The Promise (30 page)

“Oh,” she said lamely. She wanted to ask him why he liked saying the word, but instead she swallowed nervously and looked away.

Finn chuckled. She blushed again.

They made small talk as each course was served, but Jane wasn’t hungry. She pushed her food around on her plate and tried not to think about the night ahead. After the desert course was cleared, he dismissed the footmen with a brusque, “That will be all.”

Jane toyed with her napkin, folding and unfolding it with shaky fingers. Tension spiraled through her body and she jumped in her seat when his deep voice breached the silence.

“You hardly touched your food.” He watched her intently over the rim of his wine glass. His expression was feral, his eyes glittering with reflected candlelight.

“I have little appetite,” she said, in a near whisper.

“I do,” he returned pointedly, his tone smooth and suggestive.

She looked up with a nervous burst of laughter. “Still? But you’ve already had three plates and…” she inhaled sharply and the rest of the sentence flew from her mind. Finn was regarding her with a look of intense hunger. His supple fingers slowly caressed the curve of his glass in a way that made her recall the exquisite sensation of his hands on her body.  She remembered his grin when he caught her watching him earlier… she could hide nothing from him. He knew exactly how he affected her.  Embarrassed, she dropped her gaze to her lap.

He pushed back his chair decisively and tossed down his napkin. He walked around the table to pull out her chair. He helped her rise and tucked her hand into the crook of his arm.

“Come Jane. It’s time.”

They had been working up to this moment for weeks. Whatever misgivings she had fostered were now set aside. At some point in the future she might find herself nursing a broken heart, but tonight she would seize the moment. She was in love with Finn and maybe in time he would grow to love her, too. Until then it would have to be enough that he desired her.

“Do you trust me?” he asked, searching her eyes.

Jane hesitated then whispered, “Yes.”

“You’re trembling, Jane. Are you frightened?” He was so close his breath tickled her cheek. He leaned closer and lightly touched his lips to her neck. She tilted her head to the side, granting him full access.

She tried to say, “No,” but the word stuck in her throat.

Finn’s hands slid slowly over her shoulders and down her arms as he nuzzled the sensitive place where her neck met the curve of her shoulder. It had been weeks since she left the bakery, but her scent was somehow still redolent of sugar and spices. Her unique essence had become inexorably interwoven with his erotic fantasies… she was savory and sweet, pulsing heat and honey. It drove him wild. He wanted to explore every inch of her soft skin, unravel the mysteries of her willowy body, penetrate the source of her delicious fragrance then lick and taste and devour her until he had his fill.

He suppressed the urge to push her down on the floor and sink into her luscious body. But it was her first time; he couldn’t fall on her like some rude ravening beast, no matter how great his need.

“You must know I would never hurt you.” He pulled her against his chest and began a gentle exploration of her body, dipping his fingers into the lithesome curve of her waist, circling to cup the luscious swell of her bottom. With each tender caress she felt an exquisite ache build within her, a tension that clenched tighter and tighter. She wriggled against him and he groaned as if in pain.

“Ah, Jane my sweet,” he rasped. “Shall we retire? If we stay here much longer I am bound to take you on the floor and that would shock even the stalwart Mrs. Williams.”

Jane laughed nervously. “She was my cousin’s housekeeper for eight years. I doubt there is anything
we
could do to shock her.”

He flashed a wolfish grin. “Still, some things are more pleasurably achieved in bed.” The words sent a jolt of excitement zipping through her bloodstream.

Finn led her through the house and up the stairs into his bedchamber. He shut the door softly behind them. A fire crackled in the grate and several candles flickered softly on the dresser, casting soft, shimmering shadows across the luxurious brushed silk counterpane.

He turned her in his arms and began to pull the pins from her hair.

“I have done this a thousand times in my dreams,” he murmured. Silky strands began to tumble onto her shoulders and spill down her back.

“A thousand times?” her lips twisted in a teasing smile. “That many?”

