Blackthorne's Bride (27 page)

"Then say you won't leave."

"Say Blackjack can stay."

"Damn it, Maddie. It's not safe to have a dangerous bear so close."

"We'll build him an enclosure."

"Not good enough. I want him gone."

"Let me go." She shoved at him again, but he pulled her tighter.

"I can't, sweetheart," he whispered, and she was surprised at the need and the vulnerability she heard in his voice. Or had she simply imagined it? His steel grip hadn't lessened. "I can't let you go. I won't."

"And I won't be a prisoner, kept under lock and key and your ridiculous mandates."

"You'd like my mandates." His lips tickled her ear, his wicked innuendo making her shiver.

"I might."

His hand slid lower, sending small swirls of pleasure into her belly and between her thighs. She was wet for him, and yet she refused to give in.

She turned her head so she could look into his dark eyes. "But I'm not another one of your servants, Jack. I won't be ordered about. I want to be your partner, your equal—in all things. I have my own mandates."

Jack raised a brow, a sinful gleam in his eyes. "Oh, really? Such as?"

She turned in his arms. "Such as, Blackjack stays."

Jack scowled and began to pull away, but she ran a finger down his throat, touching him lightly, opening the placket of his shirt. Jack stood immobile as she parted the material, revealing the bonze skin of his chest. On tiptoes, she kissed the stubble under his chin, then his throat, where she felt his pulse throb steadily.

His hands came back around her, pressing her flush against him. Maddie smiled and kissed him again, trailing her lips down his flesh and then tracing her earlier path with her tongue.

"I like how you taste, Jack."

"I love how you taste. Take this dress off."

Maddie pulled back and held up a chiding finger. "Oh, no. Tonight I'm the one with the mandates."

He spread his hands. "Very well. What are your orders?"

She ran her hands over his shirt, dipping them into his waistband and pulling the white tails free. "Take off your shirt," she whispered.

Unusually obedient, Jack lifted the tails and began to pull the material over his head. As his bronze flesh was revealed, Maddie bent to kiss him, touching lips and tongue to his hard abdomen, then to the smattering of hair on his chest, and ending once again at the pounding pulse point at his throat. She noticed his blood was throbbing even harder now.

"Do you want me, Jack?" she whispered, punctuating her soft words with a quick nip at his flesh.

"God, yes." His hands were on her hips, and he pulled her against his hard erection. Maddie trailed her hand along his shoulders, down his chest, pressed against the muscles of his abdomen. His flesh quivered, and then she dipped into his trousers.

She could feel his velvet tip, and it moved at her first touch. Jack groaned, and Maddie, as aroused as he was now, flicked open his trousers, sliding them over his slim hips. He was bare underneath the material, and his manhood sprung free. Sliding her hands around to squeeze his buttocks, she cradled him close to her woman's heat.

"I need you, Maddie."

"Show me."

His hands were immediately on her, ruching her skirt up, searching for the source of that heat she knew he craved. As soon as he touched her, her knees buckled and he was the strong one again. He went down with her, kneeling on the plush rug before her, kissing her, touching her oh so intimately in the ways he knew she liked best.

She felt as though it had been years since he'd last been inside her. Her body had missed his touch, the ecstasy he could give, and before she knew what was happening, she was clutching his shoulders and crying out as pleasure shook her.

When she opened her eyes again, Jack was rising. "The bed," he said, breathing labored. "I want you on the bed."

Maddie reached up and touched his erection, circled it with her hand. Jack sank down beside her again. "And I want you here," she told him. "Lie down."

"Maddie—"

"Do it, Jack." He obliged her, and she crawled on top of him, her legs straddling him, her knees cushioned by the luxurious rug. "I have a proposal for you."

Jack's eyes were dark with desire. "A proposal?"

"Mmm-hmm." She loosened the bodice of her gown, tugged it down, then went to work on her stays and chemise. Jack's eyes were riveted. "You want Blackjack gone. I want him to stay."

"Not the bear again."

Maddie finally freed her breasts from the stays, and she tugged the chemise down. Jack's hand automatically reached up to finger her nipple. "I propose—mmm, that feels good. I propose a game."

"I don't have the patience for games," Jack said, gripping her hips so his erection brushed against her core.

"Then you'll surely lose. The object of the game is to have the most patience. Whoever finds fulfillment first, loses."

Jack was watching her now, his expression arrogant. "You'll lose."

"And if I do, then I grant you one wish. Whatever you desire. And if I win—"

"You won't."

"If I win, you grant me one wish."

"Whatever you want, sweetheart," he groaned, moving against her. Maddie readjusted, allowing the tip of his erection to enter her. But she rose up so that when he tried to plunge deeper, he couldn't.

"Do you promise, Jack? Whatever I want?"

"Yes, yes. God, you're hot. Maddie ..."

She lowered herself a fraction of an inch, taking more of him inside. Now her mind was swirling, the feel of him inside her undeniably erotic. The urge to take all of him, to lower herself and ride him, was almost overwhelming.

"Prepare to lose, Jack," she managed before he thrust inside her and all coherent thought fled.

"Bloody, goddamn bear," Jack said some time later. He was sprawled on the soft carpet, a sated Maddie draped over him.

Unfortunately, she hadn't been sated soon enough. He'd lost her bloody proposal.

"Profanity won't help you," she murmured, her breath light and warm on his shoulder. "It was a fair fight."

"Fair? How was it fair? You were one climax ahead of me before we even began."

She rose on one elbow and smiled at him. Her blue eyes were dark with the pleasure he'd given her, her mouth swollen from his kisses. "And yet, you were confident you would win."

"I should have." He touched her rosy lips.

