thumb traced a bruise on the inside of her upper arm. Placing her hand on his shoulder allowed him to bring her closer. His mouth covered the abrasion.
Sophia gasped. His lips on the tender skin sent a tingle in every direction. She should stop him, but what if she didn’t want to?
He buried his face in her hair. “This is what heaven would smell like.” His breath teased her ear, and he must have found another scratch on her shoulder, because he kissed her there. His fingers undid the ties of her dress as deftly as any lady’s maid. With each tie, he pressed his lips to her skin at the ear, neck, arm, shoulder, and the hollow of her throat.
Dizzy with all the new impulses throbbing through her, she gripped his shoulders.
Her dress fell in a pool at her feet and he began on her corset strings. “Are you afraid, Sophie?”
“Yes,” she whispered.
His hands stilled. “Should I stop?”
His offer to stop eased her fear. Daniel would not hurt her. She bit the inside of her cheek. “Don’t stop yet, Daniel.”
Soon her corset followed her dress to the floor and she stood only in her chemise, stockings, and shoes. He lifted her out of the pile of clothes and sat her on the edge of her bed. Kneeling before her, he looked up, eyes filled with passion, and removed her slippers.
When he slid his hand up her leg to her thigh, she gasped for breath as shocks of heat infused her and settled between her legs.
He stopped, met her gaze and waited.
Her heartbeat was fast, but she slowed her breathing. The walls didn’t close in. She was anxious, but not terrified. Drunk with the need for more of his attention, Sophia nodded.
Slowly, he rolled her stocking down her leg.
He was so gentle and caring. Still, her breath came too fast as her anxiety built. “Daniel, stop.” Gasping for more air, she ordered herself not to allow fear to ruin such an extraordinary night.
He froze in place with her second stocking halfway down her calf. Sitting on the floor, he crossed his legs. “What are you afraid of, Sophie?”
“I cannot do this. I told you I couldn’t. I’m sorry, Daniel. I cannot marry you.” Tears rolled down her face and she wept into her hands.
“Look at me.”
She forced her hands into her lap and did as he asked. Sitting on the floor, he was just Daniel not the imposing Earl of Marlton.
“I’ll stop whenever you ask. I’ll do nothing that hurts you or scares you. Have I done anything you did not enjoy?”
Actually, everything had been most pleasant. She shook her head.
“Then trust me a while longer, my love. Let me show you this is not about me. Really, it’s not even about making love, sweetheart.”
“What then?”
“If we are to be married, we will have to trust each other. I almost married a woman who destroyed my faith in women. I was certain I could never trust another with my name or my heart.”
“You trust me?” Her chest tightened. He had as much to lose as she did, more maybe. Jocelyn had destroyed his trust and yet he took a leap of faith because he cared for her.
“I trust you with everything I have including my heart, Sophie. I know you will never break my trust.”
“I trust you, Daniel.”
He kissed her foot where it connected to her ankle. Returning to his knees again, he kissed a small scrape he found on her calf and then another just a bit higher. Her legs were covered with tiny scratches and bruises and he took his time kissing each and every one.
He slid her chemise up exposing her knee, then trailed kisses along her thigh.
A strange, pleasant tightening in her lower stomach made her close her eyes and she enjoyed the sensation.
Daniel gentled her knees apart and kissed her inner thigh. With his palm on her waist, he caressed to just under her breast.
Her nipples abraded against the fabric of her chemise forcing a moan from her lips.
He touched her nipple, and her eyes flew open. His thumb brushed the bud, and her body quaked anew. “Have I done anything you do not like, Sophie? I’ll stop if I have hurt or frightened you.”
She shook her head, and her cheeks filled with heat.
Pressing between her knees yet still kneeling on the floor he kissed her nipple and suckled her through the chemise. Wet fabric cooled and excited her. She arched her back and leaned back on her elbows.
He devoured her breast and then the other until her breath came in short pants, which had nothing to do with panic.
Wanting more, she had no idea how to ask.
He lifted her up and slipped the chemise over her head.
So caught up in the sensations and emotions brought on by his touch, she pushed aside her modesty. She should have been ashamed of her nakedness, but it all was too wonderful.
Silky hair grazed her leg, then his tongue tickled the sensitive skin of her inner thigh and then higher until his mouth covered her most intimate spot. She cried out and sat up. “Daniel, you can’t do that.”
A wicked smile split his handsome face. “You did not enjoy it?”
“I didn’t say that. It’s not right.” She was ashamed of how weak her protest sounded.
“Oh, but everything we do together in private is right, my love. It is only wrong if you do not enjoy it. Trust me a while longer, Sophia. I promise I’ll not hurt you. Lay back and trust me.”
She did as he asked, and he kissed her again. She gasped and her hips moved up and down. Something was building.
His fingers skirted the rim of her and then one dipped inside. Instead of pain, she felt only pleasure and the thing building rose higher. A second finger stretched her, and his mouth sucked harder. Suddenly, she floated though the bed remained beneath her. Sensations shattered in a million pieces, cascading around and through her. She cried out and arched up.
Daniel lifted her into his lap and held her. Whispering in her ear, “You are so beautiful, Sophie. Relax and enjoy it, I’ve got you.”
She grasped at him while the waves slammed into her and over her. Her body quaked. Slowly, she drifted down to reality. “What was that?”
“That, my love, was an orgasm. Some call it the ‘little death’ and it is the greatest joy in lovemaking.”