“It may have been millions. I dream about you a lot, you see.” Finn lifted fistfuls of hair and breathed deeply. “I have become obsessed with the way you smell, Jane… so many pleasing scents on one pleasing body. What do you wash your hair with? It always smells like spring. I find it more arousing than any perfume.”

“What does spring smell like?”

“Honeysuckle,” he turned her to face him and lightly brushed his lips against hers. They were soft and warm on her skin.

“Sunshine.” He nipped her lush bottom lip then pressed a trail of kisses across her jaw. “And… rainwater, I think.”

“I didn’t know you were a poet,” she murmured.

“I never was before tonight. You must be my muse.”

She gave him a look of gentle reproach. “Do not tease me so.”

He ran his fingertips over her collarbones then placed his hands on either side of her neck. He tilted her chin up with his thumbs and pinned her with an ardent, searching look. She was powerless to look away.

“Do you want me, Jane?” he asked with an intensity that thrilled her. “Please say you want me as much as I want you.”

“More.” She grasped his lapels and raised herself up on her tiptoes, offering her lips for another kiss.

Finn groaned and lowered his mouth to hers as he slipped his arms around her waist. The kiss became more urgent and the sweetness of it flowed over her like warm honey. He coaxed her closer by caressing her spine. She felt her dress loosen as skilled fingers unfastened her buttons.

Heat radiated from his body, releasing the heady scent of starched linen, cologne, and aroused male. A strange combination of chills and heat coursed through her and an unfamiliar throb pulsed between her thighs.

“God, Jane!” he ground out. “You’re so beautiful.”

“You don’t have to say those things to me,” she whispered.

“You
are
beautiful,” he repeated, raining butterfly light kisses across her brow. “So beautiful. I’ve never desired a woman as much as I do you.”

She put her hands on his broad shoulders and pushed back slightly so she could see his face. Her breath caught in her throat. She didn’t know how to interpret the intense longing in his eyes, but the fierce expression caused her stomach to flip in the most disconcerting way. Jane was not sure if his words were sincere, or were simply the sort of sweet nothings that men invariably uttered in the heat of coupling.

“You doubt it’s true?” He kissed her jaw. Her nose. Her ear, gently nibbling on her lobe, taking it into his mouth, nipping and sucking. Heat pooled between her legs and she moaned. His hands slipped under her bottom and he lifted her against the evidence of his arousal. “I’ll prove it.”

His lips returned to hers, hot and firm. His tongue slipped inside, probing the velvety softness within. Her legs gave way and the strong band of his arms was the only thing that kept her from sliding to the ground. His body was hard, a tower of bone and sinew, lean, corded muscle. Hers was melting, pliant, yielding to fit his masculine angles. The contrast stirred something primal within both of them. They were so different, yet they fit as if by perfect design.

Jane wound her arms around his neck and pressed herself against the hard plane of his chest. Her head fell back and lust slammed through him at the sight of her face, soft and glowing, eyes half closed and drunk with desire. She had the dazed look of a woman who had just discovered passion, and he quickened, growing harder, thicker, more ravenous.

He lifted her and carried her to the bed. He set her on her feet and slid his hands under the shoulders of her loosened gown, sliding outward. The fabric slithered to the ground. He held her gaze as he undressed her, letting petticoats, corset, and chemise fall into a pile of linen and lace. He dropped to his knees to slide off her pantalets and roll down her stockings. He looked up the length of her shapely body with a devilish smile.

“I’ve never seen you in anything more lovely.”

His long fingers circled her ankles then slid up her calves, caressing the backs of her knees, dipping into curves and hollows. He slowly rose and his palms skimmed her silky thighs, slipping around to knead and squeeze her bottom. Jane stood before him completely naked while he was fully clothed. She was surprised not to feel the slightest embarrassment. Instead she was emboldened by the reckless, voracious look on his face that made her feel beautiful, desirable.

