Chapter 9

 

William

 

She tasted of warmth and vitality. She tasted sweet and feminine. She was mine. Mine. No longer would I fight the desire. She’d always been for me, and I for her. That would never change. She whimpered, sinking into me. My blood roared in approval. My hands curled into her hair. I couldn’t bear to pull my lips from hers, but I couldn’t have her on the settee. She deserved more.

When I thought about the fact that I had taken her against the wall, the bitter sense of shame whispered through me. Reluctantly, I gripped her arms and pushed her back. Her heated gaze met mine. I saw the wariness there and didn’t like it. She might not trust me but she would. “Not here.”

Before she could protest, I scooped her up into my arms and started out of the room. I wasn’t sure why she had fled to my estate, but I wasn’t going to let an opportunity pass by. And I sure as hell wasn’t going to let her leave now that she was here.

“Sir William…” The housekeeper paused in the foyer. Lillian’s face turned bright red. “Will…will you be needing dinner?”

I started toward the stairs. “See the children are fed and we are left alone.”

Lillian hid her face against my shoulder and groaned in embarrassment. I almost laughed. Even still nine years later, after having given birth to twins, she was shy. But then she’d only made love once those nine years ago.

I doubted Charles had ever shown her pleasure. No doubt he’d taken what he wanted and left her bruised. Gritting my teeth, I had to fight the anger that threatened to swamp me. He was dead. Gone. It shouldn’t matter, but it did. I should have been there to protect her.

“Yes, Sir William.”

The housekeeper averted her gaze, but the maid behind her was not so well trained and watched with wide, alarmed eyes. They would get used to Lillian’s presence soon enough, as I never intended her to leave. Polite rules of society did not matter here. She was mine and I’d waited long enough.

“They’ll know,” Lillian whispered as I moved up the stairs.

“Shh, I said you no longer make the decisions.”

She bit back her response, glaring up at me instead. I wondered with some amusement how far I could push her before she’d explode. She was so bloody pretty when her eyes flashed with anger. Thank God Charles had not destroyed her spirit.

Reaching the tops of the steps, I carried her down the hall toward my chamber. The room where I’d met her as Mrs. Watson. How many nights had I spent aching and throbbing, dreaming of taking her?

At the door, my grip eased. She slid down my body, the friction almost unbearable. My very erection throbbed with need, pressing forcefully against her belly. For a brief moment we stood there, neither willing to move. Her heart pounded hard against my chest, following the rhythm of my own as if they were meant to beat as one. Hell and damnation, I couldn’t fight it any longer.

Slowly, she tilted her head back, her gaze meeting mine. It was there…all of the pain of our past, all of the hope for our future. A question of what was to come. And because I didn’t know, couldn’t possibly answer, I did the only thing I could…I lowered my head and caught her mouth with mine.

She made a softly murmured sound of contentment in the back of her throat. A sound that made my gut clench, my body burn. I slid my hand up her back, wrapping my fingers around the nape of her neck and holding her captive. How long I’d waited for this. My tongue delved between her lips, sweeping into her warmth and branding her as my own. Success! She wrapped her velvety tongue around mine as she looped her arms over my shoulders.

Desperate to feel the strands, I pulled the pins from her hair, letting them fall to the carpet. The cool silky waves tumbled down her back. When I kissed her every worry disappeared. I wrapped my fingers around the strands, holding her captive. The years between us, the heartache, the desperation. Gone. Nothing mattered but touching her. Having her completely, fully. Without breaking the kiss, I managed to reach behind us and find the door knob.

As the door opened we stumbled inside, eager to be alone. She reached for my jacket as I reached for the buttons on her bodice. We were awkward and fumbling in our haste… like two innocents, instead of the adults we were. Hell, she made me feel as inexperienced as a youth.

“Don’t leave me again,” she whispered, her hands trembling. “Don’t you dare.”

I shoved the bodice down her arms. Perhaps I should have told her why I’d left her the other night, but explaining would mean pausing, and I had no intention of stopping even for a second. “No more.”

I tossed the bodice aside as she shoved my jacket off my shoulders and to the ground. We were frantic in our desires. We’d waited much too long. Hell, she was like a drug that I’d never forgotten, had always craved. I wanted to touch every part of her, kiss every spot of her body and take time to truly savor her as I hadn’t been able to before.

