The Devil Earl (34 page)

“And very rightly so, Sebastian. My guess is that they bullied the locals more often than not,” Prudence said. “And, although James might not agree, I think that the situation has worked out for the best. Those who escaped are simple men who will probably never take up the trade again. And even if they do, you can be sure they will not come near Wolfinger. Its reputation is secure,” she added with a smile.

“Still, I plan to board up the passage to the abbey from the cave,” Sebastian noted. “I have no desire to have my throat slit in my bed by any more intruders.”

James frowned, as if considering something. “I could probably recognize some of the smugglers, if I went through the village,” he finally said. “But Prudence is right.” He flashed her a white grin. “I’m done with my revenge. Perhaps I shall simply move my business up here and employ some of them.”

Sebastian laughed. “If you paid them a good wage, they would have no need for free-trading, and a healthy fear of you might keep them loyal!”

“Let this be the end of it, then, for I have my shipping business to think about,” James said. “I’ve a mind to sell the small smuggling vessel to raise money to outfit the
Willo’-the-wisp.
And I am serious about putting the ship in at the village.”

“Pru, we were thinking about living in the cottage for the time being,” Phoebe said.

“We feel a bit silly knocking about this big place,” James interjected, although Prudence knew he was glossing over his dislike for Wolfinger. And, of course, they all were aware that Phoebe despised the abbey. She never let them forget it.

“The cottage would be nice and cozy,” Phoebe said. “That is, if it is all right with you, Pru,” she added. Blushing rosily, she glanced back and forth from Sebastian to Prudence, who felt her own flush rising.

“That is, you have always loved Wolfinger, and you seem to be perfectly happy here,” Phoebe stammered. Sebastian was glaring at her darkly, which made her even more flustered. Obviously, no one was prepared to mention what was on all their minds: the lack of legal ties between Prudence and the man whose home she shared.

“I think the cottage would be perfect for you, Phoebe,” Prudence said. “And we can see each other as often as we like.”

“Yes,” Phoebe agreed, nodding so violently that her golden curls bobbed up and down. “And if you would ever like to come home. . That is, you are always welcome there, naturally.” Her voice trailed off in the face of Prudence’s uncomfortable silence and Sebastian’s increasingly grim manner.

Luckily, Mrs. Worth came in at that moment, extricating Phoebe from the difficult situation by bustling about them all, making sure they had enough to eat and pouring fresh tea.

“Well, you are welcome to Wolfinger,” James said. “I have never seen the appeal of this place. It reminds me of an old tomb—cold and drafty and damp.”

“Oh, Prudence has always claimed it as inspiration for her work,” Phoebe said, beaming at her sister in an obvious attempt to redeem herself.

“Well, with no more smugglers hiding in the cliffs below and no more robbers sneaking along the hallways, the old abbey should be positively dull. And with Mrs. Worth taking on a new staff, it might be quite normal around here. Boring, even,” James said, winking at Prudence. “Whatever shall you do?”

Prudence felt her already heightened color deepen further, and she dared not look at Sebastian. She knew full well that the two of them would always be able to create their own excitement.

“Yes, well, we can always look for Wolfinger’s resident ghosts,” Sebastian said, saving her from a reply. “This is an amazing structure, and it appears that even the remaining Ravenscar doesn’t know all its secrets. We could give it a thorough going-over.”

Prudence looked up, grateful for his answer, but then she saw the telltale quiver of his lips, a sly curving that was meant only for her eyes, as he added, “I have a feeling we shall find plenty to entertain us.”

Prudence felt as though she had just drifted off when Sebastian awakened her again, but the high sliver of moon shining through the window told her that it was past midnight.

“Come on, Pru,” he urged, and she blinked at him. He was beside the bed, wearing boots and breeches and nothing else.

“What is it? Is someone in the abbey again?” she asked.

He smiled, a slow, wicked grin that sent shivers through her, and she knew that nothing was amiss. On the contrary, everything was wholly
right.
No matter how many times they made love or how many nights they spent together, Prudence knew, this man would always have the same effect upon her. Her heart picked up its pace, making her blood hum in her veins, and she felt alert and alive, every part of her throbbing with excitement and anticipation.

