Bargaining With a Rake (A Whisper of Scandal Novel) (29 page)

His question shocked her, but she
took a deep breath and spoke. “My father didn’t kill my mother as most people
think.” Just saying the words lifted something heavy and cumbersome off her
shoulders.

“No?” Alex pushed a strand of her wet
hair off her forehead. “Then it was truly an accident?”

“Yes, but my sister caused the
accident.” She studied Alex to see if he grimaced or showed any signs of surprise,
but he did not appear the least concerned or surprised by her statement.

She released her hold from around his
neck and sat on the bed. “It was my ninth birthday, and Mother was nowhere to
be found. After my party, Father sent us to bed and went looking for her. Whit
and I followed him to the river because we were afraid Mother was going to
leave us, and we were right. Father found her in
this
cabin with another
man.”

The bed dipped beside her as Alex sat.
“Who?”

God, how many times had she asked that
same question? “I don’t know. I couldn’t see the man’s face, and Father refuses
to speak of it.”

“So if your father didn’t push your
mother to her death…”

“Whitney did,” Gillian rushed out,
wanting to tell him everything before she turned coward again. “Mother and
Father were arguing, and Father was waving a pistol around, and it seemed he
was going to shoot her.”

Gillian could see the sliver of moon
and her mother with her hair flowing freely around her shoulders. She frowned.
She had forgotten that until now. “Whit ran screaming through the dark toward
them, and I think she must not have been able to stop. Or maybe she thought to
grab Mother and pull her out of the way, but she did neither. She ran straight
into her, and Mother simply teetered over the embankment and fell.”

She paused, nausea washing over her.

Alex squeezed her hand. “Tell me the
rest.”

She studied his open blue gaze and
saw no judgment there. “I ran when I saw her fall. I ran all the way back to
the house. I didn’t go to help Whit or Mother. I ran like a coward and sat
crying, huddled under my covers until I heard Whit return. And when she did,
she wouldn’t speak or tell me anything. Father came hours later and told us
Mother was dead. She’d drowned in the river. He showed us her body.”

Gillian pressed her fingertips to her
lips. “Did you know freezing cold water really does make lips turn blue?”

Alex shook his head. “I didn’t know
that.”

“After we saw her, Whitney became
very befuddled, and when she awoke the next day, she did not remember the night
before. We had to remind her Mother was dead. It took weeks for her to
believe.”

Gillian rested her head against
Alex’s shoulder. “She never remembered. Father and I are the only ones who know
the truth. We agreed never to tell her. I was glad not to tell her because I’d
failed to protect her,
and
I blamed him.”

“Gillian.” Alex wrapped his arm
around her shoulder and pulled her to his side. He placed a kiss on the top of
her head. “You reacted as any child would have.”

She clutched at him, wanting to hold
on to him and the compassion he offered. He did not understand the worst. “I’m
supposed to always watch out for Whitney. Mother had told me so.”

“Gillian, she’s a grown woman now.
Maybe Whitney should hear the truth. Does this have something to do with why
you wanted to leave England?”

“Yes.” She swiped at the tears
running down her face.

“Shh.” He reached out and stroked her
head. “I’ll never say anything. No one will know. If you want to keep the
secret, I’ll keep it with you.”

She clutched at
him, desperate to feel his strength. “It’s not that simple.”

His hand stilled
on her head. “What do you mean?”

“Someone already
knows our secret. They’ve been sending me notes for months, threatening to
expose Whitney unless we all stay out of Society.”

Alex’s finger came
under her chin and turned her head until she met his gaze. “So you concocted
the idea to enter into a loveless marriage to save your sister?”

“Yes.” She
swallowed, fearful. “Do you hate me?”

“God, Gillian.”
Before she knew what was happening, his mouth had come to hers in a demanding
kiss that heated her from head to toe. He pulled back and stared at her. “I
don’t hate you. I love you
more
. I love you more than I knew was
possible.”

Before she could second guess her
actions, she stood and unfastened her dress. His eyes devoured her as she bared
one shoulder and then the other.

“God, you’re beautiful,” he whispered
as he stood. He slid a finger up and down the hollow of her spine. His arms
circled her, and she rested her head against his pounding heart.

Gillian took his hand and placed it
over her bare breast to let him feel the pounding of her heart that matched his.
“I love you. I think it started the moment you stepped behind the curtain and
invaded my hiding place.”

A slow smile spread across his face. “Lucky
I picked the wrong curtain.”

“Very,” she murmured as his fingers
traced a slow circle around the outer edge of her breast, then settled over the
tip, lightly brushing back and forth across her skin. She moaned and he
grinned, looking exactly as he had the moment she had first seen him, confident
and devastatingly wicked.

He ran a thumb over her lips, and she
captured his hand in hers, excited and afraid for what was coming.

Alex laid Gillian
down and sucked in a breath of appreciation at the picture she presented.
Creamy flesh
.
Dark hair. Slumberous eyes and enticing curves. He came down above her,
hovering over her body.