“No more lying. No more running.” I tugged at her corset strings, my fingers clumsy and trembling. Blast it all, I would have cut the damn contraption from her body if I’d had a dagger on me. “Promise me, Lillian.”

“No more.”

Her corset fell to the ground and she stood in her shift. Stunned by her beauty, I could only stand there and study her like she was a priceless work of art, too valuable to be touched. Firelight shone behind her, that lush body outlined under her shift. She’d changed with age and childbirth, but the change made her even lovelier.

She flushed, dropping her gaze in a sudden fit of shyness. Was this the same woman who had stared boldly at me when I’d ripped the nightdress from her body? I slid my hand into her hair, cupping the side of her delicate face with my large, rough hand. This was different. Different even than our first moment together. We’d barely known each other nine years ago, barely knew how to touch, kiss, please.

Sliding my fingers through her hair and cupping the back of her head, I drew her forward. I rested my forehead to hers, the air between us mingling. For a long, long moment I merely breathed in her essence. I didn’t deserve her, but I needed her.

“I’ve waited for you for so very long,” she whispered. “So long.”

“No more waiting,” I promised, my voice catching. “No more.”

I rested my hands on her rounded hips, my fingers brushing the curves. This was the woman I was supposed to marry. The woman who was supposed to have my children. The woman I was supposed to share my life with. It was all so bloody right, I could no longer deny the truth.

Lifting my gaze, I caught her eyes. Green eyes so warm, so soft, so full of a love that I’d been too stupid to see. She was mine. She’d been mine the moment she stepped from that carriage nine years ago. She would always be mine. And I would always belong to her.

Tenderly, I stroked the fine contours of her back, letting my fingers tiptoe down her spine. She stepped closer, molding her body to mine. Her lashes drifted as she pressed her lips to my neck, higher to my jawline. A simple caress, yet I felt it all the way to the marrow of my bones.

And then she lifted her hand and brushed her fingertips over the scar on my face. And then she stood on tiptoe and pressed her lips to the wound right below my eyes. And I was lost. Completely and utterly gone. All the anger I’d felt over the years, all the pain dissipated.

“How can you care?” I whispered feverishly, gripping her wrists tightly. “How can you not look at the scars and be horrified, disgusted? I’m a broken man. A shell of what I was.”

She smiled softly, those green eyes shimmering with unshed tears. “I do not see you as a broken man. I see you as I always have. You’re William…my William. You always have been and always will be.”

With a growl, I lifted her. Instinctively, Lillian wrapped her legs around my waist, her arms around my neck, and molded her mouth to mine. She clung to me with a desperation that sent my heart racing. I ran my hands up the delicate arch of her back and into her hair, feeling the overwhelming urge to protect her.

“Marry me,” I demanded, breaking the kiss so she could meet my gaze. “Marry me.”

She looked rather startled, then resigned. She knew it wasn’t a question. She knew she had no choice. I would have her no matter what. She was my home, my life, my soul.

“Yes,” she whispered, leaning forward and pressing her lips gently to mine. “Yes.”

 

****

 

Lillian

 

 

The moment I said yes it felt as if the weight of my past had lifted. William settled me gently upon the bed. With hands that trembled, he pulled off his shirt and tossed it aside, standing before me in only his trousers, his erection pressing long and hard against the material.

The desire that gathered low in my belly, slamming in my chest and between my thighs, was almost unbearable. He was stunning. Utterly beautiful. I studied the dips and plains of his muscles, the scars that made him who he was, the light splattering of dark hair that trailed down his chest and into the waistband of his trousers. I wanted to follow that path, to draw my fingers into the crisp hair. I wanted to lick the tight pebbles of his nipples. To wrap my fingers around his velvety steel cock.

Slowly, he lowered toward the bed. The heated look in his gaze sent an exciting thrill through me. I felt a rabbit and he a wolf. I couldn’t breathe, couldn’t think. He planted his hands on either side of my hips and crawled up my body.

Everything about him was so large, so masculine, I felt utterly delicate against him. He slowly scanned my face, then lower to my chest. My breasts were heavy, throbbing, the nipples tight buds just begging for his touch. It wasn’t fair. With just a look he could turn me wanton. He rested his hand on my thigh, running those long fingers up…up. He gripped my shift and pulled the soft material over my head.

“Please, William.” I squirmed, restless and aching. How I loved the feel of his hands on me. “Touch me.”