Finn sat down on the edge of the bed and began to tug off his boots. Jane dropped to the carpet and pushed his hands away. She grasped his heels and pulled them off, one at a time. Performing this domestic chore for him while naked was intensely erotic.

“I think I’ll pension off my valet,” Finn grinned. “From now on I expect you to perform this task nightly, dressed exactly as you are at this moment.” He cupped her breasts. “I hope it won’t be too great an imposition, madam, for my mind is unalterably fixed on the idea.” She tossed the boots on the floor. He grabbed her wrists and pulled her toward him. “I will not be dissuaded,” he said with a raspy voice.

Jane batted her lashes and curtsied. “Whatever pleases milord.”

His eyebrows shot up at this sexually playful riposte. “Minx!” he laughed softly, kissing her collarbone. She stepped back and pulled him to his feet.

“May I?” she asked as she slipped his coat from his shoulders. It tumbled onto the growing pile of clothing on the floor. Jane unbuttoned his waistcoat then his shirt while he tugged impatiently at his cravat. He succeeded only in binding the fabric tighter, so she gently brushed away his hands and untied it herself. Jane spread her fingers across his chest, grazing nipples surrounded by crisp whorls of hair. Finn’s eyes darkened and he growled something unintelligible as heat surged through his body.

Her hands trailed lower, skimming the powerful cording of his abdomen. He had the streamlined physique of an athlete, long limbed with a muscular chest tapering to narrow hips. She slid her fingers beneath his waistband and he drew a sharp breath. He froze as she unbuttoned his breeches and tugged them down along with his smalls and stockings, averting her eyes from his rampant manhood.

So big!
She swallowed, some of her earlier nervousness returning. How on earth was
that
going to fit inside her? It seemed a physical impossibility.

Finn sat on the edge of the bed and pulled her to her feet.

“Don’t worry. We were made to fit together… like pieces of a puzzle.”

“How do you do that?” she asked.

“What?”

“Sometimes I think you can read my mind.”

“You have a very expressive face, sweet.”

His hands slid up her waist and caressed her breasts. He kissed them gently, almost teasingly at first. His tongue curled around her nipple until it hardened to a tight bud as he rolled the other between his thumb and forefinger, pinching softly. A wonderful sensation spiraled through her and she felt a flood of moisture between her legs.

He pulled her forward and settled her on his lap with her knees straddling him.

Jane’s breasts were full and aching. When he drew a pebbled areola into his mouth and began to suck, she moaned softly, sliding her fingers through his hair, pressing him to her. His hands restlessly explored her body, stroking her back and bottom, lingering on the feminine curve of her waist. She whimpered when his hand slid up the inside of her thigh and came to rest on her mound. His fingers teased the hot, damp center of her desire, rhythmically pressing until she gasped. She felt him smile against her breast as he probed the soft folds of her sex. She was deliciously tight and wet. He massaged and stretched her, preparing her to take him. Finn was a large man and he didn’t want to hurt her.

She bucked against his hand, murmuring inarticulate words as she reached for her release. He shuddered and pressed his cheek into the valley between her breasts. He gulped in air and willed himself not to lose control. The scent of her sex surrounded him.

“Let go, my love,” he whispered. His fingers slipped in and out of her passage as he circled her pearl with his thumb. “Come to me.”

Jane clutched at his shoulders and cried out his name as waves of pleasure rippled through her. Her back arched and she grabbed his wrist, holding his hand still as she climaxed. Finn almost came when he felt her muscles spasm around his fingers. He held her until all the tension melted from her body and her breathing slowed.

She threw her hand up and covered her face. “Glory! What was
that
?” she asked in a voice filled with wonder. Finn laughed out loud and tumbled her onto the bed.

“Ladies first,” he said in a low rumble, “but it’s my turn now.” He pushed her on her back then knelt between her thighs and gently forced her legs apart. She made a distressed sound and tried to draw her knees together. Her cheeks flamed with embarrassment at the idea of Finn seeing her most private parts. It seemed silly in light of what he had just done, but she couldn’t help it.