Innocence (16 page)

“Go
where
?” Releasing her, Nathaniel threw his hands up in the air. “You think there is a better place for you than with me? I’m sorry, Lisa, but you’re too beautiful for your own good. In days past, you’d have been sent to live in a nunnery for your protection . . . and to deliver the menfolk from temptation,” he added wryly. “Is that what you want? To live a half-life, hidden away somewhere, guarding your virtue and never knowing the touch of a man?”

“Is that my only choice?”
 

“It’s the only one I have to offer you. I’m not a saint, Lisa. You need to understand if you remain at Worthington Hall, you
will
end up beneath me, naked in my bed.”
 

She gaped at the image his words created, and he ran his hand roughly through his hair.

“If you leave, you
might
be able to find work as a governess. You’re more than qualified, but not being of the gentry, I’m not sure who’d take you,” he said with obvious exasperation. “My father might know of a family willing to make allowances if I offered to pay your wages, but I don’t know how safe you’d be. It would be different if you were the daughter of the house, your protection guaranteed on pain of severe punishment. But lowly companions, governesses, and the like . . .” He spread his hands.
 

“Is there no other option?” Lisa hugged her waist

“I could set you up in a cottage somewhere, I suppose, and
hire
staff to keep you safe.”

“You would do that for me?”

Nathaniel huffed. “It appear I would do just about anything for you, but I thought you
wanted
to be with me.”
 

“I do!” Tears welled in her eyes.

“Then why are you so reluctant to become my mistress?”

Lisa vacillated. His generosity was undeniable, but the alternatives he offered sounded both bleak and lonely.
 

“I don’t know what you expect of me,” she whispered.

“That’s easily rectified.” He closed the distance between them, taking her hands in his. “What do you understand of the ways of a man with a woman?”
 

“When a lady, I mean a
girl
, is married, she must submit to her husband. She must endure his attentions silently and without complaint in order to become with child and fulfil her duty.” Lisa parroted the incomprehensible advice she had received a few months prior, instructions which had left her with more questions than answers.
 

“Good God.” Nathaniel groaned. “I thought it was only the upper classes who subjugated their females with such rot. Your father must have been determined to see you wed well above your station if that’s the sort of instruction he provided.”

It was not her father who had told Lisa such things but the neighbouring ladies who had taken a motherless young debutante under their wings. The preparations for her first season in London had been well under way when Lord Copeland’s arrival had thrown her life and plans into disarray.

“What of lovemaking? Have you no knowledge or experience to draw from?”

“Umm . . . lovemaking?” Nathaniel smiled his encouragement, so she continued. Although, the only knowledge she had on the matter had come from listening to the Moreton sisters. “Well, it has to do with courtship, I suppose. Gifts, poetry, flowers?”

“When I take you with me to London, I plan on showering you with gifts.” His lips curved into the half-smile she found so affecting, and Lisa felt some of the tension leave her body. “Gowns, jewellery, whatever your heart desires. You’re going to take the
demimonde
by storm, Lisa. As for poetry, I’m well versed. I can even woo you with
French
poetry if you prefer.” He quirked his eyebrows. “But since every room in this mausoleum is already overflowing with floral arrangements, I can’t quite see the point in gathering more flowers.”

Lisa snapped her mouth shut when she realised it was once again hanging open.
 

London? Gifts? And what or who were the demimonde?

Her mind spun with unanswered questions, but Nathaniel’s next words distracted her from asking them.

“I mean lovemaking, in the sense of a man making love to a woman, with kisses, touches, bodies.”

“There’ll be more kisses involved?”
 

Nathaniel smirked. “You like kisses, do you?”
 

“Well, I only have yesterday’s experience to go by, but yes, they were very pleasant.”

“Pleasant?”
 

His expression informed Lisa he was less than impressed by her wording. Her offence was inadvertent, but before she could apologise, he leaned down and captured her mouth with a kiss even
more
passionate than the ones they had shared in the carriage. Holding her very close, he pressed his lips to hers, urging her to open her mouth. Uncertainly, she complied, and his tongue delved inside. With determined movements, he explored the inside of her mouth with his tongue while his lips tasted and teased it from without.

It was the most shocking thing she had ever experienced.

The most intimate.

The most amazing.

After savouring the sweet sensation’s Nathaniel’s kiss evoked, Lisa allowed her tongue to join with his in this strange, and surely illicit, dance. The groan her action provoked reverberated from deep within his chest, and she whimpered in reply.

Lisa didn’t understand what was happening to her, but one thing she knew. She wanted more. More of Nathaniel. More of his kisses.
 

When he finally released her mouth, she was panting for breath, stunned by her loss of control.

“If you accept my offer.” Nathaniel answered her earlier question, his voice hoarse but determined. “There will be a great number of kisses involved. In fact, I plan on kissing every single square inch of your body. You have my word on it.”

Lisa stared at him blankly.
People didn’t do such things, did they?

Reaching up, he skilfully removed the pins that held her hair in place, releasing the tresses to tumble down around her shoulders.

“And we won’t be stopping with kisses,” he whispered against her cheek while his fingers combed through her hair, untangling the tousled locks. “I plan on making you mine, completely,
utterly
mine.”

“How
exactly
do you intend on doing that?”
 

“We’ll start with touching.” His lips brushed against her skin, and tingles raced along her nerves to spark like fireworks when they reached the sensitive endings.
 

“Touching?”
 

