Virtue and Vice (10 page)

She was smart, she was sassy, she wore breeches, Bigod! And pranced about in them as though she were as comfortable in them as she was in her own skin. None of which were practical traits to look for in his future countess, yet he wanted her exactly the way she was.

It was insanity. There was no other way to explain it. How else had he gone from looking forward to a May Day romp in the grass with a pretty girl, to wanting that girl as his wife? Aye, he’d gone utterly daft, surely, and more, he was happy to remain so!

He paced before the hut, looking every so often to Mercury for signs that the stallion’s ears had perked up at a sound, or anything that might signify he’d soon see Izzy crest the hill.

When she finally did, his breath caught in his throat. In relief, aye, but also because she was stunning. Wearing the same breeches and shirt as she had done last week, she’d chosen to leave her hair down, and it flowed in sparkling magnificence down her back. She’d left it down for him, he was sure of it.

Without realizing it, he had covered half the distance to meet her as she approached. “You came,” he blurted, feeling suddenly foolish and overeager.
Get control, Ram, you aren’t a boy of fourteen!

“Good morn,” she smiled, before adding “I’ve come each day since you left, hoping you might return sooner.”

She’d waited for him every day? His adoration for her grew nearly by the moment. “I told you at least seven days, love. You didn’t have to come every day.”

She shrugged one delicate shoulder. “It never hurts to hope.” She blushed prettily and Ram’s heart thudded.

“Shall we go inside?” he motioned to the hut. “I’ve brought lunch.”

Her eyes lit. “’Twould be lovely.”

Holding the door open for her, he motioned for her to enter, leaning in to inhale her delicate scent as she passed. Lavender. He would forever think of Izzy when he smelled lavender.

She took a seat at the small table, reaching for the basket he’d had Cook fill with lunch food. It had been difficult when he explained the needed simple fare. No fancy cheeses or haunches of meat. It was important Izzy not become suspicious of his identity before the wedding.

“This is so thoughtful,” she murmured as she peeled back the blanket inside and unpacked items onto the table. Cook hadn’t let him down. She’d included  pasties, a meal any good Cornish man would eat any day. Two apples followed the pasties, along with the wine they never drank last time.

As she set the food out for each of them and poured the wine, she made conversation. “Did you complete your business, then?”

“What do you mean, Sweetheart?”

“Whatever it was you had to leave Cornwall for. I assumed your employer needed you to travel with or for him?”

Ram almost choked on a bite of pasty. Obviously, he’d never considered telling her where
he’d gone or even
why
he’d gone. So it was easiest to agree with the excuse she’d provided. And she’d unwittingly provided him with a reason for another absence. “Aye,” he answered vaguely. “And aye, everything went fine, though I must leave again, soon.”

Dismay colored her features, and though he hated to upset her, pleasure blossomed outwards from his chest. She didn’t want him to go. He longed to tell her who he really was and that in two weeks they’d never be apart again. But discretion was ever the better part of valor and it was best not to upset the scheme he and Belinda had set in motion.

She reached for an apple and took a bite out of it. Ram watched, fascinated, as some of the succulent juice from the fruit trailed down her chin. Giggling, she reached for a napkin, but he put his hand on her arm, halting her. He now knew exactly how Eve tempted Adam in the Garden of Eden with that damned apple. If Eve had been anything like Izzy, Adam never stood a chance.

Standing, he moved around the table to her side, bending so he could trace the trail of juice left by the apple with his tongue. She held utterly still as he licked every bit of the sweetness from her chin, then followed the trail up to her lips. With the tip of his tongue he traced first her top lip, stopping to delve into the creases at the corners, and then the bottom one, before tugging the whole of it into his mouth, gently nibbling.

With a small cry she let the apple fall from her hand to land with a thud on the table. Then her arms were wound about his neck, her luscious body pressed against him, kissing him back with a passion that sent instant heat flaring through him.

He knew he should stop, he wouldn’t take Izzy’s virginity before their wedding day and he didn’t know how far he could go before he reached his breaking point. But there was no force on Earth at that moment that could compel him to take his mouth from hers.

Her searching hands were already tugging his shirt from his breeches. Warm palms slid underneath the fabric to skim over the flesh of his chest, causing goose bumps to rise in their wake. When her fingernail trailed over one of his taut nipples, his control snapped.

He swept the contents of the table clear with one arm, paying no heed to the sound of basket and porcelain crashing to the floor. Lifting her by the waist, he set her upon the table’s edge. Her legs parted as they dangled over the side, and he moved between them, feeling the scorching heat from her even through his breeches. That this woman burned for him alone made him the luckiest man alive

They moved in unison, he reaching for her shirt just as she raised her arms to aid him in the removal of the article of clothing. At the sight of her pale, rounded breasts, his mouth went dry. Her nipples hardened under his avid gaze and he licked his lips. He bent to taste one, her small whimper of pleasure like a symphony to his ears.

But today she was impatient. He was surprised to feel her hands at the waistband of his breeches. He ought to stop her, but God, he wanted her hands on him! Just the thought of her handling his cock sent blood rushing to the body part in question, and he thickened and lengthened, hardening even more.

He was about to put a stop to her exploration when she cupped him through his breeches. Coherent thought fled as she caressed his length, tentatively feeling and exploring. He was lost.

Aiding her in her sensual quest, he tugged at his breeches, letting them fall to the ground around his ankles. Her eyes widened as his straining shaft sprung free, and he cursed low. What if the sight of his rampant cock repulsed her? He should have slowly introduced her to his body. She was, after all, a virgin. But damn, the woman tested the limits of his control unlike anything or anyone ever had before!

