Virginia Henley (25 page)

“They chopped one off?” she whispered with disbelief.

“Why the devil do you think he always wears gloves? Anyway, that wasn’t the worst of it. No sooner did Sean regain consciousness than Father had him arrested for the murder of his own brother. It was a swift Admiralty trial with Father presiding and Jack Raymond the chief witness. I am ashamed to say I was paralyzed by fear of Father and never uttered a word in Sean’s defense.

“He was sentenced to ten years aboard the hulks. It was a death sentence, of course. Men don’t survive the living hell
aboard the hulks for more than a few months. But Sean O’Toole survived. He lived on hatred for five whole years before he escaped.”

As he talked, Emerald’s face turned white. Her eyes closed against the tears that scalded her eyelids. A lump wedged in her throat, almost choking her.

“Are you all right, Em?”

She couldn’t answer him.

“Em surprised Sean can even look at me or stomach talking to me because Em a Montague. How can he bear to touch you? He must love you very much, Emerald, to overlook the fact that you, too, are a Montague.”

Emerald’s hand went to her throat to try to ease the unbearable ache that threatened to suffocate her.

“He escaped only a couple of days before your wedding; far too late to stop it. So he simply came and took you. Laws don’t mean much to Sean O’Toole, especially English laws.”

“Why did you never—” Her voice cracked, her throat closed.

“Why did I never tell you? Because I knew you loved him. I wasn’t blind or deaf. You once called him your Irish Prince. I couldn’t break your heart, Em. After Mother left, your life was such a total misery, I couldn’t add to your unhappiness.”

She wanted to ask why he had let her marry Jack Raymond, but it was unfair to blame Johnny. She had made the decision. Dear God, how she loathed her husband! She could see now that he had married her so he could become a Montague. The name was synonymous with evil. It was a curse. She’d have none of it. She was a FitzGerald, through and through.

Johnny poured a glass of Irish whisky from a decanter and brought it to her. Emerald shook her head. She knew she could not speak, let alone swallow. She lifted her hand
to his cheek in a silent caress, then she pulled her robe more closely about her and went back to her room.

She walked quietly to the connecting door and leaned against it. The ache in her throat had expanded to encompass her heart. She glanced down and saw the light go out beneath the door. Emerald had never needed him as much as she did at this moment, yet she wanted to give, not take. She wanted to wrap her love about him so that nothing would ever hurt him again.

She saw her reflection in the mirror and knew she must compose herself. She moved to the washstand, poured water from the jug, and bathed her eyes. She sat on the edge of the bed and tried to breathe calmly. If she didn’t get some air inside her, she would suffocate. After a few minutes she was able to take some shallow breaths, but she knew she could not get into bed.

The need to be with Sean overwhelmed her. He was her love, her life. She must tell him, show him, what he meant to her. She picked up the lamp and turned the knob of the connecting door. It swung open silently as she stepped into his chamber, then moved with slow trepidation toward the bed.

As he saw the light approaching, Sean pulled himself up onto his elbows. “Emerald?”

With all her heart she wanted to say his name, but again it was impossible for her to speak. As she moved toward the bed, Sean saw that her hands trembled on the lamp and her eyes were blinded by tears. He sat up all the way and took the lamp from her hands. “What is it? What’s wrong?” he demanded.

Her legs turned to water and she sank down on the bed.

He quickly concealed his left hand beneath the covers and reached for her with the other one. The defensive gesture undid her. The floodgates opened and she began to sob.

Sean’s fingers splayed into her hair and he pressed her
head to his chest. “Hush now, hush.” His lips touched her brow gently. “Whatever it is, I’ll make it better,” he crooned. His words only made things worse. He cradled her against him for another minute, then bent his lips to her ear. “You’re going to have to tell me, love.”

Emerald lifted her head and swallowed hard. “Johnny told me what they did to you.”

S
ean’s eyes flashed their terrible dark anger. “Damn him, he should never have told you!” he ground out.

“Sean, I love you so much, I can’t bear it…. I can’t bear it.” She rocked back and forth, keening in the true Irish way.

He ground his teeth in frustration. “And if you cry, I cannot bear it!”

He lifted her chin and gazed at her. She looked so unbelievably young. In the white silk night rail she also looked innocent, pure, and untainted. But she wouldn’t be for long, not if he had his vengeful way. “Don’t shed tears over me, Emerald, I’m not worth it.”

She smiled tremulously. “You have a dark side. Let me love you.” She had a need to purge him of all the brutality he had suffered.

“It isn’t merely a dark side, Emerald, it’s black—beyond redemption. Go from me before it’s too late for you.”

For answer she reached beneath the covers and took his hand.

“No!” He jerked as if a red-hot iron had touched him.

“Sean, I love you. I love all of you. Your hand is part of you, please don’t hide it from me.”

“Here, then, damn you, look at the ugly thing!” He threw back the bedcovers to reveal the scarred stump of his thumb. His dark eyes watched her face intently for her reaction. He
thought she did a creditable job of hiding her disgust. But it would be another matter if he tried to touch her. He never wanted to see her flinch from him.

His eyes widened as he saw her reach out to take his hand in hers. She drew it to her cheek in a caress, then she dropped a dozen tiny kisses upon the stub. Her eyes flooded and spilled over, dropping wetness on his scarred thumb.

Sean groaned as if making a decision against his better judgment. “Come. Come in to me.” He pulled back the covers and Emerald slipped into the bed with him. He enfolded her in his arms and drew her trembling softness against his hard naked length. He cradled her gently in strong arms, stroking her hair and her back, while she sweetly clung to him.

Why didn’t you run from me, Emerald?

Why did you make it so easy for me?

