Dancing at Midnight (26 page)

for Alex," she continued. "I know that you saved

his life once."

John looked up sharply.

"He told me all about it," Belle said, stretching the truth just a tad.

"So don't think you can deny it. And I know Alex well

enough to know that he'll have been wanting to repay his debt to you for

a long time."

"I don't see it as a debt. I did what any man would have done."

"I disagree. I know many men who won't even go out in the rain for fear

of ruining their cravats, much less risk their lives

for another. For God's sake, John. You can't do this alone."

"There is no other way to do it."

"That's not true. You're not alone anymore. You have friends. And you

have me. Won't you let us help you?"

John didn't answer right away, and Belle let out another panicked rush

of words. "It's just pride stopping you. I know that,

and I won't forgive you if you ... if you die, and only because you were

too bullheaded to ask for help from the people who

care about you."

He moved away from her and walked over to the window, unable to turn his

thoughts from the man who was stalking him.

Was he out there, just through the thin curtain? Was he just waiting,

biding his time? And would he hurt Belle?

God, don't let him hurt Belle.

A long minute passed, and then Belle finally spoke, her voice quavering.

"I... I think you should know that I'm counting on

you to protect me. I'll face whatever lies ahead, but I won't do it alone."

John turned back around, his face stark with emotion. He opened his

mouth but did not speak.

Belle stepped forward and touched his cheek with her hand. "And if

you'll let me," she said softly, "I want to protect you, too."

John placed his hand over hers. "Oh, Belle, what did I ever do to

deserve you?"

She finally allowed herself a smile. "Nothing. You didn't have to do

anything."

With a groan, John pulled her into his arms. "I'm never going to let you

go again," he said fiercely, burying his hands in her

thick hair.

"Please say you mean it this time."

John pulled away and took her face in his hands, his brown eyes firmly

focused on her blue ones. "I promise you. We will

face this together."

Belle wrapped her arms around his waist and let her cheek sink against

his firm chest. "Can we possibly ignore this until

morning? Or at least for the next few hours? Just pretend that

everything is perfect?"

John leaned down and gently brushed his lips against the corner of her

mouth. "Oh, darling, everything /is /perfect."

Belle turned her face so that she could return his kisses with all of

her unschooled eagerness. Her passion only served to

inflame his, and before she knew it, he had lifted her into his arms and

carried her the short distance to his bed.

He laid her down and smoothed her hair from her face with such reverence

that tears came to Belle's eyes. "I'm going to make you mine tonight,"

he said, his voice fiercely tender.

Belle only uttered one word. "Please."

His lips trailed hot kisses down the side of her neck as his nimble

fingers quickly divested her of her clothing. He touched her

like a starving man, caressing, rubbing, squeezing. "I can't... go

slow," he said harshly.

"I don't care," Belle moaned. She felt the now familiar tendrils of

excitement creeping up her legs and down her arms all the

way to the center of her very being. She wanted release, begged for it,

pleaded for it. She'd never dreamed that desire could

come upon her this quickly, but having tasted it once before, she

couldn't fight the urge to quench its hot flame. Her hands

clawed at his dressing gown, driven by her need to feel his skin against

hers.

John seemed to be feeling the same urges, and he nearly tore his robe in

his haste to feel her breasts pressed up against his

chest. "God, how I want you," he growled, sliding one hand down her

torso to nestle in her crisp thatch of hair. She was wet,

and the knowledge nearly drove him out of his mind.

He didn't know how much longer he could hold out without plunging

himself into her, but he wanted to be absolutely certain

that she was ready for him, so he gently slid one finger inside of her.

He could feel her muscles clenching around him, and he

was stunned by the rawness of her desire.

"Please," Belle begged. "I want..." Her voice trailed off.

"What do you want?"

"I want you," she rasped. "Now."

"Oh, darling, I want you, too." With gentle urging, he parted her legs

and positioned himself above her, ready to enter but not

quite touching her. His breath was uneven, and it took everything in him

to say, "Are you sure, love? Because once I touch

you I'm not going to be able to stop."

Belle's answer was to place her hands firmly on his hips and pull him

toward her. John finally allowed himself to do what he'd been dreaming

about for weeks and slowly entered her. She was small, though, and he

was terrified that he would hurt her, so

he went very slowly, pushing forward and pulling back to allow her body

to get used to his. "Does it hurt?" he whispered.

It was a teeny bit uncomfortable when he pushed forward, but Belle could

feel her body relaxing so she shook her head, not wanting to worry him.

Besides, she knew where all this was leading, and she wanted very badly

to get there.

John groaned to himself when he reached the thin barrier of her

maidenhead. It had taken every ounce of his self-control not to pound

into her the way his raging body demanded. "This may hurt you a bit,

love," he said. "I wish it could be otherwise, and I

wish I could take the pain for you, but I promise you it will only be

this once, and—"

"John?" Belle interrupted softly.

"What?"

"I love you."

It felt as if his throat were about to close. "No, Belle, you don't," he

gasped. "You can't. You—"

"I do."

"No, please. Just don't say it. Don't say anything. Don't..." He

couldn't speak. He couldn't breathe. She was his, but he might

as well have stolen her. She was more than he deserved, and if he was

greedy enough to want her in his life, he wasn't enough

of a bastard to ask for her heart.

Belle saw the tortured look in his eyes. She didn't understand it, but

she wanted so desperately to make it go away. Words

couldn't heal him so she demonstrated her devotion by pulling his head

down to hers.

