The Witch's Thief (8 page)

“I don’t think this is wise,” Basil said, admitting he put her in danger with his pride and stubbornness. “Perhaps it’s time to call for Parker.”

“Absolutely not.” Julia stood, brushing her skirts and straightened. “We’ve made it this far. Why, we’re nearly half way.”

Basil nodded. If they reached his room, he’d be fine. He didn’t even need to make it to the bed. Even if she just shoved him in and closed the door so no one saw his crumpled form in the morning, he’d be forever grateful. Just so Aunt Petunia remained ignorant of her nephew’s debilitating illness.

They stumbled the rest of the way up the stairs. Basil did his best to concentrate on lifting one foot in front of the other, of taking each step without falling flat on his face and taking her with him. He did his best
not
to notice how her breast brushed against his chest while she leaned into him, giving him the full support he needed to stand. He did his best
not
to feel her womanly curves rubbing against him. And he tried
not
to inhale too deeply for the air surrounding her was filled with lilacs.

His mind screamed to concentrate on other things, like survival. His heart screamed that survival wasn’t living.

He never had the chance to know the feeling of wrapping his hands around her naked waist, pulling her body closer to his, losing himself inside her.

Basil clenched his eyes shut and shuddered, this time for a reason other than this dreaded disease.

He really must focus. This current line of thought was highly inappropriate.

And yet, he couldn’t stop fantasizing about her. The entire journey from the stairs, down the hall and to his room, he kept picturing her naked in his arms.

Oh, what a beautiful image!

After an eternity, they finally arrived at his doorstep. He leaned against the frame as she turned the knob and shoved open the door. She took a step forward, about to enter his room when he resisted.

“This is far enough.”

Her green gaze looked up, startled.

“However will you reach your bed? Do you plan to crawl?”

“Indeed, I may.” As he looked deeply into her eyes, he found sudden difficulty in breathing. She appeared winded, but for a different reason. After dragging his ailing carcass up the bloody stairs, the poor woman was winded. Tendrils of her hair had tumbled free of their restraints and now rested alongside her face, framing her beauty in a way that enchanted him. Tiny beads of sweat formed on her upper lip, and he felt the urge to wipe them away…with his lips. “It isn’t proper for a woman to enter a man’s bedchamber unless they are wed.”

“Under the circumstances, I believe we may forgo propriety,” she said, tilting her head to the side as she looked up.

He lifted his hand to curl a soft tendril of her hair around his finger. Her scent drifted over him. He took a deep breath, inhaling the lilac scented soap she used to wash her skin.

Julia gasped.

He looked back to her eyes. Recognition registered in her gaze. And hunger. The same hunger that surely mirrored his own.

Slowly, painfully slowly, his head dipped toward hers. He found he could not convince himself as to why kissing her might be a bad idea. How could it be otherwise? He kissed her when they were younger. What could it hurt to taste her once more?

His lips found hers.

A groan slipped from his throat. Or was it hers? Basil couldn’t be certain. All coherent thought left him as she surrendered to his touch. Her hands, which had been on his arm supporting him, now crept along his chest until they wrapped themselves around his neck, drawing him closer.

Her closed mouth now opened, welcoming his tongue to hers, welcoming him home.

Yes, he was, at last, home.

His heart knew, sensed, yearned it.

Basil kissed her deeply while leaning against the wall with trembling legs. He prayed for the strength to continue kissing her a moment longer before his legs collapsed and he tumbled to the floor.

Had he forgotten how wonderful her kisses made him feel? How delicious she tasted?

He found his memory had not served them justice. His heart pounded in a wild rhythm. He pulled her closer so she could feel his heart beating only for her.

Dizziness followed, and before he knew what happened, he slipped to the floor.

They tumbled onto the carpet in his room.

“Oof!” Julia said, as she landed atop him. Basil’s head struck the floor and pain spasmed down his back. But, when Julia squirmed over his body, her legs fumbling to find purchase, his pain was forgotten.

He clasped his arms around her, holding her prisoner against his body. She froze and looked into his eyes.

