Light to Valhalla (19 page)

She flushed to the roots of her hair, relieved for the darkness
for the s
tain of her skin likely
matched said roots
.
Even in the meager light every t
oned swell of his
warrior’s
body lay in tantaliz
ing detail before her
.
She
took in every inch of him, itching to reach out and
sm
ooth her hands along th
e
tapered
slope of
work hard
ened muscles
.

Sidney’s warning
burned in her conscious
and
she
latched
onto a thread of anger and hurt
.
“Did you imply we would be sharing a room?
”
She grasped the pillow with both hands, yanking yet again
.
“Because we’re not.”

“No?
”
Alex held firm to the cushion, eyes glittering a mischievous silvery blue in the meager light
.
“After three years at war a soldier is sure to be in want of his wife.”

Charley
gasped, a bolt
of
lightning
hot desire thrilling
her middle
.
Oh, but she could melt just to look at him, from the luxurious sheen of his dark locks
—
still wet
from his bath
—
to the strong set of his clean shaven jaw, along those broad
broad
shoulders, down his powerful arms and chest
.
Muscles bulged and twitched fr
om places she’d never imaged to exist
and a deep silver scar beneath his shoulder lent him a deliciously rugged appeal
.
Alex’s command presence pervaded even the deepest shadows and corner
s
of the room
.
Once again doubts faded and all she knew, all she wanted was him
.

Charley
tore her gaze from Alex’s beautiful form
, squeezing her eyes shut
.
In want of his wife or an heir?
 
She shook her head,
grappling for
anger, and the righteous resolve not to succumb to his charms
until she knew without a doubt she could trust him
.
“Give me my pillow back.
”

“No,” Alex
challenged
, a stubborn set to his handsome face
.
Even in the dim light his eyes flashed
mischievously
.
“Why are you so on edge?”

“It could have something to do with being rudely awakened by a man in my bed
.
A naked man,” she amended, raking a reproachful glare the length of his
nude, albeit impressive,
frame.

“A man?”
he growled, a hint of emotion very much akin to jealousy
flared in his eyes,
mingled with something more, something forbidden and dangerous... something that quite literally
stole
her breath away
.
“I am not just
a man
in your bed, Charlotte
.
I am your husband.
”
He wrenched the pillow, hau
ling her to his side of the
mattress
.

Caught off guard
Charley
scrambled to regain her balance, but Alex clasped
an arm about her middle, binding her to him
.
Her ba
ck landed
firmly against the
unyielding contour of his
sculpted
chest
while the curve of her backside
nestled
provocatively
against his hips and thighs
.
Naught but the sheer fabric of her wrapper stood between them, and the heat of hi
s flesh seeped through the silk
.

She gasped
.
A
ll those hard muscles
pressed into
her back, taunting and teasing
until
all the desires she soug
ht to keep firmly under wraps
trembled at the surface of her being, begging for release
.
For one ridiculous, fleeting instant she
wanted nothing more than to turn in his embrace and explore each and every chiseled swell
.

“It seems my right to visit your bed whenever I please.
”
The deep timber of his voice res
onated through her and
h
is
broad palm
splayed across her
middle, sending
shivers of
delight
across her skin
.
H
er forbidden places
came alive, begging
,
pleading
,
for…
for…
well, she didn’t know
exactly
what, but
s
omething special
.
Something only Alex could give her
.
G
ently
he
nibbled the tender
, oh so sensitive,
lobe of her ear
.

She
inhaled sharply
.
The wicked man
.
Can
he actually do that? 
Apparently so,
becaus
e he did it again, and her body’
s response was doubly intense
.
Charley
shivered and then
held perfectly still, waiting for more
.
She was not to be disappointed
.
Alex
licked—yes,
licked
—th
e
arch
of her ear
,
and s
he shuddered from the inside out
.

Her heart flut
tered madly
while her mind grasped at shreds of logic
.
“Is
that all
you want then? 
To visit my bed?”

