Wait Until Midnight (16 page)

He gave a sensual, husky laugh and kissed her lightly. "Explanations are unnecessary. I think I understand"

"Perhaps it would be easier if I finished this for you?"

"Absolutely not. I forbid it." He resumed his work on the hooks of her gown. "Undressing you is like unwrap-ping an elaborately wrapped gift. Never underestimate the pleasure of anticipation."

She clenched her fingers in the front of his linen shirt.

When he had opened the gown to a point just below her breasts, he paused again and rested his forehead against hers. "Damn. I don't believe this"

Her heart sank. Was he disappointed in what he had uncovered thus far? "Is something wrong?"

"Yes." He raised his head and looked down at her with a rueful expression. "My hands are shaking so badly it is all I can do to manage these hooks."

"Really?" She was entranced by the knowledge that she had such an effect on him.

"I intended to sweep you away on a romantic cloud of passion and pleasure. Instead, I feel like a great, clumsy oaf"

The confession emboldened her as nothing else could have done in that moment.

"Perhaps it would make things easier if I assisted you in this process:' she suggested once more.

With trembling fingers she began to unknot his tie. Adam's mouth crooked and his eyes gleamed in the lamp-light. "Yes," he said, "I think that will help considerably.
^"

In a matter of moments she was left standing only in her chemise, stockings and drawers. Her heavy gown lay in a frothy heap on the wooden floor. Adam's tie, waistcoat and white linen shirt lay next to them. He stood before her, clad only in his trousers.

The firelight gleamed on his sleekly muscled body. Fascinated, she traced the strong contours of his chest with her fingertips.

"You are as magnificent as a statue of an ancient god," she whispered.

He uttered a half-choked laugh. "I trust you find me somewhat warmer and a bit younger."

"Much
warmer and much younger. Perfect, in fact" She wanted to bask in the heat from his body.

"Ah, my sweet. You go to my head."

It had been difficult to undress Adam, owing to the fact that she had never before attempted to rid a man of his clothes. She had stopped after she had gotten his shirt off because she did not possess quite enough nerve to tackle the buttons of his trousers. Fortunately, he did not seem to find her hesitation odd.

He picked her up and settled her carefully on the cot. Then he straightened and freed himself from his remaining clothes with a few swift, impatient motions.

She was transfixed.

She reminded herself that unlike the carefully sheltered ladies of the city, she had been raised in the country. She was, therefore, not unfamiliar with the sight of male animals in this state. In addition, Emma and Milly had always been extremely modem in their notions of what was appropriate to a young lady's education. All in all, she ought to have had a fair notion of what to expect from this first en-counter with a man. Nonetheless, she was astonished.

Adam hesitated at the side of the bed, his face shadowed in the flickering light. "Is something wrong?"

"No" She reached up and caught his hand in hers, squeezing tightly. "Nothing is wrong."

He lowered himself down onto the cot very carefully and pulled her into his arms. One by one, he took the pins from her hair. She trembled when she heard them click on the floorboards beside the bed.

"I did not plan on this tonight,
^"
he whispered, kissing her throat. "I brought you here on impulse and as a result, I have one great regret."

She held her breath. "If you have changed your mind—"

"Never."
His fingers tightened in her hair. "I am consumed by my desire for you. I could not turn aside now if my life depended on it. No, my regret is that I did not take you to more elegant surroundings. You deserve better than this barren room."

She relaxed and touched his face. "This room is perfect, Adam. Everything tonight is perfect"

He put one hand on her stocking-clad leg. When he stroked her inner thigh, the world as she had always known it was forever changed. The intimacy of his touch was al-most unbearably exciting.

It was as if she had been walking through a garden all of her life, turned a corner around a high hedge and suddenly found herself in an exotic, tropical jungle.

"You are so beautiful." He undid the buttons of her chemise and kissed the curve of her breast.

She was not beautiful, she thought. But tonight he made her feel as though she were the direct descendent of Cleopatra, Helen of Troy and Venus.

