An Earl to Enchant (18 page)

“For a time, yes.”

They fell silent as they worked their way up the path. She followed Morgan’s footsteps all the way to the top of the cliff, where she stopped and stared out over the water. She was filled with longing she didn’t completely understand. When she got to London, she would miss the coast, the stables, the gardens, and watching Master Brute, but nothing would compare to the way she would miss the earl. She swallowed hard and took a deep breath. He didn’t want to want her, or to touch her. She had to accept that no matter how difficult it was.

“I know you are glad we made it without any falls or accidents,” she said in a happier tone than she was feeling, making her way over to where she had left her shoes.

She started to slip her wet, gritty foot into her slipper, but Morgan stopped her by saying, “Wait.”

He pulled his coat off the saddle and laid it on the ground. “Sit down on my coat. I’ll dry your feet before you put your shoes on.”

She gave him a grateful smile and said, “That is not necessary, my lord.”

His gaze wafted up and down her face. “I know, but I want to do this. Sit down.”

Arianna acquiesced and sat down on his coat. She placed her hands on the ground behind her and leaned back, extending one foot to him.

Morgan dropped to his knees before her. She watched as, much to her surprise, he tugged his collarless shirt out of the waistband of his breeches and pulled it over his head. Arianna’s heart jumped up to her throat and stalled her breathing. He looked like Adonis. His wide, lean-muscled chest and arms rippled with his movements. She had never seen a man’s chest before, and she was amazed at how beautiful Morgan was.

He laughed. “You looked stunned. What’s the matter? Never seen a man without his shirt before?”

His laughter was contagious. She relaxed and returned his smile. “No, I haven’t. I had no idea you would be so beautiful beneath your clothing.”

He gave her a smile that let her know he appreciated her compliment.

Arianna wasn’t prepared for the shock of pleasure that shot through her when he caught her heel in the palm of his hand and cupped it gently, solidly. She was instantly engulfed by eager desire when he raked his other hand up and down the lower part of her leg, slowly wiping away the sand and traces of salt water with his shirt. As he rubbed up and down the lower part of her leg, the soft fabric sluiced away the sand.

He dropped the shirt to the ground and tenderly massaged the back of her calf all the way up to the back of her knee and down again to her ankle. Arianna gasped with pleasure at his boldness. Luxuriant sensations stirred and mounted warmly inside her. The sensual touch of his hands started a heat low in her stomach. The warmth curled and wove its way up to her breasts and teased them before skittering down to the center of her womanhood and making a nest of hunger.

She was mesmerized by his kneeling in front of her, his bare chest gleaming in the bright moonlight. His hands skimmed her skin. The motion of his palm sliding up and down her leg was decidedly erotic. She watched the bulge of his taut muscles in his chest and arms. Her breaths grew short and choppy. At times, she wasn’t sure she was breathing at all.

Arianna had never even thought about the possibility of a man touching her so intimately, holding her foot, wiping her legs, and it was titillating. His hand slid down to her ankle and across her foot to the end of her toes. His palm quickly slid up the back of her calf once again and gently kneaded her firm muscle.

Morgan didn’t bother to glance at her but kept his attention on what he was doing. He gently lowered her foot to the ground and grasped the other. He followed the same sensuous routine, first wiping the sand and saltwater from her skin with his shirt and then making sure every grain of sand was brushed away with the smoothness of his hand before leaving in its wake her body shaking with pent-up desire.

His hand caressed, massaged, and teased her leg and her foot. The slow spreading of sensuality was delicious, languorous, seeping into her, warming her until she thought she would reach down and grab him up to her breast and kiss him madly. She felt weak with a wanting she was frantic to explore and understand. A hot dizziness whirled in her head.

While still caressing her leg, Morgan finally glanced at her and looked into her eyes. She knew he saw exactly how he was making her feel—like a woman who wanted him to take her. She didn’t have to tell him. Words weren’t necessary to communicate that she wanted him to give her what his hands were promising.

He swallowed hard.

The moon glow flickered off his dark hair and sparkled in his bright blue eyes. The sensual touch of his fingers stopped, and the warmth of his hands lay still on her bare skin.

A few days ago, Arianna had wondered if she loved Morgan. She no longer had to wonder. She now knew she loved him with all her heart, but she didn’t know how to let him know. She didn’t know how to ask him to show her how a man made love to a woman. And she was out of time. She couldn’t stay longer than a few more hours. She must go to London.

Still, with all her heart, she yearned to be with Morgan before she left. How could she let him know that?

Suddenly, over his shoulder she saw the distant streak of a shooting star light up the black sky. She quickly closed her eyes and wished that Morgan would deny his honor and finish what he had started inside her. If only once, so that she would have something to dream about in the coming weeks, months, and years.

She had to let him know.

Arianna rose up very close to him, and in a voice far huskier than she intended for it to be, she said, “You are seducing me.”

His hand ran up her leg, and his gaze fell on hers with his penetrating blue eyes. “No.”

“Yes, my lord, you are.”

Morgan sat back on his heels. “That is not what I intended.”

