The Seduction of Lady X (40 page)

M
rs. Lampley looked stricken when Harrison and Olivia walked in together through the back entrance.

“Mr. Tolly!” she cried. “You’ve come back!”

“Only for a night, Mrs. Lampley.”

“But Mr. Eason is here. Oh dear, where are my manners? Felicitations on your nuptials, sir.”

“Thank you, but that is not necessary. Who is Mr. Eason?” Harrison asked.

Olivia laughed. “The new steward.”

“He’s here, walking about, having a look at the place,” Mrs. Lampley whispered, seeming distressed. “Says he has a wife and four children.
Four!
”

Harrison grinned. “I have full confidence that you will meet the challenge, Mrs. Lampley,” he said. “I think I’ll go and have a good look at the chap.”

“But . . .” Mrs. Lampley turned to Olivia. “But where is Mrs. Tolly?”

“Oh, there is no Mrs. Tolly,” Olivia said brightly. “However, I intend to remedy that straightaway. And by the bye, Mrs. Lampley, I shall be leaving Everdon Court.”

“Leaving! Where will you go?”

Olivia grinned. “With Mr. Tolly to Ashwood. To become Mrs. Tolly. Alexa has decided she’d rather not.”

She was still laughing as she ran up the stairs to her rooms, wondering if any widow had ever dared to wed as soon as she intended to.

Mr. Eason was in the study, bent over, pulling open the drawers of the desk.

“You’ll find nothing there,” Harrison said as he strolled in.

Mr. Eason jerked upright. “I beg your pardon.”

“Harrison Tolly,” Harrison said, and extended his hand, smiling at the man’s look of shock.

“I don’t understand,” Mr. Eason said as he took Harrison’s hand.

“I have returned for something I mistakenly left behind. And a few books.” He walked to the little table where he had stacked the books for Olivia and picked them up. “I wish you the best of luck with Lord Carey, Mr. Eason. He hasn’t the capacity for figures that his late brother did. And he enjoys spending freely. The late marquis was rather good at reining him in, but I cannot guess who might rein him in now.” He smiled. “If you do not find someone who can reason with him, the Carey family fortune likely will be depleted within a year.” It was hardly true, but Harrison couldn’t help himself. “Good luck to you, sir,” he said, and walked out, leaving a gaping Mr. Eason behind.

He took the stairs two at a time and went directly to the suite where Olivia had settled. She was inside, busily gathering her things; she hadn’t even removed her cloak.

Harrison walked inside and put the books on her vanity. Olivia beamed at him. He’d not seen her look so happy in years. “Will you not remove your cloak?” he asked.

“No. I want to be ready to leave without a moment’s hesitation.”

He chuckled, and pushed the door shut. “You have my word that we will be gone by the morrow’s first light. But I think there is something that requires our immediate attention,” he said, turning the key in the lock.

Her smile brightened even more. “Immediate! It must be very important.”

“Very,” he said.

“Well then.” She unfastened her cloak and let it drop.

Harrison smiled and reached for her. He’d ridden like a wild man from Ashwood, frantic to see her, to hold her. He would be forever grateful to Alexa for ending the madness that he had begun that day in the marquis’s study, and for urging him to go and fetch Olivia before it was too late. “They’ll not keep her at Everdon Court,” Alexa had argued the night of their failed wedding ceremony. “Lord Westhorpe will want his freedom and no reminder of Edward.”

For a young woman who was very naïve about some things, Alexa was very wise about others.

“You are so beautiful,” Harrison said to Olivia now. He kissed her lips. “And I shall make you mine, Olivia. Only mine.”

“Is that a promise?” She wrapped her arms around his waist. “I have been waiting an awfully long time for it.”

That wish detonated something deep inside Harrison. He needed to feel her body beneath his. He needed to end the wait, to know that their lives were about to change in a way they had both dreamed of for so many years. He drew her into him, holding her tightly as he kissed her.

Olivia smiled alluringly as she pulled the pins from her hair and let it fall down her back.

Harrison raked his hand through the silken hair he had admired from afar, lifting it to his face and breathing it in. Her grip tightened around his waist as she kissed him, her tongue seeking his. He moved her back, bumping up against the bed, his mouth on her neck now, his fingers on her bosom, curling into her cleavage, the scent of her perfume filling his senses.

His hands sought every curve, his mouth, every patch of skin. Olivia closed her eyes and dropped her head back, her sigh of longing making Harrison’s blood rush and swell. He yanked off his neckcloth; Olivia’s fingers flew down the buttons of his waistcoat and pushed it aside. Her hands ran across his chest, down to his waist, and pulled the shirt from his trousers.

He shrugged out of the waistcoat and hastily pulled the shirt over his head.

Olivia ran her fingertips down his chest, then leaned in and kissed where his heart was pounding in his chest. Her fingers fluttered over his nipples, and the slight indentation between the muscles that ran from his sternum and disappeared into the top of his trousers.

Harrison clenched his jaw, restraining himself as she explored him. But when she brushed the palm of her hand against the erection that strained against his buckskins, he said roughly, “I cannot bear to be near you any longer without possessing you.” He felt almost feverish with the desire blazing in him. “I cannot
bear
it,” he said again, then sank onto the bed with her.

Olivia giggled at his ardor, her hands everywhere, boldly exploring, caressing, and stroking. When her tongue flicked across his nipple, he groaned and found the buttons on her gown, then pushed it down her body. He released her breasts, caressed them, took them each in his mouth in turn, sucking the hardened peaks onto his tongue.