He was undone by her soft and gentle movements, and he plunged forward,

sheathing himself completely within her. She felt

so good, unlike anything he'd ever experienced, but he forced himself to

lie still for a minute as he felt her passage stretching

to accommodate him.

Belle smiled tremulously. "You're so big."

"Just the same as any man. Although I don't intend that you should ever

have basis for comparison." He began to move

within her, softly thrusting and enjoying the sweet friction between

their bodies.

Belle gasped as she felt him. "Oh my."

"Oh my, indeed."

"I think I like this." Without thought, Belle began to move her hips

beneath him, rising to meet him as he plunged within her.

Her legs snaked around him, and her new position allowed him to come

even further within her, so far that Belle was sure

that he was touching her heart.

His movements grew faster and harder, and Belle was swept along with him

as they traveled on that raging sea toward

release. She plunged her fingers into his skin, raking him with her

nails as she tried to get even closer to him. "I want it now!"

she gasped, feeling her body begin to spiral out of control.

"Oh, you shall have it, I promise." His hand slipped between their

bodies and touched her most sensitive nub of flesh. She

exploded the moment he touched her, crying out her passion as every

muscle in her body tensed and then seemed to shatter.

The feeling of her clenching around his hard shaft was more than John

could bear, and he thrust into her one last time, grunting harshly as he

poured himself into her. Together they collapsed into a dazed, sweaty

tangle of arms and legs, heat radiating from their bodies.

After John's breathing had returned to normal, he brushed a damp tendril

from her face and asked, "Well?"

Belle smiled up at him. "You have to ask?"

He breathed a sigh of relief. She wasn't going to ask him about his

refusal to accept her declaration of love. He felt his body

relax and even managed a teasing smile as he said, "Indulge me."

"It was wonderful, John. Like nothing I've ever known. And I have you to

thank."

He tweaked her nose. "You played a pivotal role yourself."

"Mmmm," Belle replied noncommittally. "But you were holding back for me,

making sure that I was ... all right," she finished, unable to think of

better words. When John made a move to protest, she placed her hand over

his mouth and said, "Shh. I

could see it in your face. You're such a gentle, caring man, but you try

so hard not to let people see that side of you. Look at

everything you did to make this perfect for me. Even pleasuring me

before so I wouldn't be scared by my feelings tonight."

"It's because I—because I care about you, Belle. I want everything to be

perfect for you."

"Oh, it is, John," she said with a contented sigh. "It is."

"I'm going to protect you," he vowed fiercely. "I'm going to keep you safe."

Belle snuggled into the crook of his arm. "I know, darling. And I'm

going to keep you safe, too."

John smiled as an image of her wielding a broadsword floated through his

mind.

"I'm not helpless, you know," Belle said.

"I know," he said indulgently.

His tone annoyed her, and she twisted around to face him. "I'm not," she

protested. "And you'd better get used to it, because

I'm not going to let you try to deal with this monster all by yourself."

John looked down at her and raised one eyebrow. "Surely you don't think

I'm going to let you put yourself in danger?"

"Don't you see, John? If you put yourself in danger, you might as well

be putting /me /in danger? It's the same thing." John didn't see, but he

didn't want to deal with it while she was lying all warm and soft in his

arms. "Didn't you say that you wanted to

forget about our problems for a few hours?" he reminded her softly.

"Yes, I guess I did. But it's hard, isn't it?" John's hand strayed to

the abrasion on his arm where a bullet had grazed him earlier

in the week.

"Yes," he said darkly. "It is."

*

*

*

*

*Chapter 16

*

Morning came all too quickly, and Belle soon realized that she was going

to have to return home. She pulled on her clothes

quickly, still not quite able to believe that she had sneaked into

John's room the night before. She'd certainly never thought of herself

as the reckless, daring type. She sighed to herself, supposing that

women did desperate things when in love.

"Is something wrong?" John immediately inquired, pulling a white shirt

over his arms.

"What? Oh, if s nothing. I was just thinking that I never want to climb

a three-story tree again."

"Amen to that."

"Not that getting up the tree was so dreadful. But inching along the

branch to your window—"

"It doesn't matter," John cut in firmly. "Since you won't be doing it

again."

His concern for her was so plain that Belle forgot to be outraged over

his high-handed behavior.

As they quietly made their way through Damien's house, Belle wondered at

the wisdom of their walking back to her home

by themselves while their enemy remained at large. She mentioned her

worries to John when they reached the front steps.

John shook his head. "He strikes me as the cowardly type. More likely to

move under the cloak of darkness."

"He attacked me during the day," Belle reminded him, stubbornly halting

in her tracks.

"Yes, but he used hired thugs, and also you're a woman." John could see

that Belle was about to make a protest at being

dismissed so casually, so he added diplomatically, "Not that I think

you're less than capable, but you must know that most

men wouldn't see you as much of a threat. Besides, there is no reason

he'd be up and about this early in the morning. Why

should he wait out here if I'm probably going to be in bed for several

more hours?"

"But he might have seen me last night. And then he'd know that you would

have to take me home."

"If he had seen you last night, he would have grabbed you." The thought

sent a shiver of fear through John and strengthened

his resolve to put an end to this episode as soon as possible. His chin

set determinedly, he took Belle's hand and led her down

the steps. "Let's be on our way. I'd like to get you home before noon."

Belle took a deep breath of the crisp air. "I don't think I've ever been

out this time of the morning. At least not on purpose."