Hint of Desire (31 page)

Her eyes misted slightly at that thought
. She had lacked words when he’d presented her with a blanket of the softest cashmere, the ducal crest embroidered on it in rich blue silk. Nothing else could have stated his intentions so clearly, or filled her with such warmth and hope.

Then, when she’d lifted her head to give him a thank you kiss
, he’d pulled back as if her lips might sting. He’d moved to the far side of the room to watch as she’d opened the multitude of small gifts he’d brought her son.

Their son
. That was what each gift said, in its own way. Arthur was ready to take Simon as his own. Yet he spent the whole time standing stiffly across the room, practically glaring at her. The duke had returned.

And,
just when she managed to adapt to his poor mood, Arthur illuminated the chamber with that dazzling smile, and asked Lily to join him for a walk in the gardens after lunch. Then he sent up this extraordinary wrap to make sure she was warm enough. She would never understand him.

Lily waved Gertrude
off and made her way down to meet Arthur. He stood in the doorway, wrapped tightly in his greatcoat. With a gentle smile, but no words, Arthur held out his arm and led her into the garden.

Arthur watched Lily tiptoe over the frozen path. Winter had arrived in a rush the week before, and threatened to surpass last year’s extreme freeze. They walked in silence for several moments, neither willing to break the fragile truce. It was much easier to be silent than risk another upset. Finally, as they neared the edge of the pond, Lily let forth a small cry of glee.

“Look, the fish are still moving
. They’re not trapped.”

Arthur smiled at her childish joy as she released his arm to run to the edge of the pond
. He walked over, beginning to explain that the golden carp would swim beneath the ice as long it didn’t freeze through. It had attracted him to the fish from the start. They could survive the harshest circumstances and glow again in the spring.

Before he could say anything, Lily lifted her skirts and
stepped onto the ice, working her way towards the colored fish. Then, as he cried warning, with the harsh crack of a gunshot, the ice gave way beneath her.

Chapter Seventeen

His heart pounding, Arthur dived across the ice, eager to reach her before she could sink to the depths. He reached and stretched, only hoping the ice would not crack further.

His hands wrapped around her fingers and he pulled her towards him
. Or at least he would have pulled her towards him if his boot had not caught at the stone edge of the pond, sending him sprawling across the slick surface.

He landed hard, his hip jarring and the impact rattling his body
, further cracking the ice. Luckily, his weight well distributed so he did not fall through. Paying no heed to his own pain, he turned, desperate to reach her, jumping to his knees as he sought purchase on the frozen plane.

“Lily,” the cry ripped from him.

Delighted laughter wafted out in reply.

Lily stood, the broken ice almost reaching her knees, a
nd tipped her head back as peals of laughter spread from her glistening lips. Her eyes twinkled and her cheeks lit with winter roses as she watched him struggle and slide.

Arthur quit scrabbling as he imagined the picture the two of them made:  her elegant gown sodden and muddy, his breeches ripped and stained
. He tried to stand again, but his heals could not grip the smooth ice and he slipped again, sending him sprawling awkwardly.

Lily
doubled over with laughter as she watched him rub his bum. She stepped towards him, but was so overcome with laughter that she misjudged the edge of the ice and tripped again into the freezing, muddy water. Arthur released a veritable snort of mirth as he watched her wallow, with frozen crystals clinging to her hair. Finally, he scooted across the ice to rescue her from the knee-deep water.

“You, my dear duchess, get into more trouble than anyone I’ve ever known
. You’re lucky to have me for a guardian angel.”

“Do I?
” Her eyes met his.

“Do you what?”

“Have you?”

His laughter ceased
. He reached forward to pull her toward him. His fingers closed about her wrist. “You’re frozen.”

She smiled up at him, her eyes s
hining despite the blue cast of her lips and the growing shivers that shook her frame.

“Just slightly.”

“Not slightly.” Arthur quickly chafed her cheeks, frightened by their sudden pale gleam. “You’re an icicle.”

“I am starting to feel a little cold
,” she stuttered.

