Heart of the Diamond (45 page)

Nicki thought back over the years of punishment she had endured for Teddy's sake. Apologizing to ladies with hangovers for sneaking vodka into their tea could not compare with all that Blake had suffered. “Making them pay . . . never took away the pain, did it?”

“It took you to perform that particular miracle.”

She worried her lower lip, debating her next words. “Did you ever love Angelica, Blake? I will understand if you did.”

As his gaze delved deep into hers, Nicki shivered at the intensity of emotion more powerful than any she had ever experienced. “I have never been in love with anyone, Nicole—until you.”

Her heart soared, but the tiniest insecurity remained. “Yet I recall your saying one heart was broken when you left England.”

“I meant my own.”

In that moment, all his suffering and pain became hers as well. She prayed that the burden would be lighter for him now. Not only had he been exiled from England, but war had broken out between the two countries. She imagined him alienated, living in one country, his home in another, belonging to neither—and the sorrow that overwhelmed her was almost more than she could bear.

Tenderly, she reached out to push a lock of dark hair from his forehead. “Tell me how Teddy lost Rosewood. I think it is time I learned the truth, not some fabricated tale.”

Blake captured her hand. He studied it as though it would reveal the secrets of the universe. But Nicki understood him well enough now to know how skillfully he could hide his hurt. “I gave him a job at one of my saloons in Boston. I went away for a week to take care of the sale of some of my horses. While I was gone, the manager promoted Teddy to dealer. If I had been in town I could have prevented what followed, but by the time I returned the damage had been done.” He leaned his head back against the chair. “Teddy held a game after hours with several wealthy customers. He allowed the wagers to go well over the house limits, and he lost. He was an employee and I had to honor his losses. All he could offer in repayment was Rosewood. I am not certain he knew he had it to give. The place was overrun with debt. It has cost me a fortune to make good on the encumbrances.”

Heat rose in her cheeks, and Nicki toyed with the collar of Blake's white shirt. “And Jonathon Langley's daughter talked you into turning over even more of your hard earned money. That must have pleased you to no end.”

“From the moment I set eyes on you that first night—wearing those trousers—I knew I had entered uncharted territory. You have a very attractive shape, my dear.”

She grinned, recalling her reaction to his trousers that night. “You fill out a pair of breeches nicely yourself, my lord.”

“That is a great relief to me.” His smile slipped away as he touched Nicki's cheek with infinite tenderness. “You were silhouetted by the moonlight, and when you turned to fight with the curtains, I saw your face. An angel, I thought, too beautiful to be of this world. And then you spoke in the sweetest musical voice. You said ‘deuce take it,’ and I have been captivated since.”

Nicki moved her hand down to fuss with the buttons on the front of his white shirt. “Papa said I was a hoyden and we were fortunate you were willing to marry me, despite all my shortcomings.”

His hand at her neck pulled her closer to his mouth. “I find I am quite partial to this hoyden, shortcomings and all.”

When their lips touched, Nicki knew she had been right to come here. Tenderly, she reached out to touch his face, surprised as his day's growth of whiskers rasped against her fingers. The muscles of his arm tensed at her back, and his shoulder felt solid as the strongest English oak beneath her arm. Power surged and pounded through every fiber of him, yet he held her with such tenderness.

Nicki clung to him as her world spun out of control. At the center of the maelstrom only she and Blake existed. If she dared let go, she would be swept away into currents of thick, liquid blacks, grays, and blues. Light surrounded Blake, emanated from him. As long as he held her in his arms, she would be safe within that glow.

Groaning against her mouth, Blake drew back. “Nicole. You must go home at once. I will not be responsible . . .”

She scrutinized every feature, followed her gaze with the touch of her fingertips. His straight aristocratic nose, so perfect. There, on his left cheekbone, a tiny scar. Dark brows slashed over silver eyes. His wide mouth with the slightly fuller lower lip, so hesitant to smile. This man had become her life. With a look deep into his eyes, she wondered how she could ever find a way to tell him how important he was to her. Without a word, she slipped from his lap.