Alex trailed a work roughened
free
hand
down
the
soft
flesh of her throat
,
and along her collar
bone, lightly teasing
the edge
of her wrapper
.
T
he
loose, slippery sleeve
slid
innocently
off her shoulder
, affording Alex a
n uninhibited
view of
her right breast
.
His lips grazed her shoulder, shooting tremors of awareness along her spine
while his fingers brushed the raised pink bud of her nipple
.
Excitement tore through her
.

Do it again,
she silently begged, trembling beneath his touch.

He did and more
.
Alex caressed her neck, letting his lips rest in the nook between her throat and collar bone
.
Relishing the velvety smooth touch, Charley’s head lulled ag
ainst her husband’s shoulder and
t
he world around her rippled in a swirling eddy of
new
brilliant
sensation
s
.
Her eyes fluttered closed
.
Reality ceased to exist
.
Like a man starved Alex s
lid a hand around her breast, and C
harley stilled completely, scarcely daring to breathe, both shocked and pleasured by the intimate
caress
.
Alex squeezed lightly,
weighing the rounded flesh
in his hand
.
She gasped, jerking as though to move away, but the arm around her waist locked her in place
.

“
What I want
…
”
Alex spun her roughly arou
nd in his arms, l
iquid silver heat
pouring
from his eyes
.
“
All I want
…
is
you
.
”
His mo
uth slanted over hers
, claiming her lips
in a
searing
kiss
.

             
His mouth
molded over hers, firm and demanding, then pulled back, tangling and teasing…
coaxing…
Charley
hesitated
, knowing she should stop
before she quite literally
liquefied
in
his arms
.
So many uncertainties
burned in her mind and she needed to question his
intentions
before she risked her fickle heart any further
.

“
You’re so still,” he murmured, tilting her back so that she lay cradled in his arms looking up at him
.
“
You’ve nothing to
fear
from
me
.
”

Their eyes
locked
,
the air between them tense
with wrought
emotion
.
“Oh, but I do
,
”
she whispered so low he’d never detect the note of
anguish
in the words
.
“
I
don’t understand why you’
re doing this? 
Y
-y
ou hate me.”

A keen flicker of sadness shone in his brilliant eyes
.
“
Charley
,” he
murmured,
her name on his lips more intoxicating than any drug
.
“What I said earlier, about us—”

A hardy rap invaded the room’s privacy
.
“Milady?
”
The high pitched voice of Mrs. Kent split the air as the door swung wide
.
“I came to see—Oh!  Lord
Coverstone
.”

Afternoon sunlight spilled into the room, illuminating Alex and
Charley
’s compromising position on the bed
.

Charley
snatched
away from Alex like a hot brick, falling
backward off the bed
in a heap
.

“I’m so sorry
.
What could I be thinking to barge in
uninvited
?
”
Mrs. Kent threw a chubby arm over her eyes and stumbled out of the room
.
“After
such a long time
at war his lordship is sure to
have needs
.
”
Her rambling voice drifted off down the hall
.

Gaze fixed to the floor,
Charley
scrambled to her feet,
clutching her wrapper tightly closed at the throat
.
She s
kirted the bed, refusing to make eye contact with
Alex
.
“Have a good nap.
”
S
he s
cooped
up the red and green day gown laid across the chaise and dashed into the bathing chamber
.

How embarrass
ing!
 
Beyond embarrassing
.
She may never show her face in this house again.

Six

Mortified
and more than a little disgusted with
herself
,
Charley
skulked about the manse with her head held low for the rest of the afternoon
.
How could she have allowed Alex to touch her that way? 
Surely the burgundy hue of embarrassment had permanent
ly
stain
ed
her cheeks
.
Dear Lord, to think what Mrs. Kent may have seen if she’d barged in just a few minutes later!

“Oh,
Charley
, there you are,” Evelyn
’s soft voice sounded from behind her
.

