After an afternoon spent assessing damage and penning quick letters to Giles and Lord Englemere detailing the situation, Davie arrived back at the main house to find Faith had already dined and was about to tuck her sons in for the night. Invited to accompany her to give them the latest news, for, she said, their conversation all afternoon had concerned him and the extraordinary events of the day, he gladly followed in her wake as she took the stairs up to the nursery.
Acutely conscious of her lovely form beside him, torn between impatience to get her alone and uncertainty over whether he should wait a while longer before delivering his proposal, or try his luck at once, he followed her up.
The boys’ exclamations of delight at seeing him were gratifying, if counter-productive to their mother’s desire to settle them to sleep. ‘I’m glad to see you, too, boys, but I shouldn’t have come to bid you goodnight, if I’d thought I would keep you from your bedtime. It’s been a long day, for you and your mama, and you all need to rest.’
‘All the horses are safe, aren’t they?’ Matthew asked, as the boys subsided against their pillows.
‘And the dogs?’ Colin added.
‘Yes. All the livestock are unharmed. Much of the stable wing will need rebuilding, but we found space in barns on the neighbouring farms to house the dogs and horses while the work is done.’
‘Can we continue our riding lessons?’ Matthew asked.
‘I imagine you can, but that will be up to your mama.’
‘You were very brave, Mr Smith, staying there to face the crowd,’ Edward said.
‘It’s easier to be brave when you know you are right, and that by standing firm, you can protect people.’
‘I was scared!’ Matthew admitted. ‘Maybe when I grow as big as you, I won’t be.’
‘I’ll bet you won’t be,’ Davie replied with a chuckle.
‘Mama, why did you tell that man the crowd came to help us, when they came to burn the stables?’ Edward asked.
‘Sometimes people get so angry, they do things they regret. The penalties under law for destroying property and threatening people are very harsh,’ Faith explained. ‘Having them arrested would hurt their families. I wanted to give them the chance to reconsider their behaviour, and do better in future.’
‘Why were they so angry?’ Matthew asked.
‘Laws have changed, and many people lost the right to use common land to grow vegetables or keep a cow or chickens. That’s made it hard for them to feed their families. They wanted to elect officials who could change that, and a few days ago, the new law that might helped do that was voted down. They felt they had lost something precious, and been betrayed in the bargain.’
‘You mean like someone wanted to take away all their jam tarts, and leave them only a fish?’ Colin said.
Faith smiled. ‘Worse than that. Take all the jam tarts, all the fish, and leave them hungry.’
‘I’d be mad, too,’ Colin decided.
‘So you see, they weren’t angry at you, just disappointed that they’d not received the help they expected. They acted hastily, without thinking first, as we all do sometimes,’ Davie said.
‘So...we’ll be safe here, tonight?’ Matthew asked.
‘I would never let anything happen to you or your mama,’ Davie promised.
With a little sigh, Colin snuggled into his pillow. ‘I think I can sleep now.’
‘Good,’ Faith said, kissing him on the forehead. ‘Tomorrow will be better.’
‘Can we go fishing again?’ Matthew’s drowsy voice asked.
‘Perhaps. I’ll have to talk with the staff. We might have to tend the dogs while they start the rebuilding on the stables.’
‘Building!’ Matt’s sleepy eyes opened wider. ‘Can I use a hammer?’
‘Very possibly. But now, you must sleep.’
‘Thank you for helping us today, Mr Smith,’ Edward said. ‘I was happy to let you protect Ashedon Court for me.’
‘And I was privileged to do it,’ Davie replied solemnly.
‘Goodnight, boys,’ Faith said.
‘Goodnight, Mama. Goodnight, Mr Smith,’ they chorused.
Together they tiptoed out the nursery door and walked down the long hall. ‘How about a brandy?’ Faith asked. ‘I might even join you in one.’
‘An excellent idea. If you will guide me to the library. Otherwise, I may wander all night without finding the way.’
Chuckling, she led him down the hallway, across a landing that overlooked the Great Hall, down a staircase into another wing. The odour of smoke increased notably as they proceeded.
Wrinkling her nose, she said, ‘Thank heavens the smoke penetrated only as far as the central block. I don’t think we could sleep, if the smell were as strong in the bedchamber wing.’
‘I’m just glad they didn’t succeed in setting fire to the whole place.’
‘True,’ she agreed, walking into the library and pouring him a brandy from the decanter on the sideboard, then pouring one for herself.
‘You were serious,’ he said, raising his eyebrows.
‘Indeed,’ she retorted. ‘There’s something about watching your stables burn down, your house being torched and your children menaced, that creates quite a thirst.’
Some of his earlier anxiety for her safety recurred, sending a shudder through him. ‘Thank the Lord it didn’t go any further.’
She nodded. ‘Thank Him—and you. When you jumped down from your horse this afternoon, I was never so glad to see anyone in my life! Just having you nearby makes me feel safer.’