When Alistair had taken her on her father’s study floor, she’d felt nothing like that. There had been only pain and him grunting like an animal.
She shuddered and pushed the memory away. “Does this happen to you as well?”
He pushed her hair aside and kissed her ear. “It does. Shall I show you?”
If it was possible to give Daniel the same pleasure, then she wanted to know how.
She nodded.
He lifted her off his lap and settled on the bed. Stepping away, he removed his clothes as if they were on fire.
She couldn’t take her eyes off him. She hadn’t seen a naked man before. Daniel’s body was covered in bulging muscle. He was beautiful, and she wanted to touch him, but he removed his britches and a stab of fear shot through her.
He leaned over the bed and kissed her lips. “I’ll not hurt you, Sophie.”
Beginning to feel as if she was a dimwit, she was unable to put anything to words. The tingling and tightening began again in her chest and stomach when he kissed her. The rush of delight the orgasm brought her earlier was astounding, and she relaxed. She expected him to get on top of her, but he stretched out next to her and kissed her mouth. When his tongue touched hers, she opened and allowed him to deepen the kiss. His mouth found a rhythm and she wanted to become part of it. Soon there was nothing but Daniel, his mouth on hers and his hands caressing her arms and down to her hips.
Sliding his hand over her stomach, he covered her breast, and her breath caught just as it had done the first time he touched her. She arched against his hand and was rewarded by his gentle worrying of her nipple between his thumb and forefinger. She cried out, but he muffled it with kisses.
He slid his knee between hers.
She stiffened, but then relaxed and opened for him. She would do this for him. She squeezed her eyes shut and waited for the pain that was sure to come.
“Sophie, look at me.” His voice was a whisper but brimmed with authority.
She opened her eyes. There was strain in his eyes, but tenderness as well. “Do you believe that I’ll not hurt you?”
Wanting to believe it was one thing. Actually trusting what she knew wasn’t true, something else entirely. She shook her head.
“I promised you I would not harm you. Relax, just a little.”
She tried, but when she felt him breach her, she stiffened and waited for the forward surge and the searing pain that would follow. Her nails bit into her palms where she held them at her sides.
He pulled back, and she felt warmth spread between her legs grow as he rubbed himself back and forward against her wetness.
Unable to stop herself, she lifted her hips. In spite of the agony that would follow, she wanted more of him. The pressure she’d felt when he kissed her private parts built again in her lower abdomen and at the juncture of her thighs. It could not possibly happen twice.
He slid the tip of his shaft inside her again, but she didn’t feel pain, only a strange stretching then he pulled back. With each advance, he stretched her a little wider and the pleasure built as well.
Unable to voice her own needs, she cried out, “Please.”
His face was a mask of tension. He held himself back and then buried himself inside her.
She arched up and he covered her cries with his mouth.
He held still and her body molded around his hard shaft. “Am I hurting you?” His voice had a tight edge to it.
She didn’t answer, but her hips rose bringing him deeper.
He groaned and slid out of her before moving in again and again.
Thrusting slowly, he continued to move in and out of her.
The small room filled with her cries and gasps. Waves crashed around bringing her to another crash of rapture.
Daniel cried her name, and she forced her eyes open.
Arched with his head thrown back, he was the most splendid thing she had ever seen. Love bounded around her and through her heightening her pleasure.
He collapsed forward with his weight on his elbows and pressed his forehead to hers.
Warmth spread through her and she was deliciously satisfied. Even if she’d wanted to move, she couldn’t.
Daniel took a deep breath, kissed her head and moved to her side wrapping his arms around her.
She shivered and he pulled the covers over them holding her against him. “It was…different,” she said. “I had not expected…”
“What?”
“Pleasure.” She buried her face in his shoulder.
“There will always be pleasure in our bed, Sophie. You must put what happened to you out of your mind.”
“I don’t think I can.”
“Then, you must try to never think of what we do together in the same light as that violence. Can you do that?”
“Oh yes.”
“You are no longer afraid of me?”
She touched his cheek and then let her hand slide down. When her fingers grazed his nipple, he sucked in his breath. Intrigued, she continued to explore his body.
“Sophie?”
“Hmm?”
“I do not think you know what you are doing,” he said through his teeth. She smiled at him, feeling bold. “Oh, but I think I do.”
He pulled her on top of him and she felt him hard again and perched at the entrance to her womanhood. Her eyes widened and she looked at him in question.
“It is sometimes nice for you to be in control, my love.”
There was power in straddling his lap. He might have wanted to say more, but she slid down onto him stopping his words.
He moaned deep, and she moved, slowly at first but then faster. His hands gripped her hips and helped her find a rhythm.
She wanted to be in command, but the cadence he set started the pressure building inside her once again.
She continued to move and rock and noted how different angles gave her different degrees of pleasure.
A low groan erupted from Daniel, and he arched up sharply. He touched the tight bud between the folds at her core. He rubbed and her pleasure took to new heights while he filled her. She whimpered as the rapture exploded inside her.
Spent, she collapsed on top of him.
He banded his arms around her. “Sophie?”
“Hmm.” Sated, her muscles relaxed.
“Will you marry me?”
“I will.” She smiled and turned into his chest.
He kissed her forehead. “I do not think I have ever been happier in my life. I wish I could spend the night here, but I must go to my own rooms before the servants start to rise.”
He kissed her again, slowly slid out from under her and tucked the covers tenderly around her. “I’ll speak to your aunt in the morning.”
Warm and completely satiated, she drifted into her dreams.