He cuddled her until she cried herself out. When her sobs subsided and she lay with her cheek pressed against his heart with his heat and strength seeping into her body, Emerald had never felt so safe and secure. Lying in the same bed together was like being in their own private, warm cocoon. This was what she wanted for the rest of her life.

She lifted her face so she could gaze up at him. His dark beauty was irresistible and she reached out a fingertip to trace the black eyebrow, the slanting cheekbone, and the dark stubble along the square jaw. It gave her such pleasure, she suddenly wanted to explore all of him.

His body was as yet unknown to her and she wanted to learn the feel of every hard, sculpted muscle. She wanted to look at him, to smell him, to taste him. She realized it might take her years to find out what was in his mind or even his heart, because he was not ready to share his inner self with anyone. But he was now willing to share his body with her, secrets and all. And for Emerald it was enough.

If she loved him without reserve, perhaps his inner
wounds would heal so he would trust her enough to share his essence with her. His eyes were fathomless as she gazed up into them, but slowly his hands came up to cup her face, then his lips traced every feature from temple to chin. He was leading the way.

She duplicated his caresses, cupping his face, then setting her lips to cherish the planes and hollows of his dark beauty. Before she was done, he moved to her throat and shoulders, feathering kisses, nibbling her silky flesh, whispering love words. She followed his lead, running her lips down the powerful column of his throat, rubbing her cheek along his collarbone, caressing the sinews of his wide shoulders.

Sean’s hands stroked down her body, taking the white silk with them. The feel of naked skin against bare flesh was so exciting, she wanted to scream. Yet his first caress was not on an intimate spot. Instead, he opened her hand and dropped a kiss inside her palm, then his lips traced the tiny blue veins at her wrist. He slid the tip of his tongue along her inner arm to her elbow, and she felt a thrill run up inside her armpit.

By exploring her so slowly and sensually he was arousing and heightening all her senses. Emerald wanted to do the same for Sean. She came up over him and lifted his arms above his head. Then she began her love play in the sensitive hollows, nuzzling, whispering, inhaling the heady male scent of him. She trailed kisses up his raised arms until her mouth could reach no higher, then she moved her body up on his, so that she could kiss his fingers and then his thumbs.

Her breasts brushed his face, filling his nostrils with her woman’s scent. He closed his eyes, inhaling, savoring her awakening passion. Then without warning she took his injured thumb into her mouth and suckled softly, sensually, proving to him that even the scars on his body aroused her.

Sean, suddenly seized with a savage frenzy of lust,
wanted to ravish her. He felt like a dark raptor, needing to seize his prey and devour it. He managed to crush down his need for depravity. There would be time for animal ferocity later. This first time Emerald must enjoy every moment.

To compensate for his rough elemental sexual cravings, he brought his hands to her waist and lifted her until his lips brushed against her mons, then his mouth took possession of her. Emerald cried out. When he thrust inside her with his hot tongue, it was as if she had been pierced by lightning!

In her wildest dreams she never could have imagined a man doing such a thing, yet she loved it so much, she opened wide to him, unfurling her petals like a flower in the hot sun. She writhed and arched with so much pleasure, Sean decided to draw it out, curling his tongue to flick her tiny bud between hot, wet thrusts. When at last he tasted her cream, his mouth became unquenchable and her cries could be heard in the highest tower of Castle Lies.

The bedclothes were long gone from their sexual exertions and they hungrily devoured each other with their eyes. “If only I could do that for you,” Emerald gasped.

“What?” he asked huskily.

“Make love to you with my mouth.”

“Little innocent,” he murmured.

“What?” She reached out to touch his engorged sex. Sean almost came out of his skin. “Oh! It is so thick and hard, I had no idea it was so sensitive. Do you think my lips and tongue could give you pleasure?”

“Perhaps a little,” he said wryly.

Her lips touched him lightly at first, uncertain of what to expect or what his reaction would be. Sean’s response was so volatile, clearly showing her how much gratification he received from her ministrations, she became bolder. Wildly curious about the shape, color, texture, and taste of him, she lost her apprehension about his size. In fact, she was thrilled
when she increased his length and thickness by teasing him until he became completely engorged.

“That’s enough, Beauty,” he gasped, threading his fingers into her hair and gently pulling her from him before he spilled. She was flushed with the knowledge of her erotic power over him, and Sean had never seen a woman more beautiful in her passion. He knew this was the moment he had been waiting for. Now in her pride and passion he would make her wholly, gloriously his.

He moved above her and opened her silken thighs wide. He positioned the throbbing head of his shaft against her tiny bud and slowly, firmly impaled her with one long thrust. Her sheath was so hot she scalded him, and he cried out in his passion. When he was sheathed to the hilt, he whispered all the things he would do to her, how it would make her feel and how exquisite it felt to be deep inside her at last.

Emerald was in a fever of need as she felt him fill her with his thick manroot. She wanted to yield all to his demanding body and wrapped her legs high about his back. When he started to thrust with savage strokes, the hot sliding friction aroused her to a frenzy. She loved the weight of his body on hers, adored the throbbing, pulsating fullness deep inside her, reveled in the exciting male scent of his skin, as he unleashed the fierce desire that had been riding him for so long.

She was half mad with passion, crying and biting his shoulders with sharp little teeth. She felt him take her higher and higher, as if climbing to the peak of a towering precipice. She clung there for heart-stopping moments, then flung herself with him over the edge in an ecstasy of abandon. As he erupted into her, she cried out with the pure sensual pleasure his demanding body brought her.

Emerald held him there, not wanting him to withdraw from her. She stroked his back endlessly from shoulders to
buttocks. She kissed him fiercely, in a fever to lavish him with adoration. He had made her feel luxuriant, equally sharing and enjoying the joining of their bodies, and it gave her such heady delight, she felt she could never have enough of him.