All Night Long (44 page)

“You are very beautiful,” he said against her throat.

She knew that was somewhat short of the truth but she suddenly
felt
quite lovely, such was the power of his voice and the atmosphere of the room.

“So are you,” she blurted, enthralled.

He laughed softly, picked her up and settled her on the velvet cushions of the sofa. Dazed from the waves of excitement and sensation pulsing through her, she closed her eyes. The end of the sofa gave beneath his weight. She heard one of his boots hit the floor and then the other.

He rose from the sofa. She opened her eyes in time to watch him strip off his shirt. In the golden light of the fire she could see that he was sleekly, powerfully made.

He stepped out of his trousers and tossed them aside.

When he turned back to her she froze at the sight of his aroused body.

He, too, went still.

“What is it?” he asked.

“Nothing,” she managed. She could hardly tell him that this was the first time she had ever seen an adult man naked and erect. A woman of the world would be familiar with a sight like this, she reminded herself.

“Do you find the sight of me displeasing?” he asked, still not moving.

She drew a deep, steadying breath and gave him a tremulous smile.

“I find the sight of you very…stimulating,” she whispered.

“Stimulating.” He sounded as though he did not know what to make of that. Then he smiled his mysterious smile. “I believe you used that term to describe your work here at Arcane House. Does that mean that you would like to set up your camera before we proceed?”

“Mr. Jones.”

He came to her in a low roar of masculine laughter. Lowering himself down on top of her, he slid one muscled thigh between her legs.

He breathed hot, seductive, shockingly wicked words against the bare skin of her breast. She responded impulsively, not with words because she could no longer speak, but with her body. She twisted and arched beneath his weight, clutching at him.

Very soon he ceased talking to her. His breathing became harsher. She could feel his muscles tightening beneath her hands. The dark thrills flashing through her were so intense that she could not even spare a second to be shocked anew when he reached down between them and caressed her sex.

She
needed
him to touch her like that. In fact, she needed more; much more.

“Yes,” she whispered. “Please, yes.”

“Anything,” he got out hoarsely. “Anything you want. You have only to ask.”

He stroked her until she pleaded with him for a release
she could not describe, until she was clenched with need. When he slipped a finger inside her the sense of urgency became unbearable.

She realized that a similar sensation was riding him, too. He groaned, as though he ached somewhere deep inside. He was no longer touching her with the exquisite tenderness of a gentlemanly lover. Instead he was fighting her for the embrace, tormenting her, challenging her. She fought back, glorying in the sensual battle.

“You were made for me,” he said suddenly, as though the words had been ripped from him. “You are mine.”

It was a statement, not an endearment. A declaration of indisputable fact.

He caught her face between his hands. “Say it. Say that you are mine.”

“I am yours.”
For tonight,
she added silently. She raked her nails across his back.

Energy swirled around them. Her aura, she thought in some distant part of her mind, somehow it had infused with his to create an invisible metaphysical storm that engulfed them both.

When she narrowed her eyes slightly she realized that her paranormal vision was flashing in and out of focus. Light and shadow reversed and reversed again.

Gabriel used one hand to fit himself to her. He probed once and then he drove deep with a single, relentless thrust.

Pain snapped through her, shattering the sensual trance.

Gabriel froze, every muscle rock solid.

“Sweet hell,” he muttered. He raised his head and looked down at her with eyes that were as dangerous as his dark aura.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Because I knew you would stop if I did,” she whispered. She speared her fingers through his hair. “And I didn’t want you to stop.”

He groaned.
“Venetia.”

But the energy they had generated between them was rising once more. Gabriel lowered his mouth to hers in a
kiss that had all the hallmarks of a stamp of possession as well as passion.

When he freed her she drew in an unsteady breath, wriggling a little in an effort to adjust to the intimate invasion.

“Don’t,” Gabriel said. “Move.” He sounded as though he was having trouble breathing.