“No, but I want to do something before I board up the passage,” he answered. Prudence asked no further questions; she had no need. Whatever Sebastian had in store would be well worth her attention. He held out a soft robe to her, and she wrapped it around her naked body. It glided against her skin, heightening her senses as she bent to put on her slippers. She really ought to put on a gown, too, she thought, but the way down to the library was already open, and Sebastian was reaching for her hand.

They moved silently through the corridors, as if one with the old building, and Prudence had the absurd notion that the abbey approved of them, welcoming their steps across its ancient stones. Although Sebastian could find his way easily, he held up a lantern to guide her, and it cast eerie shadows along the walls, great phantoms that followed behind and prowled ahead.

The excisemen had arrived in the afternoon, taking away the prisoners and hauling the goods from the cavern, but the passage was still open, and in the kitchens they found Mr. Worth clutching a blunderbuss, just as if he were standing guard over the cellars. Unfortunately, he was leaning back in a chair, his mouth hanging open to emit a dull snore, so Prudence suspected that a veritable army could pass without his notice.

Sebastian lifted the light higher, and they took the stairs down to where the wine was stored, and through the secret room into the cavern itself. It seemed larger and more natural without its stored booty, and the new moon glittering faintly off the water made the cove look like an enchanted seascape.

When they reached the entrance, Prudence drew in a breath, glad that Sebastian had wanted to share the scene with her one last time. Stars pierced a night sky that dipped down to meet the ocean, while on either side of them, waves crashed against the rocks in a majestic display.

A summer-warm breeze swept over the water, pulling at her robe, and she reveled in her lack of clothing. A few months ago, she had never known such freedom, such exhilaration, and she owed it all to the man beside her. Turning to Sebastian, she opened her mouth to thank him, but the look on his face stopped her speech.

Passion, dark and deep, was etched across his features as he watched the wind play with the folds that barely covered her. His gaze lifted to her own, and even in the moonlight, Prudence could see the hunger there, almost frightening in
its intensity. She was suddenly reminded of their first meeting, when he had loomed over her, an erotic, threatening presence she had welcomed into her life. She did not falter now, either, for Sebastian had awakened in her a slumbering desire as fierce as his own. It rose to match his, to greet and meld with it and flash its answer in her eyes, and without a word, he swung her up into his arms and waded into the cove.

He laid her down on a large tilted rock with a flat surface, keeping his hands on her hips to steady her, and it seemed as though she rested upon an island among the wildly tossing sea. Although the night was warm, the spray drifted against her, drawing a shiver from her.

“Cold, Pru?” Sebastian asked. She heard the seductive thread in his low voice, and trembled, but not from any chill. She shook her head. He eased her back down against the surface and parted her robe. The night was black around them, but for the glimmering stars and the faint shimmer of the moon that caught the pale curves of her breasts.

“Oh, my,” she whispered, swallowing thickly.

“Oh, yes,” Sebastian murmured. He bent over her, his hands sliding over her skin, his mouth finding hers, hot and open, his tongue thrusting in without preliminaries.

Prudence lifted her arms to encircle his neck, to press his hair-roughened chest against her breasts. Her senses were overwhelmed—by his touch, by his kiss, by the darkness and the moonlight, by the clean scent of the ocean and its thunderous music in her ears. Nothing she had ever conjured in her vivid imagination could match this night, and she gasped in joyous abandon.

Sebastian’s breath rasped against her urgently, his lips marking a trail down her body, the heat of him a heady contrast to the sudden cool dash of fine mist. Fire and ice, earth and water, all seemed to combine, commanded by the Ravenscar heir to do his bidding, and Prudence felt as if she would surely burn or drown in tormented ecstasy.

“Sebastian, please,” she moaned.

“Do you like my surprise, Pru, love?” he asked. Although his tone was even, Prudence heard the low catch in his lungs, felt the increasing pressure of his hands. He straightened, and the dark shape of his body, with its wide shoulders, was outlined by the faint light. He looked like some kind of pagan god, Hades himself, risen from the underworld. The Devil Earl in all his glory.

