Revenge Wears Rubies (29 page)

She bobbed a quick curtsy and left before Haley could think of a dignified reply.

Oh, dear. I’ve been less careful than I thought if Mrs. Biron has noticed, but . . . it seems she and the servants have agreed to look the other way.
Her fingers closed around the key, and a thrill shivered down her spine.

It would be easier now. Even with Aunt Alice’s cooperation, it was harrowing to come up with excuses every afternoon with the worry of what the servants might say when no matter how many times she went out shopping, she came home empty-handed. But if what Mrs. Biron said was true, she could come and go as she pleased with few limitations. She smiled in anticipation, eager to enjoy her new freedom.
I could even be with him at night! Father retires so early, I could slip out and return without anyone seeing me.

She took up a fresh sheet of paper and began to compose a note to Hawke.
Tonight, my heart, I will be there tonight!

“Galen! Wake up! Wake up!”

He almost struck out against her, but her soft, cool fingers on his face finally anchored him back into the waking world. “I’m . . . it was . . . a bad dream.”

She knelt next to him, instinctively protecting him by cradling his head against her chest, her fingers stroking his hair and face in gentle soothing circles. “You were screaming. I don’t think I’ve ever been so frightened in my life, my poor Galen! What was it?”

He opened his mouth to reply, but nothing came out as he realized that none of the residual terror he usually felt was there. He’d made love to her and then fallen asleep. Normally, after any of his nightmares, he would have been compelled to leap up and light every lamp in the room to dispel its effects. But this time it was different. His heart had already slowed, and his attention was absorbed into the scent of her hair and the sweet silk of her warm skin against his. “It was nothing.”

“Nothing? How can that be?”

He stared into the dark, not really sure of the answer.
How is it possible that I’m not tearing this bedroom apart and ringing for poor Bradley? The only difference—is Haley.
“Ghosts and nightmares, Haley, apparently don’t have the same power as I look at you.”

“You can’t look at me, Galen. It’s too dark, but it’s a sweet sentiment.” She kissed him on the forehead, in an almost maternal gesture, but his body responded nonetheless and Galen wasn’t about to let her think of him as helpless for a single second longer.

He reared up, using his strength and speed to exchange positions with her, tucking her against his side and pinning her to the bedding. “I’ve memorized you, Miss Moreland. Lights are desirable, but I can navigate without them.”

“How . . . resourceful of you!” She sighed, arching into his hands as he began to demonstrate his mastery in the dark. He splayed his hands up over her rib cage and covered her breasts with his palms, relishing the way their pert tips came to life in hot, ripe points against his touch. “Every inch, Miss Moreland, of that voluptuous body of yours is mapped.”

“N-not every inch!” her voice was suddenly shy. “A lady likes to think she has a few mysteries left, Galen.”

“You have your mysteries, Haley. Never fear,” he whispered. Galen lifted himself off the bed and burrowed under the light covers to position himself at her feet.

“G-Galen? What are you doing?” she asked warily.

“Conducting a survey of the landscape,” he answered, his voice muffled by the sheets.

He started with her toes, playfully kissing each one before he dragged his nails lightly along the arch of her feet and made her giggle. Galen’s campaign was relentless, as he gently bit her instep only to circle her ankle with his tongue, making her yelp with surprise. He gave each foot equal attention, until she no longer seemed startled by any of his maneuvers. He massaged the small muscles in her heels and then easily slid his hands up to her calves to press his hands up over the curves there, contracting his fingers as he drew them back down until he’d reached her heel again—only to leisurely repeat the process.

“Oh, it’s heaven!” she sighed, and Galen began to relish the game. He had never considered the potential of a woman’s body beyond the obvious, and it was thrilling to know that he could please her in new ways. Even so, he wasn’t about to miss the obvious . . .

He gently gripped her knees, careful not to apply any pressure and cause himself a black eye with an unplanned spasm. He crawled forward, his face level with her knees, and risked a hot kiss on the tender crease behind each one, tasting the soft skin there and savoring the tremors he was sending up her body with each flick of his tongue. From there, he kissed a trail up each thigh, intermittently grazing the firm curves with his teeth as the sweet musky smell of her arousal filled his nostrils.

He crawled forward, her thighs parted by his bulk, until his nose was just above the luxurious spread of her sex. With the sheets covering him, Galen felt like an explorer in a humid, lush cave, and the thought made him smile as he lowered his lips to hers. She was already wet and wanting, and he dipped his tongue into the well between her silken folds and tasted the slick ambrosia of her need. He penetrated her lightly with his tongue, then sampled the entire length of her vulva, nibbling and laving every change in texture and sucking on her nether lips to make them even more swollen and sensitive to his touch.

She lifted her hips to try to guide him up to the greedy little button that was demanding his attention, and Galen obliged her, but only in a teasing pass of his mouth, tonguing the jutting tip of her as he moved up to press his nose against the soft curls on her mons. Galen didn’t want her to spend too quickly, though he deliberately let his chin push into her clit and then was mindful that at least part of him was “inadvertently” touching her there at all times, as he continued his journey upward.