Hunger replaced her surprise, and again she kissed him. This time with her writhing body atop his. Basil barely breathed as she kissed him deeply, hungrily. His hands roamed her womanly terrain, exploring her body from the top of her head, where he gently extracted the pins from her hair, allowing the silky curls to fall covering him like a blanket, then flow along her shoulders and down her back. He found her derriere and pulled her closer, tighter to him, rubbing her along his hardness that she certainly must feel through the thin material of her dress.

Julia broke slightly away from their kiss.

“The door,” she whispered, before plunging her tongue back into his mouth.

Door? What door?

Oh, yes, the bedroom door was still wide open. No need to allow any wandering servants a chance to witness this. With his eyes still closed, his mouth still hungrily devouring hers, he moved his leg over, found the door and kicked it closed.

Then his hands were on her bodice. He slid the fabric down low until one breast popped free from its confines. He took her nipple in his mouth.

“Basil!” she cried, her fingers ravaged his hair, lifting his head to meet her breast.

He suckled her nipple, licking and nibbling. She cried out. When he finished his attentions on that particular breast, he lifted the other free and concentrated his mouth there.

Julia whispered his name over and over, stirring his passions higher with each syllable.

She tossed her head back, her long dark hair whipping in the air above him. His fingers found the fabric of her dress and slowly plucked the fabric upward, exposing her legs. Then he sat up, dragging her legs apart to straddle his waist. She sat on his lap and continued to kiss him. Sometimes her kisses drifted from his mouth to his chin, across his cheek to his ear. Her fingers combed through his hair and down to the remnants of his cravat. Her fingers flickered. She muttered a simple spell to undo the complicated knot, and it was free.

Then she yanked at the rest of his attire. Buttons undone, snaps freed, her fingers pulling and pushing, stretching the cloth across his chest in search for his skin. He tried to assist her. His mind was fogged with desire. He allowed her the control she needed to undress him. When his arm caught in his shirtsleeves, he struggled to free it. She wiggled her fingers again, whispering another spell, and his shirt dropped to the floor.

He had no idea those spells would come into such practical use. He chuckled and smiled against her lips.

And then his smiling vanished as her fingers found the expanse of skin on his chest. She ran her fingers all over him. His turn to groan. Her touch was timid, yet bold. Eager, yet wary. She explored his body for the first time, and he felt as if they had never been apart.

This was his Julia.

His
and no other.

Basil’s hands caressed the silkiness of her legs, running his fingers from her knees to her thighs. Her fingertips dug into his shoulders when his hand drifted closer to her womanhood. He slid the fabric of her undergarments away until he found the womanly curls at the juncture of her thighs.

She moaned, biting his lip when his fingers reached toward her hot dampness. He brushed against her bud.

She stilled suddenly, her shoulders tightening.

He froze at her response.

Basil opened his eyes. She stared, her cheeks charmingly flushed with passion, her lips swollen from his kisses, and her eyes filled with loving desire.

“I want this,” she said, her voice deep and sultry. “I want you.”

He needed no further encouragement. He plunged his finger inside of her.

Her eyelids fluttered closed, and her chin lifted upward. Her long hair hung down her back, and he couldn’t stop his free hand from tangling in that long luxurious hair. He rocked his other hand against her, thrusting his finger in and out, the muscles of her sex tightened against him. He added another digit, filling her further. She moaned in satisfaction.

He continued, faster and then slow, then fast again until her nails bit into shoulders, and her inner walls grew tight. Her breaths were coming in tiny gasps. When he rubbed his thumb against her swollen bud, she cried out and shuddered. He continued pumping his fingers into her, feeling her muscles clutching, grabbing to keep him inside during her climax.

And then he felt his own climax. He released inside his trousers, wetting the fabric with his seed.

How could he hold back after watching her passionate release? He never saw anything so beautiful.

When she could breathe again, she sagged against him. He gathered her into his arms, leaned back onto the floor and cradled her on his chest. She clung to him, her hands running small delicate circles against his chest.