She smiled a little, put her arms around his neck and pulled him more tightly to her.

“You do realize you will pay for this,” he said.

“I certainly hope so.”

He started to withdraw very slowly.

“No.”
She tightened herself around him, trying to hold him deep inside.

“I’m not going anywhere,” he said.

The words were both a promise and a delicious threat.

He drove back into her, filling her, stretching her to the limit. She wanted this desperately but she could not take any more of it, she thought.

Without warning the great tension inside her was released in compelling waves, a pleasure so intense that it bordered on pain.

With an exultant roar, Gabriel surged into her one last time. His climax caused the psychical fire to leap with such potent force that she was amazed it did not set the whole of Arcane House ablaze.

S
he felt Gabriel stir a long time later. He sat up slowly, his hand resting on her breast. He studied her for a long time in the firelight before he bent his head, kissed her lightly and got to his feet.

He picked up her underclothes and handed them to her. Then he reached for his trousers.

“I think,” he said, “that you owe me an explanation.”

She crushed the fine linen of her chemise between her fingers. “You are annoyed because I did not tell you that I had never done this sort of thing before.”

He looked thoughtful, almost amused. “
Annoyed
is not the right word. I am delighted to know that you have not done this sort of thing before with any other man. But you should have made that clear at the outset.”

She struggled into the chemise. “If I had, would you have gone forward with the project?”

“Yes, my sweet. Without a doubt.”

She looked up, startled. “Is that true?”

“It’s true.” He smiled slightly. “But I like to think that I would have employed rather more finesse.”

“I…see.”

He watched her face in the firelight. “Does that shock you?”

“I’m not sure. Yes, I think it does.”

“Why? Did you believe me to be such a proper gentleman, then?”

“Well, yes,” she admitted.

“And I believed you to be a lady with some experience of the world. It seems that we were both under some minor misconceptions.”

“
Minor
misconceptions?” she repeated coolly.

“Not that they matter now.” He fastened his trousers. “Tell me, what made you decide to seduce me?”

So much for her powers of subtlety. She was embarrassed that she had been so obvious.

“Given my age and circumstances, it has become clear that I am unlikely to ever marry,” she said. “Frankly, sir, I saw no reason on earth why I should feel obliged to deny myself a taste of passion for the rest of my life. If I were a man, no one would expect me to remain celibate forever.”

“You are correct, of course. When it comes to certain things, Society sets down a different set of rules for men than it does for women.”

“Nevertheless, there are rules.” She sighed. “One flaunts them at one’s peril. I have certain responsibilities to my family. I must be careful to avoid any scandal that could ruin my photography career. It is our only source of income.”

“But when you arrived at Arcane House it occurred to you that the situation offered an opportunity to conduct a grand experiment with illicit passion, is that it?”

“Yes.” She had her dress on now. She busied herself with the hooks. “You did not appear to object, sir. In fact, you seemed quite willing to go along with my
experiment.
”

“I was, indeed, quite willing.”

“Well, there you have it.” Relieved that her logic had proven sound, she managed a smile. “There is no need for either of us to be concerned about what happened here
tonight. We will soon go our separate ways. When I return home to Bath, it will be as though it was all a dream.”

“I don’t know about you,” Gabriel said, suddenly quite grim, “but I think I need some fresh air.”

“No offense, sir, but are men always this moody after making love?”

“I happen to possess rather delicate sensibilities.”

He took her hand and led her back out onto the terrace. The evening coat that he had given her to wear earlier lay in a crumpled heap on the stone. He picked it up and draped it once more around her shoulders.

“Now,” he said, gripping the lapels to hold her where he wanted her. “About this theory of yours that what happened here tonight will soon be nothing more than a dream.”

“What of it?”

“I have news for you, my sweet. The situation between us is somewhat more complicated than you believe it to be.”

“I don’t understand,” she whispered.

“Trust me, I am all too well aware of that. But I do not think that tonight is the right moment for a full explanation. Tomorrow will be soon enough.”