Charley
blanched
.
Had her mother heard
about the awkward
situation with Alex
?

“Are you ready for tea and scones?  I sent Mrs. Kent to find you an hour ago, but
you never came and she seems to have disappeared.”

An audible sigh of relief
escaped
Charley
’
s lips, and she relaxed just a bit
.
Mrs. Kent hadn’t blabbed the tale… yet
.
It was only a matter of time
.
“I’m ready
.
Shall we go to the parlor?”

“Excellent.
”
Evelyn
glanced back a
t
Charley
, an impish quirk to her lips
.
“I loved your idea to burn that miserable dress
.
I still can’t believe anyone would want to hurt you.”

Inadvertently
Charley
shivered
.
“Did Alex mention
anything about the magistrate when he arrived home?
”
Charley
descended the stairs, dropping
a half step behind her mother
.

“Not a word, but the poor ma
n looked so exhausted George took him straight up to bed.”

“Um, about that,”
Charley
hedged,
drumming her fingers on the banister
.
“This afternoon George showed Alex to my room by mistake.”

Evelyn laughed,
flicking dancing eyes over her
daughter,
leading
Charley
to wonder if she did in fact know of Mrs. Kent’s blunder
.
“There was no mistake,
dear,
you and Alex
will be sharing your room
.
It shouldn’t be a
problem,
your bed is more than big enough.”

Share a room with Alex? 
Charley
stumbled on the next step
.
“Isn’t there
another room for him
?” she choked, tossing
a harried glance
back in the direction of her bedchamber
.
A vision of his magnificent male frame, bereft of clothing brought a wave of heat swiftly to her cheeks
.

Her mother skewered her with a knowing look
.
“You cannot run from your husband forev
er,
Charley
.
B
ack in the day you and Alex were thick as thieves.”

“That was a long time ago, Mama
.
Alex is very different now, as am I
.
Besides, he never thought of me like
that.
”
Whatever romantic notions
Charley
may have nurtured she’d never held any
hope Alex would
reciprocate
—despite their heated embrace an hour before
.
“The man is married to his career, not me.”

“Charlotte, I’ll hear no more of this
.
Truly, with
the renovations in the east wing only half done
I have no other room available
.
I
t will not kill you to share a
bed
chamber with your husband.
”
A small smile toyed with her mother’s lips
.
“You may even enjoy it.”

There was no
might
about it
.

At the
bottom
of the stairs Evelyn swept
across the foyer
and
Charley
scowled at her departing back
.
Charley enjoyed the marquis’s attentions far too much for comfort
.
And therein lay the problem
.
T
he man
was
do
omed to resent her for eternity—not that anyone, even Charley could blame him for it
.
Any attempts to play Cupid on her mother’s part were sorely misplaced
.
Alex loved another—one of the most beautiful women of the ton in fact—and had been forced to settle for… tomboy
Charley
.

The
lingering
excitement of his touch
f
ell to a swift
, though excruciating
death
,
and her spirits were short to follow
.
As much as she
longed
to believe Alex had developed
feelings of
a
romantic
nature
for her,
the about face in attitude was far too rapid
.
Only a blind fool would succumb to his obvious desires without proof of a deeper connection
.
Dejected, Charley sighed
.
She’d have to talk with Alex soon about their relationship
, but was at a total loss as when or
how to
bring the
subject
into conversation
.
Directness was probably best
.
Yes, definitely for the best
.

Squaring her shoulders, Charley
followed her mother into the parlor
.
The next time she had Alex alone she’d broach th
e subject, and in the mean
time
…
d
estroying that expensive gown—bought w
ith Alex’s fortune—was sounding
better and better
.

*
             
*
             
*

“Have a good nap indee
d,
”
Alex grumbled
i
rritably
,
flipping
onto his left side, clamping a pillow
around his head
.
“
Argh.
”
He rolled onto his back, unable to
sleep, but not for the usual reasons
.
He grasped a pillow, crushing it over his face—anything to block out the sliver of sunlight
peaking
through the
velvet draperies
.