When he took one nipple between his teeth, waterfalls of sensations crashed through her. A wild, fiery tension

built deep inside her. The weight of Adam's leg anchoring her thigh to the bed was an exquisite pressure.

When his fingers found her secrets through the open seam of her drawers, she almost screamed. Shock and astonished pleasure played havoc with her breath and pulse. Nothing she had ever experienced felt quite like the touch of Adam's hand on the most delicate portion of her anatomy.

"You are already damp and ready for me," he whispered into her ear.

She was vaguely embarrassed that he had noticed the wet heat between her legs but she could not retreat from his touch. She wanted more of whatever he was doing to her.

And then somehow he had undone the tapes that se-cured the drawers. He moved on top of her and kissed the place between her breasts. Her head fell back across his arm. She felt tight and hot and desperate.

"Please," she whispered, urgently curving one leg around his muscular thigh.

He shifted his position slightly. She felt pressure. "Yes," she said. "It feels so good."

"Caroline."

He drove himself into her in a single, searing thrust.
Be careful what you wish for,
she thought.

She had been expecting something of the sort, but the pain still came as a shock because a few seconds ago she had been glorying in the most amazing pleasure.

"What on earth?" She jerked violently and shoved instinctively at his shoulders. "Wait. Stop. I believe there is something wrong."

Adam froze.

She tried to gingerly ease away from him. "Forgive me. This is my fault. I didn't realize, you see. I mean, I thought I did but clearly I didn't."

"Caroline, stop moving, I beg you."

"Would you mind very much getting off of me?"

He groaned. She could see sweat on his brow. His jaw clenched as though he was in agony. His eyes were half-closed. With an obvious effort of determined will, he began to ease himself out of her body.

The sensation was not unpleasant.

"Wait," she ordered. She clamped her hands on his back, holding him still. "Maybe that won't be necessary." "Caroline, you are going to drive me mad"

"Actually, it does not feel quite so uncomfortable now." She wriggled again and got a satisfactory feeling in return. "Perhaps if you continued very slowly?'

"Very slowly?" He rested his weight on his elbows and imprisoned her face with his hands. Every muscle in his body seemed to be sculpted of steel. His eyes were those of a man who is fast approaching some inner limit. But his mouth curved slightly in a sensual smile that could have set fire to the entire city. "Like this, do you mean?"

He began to move again. Slowly.

Her body relaxed. He reached down and did something to her with his fingers. Everything inside her clenched as tight as a fist. But not in resistance this time; rather in a frantic, demanding manner.

"Yes," she whispered. "Oh, yes, just like that?'

"Draw up your knees, my sweet," he whispered. She obeyed. The exciting sensations intensified.

"Ah, Caroline," he said against her mouth. "I am well and truly lost."

Before she could ask him what he meant by the strange words, he began to move more quickly.

The delicious friction tightened her insides until she could no longer tolerate the intense sensation. She convulsed.

The release sent her flying into the night.

Adam gave a muffled groan and went rigid.

At the last possible instant, he pulled free of her body and collapsed beside her, spending himself into the bedding.

SEVENTEEN

A long time later Adam folded one arm behind his head and pulled Caroline close beneath the old blanket. She snuggled and seemed to settle against him, as if preparing to go to sleep. A pleasant prospect, he thought, but not possible tonight.

"When did you plan to tell me?" he asked.

He knew he sounded brusque and unromantic; so be it. He was trying to balance a chaotic mix of emotions that had shaken him to the core.

In hindsight he knew that he had not wanted to heed the small clues that had pointed to Caroline's lack of experience. He had been only too pleased to believe that she was a widow. When that convenient fiction had evaporated earlier this evening, he had comforted himself with some equally handy assumptions concerning a shady past and a scandalous affair.

But Caroline was one surprise after another.

She yawned delicately and stretched out one leg like a small cat beneath the blanket. "Tell you what?"

He felt her toes brush against his calf. The small caress had a stirring effect.

"'That you were a virgin," he said.