With a look on her face that could only be described as awe, she reached one finger out and stroked him, tentatively at first and then with growing enthusiasm. He should have known his Izzy was different. She wrapped an unsure hand around him at the base then slid her hand along his length slowly, exploring the different contours with hand and fingertips. She held him with a loose grip, but still, her touch thrilled him more than he could have ever dreamed. The urge to tear off her breeches and bury himself in her hot, satiny sheath nearly overwhelmed his control, but he gritted his teeth and forced himself to remain still beneath her exploration.

Her fingers found the head of his shaft and she used one finger to circle the tiny hole at the tip, smoothing the drop of moisture she found there around and around, using it to lubricate both her hand and his cock.

When her fingers grasped him again and slid down to the base with a surer, firmer touch, the friction and tightness of her grip tore a hoarse groan from him.

He glanced at her face. She was wholly focused upon her study, her plump lips parted as she breathed heavily. He could see the power she wielded over him excited her, so he held still and continued to let her do as she wished.

Her fingers found one of his testicles. When she cupped it in her hand his cock bucked and her eyes widened, first with surprise, then with delight. Gently she rolled it with her fingers, feeling the texture, testing the size, tormenting him. Just as he was about to make her cease, her free hand grasped his cock again and stroked, while the other, still holding his testicle, cradled it in her palm. He threw his head back, awed by her innocent sensuality and her complete lack of self-consciousness and guile. She was a rare gem. He reveled in the pleasure she bestowed upon him, never wanting it to end.

Nevertheless, he knew it must. He broke the contact of her hands from his most sensitive body parts,  intending to bring them both back under control. Except, he was thinking with the wrong head, and instead of saying the words he should, he leaned in for her mouth again and she obliged without reserve. He cupped her breasts, kneading gently, tugging at her erect nipples. He yearned to feel her flesh against his and despite his best intentions he unfastened her breeches and slid them down her legs. When he leaned in to kiss her again, the movement brought his shaft into contact with the soft flesh of her belly. His teeth clenched as he struggled for control.

His hand dipped between her legs, finding her slick and hot to the touch, setting off a primal urge within him.

Mine!

Though his body yearned to make her his right then, he knew he could not.

He could not!

Gritting his teeth, he eased her back on the table and settled more snugly between her legs. Then he gripped his shaft and placed it flush against the opening of her body. Izzy’s eyes widened. He smiled to reassure her and once again her eyes drooped to half-lidded. A mixture of wonder and curiosity flowed across her features as she watched everything he did with avid interest. The trust she placed in him humbled him.

What the hell am I doing?

His tortured mind didn’t know the answer, as all the blood used to operate his brain had fled south.

Placing the head of his shaft against her slick folds, he rubbed forward and back, coating himself with her moisture. Her breath hitched as he moved against her sensitized skin. She became slippery with need and Ram was in hell, excruciatingly aware of how easy it would be to take her right then; with just one thrust of his hips the deed would be done and she’d be his. But he mustn’t. He reined in his control and continued to rub against her, denying the demands of his body. Her head dropped back and Ram watched, fascinated, as her breasts rose and fell in time with her heavy breathing. She was beyond beautiful, beyond breathtaking. He didn’t own the words to adequately describe her in that moment.

Pulling back, he placed the head of his cock at the entrance of her body, pushing forward just the smallest bit. He needed to be inside her, to claim her, even if he went no farther. Which he wouldn’t. Her head snapped up and she gasped at the entry, but there was no apprehension on her face. She looked…mesmerized.

He pulled back again, then moved forward a little further, shifting so his cock rubbed against her swollen bud. He was on the edge. Her body was so hot and tight around him, urging him onward, it was wholly possible he’d reached the point of no return, his promise to Miss Spencer be damned.

With one hand he rotated his shaft from side to side, noting the increase in her breathing and the swelling of her flesh as signs of her impending climax. The thumb of his other hand delved into her moist curls, finding the sensitive nub hidden beneath, and moved in tiny circles, progressively applying more pressure.

She whimpered and thrashed and when she finally came, it was with such force her cry of pleasure was no doubt audible outside the little cottage. Her inner muscles clenched around his tip, convulsing, grasping at him, beckoning him to thrust forward until he was embedded within her hot sheath, but he somehow managed to resist. Instead, he pushed down on the table and withdrew from her body, placing his cock between her slick folds lengthwise. He slid back and forth, back and forth, as the pleasure built and his balls tightened against his body. With a great shudder he came, throwing his head back with a growl as his seed erupted, landing on her bare belly in hot spurts.

For a moment there was no sound at all. His climax had been so powerful it dulled his senses. Then a buzzing filled his ears and his blurred vision came into focus. He stared in wonderment at the woman before him, the cause of it all.

He’d made a hell of a mess. Ram yanked his breeches to his waist and then bent to retrieve a linen napkin from where it landed on the floor. He approached again, and her eyes twinkled as she lay back, allowing him to clean her.

The sight of his pearly semen on her pale skin once again set off primal, possessive, and altogether new urges. He’d placed his brand on her in the most intimate way possible.

Mine!

She didn’t yet know it, but she belonged to him. And there was nothing she could do to change that, nothing he’d countenance coming between them. Not her lies, nor even his own. He would find a way, no matter what it took. He wasn’t a whimsical man by anyone’s reckoning, but what he’d found with Izzy was magic, pure and simple.

When they were both clean and had retrieved the remains of their lunch from the floor, they lay on the pallet snuggling. By the time they had to leave, lingering over parting kisses that turned into hot passionate kisses because another week would go by before they saw one another again, he was in a state of painful arousal once more. He became obsessed with thoughts of their wedding night. Perhaps he’d keep her abed for a fortnight after the wedding. After all, he had much to teach her and she was a most apt pupil.