Saved By A Siren: Spencers in Love Book One (13 page)

            "I assure you it will not be the
same." She whispered. He relaxed fractionally. "When I was with your
sister and mother, they let me feel their faces. While Mirabelle is taller than
Celine, she does resemble her. As does Gilles."

            "I favor my father." Alastair
supplied.

            "That's what they said. I'm curious to know
what you look like. May I touch your face?"

            For a moment Alastair could only blink. Then, he
slowly rose and crossed the room towards her.

            "May I?" Standing next to the couch,
he gestured to the spot Gilles occupied next to Lady Elise. He noticed his
hesitancy. What was he afraid might happen? Alastair understood that it was an
irregular request and was a bit uncomfortable being touched in that manner. But
he understood the purpose and could think of no reason to deny her. He had
spent most of his time at Longwood studying her, was she not allowed a similar
opportunity? Also, he was curious as to how she would perform the task and what
she would observe. That gave him pause. She was highly intuitive and sensitive.
What would she find?

            Sitting, turned towards her, Alastair became
nervous as she lifted her hands to his face. She paused and her head fell
sideways.

            "I won't hurt you!" Lady Elise
whispered.

            Alastair nodded.

            "I know."

            She rested her hands gently against his face,
feeling it's entirety.

            "Are you afraid of what I might
learn?"

            "Yes."

            Lady Elise leaned forward and spoke softly.

            "Sir Alastair, I already know the more
interesting and important things about you."

            With that, the pads of her fingers and thumbs
began sweeping and pressing against his face. If he hadn't been so tense, it
might have been relaxing. Her face would shift with each feature she
encountered, smiling or frowning.

            When Lady Elise finished assessing his whole
face she tapped the space between his brows.

            "This is often pulled tight. You're always
worrying and wondering. You're always considering a problem." She moved on
to his nose and smiled. "This is the same as Gilles. You must get that
from your father. It's a proud and strong nose. Like my Perseus
sculpture."

            Gilles snorted.

            "I'm glad it's the only protrusion that
resembles that poor statue." He mumbled as he took a large gulp of
whiskey. He was much less tense than when Alastair sat down but not completely
relaxed.

            Lady Elise blushed. Alastair found that very
telling. Was it because she was familiar with Gilles' anatomy or had thought
about it?

            "Hush, you!" She hissed, though her
lips curved. "You have the same strong jaw as well. But you hold your face
much tighter, like a shield. The muscles of Gilles' face are loose and stronger
around the eyes and mouth because he laughs often."

            "He hadn't for a long time. Not until
you." Alastair whispered. He felt her hands pull away and she trembled.
She waited for a few breaths and then resumed.

            "Your face is always very still. Except
your forehead. Your questions show here." Lady Elise tapped him above his
brows. "But not very often. Most people have very little to tell you that
you don't already know. You are very handsome but in a different way than your
brother. You're almost... Sleek." She set her hands on his shoulders and
quickly slid them to the ends and squeezed briefly. "You're a little
taller but not as broad. But you aren't thin. I think women find you very
attractive but don't know how to capture your interest. They don't know what to
do with you." She patted him on the knee, signaling that she was done.
"Thank you."

            "I dare say a few knew." Alastair
mumbled as he rose and returned to his chair. He felt restless and slightly
exposed.

            Lady Elise smiled and reached for her glass as
Gilles sat back down. His hand resumed it's spot next to her head and his
fingers brushed her hair. A small sigh escaped Lady Elise and she leaned back,
curling her feet under her.

            "I should go back up but it feels so nice
in here."

            "Stay a bit longer, I'm sure they'll be at
it for a while." Gilles scooted along the couch and his hand brushed the
hair from her face.

           
He's not going to kiss her is he
? Thought
Alastair, with rising panic. With him in the room? They acted as if they'd
forgotten he was there. He jumped to his feet and made for the doors at the
back of the room. The garden sat quietly on the other side of the glass. It
seemed like the perfect place to be just then.

            "I'm going for a walk." Alastair's
hand was already on the handle.

            "Good." Gilles responded, absently.

            Alastair turned and paused.

            Gilles had pulled Lady Elise close and was
kissing the inside of her wrist.

            "I missed you." He breathed against
her skin causing Lady Elise to shiver.

