Unraveling Secrets (The Secret Trilogy) (16 page)

Heat
filled Abigail as Stephen’s lips met hers. A lovely eddy of sensation unfurled inside her, and she melted against him. His strength felt so good, so right.

Her heart raced when he
drew back to look at her for a long moment, those green eyes full of secrets. He moved his hands to cup her face, his touch gentling as he melded her lips to his once again.

She moaned an
d lifted her hand to cover his.

This was heaven!
Of that she had no doubt.

His tongue
, hot and wet, danced along the seam of her lips, and she opened to welcome his invasion. The spinning inside her deepened, spearing into the very core of her.

“Abigail,” he muttered against her lips.

She could only sigh as liquid heat filled her. A gentle tug released her from her bulky jacket. The cool air contrasted with Stephen’s warmth. Her body trembled inside and out.

His hands moved to her waist, then
shifted to her ribs. His thumbs rose to just beneath her breasts and she caught her breath as he kissed her again. She ached everywhere he touched her and everywhere he didn’t.

“Stephen
—”

“Yes. I know. We must stop.” He leaned his forehead on hers and drew a long slow breath.

“No.” That was the last thing she wanted. This was the opportunity for which she’d been hoping. “Surely one more kiss will cause no harm.”

He opened his eyes to look at her, the
ir depths drawing her in, making her want to do something—anything to ease the shadows there.

She
pressed her lips to his, pouring her heart into the kiss, hoping he’d let her in.

He hesitate
d for the briefest moment, then wrapped his arms around her as though he’d never let her go. “One last kiss to remember,” he murmured.

Her heart fluttered at his
words. Surely it wouldn’t be their last. She kissed him again, eager to persuade him otherwise. To seduce him if she could.

Instead of meeting her lips,
his mouth trailed along her jaw, slowly down her neck, lingering at the sensitive spot below her ear that she hadn’t realized was there.

With great care
, he kissed the spot near the cut Simmons’ knife had made. “I’m sorry he hurt you,” he whispered.

His lips continued to her collar bone and warmth pooled low in her belly, her breasts tingl
ing. “Oh, Stephen.”

“Yes.”

“I need...” Her voice trailed off as she tried to put words to what she felt, to what she wanted. “I need more.”

“Yes. More,” he agreed and at last his lips captured hers.

Deep and hungry, his mouth moved over hers with a thoroughness that intoxicated her. She startled as his fingers touched the bare skin of her waist. Gently, he eased her shirt off her shoulder and kissed the bruise forming there.

Eager to keep pace, she unfastened his morning coat and waistcoat and pushed them off his arms. He shed them without complaint. Then she
untied his neck scarf and he quickly removed it. The soft linen of his shirt felt marvelous over the contours of his muscled chest. His strength excited her yet made her feel weak.

“Abigail.”
Her name was half groan, half sigh.

S
he smiled. How extraordinary that her touch could make this powerful man tremble. With shaking fingers, she unfastened his shirt, revealing the binding on his shoulder where she’d shot him. Remorse filled her at the sight.

He lifted her chin to look in her eyes and smiled. “Don’t regret
that. It brought us together.”

Smiling now
, she returned her attention to his chest. With a gentle finger, she traced a long, jagged scar that ran beneath the bandage, diagonally across his chest. “What happened here?”

He caught her hand and pulled it away as though he didn’t care to be reminded. “It was a long time ago.”

She pressed her lips to the scar, wondering what horror had befallen him to leave such a mark. But she let it go and continued her exploration. The wiry hair on his chest felt marvelous, his flesh hot beneath her touch.

“My turn,” he whispered, then removed
her shirt, leaving only the thin linen of her chemise between them.

She
hadn’t donned her corset with the hope she’d look less feminine in her boy’s clothes and now was grateful she hadn’t. All her thoughts fled as he trailed his fingers along her ribs, and at last brushed the tips of her breasts through the thin linen of her chemise. Longing spiraled through her and she arched her back.

“Yes,” he encouraged and filled his hands with her breasts, kneading them gently.

She wanted to give him the same glorious sensations flooding through her and started with the sculpted firmness of his chest. He was beautiful. She stroked the pebbled hardness of his nipples in wonder.

One of his hands remained at her breast while the other lowered and worked at the fastening of her trousers
. He helped her ease them off and they fell forgotten on the floor.

“I only want to touch you,” Stephen
murmured in her ear. “Please.”

“
Oh, yes,” she agreed, reveling in the sensations flooding through her. She’d never felt anything so right.

He kissed her again, long and slow, as his fingers found the bare skin of her waist and belly beneath her chemise, circling lower and lower.
He eased apart her thighs and moist heat spread through her. She ached with need, but for what she wasn’t sure.

“So soft,” he whispered, his mouth moving along her neck and ear
as he continued to kneel before her.

She writhed against him, searching for m
ore of the pleasurable torture.

“You
’re so beautiful,” he said, then took her mouth with his, demanding she respond. Still his fingers worked their magic, moving lower.

All thoughts
vanished. Only feeling remained, igniting her. Her breath came in gasps as he touched her center, seeking the dampness there.

“Oh!” she cried out, stunned that he
could create such amazing sensations within her.

