The Devil's Thief (38 page)

“That’s
the afternoon, there, mate,” Wiley observed.

“In
my world, Wiley, it is perilously close to dawn,” Sir Hilary drawled as the
carriage door closed.

Julianna
was still smiling as she turned to Alasdair after the carriage drove away. Her
heart began to pound when she met his heated stare.

“The
garden?” she asked hopefully.

Alasdair
nodded. “The garden.” She didn’t protest as he grabbed her hand and dragged her
to the gate.

*
         
*
         
*

Alasdair
was desperate for her. She could have been killed. He’d barely been able to
hold his relief in check in the carriage. He let it swamp him now. His hands
were shaking as he tried to unlatch the gate.

“Let
me,” Julianna said quietly. She reached over and opened the gate and walked
through. She turned then, looking at him expectantly.

He
knew he should feel ashamed at his weakness, but he didn’t. She’d become
everything to him. He walked into her arms and kissed her. He breathed her in
and held her so tightly against him, it was a wonder she didn’t melt into him
and become a part of him. But then, she already was, wasn’t she?

He
broke the kiss. “Julianna,” he said desperately, pressing kisses along her
cheekbone and then her hairline. “Juli.” His voice was ragged. “You are the
very air I breathe, the blood in my veins. All that is right in my world. If
you ever do something so bloody stupid again, I will turn you over my knee and
spank the living daylights out of you.”

Julianna
burst into surprised laughter, but he could hear how shaky it was. “Promises,
promises,” she whispered. “Perhaps you should teach me a lesson right now?”

Alasdair
stepped back and reached for her hands. He moved backward, pulling her across
the lawn, toward a soft patch of grass on the far side of the garden and beneath
the overhanging branches of a willow tree. “Tomorrow, lessons will have to be
learned. Tonight is for love.”

Alasdair
sank to his knees and Julianna followed. “Did Shakespeare say that?”

“I
have no idea,” Alasdair said, burying his nose in her neck, exposed by the open
collar of her black shirt. “But he should have.”

Julianna
sighed and ran her fingers through his hair. “So you want me here, in the
grass? Right now?”

“Yes.”
He did want her, and he wanted her right now, but not in the way she thought.
He feared she wasn’t going to take no for an answer. Well, he’d make her, but
she wouldn’t like it.

“Good.”
Julianna sounded like the cat that had found the cream. “Do you want me
unclothed? Because I am quite agreeable to it.” He smiled at her and she smiled
back. “You’ve chosen a nice, soft piece of grass. Thank you.”

“You’re
welcome.” He pulled back a bit and surveyed her black clothing. “Naked is not
necessary tonight. I find that I rather like this ensemble you’re wearing.” He
turned a lascivious grin up to her. “You look like a brigand’s woman.”

Julianna
lay back on the grass and pouted. “I want to be a brigand, too. Is there such a
thing? A brigandess?”

Alasdair
huffed in amusement. “If there is such a thing, you are indeed it,” he told
her, lying down beside her and kissing her neck again. He let his hand wander
over her breasts, then dip inside the shirt and her chemise to feel her velvet-soft
skin and tight nipples. She arched in pleasure. “You did steal my pearl, after
all,” Alasdair said.

She
looked over at him contritely. “Oh, Alasdair, I’m so sorry. But at least you’ve
got it back now.”

He
shook his head, anticipating her reaction to what he was going to say. “No, I
don’t.”

She
blinked in confusion. “What? Of course you do.”

He
shook his head. “No, I do not. The pearl is not in my possession.”

Julianna
scrambled to her knees and pressed him down into the grass. She shoved a hand
in his coat pocket and felt around for the pearl. Her actions became more
frantic when she didn’t find it. “Alasdair! Where is it? What have you done
with it? Did you lose it after everything we’ve been through?”

He
was smiling as he captured her hands and shook his head. “No, my dear. The
pearl is exactly where I want it.”

Julianna
stared at him wide eyed. “But I know you had it, Alasdair. You had it in the
carriage.”