            "I know it's just been a few hours but it
felt like the day had stopped." She replied breathlessly as she leaned
into him.

            "Tell me, my lady, do you know what to do
with me?" Gilles had released her wrist and his forehead rested against
hers. He inhaled deeply as he shut his eyes.

            "I do. But you'll never know if you don't
kiss me." Lady Elise tilted her face, brushing her lips against his.

            "Yes, ma'am." Gilles teased as he took
her lips.

            Alastair quietly shut the door, his eyes wide
and blinking. If what he witnessed was any indication, Lady Elise was not
likely to reject his brother. She seemed as infatuated and invested in him
emotionally as he was her. What had been most illuminating was the tenderness
and how completely absorbed they were with each other. He had never witnessed
two people as connected or content. Alastair had never experienced anything
like that with a woman and probably never would. As he shoved his hands in his
pockets and strode towards the garden, he decided that he really didn't mind.

Chapter 21

            Gilles stood at his usual before dinner post at
the bottom of the stairs. Try as he might, he couldn't put his heart into
feeling guilty for the display he was sure Alastair had witnessed. Discretion
had always been his mantra. He wouldn't have survived if he hadn't perfected it
as an art. He'd been the center of an intricate web of secrets during his time
in France. He'd used every one to his advantage and had never slipped. Now, he
was acting like an inexperienced youth. He smiled as he rolled a coin across
his knuckle. Elise did things to him.

            Just as he was beginning to imagine things he
hoped she'd one day do to him, Gilles looked up to see Elise and his sister,
arm in arm at the top of the stairs. He was grateful for the wall behind him.
If he had not been leaning against it, he would have collapsed. His knees had
turned to water and he felt as if he'd taken a blow to the head. She'd taken
his breath away every night but tonight she'd taken the air out of the room.

            The gown was the simplest of any she'd
previously worn. It was the fabric that caused his pulse to race once it
returned. It was the finest, lightest satin in a shade of peach just a touch
darker than her own skin. The shoulders were simple and minimal and the bodice
clung. The skirts had very little volume and hugged her legs. As usual, she
wore no shoes. The effect was one of nudity. She was completely gowned in a
dress that in any other hue and material would have been unremarkable but he
felt as if she'd come to dinner in nothing but a smile. Gilles was still
reeling when she stepped off the last stair. He pushed away from the wall on
shaky legs and approached her.

            "Maman and I picked this. Isn't it
lovely?" He'd completely forgotten Mirabelle was there.

            Gilles nodded and tried to form words.

            "I... I... I... That is to say...
Yes?" What was the question?

            Mirabelle laughed and squeezed Elise's arm.

            "I told you he'd love it!"

            Elise blushed.

            "I believe there's supposed to be an
overlay but it seems to have gone missing."

            "Funny, that... But it's smashing without
it." His sister insisted.

            Gilles considered telling his sister right there
that she didn't need to force his hand, it wasn't him that needed convincing.
He settled Elise's hand on his sleeve.

            "Maman and Alastair are in the parlor
waiting for us."

            Mirabelle glided off leaving them alone in the
hall. Gilles looked around, came up behind Elise and pulled her against him.
His lips found her ear and he licked along the outer edge. She shivered and her
hand reached up to cradle his cheek.

            "You have to marry me. Soon. If you have
any mercy, please say yes. I would give all that I have to be able to carry you
upstairs and make love to you right now."

            She trembled and moaned so soft and low he felt
it more than heard it.

            "Gilles, please! This isn't the time."
She stepped forward, pressing her hands to her stomach and breathed deeply.

            Gilles swore under his breath as he stepped
along side her and returned her hand to his sleeve.

            "Then I suggest you think twice about
allowing my mother and sister to help you pick your gowns. I believe they're
initiating a game with stakes a lot higher than you're wanting to play."

            Elise could only nod as they entered the parlor.
Pleasantries were exchanged for only a few minutes before Holderson called them
to dinner. Gilles turned and caught a full glimpse of the back of Elise's gown.
His mood turned darker. He grabbed his sister's elbow and pulled her to the
side of the room after everyone else had departed.

            "Gilles? Let go!" She scolded as she
tugged her arm from his grasp.

            "If you're so set on meddling, perhaps you
might turn your efforts in the other direction. I don't need convincing."
He hissed.

