“Tomorrow,” she said. “We’ll talk about all that tomorrow, but…”
Her hand was on his chest, over his heart, but now it drifted upward until her fingers touched his lips, still damp from their kiss. She traced the contours of his mouth until he couldn’t help but smile. Their eyes met and held and he saw so much emotion in hers. “Tonight I need you.”
After that, he was her willing slave.
…
If Alex thought Evie’s wishes strange, he never said so.
She stood at the foot of the bed, holding on to one of the posts for support while he devastated her by doing exactly what she wanted. He undressed when she told him to, removing each garment and laying it on a chair. He didn’t hurry but was efficient because somehow he knew what she needed. Or perhaps they were so well matched their tastes happened to align. She didn’t want to be teased; she only wanted him naked and to witness him getting that way without artifice.
He moved with a fluid grace, his skin bronze in the firelight. He was strong, no doubt from all the usual gentlemanly pursuits. Thighs taut from riding. Shoulders broadened by fencing. The tense and release of his muscles hypnotized her. When he turned to set aside his shirt, she noticed as she never had before the sculpted perfection of his back.
It was not that she hadn’t known he was beautiful. Of course she had. But first and foremost he was always Alex. She truly believed he could have the face and physique of a hobgoblin and she would still adore him. But now, as she strove to memorize his every feature, she was undone by him.
He still faced away from her as he removed his trousers and undergarments. She contemplated every inch of his long, lean legs and his glorious backside. Dukes, as far as she knew, were more often than not gout-ridden and decrepit. Alex had no business having an arse that enticing.
When he finally turned toward her, he was almost fully erect. His phallus, amid its patch of dark hair, stood proud against his stomach. Her eyes on him had done that. He was hard simply because she watched him.
He didn’t speak, didn’t even smile. He simply waited.
“Lie down,” she told him.
And he did, flat on his back on the bed. She released her hold on the post and went to his side where she immediately drew the nightgown off over her head. One sweep up and over was all it took, and she caught the abrupt hitch in his breath. Her nipples hardened. Her tiny breasts felt full and heavy. They ached.
She stayed where she was, letting him get his fill. As his dark-eyed gaze traveled over the scant dips and curves of her body, the inside of her thighs grew damp. How could she be so ready when all they’d done was look at each other?
She knelt a moment on the bed, then straddled him. His hands came to rest on her hips, giving them a gentle squeeze. Her hair curtained them as she leaned in for another kiss. She marveled at the heat of his mouth, then shivered as her breasts grazed his chest. His cock twitched between them, so she reached down to guide him in.
His head rolled back against the pillows as he arched his back, greedy for more of her. His fingers bit into the flesh of her hips as he filled her. It was good but she needed more. She moved one of his hands up to her breast and, as she began to move, rocking her hips in long, slow undulations, he squeezed.
“Harder,” she begged, and his hand tightened until it hurt.
He was magnificent. Head back, eyes closed, he gave himself up to her, and she drank in every detail. The turn of his throat. The way sweat dampened his temples. Even the sweep of eyelashes on his cheeks. The bronze cast of his skin against the pale globe of her breast. The strength in him as he twisted beneath her. The angry crease of his brow.
She learned him. She memorized him. Because this was the last time.
As if he’d read her mind, he canted violently to one side, overturning her, reversing their positions so that he loomed over her. His eyes were wide open as he pinned her to the bed and drove into her again and again. Holding his gaze, she met each thrust of his hips, as desperate, as angry, as he.
It was all they needed. This fire, this mutual conflagration. Her entire body— No, her entire self lit up, tiny sparks shivering along every nerve and sinew, as they cried out together.
But it wasn’t enough. It would never be enough. And, before the tremors even ended, she knew they would have to begin anew. She would sleep on the train. For now, she needed him again.
…
Once Alex was asleep, Evie slipped out of bed and went into the magic lantern room where she had hidden her clothes and carpetbag behind a chair. Sneaking around was beneath her. Such a low, mean way to treat Alex. But she couldn’t go on like this.
She knew him. If she told him she was leaving, if she waited to say goodbye like a proper adult, he would try once more to persuade her to stay. If he did that, she didn’t trust herself. She was one conversation away from allowing him to seduce her into accepting a life she knew would make her unhappy. Weak as she was, she couldn’t face him. If that made her a coward, so be it. At least she was a coward who knew her limits.
Alex was a heavy sleeper and she’d made sure his breaths were slow and deep before she left the bed. Even so, she couldn’t take any chances. No last longing look into the bedroom. She hardened her heart, forced herself to think of him as she had that first night when he’d looked at her with cold, dead eyes. He wasn’t the man who’d been so tender. He was the aristocrat. The skeptic. The man who’d wanted to destroy her livelihood on a whim. He was the man who would forget her, no matter what he might say in the throes of passion.
She dressed swiftly and crept into the corridor, the carpetbag clutched to her chest, his money sewn into the lining of her bodice. The way was almost entirely free of clutter. The only end table stood at the top of the stairs where she had left an unlit lantern. Despite the powerful urge to rush, she made herself stop and light it. The longer she lingered, the more likely she’d be caught, but if she tripped in the dark, she risked waking everyone or, worse, she might break her neck on the stairs.
The house seemed even larger at night. It wasn’t only the darkness. No servants bustled about their work. No butler skulked in the shadows. All was silence. Only the ticking of a clock somewhere and the whine of the wind in the trees disturbed the perfect stillness.
What a pity she couldn’t say goodbye to Helen and Dr. Carter. She liked them very much. At least they’d be here to comfort Alex when he realized she was gone.
With the aid of the lantern, she reached the front door without incident. The heavy bolts slid back with more noise than she liked, but she was far enough from the bedrooms and servants quarters that she got away with it. A rush of cold air hit her as she stepped outside. Despite her coat, she shivered.
Thanks to her reconnaissance when Alex had been busy in Stoneman’s Bay, she knew the lay of the grounds well enough to find her way unerringly to the cliff path. By the time she stood on it, the horizon was beginning to gray. She still needed her lantern, but dawn approached. Once she reached the village, she wouldn’t have too long to wait for the first train. With luck, she would be well on her way when Alex woke, but first she had to get there.