He
couldn’t tease her any longer. He let go of one hand and tapped her chest.
“It’s here.”

Julianna
dug her hand into her chemise and, with a look of utter shock, pulled the pearl
from her bodice. “What on earth?” she cried out quietly. Alasdair pressed a
finger to her lips.

“Do
not wake the household, Julianna. I’m not ready to say good night to you yet.”

She
shook her head, and when he took his finger away, she whispered urgently, “What
is this about, Alasdair? You must take the pearl and put it in a safe place.”

She
tried to press it into his hand but he made a fist and pulled it away. Then he
stretched out on the grass and put his hands behind his head, effectively
keeping her from giving him the pearl. “It is as safe as it could possibly be
with you.”

She
sat back on her heels and regarded him in bewilderment. “I don’t understand. I
thought it was so important to you. Your family, your mother—”

“My
honor,” Alasdair finished for her. “Yes, yes, I know. I did say all that.” He
rolled over on his side to face her and came up on one elbow. “And I meant it.
But you are my family, now, and I want you to have the pearl.” He could see
he’d shocked her into speechlessness. “You are the new custodian of my family
legacy. It is my wedding gift to you.”

“Alasdair,”
she whispered, right before she covered her mouth with her hand and her eyes
filled with tears.

He
smiled. “I hope you kept Roger’s handkerchief, because I still haven’t got
one.”

A
weak laugh bubbled through her tears. She nodded.

“Good.”
He lay back down and held his hand out to her. “Now, come here. I want to hold
you.”

Chapter
Twenty-two

Julianna
scrambled over his lap to lie on top of him, nearly unmanning him. But when she
laid pressed full length against him, he forgot any momentary discomfort. She fit
perfectly there. He ran his hands down her back, from her shoulders to her
bottom, and then squeezed those plump cheeks, wantonly exposed by the closely
fitting breeches she wore.

“Mmm,”
he purred. “Yes, I really like these on you.”

Julianna
laughed again and she sounded as wanton as her breeches. “I’m beginning to see
the advantages as well,” she replied softly as she spread her legs and hugged
one of his thighs between hers. She raised her hand and opened it to show him
the pearl. “But what should I do with this? I can’t hold the pearl while I
ravish you.”

Alasdair
moaned. “I love it when you talk like that. Keep going.”

“About
the pearl or about more intimate things?” she teased. She reached between them
and he felt her hand inside his coat pocket. When she pulled it out, she patted
the pocket. “It should be safe in there for a little while.”

“A
little while?” Alasdair asked in disbelief. “I plan to lay with you until the
first rays of dawn force us from our grassy bower.”

“Now
who is making love talk?” Julianna asked. She leaned down and nipped his
earlobe, and it was Alasdair’s turn to arch his neck.

“You
are,” he growled. “And I like it.”

He
gently pushed her up until she straddled his leg. She leaned back, her hands resting
on the grass behind her. The position thrust her breasts out enticingly, and he
flicked open her shirt, exposing the way they curved in her low-cut chemise.
The material stretched tightly across her chest, which is why the pearl had
stayed where he put it. It also pressed her breasts up and together, creating a
very arousing valley between them. Alasdair ran his finger across the tops of
the pale, moonlit mounds and down into that hot, shadowed valley. He felt
Julianna’s breathing hitch. He smiled at her and resumed petting her soft skin.

She
was so gorgeous. And she was his. Only his. He gently caressed the outside of
her strong thighs and looked up into her beloved face. “It was never about the
pearl, Julianna,” he confessed. “It was always about you. I was desperate to
find you, and when I did, I was desperate to have you again like that first
night.” He wrapped his hands around those soft, warm thighs. “Like this.”

Julianna
reached down and played with the buttons on his coat. “I felt the same way,
Alasdair.” She kept her face down as if undoing the buttons took all her
concentration. “I realized soon after, that it was never about the pearl for
me, either. In my heart, I knew it was folly and that it wouldn’t solve the
problems at the foundling home. I stole it because I wanted you to catch me. I
wanted you to notice me.” She had his coat open now and looked up at him
sheepishly. “Foolish, was it not?”