Blake moved to rise, then froze as Nicki reached up to the ties of her cloak and tugged the cords. The garment pooled at her feet in a sigh of silk and velvet to reveal the dancing gown she had worn earlier in the evening. The one that turned her into an angel.

“I
am
home. Home is wherever you might be,” she said, her voice husky with a mixture of love and uncertainty.

He leaned forward, tense. “You do not know what you are saying.”

She turned her back to him and lifted her hair. “I know exactly what I am saying—and I know what I want. I want you, my Lord Diamond. Every part of you.”

It seemed an eternity that she waited. In the dark recesses of the room beyond the firelight, the clock continued to tick away the minutes. The house creaked and groaned softly, as though disturbed by these two humans who should have long since been abed. A night bird gave a long mournful cry. Nicki shivered at the sound.

Then she felt his fingers at the buttons of her gown. She trembled again, this time from relief, excitement, and a little trepidation. Blake's lips brushed the skin just beneath her ear; his breath teased her tender flesh and sent delicious tremors over her entire body. A mystical heat emanated from his hands as they ran up her spine to rest lightly on her shoulders, then gradually eased outward away from her neck. She caught her breath as the gown slipped off her shoulders to follow the path of her cloak.

“Good heavens, how did you manage that?”

He chuckled, a rich, wonderful sound.

Instinctively, she crossed her arms over the front of the lacy chemise. Blake cupped each elbow lightly, his hands slipping like thistledown along the skin of her forearms until he clasped her intertwined fingers. She leaned back against him, gave in to the magic that surrounded him. It encompassed her as well. She must trust him to take the lead in this timeless dance she had yet to learn.

“This is madness, Nicole. Say the word and this will go no further.”

Hearing the tightness in his voice, she turned within the hard circle of his arms. “I admire that honor of yours, but at this moment I believe you should ignore it and kiss me.”

His gaze flickered, scorched Nicki clear to her soul. When she reached up to link her hands behind his neck, he shook his head in amazement. “You would drive a sane man to distraction, my dear. How can I withstand your charms?”

Nicki pulled his head down to hers, though he gave the slightest resistance. “I fear you cannot, my lord. The battle is won. Let us celebrate our victory.”

The last of Blake's hesitation fled as he brought his lips down on Nicole's with all the hunger of a man who has allowed himself no gentleness—no tenderness—for much too long. She seemed to welcome his ferocity of emotion, to exalt in the sensations luring them ever downward into a shimmering vortex where only the two of them existed.

He felt her fingers in his hair, then like the lightest brush of a sparrow's wing along his neck to the muscles of his shoulders. She pressed her body against his, as though yearning for closeness. The contact sent desire shooting white-hot through him.

Did she too feel as though flames engulfed her, as though no external force would ever extinguish the blaze?

She was so fragile, the base of her head fit within his hand. Taking advantage, he deepened the kiss, delving his tongue into the warm inner recesses of her mouth until he felt he would explode with the force of his desire for this woman. She clutched at him, gasping, dragging him with her into another plane of existence.

And, more than willing, he followed.

In her innocent passion, she arched against him. The silk of his shirt and her thin chemise did little to disguise the delectable treasures pressed against his chest. With one swift movement he slid the sleeve of the garment off her shoulder, slipping his free hand between their bodies to cover one perfect breast.

“Oh!” Nicole gasped against his mouth.

“You are more beautiful than any man deserves.” He continued his ministrations, tenderly teasing the bud to firmness until Nicole pressed against his palm. In another moment, the chemise was gone, baring her silken flesh to his touch.

To his surprise, Nicole drew back. She looked at him with eyes as deep and green as stormswept tropical seas, shining with passion. She reached out to undo the fastenings of his shirt. Her fingers grazed his skin like brands as she pushed the garment away from his chest. To the accompaniment of a rending tear, he jerked the shirt off his arms, then flung it away from him. His gaze locked on Nicole's, he reached down and pulled off his boots.

With delicious slowness, she stepped out of her tiny slippers, then undid the string that held her fine lawn petticoat in place, allowing the garment to slide over her hips in a whisper that melded with his harshly indrawn breath.