This damn pillow smells like
Charley
.

He chucked the pillow and grabbed another only to find her scent embedded in each and every cushion on the bed
.
No matter how
Alex’s weary bones ached for relief, sleep proved elusive
.
In this room h
is wife was everywhere from the
hypnotic
aroma of cinnamon and honey
lingering around him
to the book lying open on the bedside table
.

Finally Alex sat, tossing yet another offending
pillow onto the floor
.
Lying in
Charley
’s bed,
her
sheets
tangled around his limbs
,
was the acutest torture
.
Every breath drew her essence
closer, deeper, until he would swear she swam through his veins
—except that she already did
.
He’d spent months consumed by her
.
Imagining her
.
Convincing
himself
she hadn’t really been with him on the battlefield
.

Alex closed his eyes, resting his face in his palms
.
The vision of
Charley
kneeling on the be
d
,
her
scanty wrapper
clinging
to her
every
delicious
curve
like a second skin
,
unsettled him
to
the very core
.
Never had he yearned for a woman more than he did
Charley
here and now
.
Lurid visions of peeling
the silken cloth from her voluptuous body
seared his mind
.
Apparently he’d been at war and without a woman for entirely too long.

Has
Sidney seen Charlotte in that
skimpy garment
?

Alex flew from the bed
,
on his feet in an instant
.
Sleep be damned, he wouldn’t rest easily until he
put the plaguing doubts in regard to his wife and best friend to bed… or rather until he put his wife to bed
.

A smile quirked his lips as he ambled to the bathing c
hamber to retrieve a fresh change of clothes
.
Oh, yes, he liked that prospect very much.

The shirt and trousers he’d borrowed from
Thomas
proved
a little too tight but manageable for a day in the country house
, he cuffed the too short arms just below the elbow and stuffed the
shirttail i
nto his pants as neatly as possible
.
H
opefully his uniform would be washed and readied by tomo
rrow
.
T
hough what he really needed
was a trip to his London tailor
.
Alex lifted his boots and sat heavily on the edge of the bed
.

London…
The last place in Britain or this earth he wanted to be
.
Had Witherspoon arrived yet?  Moreover, how would
Charley
react when she learned the husband she’d never wanted
was accu
sed of murder?

He jerked
the
well worn
Hessian
s
onto his feet
and sighed,
lacing
the fingers of
both hands through the
hair
at his forehead
and
resting his elbows on his knees
.
He contemplated the toes of his boots
, endeavoring to pinpoint just where
the course of
his life had go
ne
so utterly
awry
.
The day he
’d
met the gypsy woman? 
Perhaps.

The day he’d married Charlotte Trent? 
No, probably a little before that.

The moment
six
years
ago he’
d realized his feelings for
Charley
ran far deeper than
childhood friends…
 
Yes
.
Exactly
.
That
is precisely where his life
took a sour turn
… o
r rather
it had been
a culmination of
all previously stated
events
starting with
Charley
’s seventeenth birthday
.

Alex rose
, striding toward the door, and
paused by the
intricately crafted
vanity
.
“She kept it,
”
he murmured in
total disbelief
, plucking
the miniature knight from
it’s
perch atop the m
ahogany box
.
H
e’d purchased
the box
from the gypsies in Spain
, and crafted
the knight by hand
.
How many hours had he toiled over the piece while his cohorts
gallivanted about drunk in their free time? 
He rolled the knight
, meant to keep her from trouble,
in his palm
.
Had it worked?  According to his mother she was as
difficult
as ever
.
Alex grinned
.
He’d spent years bailing
Charley
out of
mischief
—
from being stuck in trees to lighting the kitchen on fire
.
Alex was likely the only so
u
l
to recogn
ize her antics coincided like clockwork with her
eccentric
father’s more embarrassing blunders
.
Charley
’s mischief never failed to divert attention from
the earl to her
.