“No, my lord, it is what you have been offering me all night, and I accept. I want to be your lover.”

Fourteen

My Dearest Grandson Lucas,

Some considered Lord Chesterfield pompous, but that was never the case with him. He was simply a Master at life’s little lessons. Read this one and remember it when life becomes difficult as I can attest to the fact that it certainly will: “I always made the best of the best, and never made bad worse by fretting.”

Your loving Grandmother,

Lady Elder

Morgan was doomed.

Arianna was right. He was seducing her. But why in the hell he was doing it, he had no idea. But did she know what she was asking him? He didn’t think she did, but he certainly knew the ramifications of seducing an innocent, and he wasn’t prepared to accept any of them.

Arianna’s gaze raked like hot coals over his body. And what the devil was he thinking to take off his shirt and offer to dry her feet?

Because she enchanted him.

There was no mystery, no doubt of his attraction to her. It was the simple truth.

His hands lay innocently on her leg. He made no attempt to move them. Bright moonlight shone down from the twinkling black sky, making it very easy for Morgan to read Arianna’s face. Her eyes were glazed with passion. She was as aroused as he was. The first time he had kissed her, he’d recognized her untapped sensuality, and ever since, he had longed to explore it with her. And right now, he was dying to bring it to life and release it, and drown himself in it.

She was eager for his touch, and that made his wanting her all the more difficult. He didn’t know why, but unlike all the other proper young ladies he had kissed, she put no boundaries on him. Perhaps it was that she had lived in another country and felt freer; maybe it was her advanced age, but then, it didn’t really matter why. The undeniable truth was that instead of pushing him away, as any sensible young lady should do, she always eagerly accepted his touch.

And while he was thrilled she was so willing, he couldn’t oblige her. He was determined not to take away her innocence, no matter how alluring she was. It was a long-standing vow he made to himself years ago. There were enough women, who had already known a man, willing to share their beds with him; Morgan had never wanted to trifle with an innocent.

But here he was, tempted, really tempted for the first time in his life to break his vow and give in to Arianna Sweet’s charms.

Suddenly, Arianna smiled at him. Why the devil was she smiling? This was no smiling matter. Damnation, she had to know that taking her innocence was a hell of a thing to ask of him.

She placed her hands on the ground behind her again and leaned back. “Has the cat got your tongue?” she asked when he remained silent for so long after her provocative statement.

Couldn’t she see how weak he was where she was concerned? He had to stop the tension building between them. She was too appealing. It was dangerous for both of them.

“Arianna, you find the most inconvenient times to quote Lord Chesterfield.”

“Who is this man Lord Chesterfield? You’ve mentioned him several times before. Would it be possible for me to meet him some time?”

This might be his salvation. If they talked about Chesterfield, it would surely take his mind off giving her what she wanted and quite possibly ease the heaviness in his breeches, too. Maybe for once in Morgan’s life, the pompous Earl of Chesterfield could actually do something to help him.

“You would have to go beyond the grave to do it,” Morgan said, “because he died more than thirty years ago. He wasn’t so famous during his life, but shortly after his death, more than one hundred letters that he’d written over several years to his son, his godson, and others were published and have now been read by most anyone who can read. That is when and how he acquired his fame.”

“He must have been a very intelligent man to have had his letters published.”

“Perhaps to some like my grandmother, but to me and my cousins, he was an egotistical braggart who felt it was his duty to bend, shape, and control the life of his adult son.”

“Then why do you quote him so often?”

He gave her a quizzical glance and started rubbing the bottom of her foot. “I don’t, you do.”

She laughed, gently shaking her shoulders. Just looking at her so relaxed made him feel good and warm inside.

“You are a puzzle. I couldn’t possibly quote him. I had never heard of him until you mentioned him. You are the one who always mentions him to me.”

“I guess that is because he was a good friend to my grandmother,” Morgan said, his hand leaving her foot to caress its way up her leg once again and then back to the arch of her foot.

“Tell me about her.”

“Lady Elder was an exceptional person in many ways, but there were numerous times in my life when I wished she had never met Lord Chesterfield. If he had not been almost deaf and infirm when she met him, I believe she would have married him.”

“I think I would like to read his letters and make up my own mind about him. From what you have told me, he seems such a clever fellow.”

Morgan let out a half laugh, half grunt. “Most people considered him a very wise and humorous man who had an artful way of writing words, but my cousins and I never felt that way.”

“Simply because you didn’t like what he wrote to his son?”

“Not exactly. From the time we were seventeen until my grandmother’s death, she sent us a letter at the beginning of each month without fail, and they always contained quotes from Chesterfield.”

“She penned a letter to all three of you every month? That’s quite amazing.”

“Yes. She always started her letters to me with ‘My dearest grandson Lucas,’ knowing that no one had called me by my given name since I was twelve. And she always ended her letters with ‘Your loving Grandmother, Lady Elder.’”

“I think that makes her sound very protective of you, and very kind.”

“I’m sure she considered it one of her great missions in life. The only thing her letters ever said was something along the lines of: ‘Here are more wise words from Lord Chesterfield,’ and then she would quote something from the exasperatingly pretentious old man.”