He
shook his head. “No, not foolish. I was the fool for not noticing you before
that. But you are all I have been able to notice from that night on.”

She
leaned down and kissed him tenderly, then pulled away for just long enough to
look into his eyes. “You say the most wonderful things,” she whispered. “But
you are absolutely right. You were a fool for not recognizing your Juliet in
the mousy young lady next door.”

He
laughed and rolled over and she smothered a squeal as he knocked her off him. Kneeling
on the grass, he beckoned her to him with one outstretched finger. She crawled over
to him until their knees were touching, and he took her hands in his. “I was a
fool about you. I’ve admitted as much before, and will do so again. Love is the
culprit. It enjoys making fools of otherwise intelligent men.”

They
had settled back, relaxed in their intimacy, their heads bent close together.
“Do you suppose that will change?” Julianna asked hopefully. “After we are
married?”

Alasdair
kissed the palm of her hand. “You are going to marry me, then?”

“Only
if you can promise not to be a fool for me.” Julianna’s devilish grin took the
sting from her teasing.

Alasdair
scoffed. “It is only love denied that produces foolish actions. All
well-married men are wise.”

 
“Oh, are they?” she said, her skepticism
apparent.

“Mmm,”
Alasdair hummed as he gathered her close and nuzzled her hair. “I choose to
begin deluding myself now.” He kissed her then, a tenderly passionate promise
between his lips and hers. But before they got carried away, Alasdair broke the
connection.

“Juli,
I’ve gone about this all backward,” he told her fervently as he closed her
shirt, covering her most tempting assets. “I nearly lost my treasure because I
didn’t take proper care of it. I won’t let that happen again. Until the
wedding, there will be only wooing, and no bedding.”

It
was endearing, the way she looked at him with complete confusion. “What?”

“I
treated you like a lover when you were a stranger, and I treated you like a
stranger when you were my lover.” He shook his head at his colossal ignorance.
“If I’d done it right, none of this would have happened, don’t you see?
Everything—the stolen pearl, Blackman, Wiley, tonight—it was all my
fault.”

Julianna’s
look had turned into one of alarm. “Now don’t be hasty, Alasdair,” she argued.
“Why, the very notion that this was all your fault.
I
stole the pearl.” Her grip on his hands tightened. “I want you
for my own, Alasdair.” She chewed her lip nervously. “I’ve never really had
anyone of my own, you see, not really. Now that I have you, I . . . I can’t
bear to lose you, even for a short while. I don’t need wooing. Really, I
don’t.”

“Foolish
girl,” he whispered, kissing her again just because he could. “You can’t lose a
part of yourself. My heart is yours, don’t you see?” He cupped her cheek. “That
first night you said something similar to me. You told me that you’d never had
a chance to be yourself. We’re going to talk more about that tomorrow. But, you
see, I’m trying to give you that, darling. I want you to have the chance to be
wooed for who you really are, the Juliet I met the first night, the Julianna I
love now.”

 
“Is this where you quote Shakespeare
again?” She sniffed loudly.

He
laughed out loud. “I don’t need the bard anymore, not when my heart is full of
words of love for you.”

“You
are very good at this wooing business,” Julianna said. She pulled open her
shirt again. “Take me. I’m yours.”

Alasdair
rolled his eyes at her. “Julianna,” he said, clearly exasperated. “Are you
always going to make it hard for me to do the right thing?”

“When
the right thing involves you and me in separate beds, yes.”

“Juli,
please try to understand,” Alasdair said quietly. “I need to do this for me,
too. I need to know I’m the kind of man who values what he has. I need to know
I’m capable of being that man, anyway.” Her heart broke for him a little then.
She’d never imagined that Alasdair might suffer from self-doubt. She nodded,
afraid to trust her voice.