He bit his tongue on the urge to propose here and now. Instinct warned that, with things just returning to a semblance of normalcy after a day of chaos, it wasn’t the moment to suggest she disrupt her whole life again. ‘I hope I can always keep you safe,’ was all he allowed himself. ‘In fact, let me urge you to accompany me back to your sister at Highgate Village. I don’t believe there will be more trouble, but I wouldn’t like to risk it. You’ll need the stable rebuilt and a complete airing of the main house before it’s truly habitable again; you could have that visit with your sister while the work is underway. By the time it’s complete, we should be close to finally passing the Reform Bill, ending any further threat for good.’
After sitting thoughtfully for a moment, she nodded in agreement. ‘It would be better to move the boys from any possible danger, and no one could enjoy living in this smoke. Large as this manse is, it will take for ever to fully air it out.’
‘Hire as many as you can from the village to help. They’ll be glad of the wages, which will also sweeten the mood of the surrounding area.’
‘Another good suggestion.’ Taking one last sip of brandy, she set down the glass. ‘Suddenly I’m weary. Will you walk with me back to the bedchamber wing? I wouldn’t want you to get lost and end up sleeping on a trestle in the Great Hall.’
Now that they were alone, in the intimate camaraderie of candlelight and darkness, the desire always simmering beneath the surface intensified. The mere mention of ‘bedchamber’ made his member leap in anticipation. Having her escort him to his chamber was probably a very bad idea.
Before he could answer, she continued. ‘I have to admit, I still feel a shiver down my spine, every time I turn my back.’ She shook her head. ‘I’m as bad as Colin! But I’ve never experienced such...naked animosity. It was...unsettling. How magnificently you handled the crowd, though!’
‘Nothing like a little reminder of the gallows to make men reconsider their rashness,’ he said wryly, finishing his own brandy.
While she blew out the candles on the sideboard, he picked up a brace, then escorted her from the darkened room. Shadows danced along her face as he walked her down the hallways, the battle between desire and good sense intensifying with each step.
He was barely able to breathe by the time she halted in front of a door. ‘This chamber is mine,’ she said, her voice as unsteady as his heartbeat. ‘Would you go inside with me, and make sure no rioters lurk in the corners?’
His mind immediately played with the words of her request, bringing up images of another sort of penetration. His mouth too dry for speech, he merely nodded before opening the door and walking in, Faith trailing behind him. After making a circuit with the candelabra, shedding light across a sitting area, the hearth, a dressing table...and then back to a wide, four-poster bed, he set the candelabra on the bedside table and made himself walk back to the open door.
Halting there, he had to swallow twice before he could get any words out. ‘Goodnight, Faith. Sleep well.’
She stepped over, closed the door and turned to face him. ‘Oh, Davie,’ she whispered. ‘You don’t really mean to leave me all alone tonight, do you?’
He ought to, but desire seemed to have snuffed out reason as completely as Faith had extinguished the candles in the library. He simply stood, unable to make himself quit the room, every bit of will engaged in keeping himself from picking her up and carrying her to the bed.
‘Don’t go,’ she whispered again. Reaching up to cup his face in her hands, she leaned up and kissed him.
And, as always, he was lost.
* * *
In the time it took him to register the touch of her mouth against his, her kiss turned from tentative to frantic and demanding. Anxiety relieved, passion long denied—whatever it was, it drove him as powerfully as it did her. Opening to her, he scoured her tongue with his own.
She clung to him with one arm, trying with her other hand to raise her skirts high enough to wrap her legs around his. Still kissing her, their mouths locked, he picked her up and carried her to the bed. Perched on the edge, she yanked at his neckcloth, unravelling the knot and pulling the length free, jerking the neckline of his shirt open until she could slide her hands up and under, the imprint of her fingers sizzling against his bare skin.
As he leaned her against the pillows, driving his tongue into her, she pulled his hands to her breasts, gasping into his mouth as he rubbed his thumbs across nipples so rigid, he could feel their hardness through the layers of chemise and gown. She sought his hardness, too, trying to grasp and stroke the erection straining against his trouser front, fumbling for the buttons.
Knowing he’d never last if she touched him there, wanting her satisfaction to be complete and overwhelming, he pushed her hands away. Apparently misunderstanding his intent, she began tugging up her skirts.
But he was a large man. Not knowing how long since she’d last been loved—not wanting to know—and intent on giving her pleasure unmarred by discomfort, he helped her pull up the skirts, bunching them around her hips until the pale skin of her thighs gleaned in the candlelight. But instead of uncovering himself to straddle her, as she urged, he caressed his fingers up her legs, over her knees, across the bare skin of her thighs, over the softness of her stomach.
She cried out, thrusting her hips against his hand. And so he moved his fingers lower, stroking across her cleft, where she was hot, and wet, and oh so ready. Bending to kiss her again, his gentle fingers massaged and caressed, back and forth across that tender ridge in time to the thrusts of their tongues, until a few seconds later, she reached her peak and cried out, going rigid in his arms.
He let her sag back against the pillows, laying his cheek against her head while they both gasped for breath. But before he could move away and ease himself on to the pillows beside her, she thrust her hips against his hand again.
‘More, my darling?’ he whispered, giving her a tender kiss.
‘More, please,’ she whispered.