“Amazing,” she said, her voice husky from spent passion. “I never knew it could be so…”

Basil’s heart skipped a beat.

“You’ve never…?”

She lifted her head to look at him.

“Of course not. I’ve never married.”

“No,” he said. “Of course not.”

She leaned back to gaze more fully into his face. “Did you think I’ve had previous relations with a man?”

He shrugged. “For ten years, I’ve imagined you married. For a moment, I forgot you were inexperienced.”

She nodded her understanding. “I’ve often wondered how it would feel to be with a man. I’ve never imagined doing such with anyone, except…”

She drifted off, her gaze falling to the floor. She bit her lip.

His finger found her chin, drawing her gaze back to focus on him.

“Anyone, except?”

“You.”

He inhaled, sharply.

She kissed him again. This time she was more relaxed, more playful. She nibbled at his lips, taking his lip between her teeth and tugging. He chuckled at her playfulness, and his member stirred to life. He sighed with contentment as she kissed him. When she felt him beginning to grow hard again, she found him with her hand. Her fingers skimmed across the length of him.

He broke away from her lips and groaned.

“Oh, Julia,” he sighed.

“Perhaps we might make use of the bed this time,” she suggested, smiling.

Chapter Five

Julia couldn’t imagine her boldness. Basil made her feel like no other. She craved him as she craved no other. For all the years they had been apart, unknowingly, she waited for him. She was made only for him.

She sat up, dragging Basil with her. When she helped him to his feet, he swayed slightly.

Suddenly, Julia remembered his condition. She took his arm around her bare shoulders, letting him lean against her.

“Oh, Basil! I...forgot. I’m sorry.”

“No,” he said. “Do not apologize.”

“But you are ill?”

“A minor inconvenience, I assure you. I’m well enough to continue what we started.” He lifted her chin, and his head dipped lower to capture her lips in his kiss. She moaned against him as the tips of her breasts brushed against the bare skin of his chest. Her nipples tightened, and heat again pooled low in her belly.

While he kissed her, she took slow steps, leading him to the bed. Soon her legs brushed against the edge of the mattress. She gently lowered him, crawling atop him as she had on the floor.
Oh, had she truly done that?
She behaved so wantonly! But, he hadn’t been disgusted by her behavior. In fact, he seemed to revel in it. She felt relieved by his ready acceptance of her eager passion. She trembled with want of him. After so many years of wanting him, she could take no more. She must have him.

Slowly she slid down, brushing her face against his chest, lingering here and there to kiss his skin. When she found his breeches, she worked at the straps to undo them. With his help, she slipped the damp fabric off. She stood and shimmied out of the remainder of her dress. He lay back on the bed, watching her with his heavy-lidded eyes.

She took a moment to stand and watch him. His feet hung over the edge, his breeches yanked to his boots. She contemplated freeing those tall boots from his feet, but she liked his position well enough.

With seductive slowness, she neared him. She crawled back onto the mattress, running her fingers over the wiry hairs on his legs. Her hand traveled upward until her fingers were cupping the male part of him. He gasped when she cradled him in her hands. Gently, she touched him, stroked him, running her hand up and down the long length of him. Seeing him harden further beneath her touch, she frowned.

He was huge! How could he possibly fit within her?

He sensed her inner turmoil. His hand found the curls atop her head and caressed them. He wrapped a few tendrils around his hand, touching her hair with a gentleness that brought tears to her eyes. He was perfection in every way! How had she ever lived without him for so long?

And then, because her love swelled within her chest near to bursting, she needed to express her love for him in some physical way, so she leaned forward and kissed him.

There.

He gasped.

She looked up, certain she had taken matters too far. This was inappropriate. He must be full of revulsion.

But she was surprised to see his head tilted back onto the bed and a contented smile on his lips.

Shocked, she looked back down. She curled her hand around him, seeing the tip of him moisten. She remembered how Basil’s lips had clasped onto her nipples. He had suckled on her breasts, something she enjoyed thoroughly. Perhaps he might enjoy…