Virginia Henley (47 page)

He looked down into her lovely face with disbelief at what she was begging him to do. “Alexandra, my beloved, I have no intention of initiating you in a brothel on black satin sheets!”

Alone with Nicholas in the big curtained bed, the world had receded for Alex. In their own warm, intimate cocoon, filled with love and magic, it seemed as if nothing and no one could touch them. Even her ability to think had been stolen by the dark, dominant, dangerous male who lay naked beside her, enfolding her in his arms. Her mouth curved in a secret smile. He had his own rigid code of respect that obviously extended to where he would make love to her. She kissed the cleft in his chin, which had always been irresistible to her. “Who taught you such
honor
?’

“My idea of honor has undergone a drastic change in the past year, about many things, but not about you, Alexandra. Honor is instinctive. No man can give it to you; no man can take it from you. Honor is something you give yourself.”

Alexandra pressed closer. His honor had kept her at arm’s length for years, because she was intended for his twin and thus forbidden to him. For a blinding moment, she feared he would never make her his.
If he rejects me again, I shall die!

His hand stroked over her bum so possessively that the fear of rejection melted into a warm pool of pleasure, where she lay floating ever closer to the shores of Paradise. Her mons lay against his hip, and each time he moved, she became more aroused. The slow glide of his lips along her neck turned her blood to molten hot gold, which flowed into her breasts and down into her belly then cascaded between her legs, making her sheath burn with liquid fire. She arched against his hip, then slid down and rubbed her woman’s center up and down his muscled thigh.

Her raw sensuality stunned him, and he sent up thanks to the Goddess of Love, who must have bestowed such a rare gift upon them. He decided to keep her in a delicious state of arousal until he was able to lift her into his own bed at Curzon Street. Only then would he release the passion that he had held in check for years. Again he found her lips, traced the seam with an insistent tongue, then entered the dark, hot cave. At the same time, his fingertips separated the red-gold curls and slipped into her pink cleft, unerringly finding and stroking the delicate little rosebud until it unfurled its petals. His tongue thrust in and out in the sensual rhythm in which lovers had indulged since the dawn of time. His fingers pressed firmly into her scalding, dewy cleft, then began a slow, circular motion, designed to arouse her fully.

His mouth and his fingers took her higher and higher, until she was flying to heights that were dizzying and intoxicating and so blissful she wanted him to make love to her with his tongue and fingertips forever, and never, ever stop. She became aware of a fluttering as delicate as a butterfly wing, then an ache deep within began to build, making her arch her mons into his powerful hand as he skillfully lifted her toward climax. Everything, including time, seemed to stop, as she hovered precariously on the brink; then, with reckless daring, she plunged over the edge of the precipice. The sunburst of sensation made her so delirious, she bit his shoulder. She heard a scream and knew it was her own. It was truly the most glorious feeling she had ever experienced. The initial explosion was followed by deep, intense throbs, close together at first, then drawing out to smaller pulsations. By the time they ceased, Alexandra felt boneless and replete.

Nicholas cupped her mons in his hand, enjoying the feel of her pulsations as he took the soft animal cries she made into his mouth. This was the way he wanted her every night for the rest of his life, writhing and frenzied beneath him, while he buried himself deep inside her. He was in an agony of need as he released her lips, dipped his head to her lush breast and licked his tongue around its jewel-hard center, then sucked it whole into his mouth.

As his teeth toyed with her nipple, Alexandra felt hot threads spark to life between her legs, and she realized that he could ignite her again at will. Suddenly, she wanted to know what would make
him
groan with need and cry out with passion. More than anything, her desire now became centered on his pleasure, his hunger, and she wanted to learn ways to satisfy that hunger.
Feminine ways, wicked ways, surely there are more than one!
Alex boldly reached out to touch between his legs, but Nick’s powerful hand covered hers and drew it away. “Don’t, my love. I’ll spend!”

“Don’t you want to spend?” she whispered shyly.

“Of course I want to spend, but not now, not here.”
How can I explain?
He knew he couldn’t. “I need my strength,” he improvised.

“Oh, Nick, I’m so wicked, thinking only of pleasure. Is there anything I can do to make you feel better?”