Caroline went still. Then she levered herself up on one elbow and looked down at him with a puzzled frown. "Was I supposed to inform you?" she asked.

"Yes," he said unequivocally. He was as annoyed with her as he was at himself. "You were supposed to tell me. I have a rule against bedding innocents."

"Ah, so that is the problem." Her face cleared instantly. "You had a rule."

"You mock me at your peril, Caroline," he warned gently.

"Let us examine this situation logically. By innocents, I assume you refer to very young ladies with no experience of the world and who are expected to guard their reputations until marriage. Am I correct?"

"Close enough," he allowed carefully. Her glib response made him cautious. She was going to try to manipulate him. He knew it as surely as he knew his own past.

She gave him a brilliant, smug smile. "Then you have nothing to be concerned about. I do not fit into the category of innocent and therefore you have not broken your rule."

He caught a tumbled lock of her hair, curled it around his fingers and tugged gently. "No?"

"No, indeed. Only consider the facts." She held up her hand and ticked off her arguments, one by one. "First, I am no longer
a young
lady. I am twenty-seven years old, well past the age that the world considers either innocent or marriageable."

"Caroline—"

"Second, in the highly unlikely event that I did meet a man who could be considered potential husband material, I would feel obligated to tell him about the dreadful scandal three years ago, and that would be the end of the matter. No proper, well-bred gentleman would want to wed a woman whose reputation had been destroyed as thoroughly as mine was, even if she took an assumed name. Therefore, I see absolutely no reason whatsoever why I should have saved myself for a wedding night that will never occur."

"Your logic has a major flaw," he began.

"And last but not least," she said, interrupting him, "al-though I was, technically speaking, a virgin until quite recently, I am not lacking in experience of the ways of the world. I knew very well what I was about when I returned your kisses tonight, Adam. You did not take advantage of me. If anything, it was the other way around"

"The other way around?" Stunned by that assessment of events, he yanked his arms out from behind his head and sat up. "Are you trying to convince me that you deliberately set out to seduce me?"

She pursed her lips. "Well—"

"Because I do not believe it. Not for a moment"

"I am only saying that from the first moment we met, I was attracted to you." She waved one hand negligently. "Granted, there were some initial problems because I feared you might be a threat. But once I concluded that I could trust you, I admit I did hope that you might return my feelings."

"I see"

"I will allow that matters proceeded at a much brisker pace than I had anticipated," she continued blithely. "I certainly never expected that we would find ourselves in a passionate embrace after such a short acquaintance."

"Nor did I" He threaded his fingers through her hair and pulled her face closer to his. "Tell me, Caroline, if you were so eager to taste of physical desire, why did you wait this long? Surely there have been other opportunities."

She shook her head, smiling as though she found his question amusingly naive. "There are any number of risks involved for a woman. I did not want to take them with the wrong man."

A thrill of gut-deep satisfaction momentarily distracted him. "You thought that I was the right man?"

The laughter vanished from her eyes, leaving certainty. "There was no doubt in my mind at all tonight"

He brushed his mouth slowly, deliberately across hers. "And did you find the experience as interesting and exciting as you had expected?"

"Absolutely. Quite satisfying, indeed."

"You leave me speechless, to say nothing of what you are doing to my nerves"

"Get hold of yourself, sir," she said bracingly. "If you fear that your nerves may fail, fortify them by reminding yourself of my great asset and most excellent shield, the sturdy bulwark that will protect me from the worst effects of scandal and ruin"

"And what is this asset, shield and bulwark?"

"Why none other than my late husband, Jeremy Fordyce, who so conveniently made me a widow."

He pulled her back down onto the bed. "I will concede that the man's spirit does have his uses."

EIGHTEEN

Irene Toller sat alone in the séance room, a large glass of gin on the table in front of her, and contemplated her vengeance. She had been a gullible fool, she thought, but no longer. The scales had fallen from her eyes at last.

"Here's to you, Elizabeth Delmont, wherever you are." Irene hoisted the glass of gin in a mocking toast and took a long swallow. The potent spirits burned all the way down.