Quite ready to continue, he trailed his fingers from her centre down one bare thigh, up the other and back. Bending to kiss her again, he slid one slick finger into her warm depths. He felt the tremor within her as she gasped and angled her hips to invite him further. Stroking deeper, he inserted another finger, then another, stretching her, filling her, sliding in and out until, her hands clutching his shoulders, she shattered again.
This was bliss, he thought, gathering her against him, kissing her damp forehead, exulting at the response he’d drawn from her. But he shouldn’t be surprised that his tree-climbing, crowd-confronting, tender-hearted Faith was as passionate as she was fiercely loving.
While he reclined in a euphoria of pleasant, if unsatisfied, satisfaction, she stirred against him. ‘Ah, Davie, that was wonderful,’ she murmured. ‘But I want to feel you inside me. All of you. Now. Please.’
As she spoke, she worked open the buttons of his trouser flap, freeing the straining erection. Stroking him, she said, ‘I think you want that, too.’
Her hand still on him, she lowered herself against the pillows and urged him down over her. So close to breaking under the stimulation of her touch, he knew he couldn’t hold back much longer, he gasped, ‘No, not like that!’ Gently removing her hand, he rolled to his back and held out his arms to her. ‘I’d crush you, sweetheart. Ride me instead.’
‘Willingly.’
And not only was she willing, wicked wench that she was, she retained enough of the presence of mind he was fast losing to be able to tease, straddling him and running a finger along his swollen length before guiding him home. Even then, she eased herself down on him gently, inviting possession one slow bit at a time, until he was nearly mad from restraining the wild motion his body craved.
But once she’d fully sheathed him, ah, then, she too abandoned any pretence of patience, moving with him in hard, frantic thrusts that soon had them both spinning into the abyss together.
* * *
Some time later, Davie drifted awake, floating happily in the grip of the most splendid dream he’d ever had—making love to Faith, falling asleep with her cradled in his arms, awakening to the warmth of her beside him, her soft breathing the only sound in a chamber gilded by flickering candlelight.
In the moment he realised the experience was real, not just the most vivid dream he’d ever had, a sense of awe and wonder suffused him.
He must convince Faith to marry him. Having tasted such magnificent joy, how could he go back to the dull greyness of a life without her?
Then she stirred and smiled up at him. ‘‘Oh, Davie, I’ve never been so happy.
‘Nor have I, my darling,’ he said, smiling back.
‘Well, that is, I could be a little happier. If we dispensed with all these annoying garments.’
He grinned. ‘Happy to oblige, my angel. Shall I blow out the candles first?’
‘No, don’t.’ Her merry eyes grew serious. ‘I want to see you. All of you. Oh, how often I’ve dreamed of it! I want to see every bit.’
Everything within him stirred and tightened at her request. ‘Only if I can see all of you in return.’
To his delight, despite her boldness earlier, a shy blush coloured her cheeks. ‘If that would please you.’
‘How often I’ve imagined it,’ he echoed her response, that prospect the ultimate fulfilment of all his many dreams.
‘Then imagine no more.’
She eased from the bed and offered him the laces at her back. Swiftly he undid them, helped her out of her bodice, then her skirt. When she turned, the outline of her breasts clear under thin linen of the chemise, he had to halt long enough to kiss them, his member stirring as he cupped each full, heavy round. He had to stop again after he’d pulled off her chemise to suckle the soft pink nipples into rigid points, before caressing his way down her legs as he stripped off stockings and garters.
When she stood before him, fully naked, he could only stare, mesmerised. ‘You’re even more lovely than I imagined.’
‘My turn,’ she said, her voice trembling. Distracted by her nakedness, he was scarcely aware of shrugging off his jacket and vest, kicking off the already-unbuttoned breeches, peeling down his hose, until a draught of wind that rattled the shutters sent a cold breath of air to prickle his skin.
All he cared about was her molten gaze, fixed on him. ‘What a wonder you are,’ she whispered, running her fingers over the breadth of his shoulders, his chest, down arms and thighs whose muscles tensed at her touch. ‘So big, so powerful. Such pleasure you give me.’ Before he could guess her intent, she bent and kissed his erection.
Dizzied by the intensity of his response, he clutched at her shoulders to steady himself. Before the pleasure of it made him lose his balance entirely, she pulled him over to the bed, driving him mad again as she suckled and caressed. Knowing he was nearing the peak, he moved away from her, breaking contact.
Ignoring his body’s protest, he slid to his knees before her. ‘I want to taste satisfaction on you,’ he whispered. The sloe-eyed seduction of her gaze spurring him on, gently he parted her legs and plied with his tongue the tender areas his fingers and shaft had pleasured, until she was pressing against him, sobbing for release.
She motioned him back on to the bed, pulling him up, pushing him back against the pillows, sheathing him to the hilt in one swift thrust. There was no pretence of teasing this time, just urgent, relentless movement that drove them both to completion.
Sated, dazzled, Davie subsided against the pillows. Exhausted after the anxiety of the day and his long hours of riding, he tucked Faith against his chest, blew out the candles, pulled the blankets over them, and fell immediately into the most contented sleep of his life.