Lord Greyton's Fall From Grace (Lords of Avalon Novella Series) (17 page)

“
Just making certain, my dearest,
” Owen whispered
so
close to her ear
she felt his lips against her skin
.
“If you are tender we can wait-“

“I am fine, Owen.” Grace assured him.

Owen grinned down at her
.
“Perfect. After our party retires and the house
hold
has quieted, I shall come through the connecting door to you
r
chamber, my love,” h
e again whispered.

“You had better.”

“There is nothing that could keep me away from you tonight, Grace.”

His thumb caressed
her
fingers
as
he held
her
hand
.
His fingers splayed
upon
her back w
ere
warm as he pressed her slightly closer to him.
Grace smiled up at him
.
Everything
about her relationship with Owen seemed so magical
.

Owen vowed to himself to
make certain this night was perfect for them both
.

Jack chose not to dance, for there were far more gentlemen than ladies
.
His gaze eventually rested on Lady Tuesday who sat
looking
rather forlorn in the corner
across the room
.
She smiled at something Lady Elizabeth said to her though he knew it was forced. There was not the usual light in Lady Tuesday’s eyes
.
Since when had he taken notice o
f Lady Tuesday’s eyes or her moods for that matter
?
He hoped at that moment it was true what Lyon said of Italian women
, t
hat they were extremely passionate and eager to please
.
He’d find himself a passionate Italian mistress while they were in Italy
.
Indeed he would.

Lady Tuesday looked up and met his gaze
.
She gave him a brilliant smile
.
Jack merely nodded and turned
away, but not before he saw
disappointment dim her blue eyes
.
Blast
!

Moments later h
e watched Micah lead Lady Elizabeth to their makeshift dance floor
.
He chanced another glance at Lady Tuesday
.
She looked quite sad
and unhappy
.
It ate at him
.
Finally he
stood
and walked toward the corner where Lady Tuesday sat alone
.

“Lady Tuesday, may I join you?” Jack asked as he approached her
.

She seemed rather surprised and nodded, motioning for him to sit down
.
“Of course.
Please sit,
Lord Elveston.”

Jack
could
smell her perfume.
J
asmine,
the scent was
sweet and light
.
Sitting so close
to her
, he realized a man could drown in her large, brilliant
azure
eyes
.
Her eyes were defined by golden brown brows and
f
ramed by incredibly long
and thick
brown lashes tipped in gold
.
He realized the demure cut of her gown made her look more girl-like than woman
.
Up close, her full rosy lips,
those incredible eyes
, and the fact that he presently
watched her more than adequate
bosom rise as she took a deep breath screamed the essence of a woman to him
.
In fact, Jack felt a tightening in his groin without even laying a hand on her.
It perplexed him.
Trouble
.

“Charlie says
the remain
s
of the city you will be excavating
were
buried by a volcano,”
Tuesday decided she must
attempt to
make intelligent conversation.

“Yes
.
I am eager to see what we can find
.
There is rumored to be a Temple
there
.”

“Yes,
Charlie says
that you gentlemen believe it
to be the Temple
of Venus,
” Tuesday continued, “I should like to see Rome and
even the
city
you are excavating someday
.
I am very interested in history, especially the Greek and Roman era.”

“Are you?” Jack had not known Charl
ie’s sister shared his passion for
history.
Her interest was genuine as evidenced by the light in her
quite lovely
eyes
as she spoke
.

“Yes, I read a great deal
.
Plato, Socrates, Pliney,
Josephus,
and
Tacitus,
I could go on.
” She shrugged.
“
I have read m
any things written by Julius Cae
sar
.
I am also interested in Alexandri
a, es
pecially the lost library
.
Oh, a
nd Cleopatra
.
Her great-great granddaughter was Zenobia
, Queen
of Palmyra, did you know that?”