He grit his teeth to hold on to his control and stop his semen from cascading all over her. “Talk to me; that might help. Tell me what in the name of God you are doing at Champagne Charlie’s.”

Alex took a deep breath and plunged in, instinctively putting her actions in the best possible light. “Nick, you were so right to laugh at my ambition to become a writer; I soon learned that selling a novel was an impossibility. Dressed as a male, I did manage to get a job writing articles for the
Political Register,
but even when I included a scandalous caricature of Prinny, they only paid me a pittance.”

“Dressed as a male?” he repeated quietly, as if her sanity should be questioned.

“Well, it was so much easier dressed that way to roam freely about the seedy areas of London, where crime and poverty flourish. You were right about London having an underbelly, and now I understand completely why you didn’t want me exposed to it.”

“Roam freely where crime and poverty flourish?” He couldn’t believe the things she was telling him!

“But the best part was that it allowed me to frequent the haunts of the
ton,
such as White’s and Champagne Charlie’s.”

Nick held her away from him, so that he could search her face. “You came to Charlie’s dressed as a male?”

“Well how else could I have an intimate conversation with a high-class harlot?”

“How else, indeed? Do go on, sweetheart.”

“It was a revelation to learn how much money a female could earn in a place like this. Up until Charlie’s, I’d only seen street prostitutes, usually accompanied by their whoremaster.”

“Alexandra, words fail me.”
It is a miracle she hasn’t been raped or murdered by now!
He held her more tightly.
She truly does need a keeper, if only to protect her from herself!
But a part of him admired her—she certainly hadn’t been sitting around sewing doilies while he was off at war!

“Then I found my mother living in the Rookery in St. Giles. She was very ill and needed care. I took her home to Dottie but thought it only fair that I shoulder the medical expenses and whatnot. That’s when I came to Charlie with a proposition.”

“You propositioned Charlie?” he asked faintly. “The way you tell it, my love, it sounds perfectly reasonable.”

“And so it
was
perfectly reasonable. I knew Lady Emma Hamilton had been a posing girl and thought this place might benefit from a similar attraction. Charlie agreed, and here I am.”

“Here you are indeed, naked, with a man who doesn’t know whether to spank you or bed you, and will likely do both before morning!”

“Oh, I never performed actually naked. I wore a flesh-colored body net that covered me from neck to knees; it belonged to Dottie, as part of her Godiva costume. But it finally fell apart, and tonight I had no choice but to perform naked.”

“Then it was providence that guided me to Charlie’s tonight.”

“I don’t believe it was. It was sheer risk and recklessness, Nick Hatton! Did you really rob the Prince of Wales?”

“I did,” he acknowledged solemnly, “and Frederick and Cousin Gloucester. My ill-gotten gains are in a bag under this very bed.”

Suddenly, Alexandra began to laugh. “We are a matched pair!” Her breasts rose and fell against his chest. “We are a perfectly outrageous couple with far more daring than brains.”

From somewhere they heard a clock chime midnight. “Get your clothes and I’ll dress you.” His mouth went dry at the thought of inching her stockings up her long legs and fastening her garters.

When Charlie looked in on them, Nick had on his trousers and boots, and his female companion was fully dressed. “I can manage without a shirt, but I’m afraid I must impose upon you for a jacket, my dearest Charlotte.”

She looked him up and down with appreciative eyes. “It will have to be one of the servant’s. I can’t purloin a jacket from one of my customers, no matter how anxious he was to rid himself of such an encumbrance.”

When Charlie returned with a claret-colored coat, Nick gallantly thanked her. But when she dutifully counted out Alexandra’s hundred guineas, Nick looked on grimly. “Caprice will not be back.” His tone permitted no argument.

“I surmised as much, and I don’t imagine
your
visits will be any too frequent in the future, Hazard Hatton,” she said smoothly. “I believe you have met your match!”

 

Out on Pall Mall, Nicholas entered the hackney first, and when no one rushed forward to arrest him, he signaled to Alexandra, who stood waiting just inside the doorway.