Olivia’s hand surrounded his erection and moved on him, sparking a fire in him that quickly roared out of control. She pushed him onto his back and began to trail kisses down his chest, to his abdomen, and below. When her lips surrounded his member, Harrison was lost.

She traced her tongue along the length of him, and Harrison gasped as he tried to keep from writhing and bucking beneath her. But it was no use; his self-control was hanging by a thread. She was pushing him beyond the limits of yearning. As madly pleasurable as it was, he needed to be inside her. He groped blindly for her, lifting her up to him and encircling her tightly in his arms. Her lips softly met his as he rolled her onto her back.

He moved over her, pushing her skirts up above her hips, then he slipped his hand between her legs. She was hot and slick, and her deep moan against his mouth came close to undoing him completely. His fingers slipped inside her heat; his thumb stroked her mindlessly until she made a little cry and shifted against him.

He moved between her thighs, nudging them farther apart with his knee. “I am at the end of my endurance, Olivia. I need you. I have needed you all my life.” He slid into her and began to move. Olivia kissed him, lifting up to him, lifting her legs to his waist, drawing him in until he was moving deep inside her, his heart growing larger with each stroke, claiming her as his own in the most primal way a man could claim a woman. She moaned with pleasure, her body tightening around his, and then cried out as she shuddered and contracted around him.

Her climax drew Harrison’s, and with a strangled sob of ecstasy, he released into her.

As he gasped for breath, he felt awed by what had happened between them. He was moved beyond comprehension. How could he have contemplated being without her for even a moment?

He tenderly gathered Olivia into his arms and rolled to his side. She nuzzled her face in his neck. They were covered with a sheen of perspiration, and they lay there until the heat had ebbed from their skin.

Still, Harrison did not let her go. He’d never felt so alive, had never felt anything so deeply. He knew that this was where he was meant to be, that
this
was where he was accepted. This was the rest of his life.

“Olivia,” he murmured.

“Hmmm?” She sounded like a purring kitten, with a smile of satisfaction on her face to match.

“Let’s go home,” he murmured against her temple.

“I’m already there,” she said.

R
ue was cleaning Alexa’s room. She was forever cleaning Alexa’s room, for her ability to tidy up was marred by her inattention to things that needed to be tidied. At present she was fussing with the sash on the drapes, and had stepped in front of the window, blocking the light.

Seated on a chaise, Alexa sighed irritably. “Rue, must you?”

“Yes, miss. You told me I must,” Rue said.

“I told you that you must tidy up the room, not the sash. And must you stand before the window? I should like to feel the sun on my face.”

“Oh, but you can’t feel the sun when you are in the house. The sun is outside.”

“Is it?” Alexa drawled, and stood up. “Then perhaps I shall go out to where the sun is, as you insist on blocking it.”

“No, miss, it’s not me,” Rue said. “It’s the house that blocks it.”

Alexa groaned and picked up her shawl—her spencer would no longer fit across her breasts—and wrapped it tightly around her. “You should keep to sewing, Rue,” she said, and paused to look at the infant gowns Rue had made that she’d lain out on her bed to admire. They were surprisingly beautiful. Alexa had discovered Rue’s extraordinary talent as a seamstress when she’d altered the yellow gown. “Your skill is far superior to your housekeeping abilities.”

Rue smiled proudly.

Alexa made her way downstairs, her hand on the banister, her fingers feeling the curving vines and leaves carved into the railing.

Louis, the footman with the kind smile, opened the front door for her. “Good afternoon, Miss Hastings.”

“Good afternoon, Louis.” She wondered if he or Linford or Mrs. Thorpe, the housekeeper, had noticed her increasing girth. How could they not? She felt as if she were bursting through everything she owned. But if they were offended, none showed it. They’d all been very kind to her, even after the disaster of the wedding.

Alexa stepped out onto the steps leading down to the drive. She heard riders approaching and glanced at the road coming into the drive. She wasn’t surprised to see Harry and Olivia riding toward the house, but she was surprised at how well her sister could ride.

It was something else about her remarkable sister she hadn’t noticed.

They rode into the circular drive and reined up. Olivia practically threw herself from her horse and strode across the gravel drive to Alexa. She wasn’t wearing mourning clothes; she was dressed in a riding habit. She jogged up the steps. She didn’t speak. She stared at Alexa, and before Alexa knew what was happening, Olivia threw her arms around her, hugging her tightly. “Thank you, darling,” she said. “Thank you from the bottom of my heart.”

Alexa felt a swell of relief and joy. “I
knew
I was right,” she cried. “You
do
love him!”

Olivia laughed and stood back. Her eyes were shining, her smile bright. She hadn’t looked this happy for years, not since long before she married Edward. “Yes. I love him with all my heart, and I have loved him for a very long time. I thought I’d lost him, but you made my happiness possible.”

Alexa smiled. She felt proud of herself, in truth. She’d actually done someone a kindness. “I was forced to take matters into my own hands,” she boasted. “You can be so blessedly stubborn, you know.”

“I suppose I can,” Olivia said, smiling fondly, and beamed at Harry as he walked up the steps to them. He smiled down at Olivia in a way that made Alexa’s heart twist a little. That was love. That was what she’d believed she’d had with Carlos.

But Alexa pushed down that sadness—it was Olivia’s turn at sheer happiness. “Come on, then, come and see your new home,” Alexa said, taking Olivia’s hand in hers. “A lot of work must be done, beginning with the salon. It’s dreadful. Oh, and you will never believe what I have discovered—Rue is an excellent seamstress!”