Nathaniel hummed his reply while kissing along her jaw line, his lips slowly working their way towards the corner of her mouth. At the same time, he smoothed his fingers down her arms. With deft flicks of his fingers her sleeve buttons came undone, and he reached beneath the material to caress the tender skin of her wrists.

Lisa shivered.
 

Releasing her hands, he went to work on the buttons at the base of her throat, working rapidly down the front of her blouse. The coarse material parted, revealing the flimsy chemise beneath. With sure movements, he slid the blouse off her shoulders, frowning as the bruise that ringed her upper arm came into view.

“Ah, sweetheart,” he murmured. “This is exactly what I’m talking about. You
need
me to take care of you.”
 

Gently pushing her blouse further, he let it fall to the floor.

Realising her nipples were visible through the worn material, she quickly crossed her arms over her chest, but Nathaniel moved her hands away from her body.
 

“Don’t be afraid, sweetheart.” He touched her chin and then slowly ran his finger down her throat, over the dip between her collarbones, and along the valley between her breasts. When he reached the band at the waist of her skirt, he used it to tug her closer. Wrapping his arms around her, he dealt with the clasps and closures at the back of her skirt so quickly, she barely realised what was happening. In short order, her skirt and petticoat tumbled to the floor, leaving her standing in nothing but her knee length chemise and stockings.

“Oh.” She clutched his arms helplessly as he pulled her against him, that now familiar hardness pressing against her lower belly.
 

“Trust me,” Nathaniel whispered. “I
know
you want me as much as I want you. It’s just that this is new to you. Would it help if I explained what I was doing each step of the way?”

She nodded, and he swung her up into his arms before carrying her across the room and placing her gently on the mattress.
 

“I’ve dreamed about this moment countless times.” Nathaniel sat beside her, as one hand slid slowly up the length of her stocking-clad leg and under the hem of her chemise. “Would you like to know what comes next?”
 

“
More
touching?” she whispered, the last feeble protests of her conscience swept aside by the torrent of sensations his caress evoked.

Nathaniel smiled.
 

“
A great deal
more touching.” His hand reached the top of her stocking, and he undid the ties that held it in place. Before she knew it, he was rolling the stocking down her leg, removing it completely. He repeated the process on the other leg, his hands skimming over her skin as he exposed it to his view.

Lisa moaned, and then covered her mouth with her hands.
 

“Ah, Lisa.” He lifted her hands away from her mouth before kissing her palm. “I’ve been waiting to hear the sounds of your passion. Don’t deny me now.”

Standing abruptly, he kicked off his shoes and pulled his shirt over his head before lying beside her on the bed. He was beautiful, in a masculine way, better even than the pictures of famous sculptures she had seen. Tempted beyond measure, she had to grip the sheet beneath her to keep from reaching out to touch him.

“Shall I show you how I’ll make you mine?” he asked, resting his head on one hand while the other teased little circles around her navel.
 

Her eyes flickered from his bare chest, to his broad shoulders, to his handsome face, her mind too overwhelmed to form a coherent answer.

“I’ll take that as a yes.” He chuckled and reached to untie the bow of her chemise.
 

Lisa’s chest rose and fell with her rapid breaths, as he slowly drew the material apart. She stared, as if in a dream, as first the pale curves of her breasts and then the dusky nipples came into view. Resisting the urge to cover herself, she watched as he drew a finger down her chest.

“You’re so beautiful,” he whispered while Lisa held her breath.

Nathaniel repeated the move in the other direction, his finger lazily detouring to circle one of her breasts until he reached the nipple. His hand cupped the tingling flesh, and she gasped, her back arching off the bed of its own accord. Bending his head, he placed his mouth where his hand had been, and Lisa stared, stunned by the sight and feel of his kisses. When he drew the entire nub into his mouth and suckled, she whimpered in both protest and pleasure.
 

It was too much. The shocking intimacy, the strange, sweet sensations radiating out from her breasts and settling into a throbbing ache low in her belly. Whimpering, she raised a hand in protest.
 

“It’s all right, sweetheart,” he murmured before trailing hot, wet kisses across the valley between her breasts.
 

Letting her hand fall, she murmured his name, and he lifted his head to meet her gaze.
 

“I like hearing you say my name.”
 

Climbing over her body, he nestled his hips between her thighs, his weight resting on his forearms as he hovered over her.
 

“Say it again,” he said, his voice dark and velvety.

“Nathaniel,” she whispered, and he stared into her eyes for a long moment before lowering his head.
 

Lisa was lost, all thoughts of reputation and consequence well and truly buried beneath the onslaught of his lips and hands. When he kissed her again, she responded without hesitation. Her arms reached around his back, her senses marvelling at the feel of his bare skin brushing against her own. As soon as she felt his tongue’s questing touch, she opened her mouth, and they moaned in unison.
 

“Are you ready for me to show you the next stage?”
 

He raised his head after a long and lovely moment, and Lisa frowned. He had kissed her breasts and put his tongue in her mouth. What else could he mean?

“You have no idea what I’m talking about, do you?”
 

She shook her head, and he smoothed her forehead with his thumb.
 

“That’s all right. I promised to explain each step of the way.”
 

He seemed a little bemused by the task he had set himself, and Lisa’s lips curved. It seemed she wasn’t the only one who found it difficult to discuss this strange and intimate topic.

“I love seeing you smile,” he said before his own smile faded. “If you had any idea what you do to me.”