“Yes!” she whispered. It was an answer and a plea.

While she lay back against the stone, his fingers went to the front of his breeches, unfastening the fall to release his sex, huge and erect. He stepped forward, parting her thighs, wrapping them around him, settling himself between them as if to claim possession of her.

His head was thrown back against the star-filled blackness of the sky, and, with a low groan, he lifted her hips toward him to thrust deep. In one swift motion, he buried himself fully inside her, and Prudence, trembling with anticipation, climaxed immediately, in violent, shuddering waves of pleasure.

His release followed her own, his muscles tensing as he murmured his desire and her name, and he pounded into her, his tall form racked by the force of his satisfaction.

When he finally stilled, Prudence struggled to regain her breath. Sebastian remained standing above her, within her, his hands on her hips shaking slightly, his low gasps evidence of his own need for air. She lay staring up at him, her legs wrapped around him, her robe open, her flesh damp from sweat, mist, and Sebastian’s seed.

Around them the waves crashed, the water ebbing and flowing in the same timeless rhythm in which they had merged their bodies and their souls, and Prudence suddenly felt like weeping at the wonder of life. Stunned by the power of what they created between them, she lost all caution. “Oh, Sebastian!” she blurted out. “I love you!”

His head swiveled toward her, and she heard him suck in a deep breath. Typically, he did not reveal the depth of his emotion, however, and when he spoke, it was in his usual calm, deep tone. “How splendid, for I have been in love with you for some time.”

Prudence smiled, for she knew that he would not say it, if it was not true. She had hoped, but knowing that her feelings were returned filled her with such elation that she could not stay still. Her thighs tightened around him, drawing him in deeper, and she heard his low gasp. The heat inside her was growing, and she arched upward eagerly.

“Ah, Pru?” he said. One of his large hands settled on her hip, stopping her movement, while he rubbed the other palm across his face, as if to clear thoughts tangled by desire.

“Yes?”

“Does this mean you will marry me?”

By the time Sebastian carried Prudence back inside the cave, he was not sure his legs would work. Never in his licentious past had he ever performed so long and so well. He felt as if his bones had turned to dust, and he couldn’t suppress a stab of relief at Prudence’s insistence on walking once they were inside. He let her slide down his body, a gentle glide of smooth skin and damp robe and golden hair, and felt a heaviness in his chest.
She loved him.

“It would be a shame to board the passage up forever,” she said wistfully, glancing back toward the rocks.

“Yes, well, maybe I shall simply put in another stout door and several locks,” Sebastian muttered. After what had happened out there, he did not know whether he was willing to close it up, either. After all, someday, when he regained his strength, he might bring her back here.

He went to retrieve the lantern, while Prudence wandered about, studying the walls, as if seeing something new about the place. Sebastian had to admit that, without its booty, the cave looked vastly different, the curves more evident,
as they led around and then back in an unusual fashion.

Prudence had stopped directly in front of one of the strange turns. “There is something odd about this crevice,” she said.

“What is it?” he asked, moving up behind her. When he lifted the lantern, he could see a difference in the surface of the stone. What the devil?

“Look, here, Sebastian!” Prudence exclaimed. “Do you have your knife with you?” Without bothering to question her, he silently passed the weapon to her and watched as she poked the point directly into a pale-looking spot. “Soft! Just as I thought,” she mused.

“What is it?” Sebastian asked, catching a piece of the crumbling material. “Plaster!” He stared down at the bits in his hand and then over at his companion in amazement. Prudence would always astound him.

Oblivious of her near-naked state, she was calmly hacking away at the opening with his blade. With a sigh, Sebastian realized it would be useless to try to coax her into returning during the daylight hours, when they were fully clothed and armed with tools. Once Pru was focused on something, there was no dissuading her—which could be enjoyable at times, he thought with a wry smile.

Rather than stand there all night while she poked at the crevice, Sebastian hooked the lantern nearby and searched for a heavy piece of driftwood. “Step back,” he warned before he began knocking at the old plaster with a branch. It gave way easily, until a fairly large, utterly black hole gaped before them.