            "You've asked her?" Mirabelle's
excitement was barely contained. If she hadn't been dressed for dinner and
trying to have a private conversation, she probably would have leapt in the air
with a loud cheer.

            "Not officially. She doesn't think we'd
suit and says she won't accept."

            "Is she mad?"

            "Possibly. And if you keep dressing her
like that," he gestured out the door, "I'll be as well."

            "It's just a dress. What harm could it
possibly do?" She shrugged and turned to leave. He stalked along side her.

            "You may as well have put a whip in her
hand." He muttered.

            "Brother, dear, whatever you get up to
behind the privacy of closed doors is no business of mine."

            Gilles stopped her again, his expression stunned
and embarrassed.

            "What the hell, Mirabelle? I'm this close
to packing you off to a convent!" He held his hand up, his fingers
illustrating a very small gap. She shrugged again and walked away.

            "Don't act as if you're a prude. Most of
what I've learned came out of your library." She laughed.

            Gilles put his arm around her shoulder and
whispered in her ear.

            "I hate to disappoint you, brat. But those
books were already there when I inherited Spencer Place. I believe you can
thank our parents."

            Mirabelle froze.

            "Oh, good lord. There goes my
appetite." She grimaced and sat down.

            It didn't feel as if they were even but Gilles
decided it was a small victory.

Pacing in his room, Gilles
rehearsed the speech he was determined to deliver the moment Elise walked
through the door. Sitting next to her through dinner and then watching her play
the piano and laugh with his family had him wound tight. Hours of imagining her
naked had taken it's toll. His control, his patience, his sanity... It all felt
frayed and he was grasping at the scraps.

            "Come to me as soon as you can." He'd
whispered as they parted. Her to her room, him to his study with Alastair. He
hadn't lingered. They'd discussed a letter he'd received that evening from
Lucien about an investigation he was concluding and shared a drink. Gilles
tried not to appear too anxious as he made his excuses and left.

            He needed to make Elise understand. She had to
agree to be his before matters went any further between them. It went beyond
reputations and being compromised. This was a matter of life and happiness.
Gilles' conversation with Alastair and the display afterword had clarified the
situation for him. He needed Elise and he was incapable of hiding that. It was
one thing to slip around his family but it was a matter of time before a
servant or a visitor saw something beyond acceptable. Mostly, he just wanted to
start a life with her. He didn't want society dictating how they lived.

            Gilles knew that they couldn't continue as they
had. He couldn't count on his control any longer and once they crossed that
final boundary, once he'd had her, there was no going back. It would no longer
be her decision to make. He'd use any means to make her his. Gilles wanted her
to choose him without coercion and time was running out.

            His speech and good intentions evaporated as
soon as Elise opened the door. She'd left her robe behind and her gown was
little more than sheer panels that parted at her hips. As she crossed though
the moonlight every curve and sweep of her body was on display.

            Gilles snapped. Need clawed at him as he rushed
towards her. His body already tense and his erection throbbing, he was nearly
mindless as he scooped Elise into his arms. Stunned at finding herself swept
off her feet and surrounded by him, Elise gasped. Her disorientation was brief,
the smell of him and the heat of his naked body aroused her like nothing else
and she clung to him. She whispered his name and found his lips. She tasted the
desperation and passion that drove him and answered with her own. Their kiss
became wild as he set her on the bed. Elise whimpered as he pulled away from
her.

            "I need to taste you." Gilles rasped
as his lips tickled the soft skin of her ankle. He sent his lips, teeth and
tongue up the insides of her legs, torturing her with with nibbles and licks,
suckling as he swept the fabric out of his way.

            Writhing and begging, Elise reached for him,
trying to urge him on. She bucked against him and sobbed as his mouth covered
the tender folds of her womanhood. Gilles licked and lapped at her as if he
were a dying man and she a cool pool at an oasis. His fingers tickled and
filled her, alternating with his tongue, probing her heated core. Elise twisted
and arched, trying to open further for him one moment then trying to retreat
the next. Everything had become his mouth upon her. The room and the bed were
no longer there and Gilles could hear nothing but her frantic breaths and
mindless cries. Her body was gone save for the part he worshiped with his
hands, tongue, lips and teeth.