“You’re shaking,” she whispered,
caressing his chest.

“Like a green lad before his first
time.”

Gillian pushed a hand onto his chest
until he rolled over and she rested on top of him. Her soft, warm body pressed
against his hard, burning skin. She brushed her lips against his. “Why?”

“Because I love you.” When tears
filled her eyes, he brushed a hand over her cheek to wipe the dampness away. “Here,
now. What’s this? My declaration’s not supposed to make you cry.”

She shook her head before burying it
in the crook of his neck. “Tears of happiness,” she whispered into his
shoulder, her breath caressing his bare skin.

He stroked her
hair for a moment, relishing holding her. Having her naked body pressed so
close made him want to ravish her, but he wanted to do it slowly, learning every
curve of her body as he went.

He slid his hands to her smooth back and
ran his fingertips up and down her spine, memorizing every dip. When he kneaded
his hands down her back to her bottom, she groaned and ground her pelvis into
his. Lust shot through him, and he gripped her hips to stop her movement. “If
you move that way, peach, I’m not sure I can control myself.”

She rose up onto her hands, the tips
of her breasts touching his chest, her green eyes blazing with such
unmistakable desire it made his heart ache. “I don’t want you to keep your
control.”

“You’re sure?” God, he sincerely
hoped she was sure.

“Do I seem unsure?” She splayed her
hands across his chest, her eyes challenging him.

* * *
* *

She was on her back before she knew
what happened. His mouth sucked and retreated at her neck, then her breasts,
and farther down until his hands pushed her thighs apart. She tensed for a
moment at the unknown, but when his tongue flicked over the most sensitive part
of her body, nothing else mattered but getting closer to him.

Something inside her mounted and
coiled. She pushed her pelvis up, clenching the sheets for support. His
ministrations came faster and harder. She couldn’t stand this teasing. What she
needed was him. She grasped his shoulders and tugged, but he refused to come
up. His tongue laved slowly back and forth, and then faster until she thought
she would come undone.

“Please.”

He came up sweating, panting and
tense as a bow. He needed her too. She saw it in his eyes. “Take me.”

Instantly, he hovered over her and settled
between her thighs, his hands braced on either side of her shoulders. He gazed
down at her. “I love you.” His soft-spoken words reverberated with intensity in
her heart.

She reached up and traced a finger
over the pulsing skin of his chest. “Then make me yours.”

He lifted her bottom and plunged
inside her, then stilled. She clenched her fingers into his shoulders at the
momentary twinge of pain, but as they lay locked as one, her body grew
accustomed to him. Warm sensations swirled in her belly. He moved slowly, and
the intensity started to build again as a fire rekindled. The flame grew
brighter and stronger until a burning heat engulfed her.

His slow strokes became fast and hard.
He panted—his skin slick from his efforts, the muscles of his arms bunched from
holding back. She wrapped her legs around his back and rose to meet his thrusts,
pushing her to the frenzied edge. And then she was no longer in control. She
rode a wave that carried her up and rolled her in its powerful embrace, then
dropped her down toward the earth, spent and helpless.

They lay face-to-face, listless. Only
their mutual panting, which faded to a whisper, broke the silence. After a long
while, he stirred, and she forced her eyes open. He was watching her with an
intense look. “What is it?”

“I want to tell you about my sister
and Westonburt.”

She nodded, and Alex began to talk. When
he finished, tears wet her eyes and hatred burned inside her. Lord Westonburt
was a despicable beast. “I’m so sorry.”

He nodded, and Gillian could see he
was struggling to control his own emotions. They lay in silence, each lost in
their own thoughts. After a bit she fell asleep. When she woke, shadows filled
the room and a lone candle burned on the table.

“I hope you don’t mind I searched the
room and found the candle.”

“No, I don’t mind.” Alex lay facing
her on the bed. His skin glowed from the candlelight. She wanted to say here
forever, but she couldn’t. Sighing, she said, “I have to go.”

He reached out and ran his fingertips
over her breast. Her body tingled to awareness immediately, but she batted his
hand away and rolled off the bed before he could stop her. “We’ll have a
lifetime together. Right now, I need to see my father.”

Alex rolled off the bed and reached
for his trousers as she slid her dress over her head. She turned her back to
him. “Will you play my lady’s maid?”

His hands curved around her shoulders
while his lips brushed the sensitive skin behind her ear. “Gillian, my love,
I’ll be anything you want me to be as long as I’m with you.”

The promise heated her to her core. She
leaned against him as his hands cupped her breasts, and his mouth worked magic
on her neck. Heaven help her. She would never leave at this rate. She could not
force herself to pull away from this man. Turning, she wrapped her arms around
him and met his mouth in a hungry, plundering kiss.

He lifted her and she wrapped her
legs around his torso, as he bent his head and tugged at the material of her
dress with his teeth. He just about had the left shoulder completely bared when
behind them, something rattled, and the door to the cabin burst open.