He bent his head to kiss her again. But this time she could not abandon herself to the embrace. Uncertainty was clawing at her. Perhaps she had made a terrible mistake, after all.

Gabriel’s temper seemed uncertain, even volatile. All in all, he was behaving in an extremely odd manner for a man who had just been engaged in an act of passion. Then again, what did she know of how men acted after such events?

His mouth covered hers. She opened her eyes, braced her hands on his shoulders and pushed hard. It was like trying to shove aside a mountain. Gabriel did not move but he did raise his head.

“Will you deny me a good-night kiss?” he asked.

She did not answer him. She wanted to view his aura first. It might give her some clue to his true emotions.

For a second or two her vision wavered between normal and paranormal. Light and shadow reversed. The night took on the aspect of a photographic negative.

Gabriel’s aura became visible. But so did someone else’s.

Startled, she looked out into the dark woods beyond the garden.

“What is it?” Gabriel asked quietly.

She realized that he had immediately understood that something was wrong.

“There is someone out there in the woods,” she said.

“One of the servants,” he suggested, turning to look.

“No.” There were very few servants at Arcane House. Over the past few days, her curiosity about the place had prompted her to view all of their auras. Whoever was out there in the thick trees was a stranger to her.

A second aura appeared, trailing swiftly behind the first.

There was no point trying to describe what she saw to Gabriel. Let him think that her vision was especially keen. That was, in a sense, the truth.

“There are two of them,” she said softly. “They are keeping to the shadows. I think they are making for the conservatory door.”

“Yes,” he said. “I can see them.”

She glanced at him, astonished. The intruders’ auras were visible to her paranormal senses but she could not believe that Gabriel could make out the two men using only his normal vision. Very little moonlight penetrated the woods that bordered the grounds of Arcane House.

There was no time to question him. He was already in motion.

“Come with me.” He swung around, seizing her arm.

Automatically, she clutched his coat to keep it from sliding off her shoulders. He drew her swiftly back through the French doors into the warmth of the library.

“Where are we going?” she asked a little breathlessly.

“There is no way of knowing who those two are or what they are after. I want you away from this place at once.”

“My things—”

“Forget them. There is no time to pack.”

“My camera,” she said, trying to dig in her heels. “I cannot leave it behind.”

“You can buy another with the money you were paid for this commission.”

That was true but she did not like the thought of leaving her precious equipment behind, let alone her clothes. The gowns she had brought with her to Arcane House were her best.

“Mr. Jones, what is going on here? Surely you are overreacting. If you alert the servants they will be able to make certain that those housebreakers do not get inside.”

“I doubt very much that those two are ordinary, garden-variety thieves.” Gabriel paused beside the desk and gripped the velvet bell pull. He gave it three short, sharp tugs. “That will alert the servants. They have their instructions for this sort of emergency.”

He opened the bottom drawer of the desk and reached inside. When he straightened Venetia saw that he held a pistol in his hand.

“Follow me,” he ordered. “I will see you safely out of here and then I will deal with the intruders.”

A hundred questions leaped to mind but there was no ignoring the unequivocal air of command. Whatever was going on here, Gabriel obviously believed that it amounted to more than a common house burglary.

She grabbed fistfuls of her heavy skirts and hurried after him. She assumed that they would make for the door that opened onto the long, central hall. But to her amazement, Gabriel went to a classical statue of a Greek god that stood near a bookcase and moved one of the stone arms.

The muffled groan of heavy hinges emanated from somewhere inside the wall. A section of the wooden paneling swung ponderously outward to reveal a narrow staircase. She could see only the first few steps. The rest plunged downward into darkness.

Gabriel hoisted a lantern that had been left at the top of
the staircase and struck a light. The yellow glare of the lamp spilled into the pool of midnight below the steps. He waited until she had stepped gingerly onto the top step before pulling the wall closed behind them.