            Gilles' body screamed with lust, his cock felt
as if it had turned to lead but he couldn't pull away. He wanted to taste her
when her release broke upon her, he wanted to drink the rush of nectar that
would flow from Elise when she exploded. Gilles knew she was close. Her head
was thrashing from side to side and her fists were twisted in the sheets, her
thighs quivered as her hips attempted to rise off the bed. He held her steady
in his hands and tilted her so he could lap at her more thoroughly and enter her
more deeply with his tongue. Elise bit her finger and shrieked. Gilles chuckled
against her soaked flesh. Her distress mirrored the turmoil within him as his
raging cock burned against his leg demanding to replace his mouth at her
entrance. He took the sensitive knot of flesh between his lips and suckled as
he filled her with two fingers. She was already so tight and became shockingly
more so as she squeezed around him and his erection pulsed urgently. Elise
hauled in a desperate breath as her body tensed and froze, her back arched and
her head was thrown back. She seemed to hang there for moments before her body
began to shake and convulse. Gilles' name poured from her mouth as a long moan,
releasing the tension from her body as she collapsed boneless and weak upon the
mattress.

            Gilles rose above her, settling within her
spread thighs. His cock was in his hand and he rubbed it against her slick
entrance. He hissed at the feel of her hot, slick fluids against the throbbing
head. Elise pulled his face to hers and kissed him deeply. Her hands slid over
his shoulders and clutched at his back.

            "Yes!" She sighed against his mouth as
the sole of her foot rubbed against his calf. Her other leg wrapped around him
and pulled his hips towards her.

            Just as he was about to press into her, Gilles
raised his head. What had she just agreed to? Taking him into her body or
marrying him? Did Elise understand that they were the same? His body begged him
to continue, to sink into her and lose himself in her lush, willing curves. His
erection pulled him towards her, the head dipped into her molten tightness.
Unfortunately, Gilles' conscience grabbed the reins. He withdrew and took her
face in his hands. Elise protested, her nails dug into his flesh and she raised
her hips off the bed.

            "Gilles? Please!" She was delirious,
her voice desperate. He very nearly gave in but he remembered that her choosing
him mattered more than his needs. For now.

            "I need to know what you're agreeing to,
Elise." His muscles burned as Gilles held himself back. He had been so
close, he'd had a glimpse of heaven and had turned back. His body strained, his
cock pulsed. It would be so easy to slide into her and let his instincts take
over. He lifted himself away and sat on his haunches. The sight of her nearly
undid him. Elise was flushed and spread open, her hair fanned on the pillows
and clung about her shoulders and breasts, her lips were swollen and her chest
rose and fell urgently. Nothing could have tempted him more, drove him wilder.
Gilles gripped his cock and squeezed it, hoping to dull it's ache so he could
think. "What are you saying yes to?" His voice was hoarse.

            She sat up and reached for him, her fingertips
brushed his stomach.

            "I want you! Please, Gilles! Make love to
me." Elise begged as she grabbed his straining member. He stilled her
hands and clenched his jaw.

            "If you give yourself to me now, you're
doing so forever. I can't do this if you won't agree to be mine."

            "I'm yours." Elise's lips brushed his
collarbone.

            "You'll marry me?" Hopefulness bloomed
in Gilles' chest.

            "Why do we have to decide that now? I'm
yours in every way that matters."

            Gilles groaned and collapsed on the bed, out of
her reach.

            "That's not good enough." His reply
was muffled by the bedclothes.

            "Why? Can't we just keep things as they
are?"

            He flopped onto his back and looked at Elise.

            "Not for very long, love. Maman will need
to go back to London eventually, the season is almost over but there will be
another. And I'm not going to keep her here just so I can carry on with you.
She won't allow it and neither will I. There's so much more than this, Elise!
Sneaking kisses and tiptoeing from beds in the middle of the night will get old
fast."

            "More?"

            "I want to keep you in my bed all night,
every night. I want to fall asleep holding you and slide into you as we wake up
in the morning. If I decide I want to keep you in here for days and make love
to you in every way I can imagine, I don't want to have to worry that the staff
will poison me or quit. I want to be able to tell people that you are my wife.
"Lady Elise Spencer is the most beautiful woman in all of England and she
belongs to me"." He felt her jerk when he used her name with his.
"I don't just want you to be mine in here, when no one knows, darling. I
want the world to know."