Nicholas Hatton need not have worried, as it turned out. The Prince Regent and his royal companions were quite vexed at both the Guardsman who had cried, “Stop, thief!” and the officer from the Bow Street Mounted Patrol who had fired off a shot then initiated pursuit. Under no circumstances did Prinny wish to draw attention to himself when he was indulging his insatiable vice of gambling. Especially not at the den of iniquity known as the Foxhole, where they were usually entertained by Champagne Charlie’s whores. If such a thing got out, the cries for reform could very easily turn into demands.

Nicholas braced himself in the corner of the carriage and drew Alexandra into his arms. One insistent hand slipped inside her cloak to cup a lush breast. Though the pain in his head throbbed like the devil, holding Alex blotted out most of it, and filled up his senses with pure joy. His lips brushed against her temple, then he kissed her eyelids, the tip of her nose, and finally took possession of her mouth in a lingering kiss deliberately designed to keep her in a delicious state of arousal.

A small sigh of regret escaped Alexandra’s lips when the hackney pulled up outside the tall town house in Curzon Street. The dark interior of the carriage had been so enclosing and intimate, rocking their bodies together in such a sensual swaying rhythm, that she wished the ride could have gone on much longer.

When Fenton opened the front door, Nick told him he could retire for the night. Alex stood behind Nicholas in an attempt to keep her identify from the Hatton butler. “I should have worn my mask,” she murmured when the majordomo retreated without glancing at her.

“It’s a bit late for masks, love. The servants will certainly see you tomorrow, unless I keep you abed all day.” He led the way up the stairs, carrying his army pistol and the bag containing the money he had stolen from the trio of royal profligates. He quickly locked away both in his desk, then he turned up the lamp and looked at her. Thoughts of her pledge to marry Kit tried to intrude, but he deliberately banished them. “I swear I must be the luckiest devil in the entire world. When I set out for London, I had no notion the prize that awaited me was you. Fate stepped in and delivered you into my arms. Have you any idea how precious you are to me, Alexandra?”

Her heart sang. “Do you honestly mean that, Nicholas?”

“Before we leave this chamber, I intend to convince you of it, my love.” He moved to the fireplace and lit the tapers in the two silver candelabra that stood on the mantel, flooding the room with a warm glow. “Let me look at you; I’ll never get my fill.”

Alexandra hesitated, torn between love for this man, and her duty toward Kit. She was engaged to marry Nick’s brother and the moral dilemma forced her to choose. His voice was so deep and intense, a shiver ran down her spine. Her decision made, Alex unwrapped her cloak, set it on a chair along with her mask and reticule, then shyly lifted her eyes to meet his.

“This time I shall have the pleasure of
undressing
you.” He tried to smile, but his dark face was hard with need. He removed the borrowed coat and hung it in the wardrobe next to his faded uniform, then held out his arms. “Come to me, Alex; it feels like I’ve been waiting a lifetime for you.”

She wanted to fling herself into his arms, but mindful of his freshly stitched wound, she came gently. She closed her eyes blissfully as she felt his arms enfold her and press her to his heart. “Nicholas, I love you so much . . . I’ve always loved you!”

His lips feathered kisses across the tendrils on her brow, then traced a fiery path along her cheekbone. When their mouths met in a fiercely demanding kiss, each was in an agony of longing. Nick was completely aware of the violence of his feelings, and he tried to curb the savage passion that rode him, reminding himself that Alex was relatively inexperienced, regarding the sex act. In her innocence, she imagined that she was completely initiated, but Nick knew she had a long way to go yet. He intended to enjoy every moment of it. He sat down on the bed and pulled her down into his lap, then his fingers began unbuttoning her gown.

Alex had deliberately chosen a gown with an entire row of buttons so that she could undo them slowly, enticingly, for her performance at Charlie’s. Now the ploy turned the tables on her as Nick’s fingers enticed and titillated her almost beyond endurance. He bared her shoulders and brought his lips to touch her skin, which shone translucent as a pearl in the warm candle glow. With gentle fingers he bared her to the waist, then cupped a round, firm breast and lifted it to his hungry mouth. He tongued her nipple, turning it into a tiny, erect spear that thrust itself into his hot mouth, where he teased it with his teeth then sucked hard until she moaned with pleasure.