H
e continued to touch her, enchanting her into a vortex of need. “Let go, my sweet,” he muttered between kisses. “Just let go.”

She tipped her head back, unable to do anything except what he aske
d, to trust him in this moment.

Her world spiraled, then burst. Waves of pleasure poured through her, over her, under her. She delighted in the onslaught of sensation, knowing she was safe in Stephen
’s arms.

***

Stephen watched as Abigail’s aura glowed, her passion enhancing the golden light with vibrant pinks, her whole body infused with it. He ached so badly that the mere brush of her leg against his trousers pained him.

Still he continued to kiss her, to murmur in her ear as she made the journey back down to earth. How he longed to have gone with her.
But that could never come to pass. He had this moment and intended to hold onto it for all he was worth.

She opened her eyes, her expression of wonder bringing a smile to his face. He took no small measure of satisfaction in knowing he
’d brought her such pleasure.

“That was...” Her loss for words only made him smile broader.

She shifted, bumping against his body. She frowned at his hardness and, before he could stop her, pressed her fingers on him.

The breath
whooshed out of his lungs at her touch. He jerked her hand away.

“But what of you?” she asked. “I would bring you pleasure
too.”

“You have, Abigail. You have.” He wove his fingers through hers to make certain they stayed
in his.

“Not enough, surely.” Her blue eyes searched his face.

“As much as I can handle at the moment.”

She
stretched up to kiss him, wrapping her arms around his neck. Desire resurged in an instant, and it took every ounce of his self control to loosen her arms and stand.

But she came with him.

Her warm, soft body against his made him try desperately to remember why he was pushing her away. The lady had no idea what havoc she was wreaking.

“I would finish what we started, Stephen.”

“That’s impossible.”

“Why?”

The throbbing in his loins made it difficult to form words that would make her understand. Hell, it was difficult for
him
to understand. “I can’t give you what you want...what you need. There are things about me you don’t know.”

She trailed a finger down his scar again and his breath caught. Could she read his mind? That damned scar was a visible reminder of the day his life had been forever altered.
If it weren’t for that terrible day, perhaps things would be different.

But regret served no purpose.

“There’s nothing you could tell me that would change my mind,” she said. “In fact, I’ve wanted to ask you...”

Dark shades appeared in her aura
, and he knew he wouldn’t like what she was going to say, yet he had to ask. “What is it?”

“I
—I have a proposition for you.”

A dark spear appeared in her luminous pink aura.
He waited silently while she worked up the courage to ask him whatever crazed notion she’d come up with.

“I would like to have an affair with you.”

“No.” He forced out the word despite the longing that surged through him, despite the fact that he ached for her body and soul and wanted nothing more than to have her as his own, if only temporarily.

Those blue eyes blinked at him, her hurt obvious. “Why not?”

“You deserve more than an affair.” He retrieved her shirt from the floor and handed it to her, hoping she’d dress before he changed his mind.

“But an affair is what I want.”

He scoffed as he buttoned his shirt. “You can’t possibly know that.”

“I think I know my own mind.” She
pulled on her shirt.

“You
’ll change your mind. Believe me.” She’d soon meet a man she cared for and they would marry. He had no doubt of that. And it would not be him. He donned his waistcoat, hoping the barriers of clothing would prevent him from taking up where they’d left off.

“If you
’re not interested, just tell me.” She fastened her shirt and pulled on her pants.

“Abigail, I
’m not trying to hurt you,” he said, yet he could see he already had. That lovely rosy glow in her aura had faded to ash. “Your offer is tempting.”

“
I don’t understand. I thought you wanted me.” A single tear hovered on her eyelash as she looked up at him.

He smiled wryly. “I do.
More than you can possibly know. But if we give way to...this.” He gestured between them, unwilling to name what he felt for her. “The consequences would outweigh the benefit.”

“I don
’t see how.”

“Then you must take my word for it.”

She stood staring at him and he knew she wouldn’t let it go.

“You deserve more than
serving as someone’s mistress.”

“
I’m not asking to be your mistress. I’m only suggesting we further explore our passions.”

Bloody hell!
How could he make her understand? He ignored her comment and continued, “It makes no difference. You’d have to lie to your family. If your stepmother found out—”

She blanched at the thought. “I hardly think she
’d discover us.”

“Of course she would. If not her, someone else.” He pulled on his
jacket, well aware his jerky movements showed his frustration. “Why are you so eager to throw away the chance for marriage and a family?”

“I
’ve told you. I have no intention of marrying.” She turned her back to him to pick up her jacket.

“A union with a suitable man, one who would be your protector, your friend, your lover, would be far different than you think.”

She stepped forward to caress his cheek. “I would like to have that with you.”

“Without the formality of a wedding?”

“Are you asking?” She smiled at his silence. “Do not worry, my lord. I’m well aware you have as much of an aversion to matrimony as I do. That’s why it puzzles me that you question my plan to avoid it.”

“Mine is not an aversion.” He clenched his jaw, wondering how he could possibly explain that he was not fit to be a husband without revealing too much. He didn
’t want to tell her about the looming pit of darkness inside him that he couldn’t always escape or the risks he took to save others that put his life in danger. “There are reasons I am not a suitable husband for anyone.”

“Such as?”

“I cannot say.”