"You lost, Jack. My wish is that we keep Blackjack. Are you going to go back on your word? I thought you were a gentleman."

He laughed at that. "Hardly, sweetheart. But I do honor my bets. We keep the bear, but he's moving outside. And I'm keeping you nearby. You're sleeping in here, with me."

And, devil take him, one of these days he was going to have her in a bed. He glanced up at his bed, the clawed feet of which were near his head. He'd been so close.

Maddie yawned. "Sleep sounds good."

Jack agreed, and he rose, pulling her to her feet. Naked, she leaned against the bedpost while he pulled back the lavish sheets and coverlet.

"I hope that bed is as comfortable as it looks," she said. "I have a busy day tomorrow."

Jack's hand, wrapped around the soft sheets, clenched. "Doing what?"

She waved a hand and yawned again. "Visiting my charities. You heard my father. I've been terribly remiss in my duties."

"I told you that's done. Give money, host an event, but I won't have you risking yourself, running all about Town." Running right into one of Bleven's traps.

Maddie paused mid-yawn and glared at him. "And I thought I told you not to give me orders. I'm not one of your servants."

Jesus Christ. Jack felt like banging his skull on the headboard. The woman was going to drive him into Bedlam. She was going on again about orders and equality, and he knew it could continue all night.

So he did the only thing he could think of. He pushed her against the bedpost and kissed her.

She was less than receptive, so he kissed her again, then nuzzled her neck. Her arms came around him, pulling him closer. He bent to kiss her throat, his hands coming up to cup her breasts. "Sweetheart, I have another proposal for you."

Her breathing quickened, and Jack had a feeling she wouldn't be able to refuse.

* * * * *

Maddie frowned as she watched Jack's valet help him into his coat. "I don't see how I'm going to choose just one charity, Lord Blackthorne," she complained. "It's not possible."

Jack brushed at the sleeve of the coat and nodded to the valet, dismissing the man. "It's only for a few months. And you agreed to the proposal."

She pursed her lips. "You tricked me."

Jack laughed. "You're damn right I did. Ready for breakfast?"

The door closed behind the valet, and Maddie leaned back on the bed. "How can I think about food when I have so many other, much more important items on my mind?"

Jack shrugged. "Don't think. Just eat." He moved toward the door. "And you need have only one thing on your mind. Me."

Maddie sighed and fell back on the soft mattress. Why had she agreed to Jack's stupid proposal? How could she possibly choose between the Widow's Benevolent Society and the Orphan's Munificent Society? Widows and orphans alike needed her.

And what about the war veterans and the animal societies? Who would help if she didn't?

"Madeleine, I'm not going to change my mind. You actively participate in only one society for the time being."

She looked up to see Jack towering triumphantly over her. All her life she'd fought her father for the right to pursue her charitable interests, and then in a moment of blind lust she'd lost all she'd worked so hard for. Or perhaps she'd lost it long before—the first moment Jack jumped into her carriage.

"You really have no heart, do you?" she said, raising herself on her elbows. "How can you be so callous? How can you stand there, looking so smug, as though winning a wager with me is more important than helping children?"

"Because my first priority is protecting you. You want to help children? Fine, we'll give all the societies in the country a donation." He took her roughly by the shoulders. "But I won't risk you."

"And I won't be locked up like a pretty bird, all show and no value. That's not a life."

Jack's dark eyes turned stormy, his eyebrows coming together in a black slash. "It's better than the alternative. You think you're invincible, that nothing can touch you." He was shaking now, shaking her shoulders and shaking with fury. "But you're not invincible. You're not safe. And I'll be damned if I lose you the same way I lost—"

With a growl, he released her, pushing her back and turning away. Maddie sat stunned for a long moment and then bounded off the bed, darting under Jack's arm and blocking the door before he could open it. "Wait, Jack. Finish your sentence. Who did you lose?"

"No one." He tried to push her aside, but she wedged her shoulder against the door tightly and reached out to place her hand on his chest.

"Tell me."

She saw his jaw clench, and for a moment she was certain he would sweep past her, shutting her out once again. Forever.

And then his eyes softened and his features relaxed. The pain she saw in his face sliced through her, and she put her arms around him. "Oh, Jack," she whispered.

"You say I have no heart." His voice was raspy, but the deep bass rumbled through her. "Do you know how many times I've heard that whispered about me?"

She hugged him tighter. "I didn't mean it. Of course you have a heart."

He pulled back, a sneer on his lips. "You think so? You don't know me. No one ever told you that I watched my mother die and did nothing to save her, did they?"

Maddie swallowed hard but refused to pull away from him. That was what he wanted—to distance himself from her and his feelings. And yet, she knew if she were ever to understand him, ever to claim a piece of his heart, she had to break down this last defense. "Jack, I don't believe you. I do know you. You would never stand by when someone needed your help. Please, tell me what happened."

He stepped back, shook his head and ran a hand through his hair. The style the valet had spent so much time taming was instantly in disarray, sections of dark hair falling over Jack's forehead. But it was his expression that pained her the most. Had she ever seen a man with so much pain in his eyes? He looked shattered.

Maddie watched as he tried to compose his features and finally turned away from her, crossing to the window and parting the heavy burgundy draperies. The sun was bright in he sky, and the light touched Jack's dark hair, making the blue-black waves gleam.

"My mother was a lot like you," he told her. "She had all these charities and societies and benevolent works. She was always going to help this orphan or that widow." He turned and looked at Maddie, and the pain was still there. But now it was something hard and tight in the lines of his face. "Sometimes she took my brother and me along with her. She was away so much, I seldom saw her, so the opportunity to spend time with her—even in a hospital surrounded by sick people or a filthy flat housing ten people—was a treat."