Those blue eyes darkened. A shivering heat raced up and down my skin, raising the fine hairs on my body. With a growl, he lowered his head, nuzzling his face against my neck. The scrape of his whiskers against my sensitive skin sent shiver after shiver tiptoeing over my form. Heaven, pure heaven.

His hot breath seared my chest as he pressed soft kisses toward the valley between my breasts. I shifted underneath him, trying to ease the gathering ache low in my belly. It didn’t help, only heightened the pain. I slid my hands up his arms, over the tense muscles and toward his broad shoulders. I wanted to memorize every moment, every detail.

“So damn good,” he whispered, his voice a velvety rumble.

His tongue darted out, drawing languidly over my breasts. My fingernails dug into his shoulders as his lips found a nipple. Dear God, I couldn’t take much more. Those nine years ago we’d been so very passionate, frantic to touch each other and douse the flames. This time was slower…gentler. Pure torture.

“I am determined to savor every moment,” he stated.

“That’s unfortunate, as I’m determined to have you as soon as possible,” I replied sullenly.

He laughed, a deep chuckle that rumbled from him. That laughter meant more to me than he could ever realize. I’d made him smile. It had been so very, very long. I couldn’t help but grin, feeling as if I’d won a major battle. But then his hands moved up my thighs as his lips drew a hardened bud into his warm, wet mouth and all amusement fled.

I gasped, arching my back as a bolt of pleasure shot through me. It was too much. Much too much. I could feel the bulge of his cock straining against his trousers and pressing into my thigh. His velvet tongue slid a path down my belly, around my naval. I whimpered, shifting restlessly.

Was it torture or heaven? I wasn’t sure. Perhaps both.

Slowly, he moved down my body, his heated lips trailing over my stomach…lower…lower. I wriggled underneath him, desperate and hoping for more. “William?”

“Shhh.” He parted my thighs with strong fingers, exposing the most vulnerable part of me to his gaze. “God, you’re beautiful.”

Before I could blush over his compliment, he lowered his head. My thighs tensed. I felt the heat of his breath right before his tongue darted out, sliding between my folds. Desire pooled low in my belly, the ache between my legs twisting almost painfully. When his thumb brushed the sensitive bud shielding my femininity I almost lost control.

I slid my fingers into his hair, gripping tightly. “Yes, William, please.”

With a growl, he tore away from me. I was left dazed, bemused on the bed while he dropped his trousers. I had only a moment to memorize his form. The broadness of his shoulders, his hard thighs, the muscles tight and taut beneath his skin, and…his erection, so very long and thick jutting out from between his legs.

He lowered, covering me with his tall, muscled form. The thump of my heart was almost painful. Instead of fear or anxiety, I only felt desire. His muscled thighs pressed to mine, his cock hard and hot between us.

“I’ve waited for this for years,” he whispered.

His mouth found mine, his tongue delving between my lips as his knee parted my thighs. I wanted him to feel the same pleasure I felt. I wanted him to feel the connection, the need, the desire. I slid my hands into his hair, cupping the back of his head and holding him close, afraid he would pull away. Terrified this was all a dream.

“I love you, William,” I whispered against his lips. “I’ve always loved you. I love the way you laugh, the way your eyes match the blue sky. I love the taste of you. I love you because you want to be better than your father…”

With a growl, he thrust inside me. I gasped, arching my back and taking him deeper. A heated flush of desire swept over me…drowning…drowning. William slid his hands under my bottom, lifting me higher as he plunged into my heat. Our sleek sweaty bodies writhed against each other. Deep, so very deep, he was buried to the hilt. I wrapped my arms tightly around his neck, clinging to him, but it wasn’t enough. I wanted to crawl into his soul, become one with the man who had stolen my heart.

“Come for me,” he demanded.

I wrapped my legs around his thighs, lifting as he thrust into me. The aching desire twisted almost painfully. Release. I needed that sweet release. My nails bit into his shoulders as he rocked against me, sending me higher…higher toward that crest of pleasure.

“William!” I cried out as the world around me exploded.

Vaguely I was aware of his groan as he surged into me one last time, the warmth of his seed pouring into my womb. He was still pulsing inside of me moments later as he whispered words of endearment in my ear, silly, lovely words.

Exhausted, I let my lashes flutter down, my breathing harsh. It was as he pulled out of me and I curled against his side that I realized he hadn’t said he loved me back.