“
I did not
.
I find that very interesting, Lady Tuesday
.”
So the girl
,
who
m
he suddenly realized
was
indeed
a woman, was also intelligent
and a scholar
.
Trouble
!
Jack fought the urge to take the beauty outside to the veranda to steal a kiss. He was surprised that he actually lust
ed
after Charlie’s sister
!
Heaven help him
.
But he could dance with her, surely Char
lie would not object to that.
She
sat
here all alone, looking sad and forlorn
. W
ell
,
she
seemed rather glum
until he’d arrived
to sit with her
, in any case
.
The
sounds of the pianoforte stopped
.
Jack looked to Tuesday, “Would you care to dance
the next
, Lady Tuesday
?”

“I would.
T
hank you, Lord Elveston.”

Jack could not miss the breathtaking smile Lady Tuesday bestowed upon him
.
He returned her smile.

The dance
was a
Q
uadrille
and thus offered
less
intimate contact
than
a waltz
.
There were only three couples dancing
.
But when he held Tuesday’s
hand
, even for a few seconds, Jack experienced the strangest
sensation
.
He couldn’t explain
the overpowering rush of energy
that resembled lust, but
was infinitely
more powerful if that were possible
.
Since he could not explain
the odd experience
and since Charlie’s eyes never left him while he danced with his sister
;
Jack bowed to Lady Tuesday
at the end of
the dance
. A
fter
politely thank
ing
her
, h
e removed to the
b
illiard room where
Harry
and
Lyon
amused themselves
.
No doubt there would be a fine snifter of brandy available
.

The large clock in the entry
gonged the
midnight
hour
as
Owen finally made his way upstairs
.
This had been the most incredible day
.
He and Grace spent almost every moment together
.
Even when they were across the room from one another, their eyes would meet
.
They exchanged smiles
.
Oh, he took a great deal of ribbing in the library from his comrades after the ladies re
tired
.
It mattered not
.
He was
madly, deeply and passionately in love with Grace Brackenridge
.

He only wished her father had allowed him to secure their engagement before he left
.
But he loved Grace, he trusted her and she promise
d him
she would wait for him to return.

And tonight, he could
make
love
to
her
throughout
the
night
.
He could s
how her how he felt
.
He hardened at the thought of finally seeing Grace completely naked
.
He hurried down the corridor to his chamber
.
He entered, removed
his coat, shirt and waistcoat, and his boots
.
He opened the connecting door. A lone candle burned
on the bedside table
.
Grace slept in the midst of the l
arge testered bed.

He eased himself onto the mattress beside his lady
.
A gentleman would let her sleep, he reasoned, but he wasn’t going to lose a moment of time he could spend making love to his lady in the Viscountess’ bed
.

He untied the ribbon of her nightrail and pulled the neckline down to reveal her beautiful breasts
.
He caressed them until she stirred
.
Her gorgeous
dark
eyes opened
.
She smiled and stretched before wrapping her arms around his neck
.
Owen kissed her passionately
.
He sat her up and
pulled
her nightrail
over her head
.
His gaze swept hungrily over her lovely body, her slender waist, her
full,
pert breasts
,
the lovely curve of her hips
and her shapely legs
.
He stood and removed his trousers.

Grace looked at Owen’s hard erection, standing straight up.
She remembered how it felt that morning to have him inside her
.
She reached out and caressed him
.

Owen stepped closer to the bed
.
Grace ran her hand up and down his hard length
.
Grace looked up to see his jaw
held rigid and
his eyes dark
en
.
The knowledge that
she was giv
ing him pleasure proved to be a most
exhilarating feeling
.

Owen allowed Grace to caress him
for awhile.
When he feared her sweet touch might do him in, he
gently
removed her hand
.
He
slid into the bed beside her
and gaz
ed at her lovely body
.
He looked
his fill of her
then dipped his head
, drawing one
pert
nipple into his mouth
.

Grace threaded her hands through his dark hair
.
After
he spent some time at her bre
a
sts,
Owen moved
farther
down her torso
.
His lips paid homage to her ribs, her flat belly and moved
beyond
to the
dark
curls between her thighs
.