He spread his fingers over her hip bones and studied the shape of her body there. He loved the way it rose and fell, every curve a delight and every dip guiding his hands to uncover more of her. Galen kissed each hip then used his tongue to trace the soft swell of her belly, to dip his tongue into her belly button. Haley laughed softly, wiggling at the sensation of his mouth against the miniature well, and he abandoned it to hover over her to taste the points where her waist narrowed while his fingers splayed over her ribs, measuring her slight span and absorbing the rise and fall of each breath.

He moved up, carefully keeping his full weight off of her but dragging his body across hers as he settled in over her breasts. He touched them with the reverence of a man admiring the sculptured work of a master. They were ripe and firm, the size of apples, ample enough to make his mouth water. He caressed the underside of each, letting his warm breath touch her skin to echo the path of his fingers. He pushed them upward to expose the soft crease underneath and then kissed her there. His hands roamed around the sides of each mound, lightly touching her until her skin marbled beneath his fingertips. Haley arched her back in a spasm of pleasure, pressing her breasts upward into his hands, eager for more.

Galen squeezed each one, then tweaked the hardened peaks in a pinch that made her buck more wildly. He lowered his mouth to one, sampling the ambrosia of her body, all the while aware that he could feast on this woman all day, but the delicious mounds would never diminish—the enchanted well between her legs would never run dry. She was a living goddess of sensual bounty, and his hunger for her was endless. He bent over and caught the other nipple in his mouth, capturing the taut pebbled circle completely and drawing on it, suckling her and consuming the hardened flesh as if her body alone was sustaining his life.

At last, he forced himself to let go, blowing cool air across her skin, and returned to his quest, kissing the valley between her breasts and up to her throat where he could taste the pulse in her throat and the faint salt of her sweat. At last, he found the firm, eager satin of her lips, and instead of a culmination of his feast, Galen was rewarded with a kiss that set off a ruthless hunger edged in the hypnotic promise of fulfillment yet to come. His cock was so hard and heavy between his legs, the slightest movement made his breath catch in his throat.

“I like the dark,” she whispered.

“Do you now?” He tried his best version of a Scottish brogue. “Well, lass, it does a let a man explore the bonnie heights!”

“What’s good for the goose . . .” She nipped at his ear and then shifted away, inspired to do a bit of exploration herself—as only seemed fair in light of the delicious torment she’d just endured. The dark emboldened her, and Haley decided to take advantage of the opportunity. Freed from the embarrassment of him seeing what she was sure was an unladylike lust, she pressed him back on the bed and moved down to the warm length of his sex and knelt between his thighs to satisfy her curiosity. By touch alone, she measured out the jutting prowess of his erection, amazed anew that such a marvelously large member fit her channel so perfectly. She could barely get her fingers around him, he was so thick, and his cock jumped in her hand when she squeezed to make the connection of her fingertips around the base of him.

She leaned forward, slowly planting a tentative kiss on his ripened head.

She could smell the musk of his skin, and as her lips parted, she could taste the salty-sweet silk of his essence as his cock responded to her attentions. Her hair fell forward, and Haley deliberately allowed her long curls to caress his bare thighs and stomach as she deepened the kiss. Her tongue found the sensitive juncture at the underside of his swollen head, and she licked him there, flicking and pressing against him before circling his entire tip. She could feel his hips tensing, and it only added to her desire. She pulled him deeper into her mouth until she held all of his ripe plum- shaped hood in the hot pocket of her mouth, and the world melted away and became only this act of need—for she truly needed to taste him and please him and command the hunger in her to cease.

His hips strained, and she suspected he was trying not to buck against her mouth—and it thrilled her to think that she could be the one to drive him past his self-control. She released him, but only to use her tongue to locate every vein on his shaft and follow it down his engorged length. She mapped every texture with her mouth, kissing and sucking him until she knew exactly where he was most sensitive, and then added her hands to the game. She pulled her hands up and down his shaft, increasing the pressure slowly up and down the sinew that ran down the underside of his cock, massaging the butter-soft skin that encased the hot, unyielding core of his shaft.

She cupped the odd sac underneath, enjoying its soft fur and vaguely realizing that it too moved in her hands, tightening and contracting as her breath fanned its surface. Haley prodded him with careful fingers and uncovered the pressure points to make him writhe and groan. She leaned over to place her mouth against it, and Galen’s entire body stiffened.

“Did I wound you?”

“God, no! Don’t stop, Haley!”

She smiled and immediately set out to comply with his wishes. She kissed and suckled him till she was almost dizzy with her own brazen actions, reveling in Galen’s every sigh. Then suddenly, he’d disengaged himself and tumbled her over and for a second she was disoriented—and distraught to think she’d done something wrong—before realizing the delightfully wicked workings of his mind.