He could not fathom how he had come to win this exquisite creature's love. His Nicole. She swept a lock of hair from her face, and he sensed at once her rising anxiety.

Though his manhood pressed insistently against the front of his breeches, the last thing he wanted was to rush this moment. It should be special. A night they both would never forget.

Gently, he grabbed her neck and pulled her against him. She tipped her head back and closed her eyes. Blake touched his mouth to hers, then slowly traced the seam of her lips with his tongue. Salty sweet.

When he felt Nicole's hands at his waist, fumbling with the buttons of his pants, he let out a gasp and quickly covered her fingers with his hands. “Nicole, my love, do you understand there will be no turning back? After loving you, I will not let you go.”

Her eyes sparkled. “My sister once read me a poem about one soul in Heaven divided into two and each part is shot down to earth. Their lives are spent searching for the other half. They are drawn to one another across continents and oceans, and when they find the other . . . they know it. You are my missing half, Blake. Can you not feel it?”

Moisture stung his eyes. This girl touched him as no other human could. “I feel it.”

“Then I suggest you stop being coy. This is what we both want.”

He quickly shed his pants and socks, then drew Nicole into his arms. Her body felt like the lightest silk against his skin—a sensation equal to none he had ever known. Never had a woman fit him as though she had been created for him alone. Two halves searching so they might become whole. But this union was not yet complete, and his body craved release.

He eased Nicole down to the carpeted floor, rested his elbows on either side of her to keep from crushing her with his weight. Her pale hair was trapped beneath his arms, but she gazed up at him with infinite trust.

“I . . . I do not wish to disappoint you,” she whispered, the slightest tremor in her voice.

The firelight flickered over them, creating dancing shadows. He brushed his finger along her cheek. “You could never disappoint me, my love. How could you when you are the ideal I have spent my life searching for—and never hoped to find?”

The shadow of a smile hovered at the corners of her mouth. “Promise?”

“On my honor.”

With the softest of sighs, she drew his head down to hers. So trusting. How he hated the thought that he must cause her pain before they could fulfill the thorough promise of ecstasy. If only he could be certain he would make this night wonderful for her.

Kissing her thoroughly, he sensed her start to relax. The scented curve where her neck met her shoulder beckoned him. Trailing kisses along her delicate jaw, he paused to pay homage to the sensitive skin below her ear. Then he moved on to the juncture at the base of her throat where a pulse beat wildly beneath his mouth. Nicole clutched at his shoulders, her nails pressed into his skin sharply in reaction.

Blake rolled on to his side and bent to kiss one pink-tipped breast. Nicole stiffened slightly, then gave in with a soft cry. Her fingers entwined in his hair to draw him closer.

“Oh, Blake!”

He slid his palm along her flat stomach, tantalizingly close to down-soft curls, then on to her slender thighs. The fragrance of her passion mingled with that of roses, adding to the sharpness of his own desire.

At the top of one silky stocking he paused, then swept kisses over Nicole's abdomen as he removed first one, then the other, then lower to the translucent skin of her inner thighs. When she tensed, he claimed her mouth in a kiss once again.

Nicole writhed beneath his hand, arched in a wanting he understood too well. He could not restrain himself much longer. Tasting her sweetness with his touch, she responded eagerly in turn. Her hips rose against his hand as his fingers took similar license amidst the tender femininity no man had ever before touched.

He sensed her mounting desire in the way her hands ran hungrily over his chest, then to his shoulders to clutch at him in her innocent need. The feeling she evoked became the wind that sent the flames of his desire out of control.

And when her cool hand closed over his manhood, Blake groaned in both agony and ecstasy. “Good God, Nicole!”

She snatched her hand away. “I—oh, Blake, I am sorry!”

“No, sweet—you did nothing . . . wrong.” He struggled to regain some control, but his desire throbbed inside him. “You are the most exciting creature I have ever known. I never know what to expect, and I adore that freshness.”

With infinite care, she returned her hand to clasp him lightly. “I adore you, my Lord Diamond.”

As he held her gaze, he lifted his body over her. At the gentle nudging of his knees, Nicole parted her legs to allow him to brace himself between them.