“Give me an example.”

“I tried my best never to remember anything the man said and usually don’t until you say something that sounds like one of his quotes.”

“All right,” she said, “I think it’s time we return to our original conversation anyway. Will you show me what happens between a man and a woman when they are all alone on the coast and sitting half dressed under the moonlight?”

She’s not going to give up.

Arianna sat on her buttocks and leaned back, supporting herself with her hands open on the ground. The simple white shift she wore lay invitingly against her breasts, her stomach, and the upper part of her legs. He should have insisted she put her cape back on the minute they made it back to Redmond.

The narrow ribbon that held her gown together at her throat had come untied, revealing the hollow of her throat, the gentle slope of her shoulder, and the beautiful rounded swell of her breasts. He glanced down at her foot. Her ankle was cupped in his hands, the sole of her foot resting snugly against his abdomen.

Her gorgeous hair spilled invitingly around her shoulders. He remembered that it smelled like a day that had been kissed with sunshine, and it felt like the finest of silk from the Orient.

“You don’t intend to answer me, do you?” she said.

His gaze held steady on hers, and he said, “Don’t tempt me, Arianna. I’m not as strong as you obviously think I am.”

Her gaze whipped down his chest to where he held her foot firmly in his hands, pressed between his legs, and then quickly back up to his eyes. “You look enormously strong to me.”

“As Lord Chesterfield was so fond of saying: ‘Looks can be deceiving.’”

“I won’t let you divert the conversation back to him again, Morgan. I’m asking you to show me what comes after kisses and caresses between a man and a woman. Do you not want to?”

Morgan was hurting. He wanted her so badly. He was a fool to think he could bring her out here, look at her, touch her, and not take her. He wanted her too much. Why did she have to be so eager and so damned responsive to his every touch? Why did she have to encourage him instead of rebuff him?

He told himself to push her away, leave her alone, get on Redmond, and ride like hounds from hell were nipping at his ankles, but he stayed put, caressing her foot. He had lost his willpower to move away from her.

He swallowed hard and managed to say, “Hell, yes, I want to, Arianna. I am not made of stone.”

She moved as if to rise up and meet him, but he lifted his hand and said, “No, stay where you are. I want to show you, but I will not.”

A gust of wind blew a strand of hair across her face, and she delicately moved it behind her ear, exposing her beautiful slender neck.

“I know what I’m asking is unconventional.”

“Immensely so, Arianna.”

“I don’t think you are giving me enough credit, Morgan. I am old enough to know what I want and to understand what I’m asking of you.”

He sighed heavily. “No, I don’t think you do. There are always consequences to what you are asking, and I’m not prepared to accept them.”

A warm breeze drifted across his face, and he closed his eyes and took a deep, solid breath, wishing the wind had been chilling so it could cool the heat in his loins. He opened his eyes and saw her watching him with wonder, with hunger in her eyes, and he knew what he must do.

He moved her foot so he could run his palm under her arch. He let his fingers slide in between her toes, and his gaze slid up her ankle, to her long and shapely leg, to her knee.

Right now, the way she was looking at him, the way he was feeling about her, he didn’t care if he ever got her back to the house. He was thinking, propriety be damned, and innocence could go to the devil. Would it really be so bad to be leg-shackled if it was to this tempting lady before him, who was so eager for his touch and all that he could show her and all he could make her feel?

“You think I would make demands on you, don’t you?” she questioned him in a soft voice.

“It has crossed my mind,” he admitted honestly, his open palm moving to her thigh with light caresses.

Every time he rubbed up, he went a little farther up her leg. With as little distraction as possible, he rose up from the back of his legs to rest his weight on his knees so he could continue on his present course. He caressed past her knee and let his hand disappear beneath the hem of her nightshift.

“I know you have no reason to trust in what I say, but I assure you I would not cry foul should anything unfortunate befall me from actions you took at my request.”

His hand inched farther up until he found her soft inner thigh, letting his fingers stop and hover just short of the center of her legs.

Her breathing quickened. Her eyes rounded with surprise. As he very lightly touched her warm skin, making it pebble with anticipation of what was to come, she gasped and trembled. It felt damn good to see how he was making her feel.

“I do believe it is easy enough to say that now, Arianna, while you want the education I could give you.”

Education? Had he really said that?

He stroked down with the pads of his fingers and up with the backs of his nails, loving the feel of her bare, heated skin. Her lips were slightly parted. Her shallow breaths were short and choppy, making her chest heave. He watched and savored the tremors of expectancy that shook her body.

“I suppose,” she said in a breathy voice, “that it is easier for me to say than it is for you to believe.”

“Most definitely.”

Morgan smiled. He was having the desired effect on her. She was having trouble focusing on their conversation, and Morgan loved the way he was making her feel. He moved his fingers to her innermost warmth, and she gasped again.

Her body tensed and then tightened. Her thighs caught his arm like a clamp. A trace of fear outlined her eyes, but he knew it would soon disappear and be replaced with a sensation so glorious that it couldn’t be adequately described by mere words.