Arthur pushed his own boots through the ice and stood in the slush
. Reaching down, he easily lifted her, wrapping his great coat about them both, and strode straight across the ice, without slip or slide, his powerful movements daring nature to defy him. He started towards the house and then turned to the left, moving behind the thick yew hedge. Lily now shivered in earnest, her teeth chattering loudly. She turned her face into his chest, burrowing under his heavy coat. She breathed deeply of the warmth emanating from his chest.

“Where are we going?
”

It was hard to understand her words as her teeth clenched and released
. Without a break in stride, Arthur answered, “There’s a small summer house just past the hedge. It’s kept stocked with brandy. I’ll start a fire in the grate. It’s much closer than the house. We need to get you warm.”

“Really, I am fine
.” Her lips pursed at the mention of the brandy.

If she hadn’t been starting to turn purple
, he might have believed her. “Let me be the judge of that.”

He reached the small stone building and with a quick flick of th
e wrist opened the door. He deposited Lily on the wide couch, his coat draped over her, and hurried to the fireplace.

“Thank God I never liked servants at my hunting lodge
. It would have been quite embarrassing to make it this far and then be unable to light the fire.”

Lily ga
ve a half-hearted smile at his jest.

“Hunting lodge?”

“It’s in Yorkshire, too much bother to pack a passel of servants up to it.”

Lily
curled deeper and deeper into the thick wool of his coat, wrapping herself in his protection. He frowned; she was too chilled to even protest that he needed it more than she.

Just then, with a sudden whoosh
, the logs caught. Arthur spent a fraction of a second admiring his own handiwork, before shifting back to the couch to tend his duchess.

The soft heat that rose from the fire whispered around Lily, lulling her frozen senses. She felt the warmth, knew when it began to penetrate the biting cold, but still she could not control the deep shudders that radiated from her center.

She trie
d to protest when Arthur stripped off the thick coat, but only managed another long shudder.

“Easy
, my girl, let's just get you out of these wet things and then we’ll get you toasty.”

He slipped her sodden gown from her shoulders
, revealing the damp lace of her chemise, the rosy peaks of her breasts visible through the damp fabric. She wanted to protest when he pulled the gown down further, easing it over her hips, lifting them himself when she proved incapable, but in truth being rid of the sodden fabric was heaven. When she lay attired only in the translucent chemise, he spread his coat in front of the fire like a blanket and lifted her to it. He halted, watching her with questions hovering about his eyes.

“I need to take off my trousers and shirt or I’ll be to
o cold to help.”

He hesitated
, as if unsure how to proceed as she lay before the flames, warmth seeping into her. She looked up at him softly, her eyes fastened on his long fingers playing with the ivory buttons of his shirt.

She nodded
. The time for trust had come.

Eyes locked on hers
, he released the buttons one by one, revealing the spattering of light curls she already knew so well. Warmth grew in her belly now, and not from the fire. Arthur unfastened the top of his trousers, and then, pursing his lips in consideration, fetched the decanter of brandy. He poured a full glass and bent to it to Lily’s lips.

She pushed it away before he could move in close
, the smell causing her stomach to knot. “Please, no. The fire already warms me.”

He
grinned at her expression. “And you had Jeffers believing you needed a new decanter. If you don’t seem completely comfortable in a minute I may reconsider.” He placed the glass on the table. “I’ll need help with my boots, before I divest myself of the remainder of this drenched clothing.”

Lily was toasty now between the heat of the fire, and that deep insatiable ache that
flickered to life in her belly. She pressed her hand to her stomach, attempting to fight the growing tingles, barely noticing the pull of the damp fabric revealing the dark curls below. It was useless:  she only grew more restless.

She drew herself to her knees
, gesturing to the large wing chair. “If you’ll be seated, I’d be happy to act as your valet. It would be churlish of me not to, when you’ve acted with such grace, your grace.”

She smiled
at her small play on words. Once he was seated, she knelt before him, taking the sloshing boot in her hands. “Mathers will never forgive me for causing such damage. I am not sure these will ever be the same.”

“He’ll
survive the affront.” Arthur’s voice resonated deep and husky.

Lily
pulled hard at the boot, trying to dislodge it from his large foot. She managed to remove one, but the second stuck firm. Only when Arthur braced his bare foot against the softness of her belly could she gain the force to yank it free. The boot cleared his toes, spilling its slushy contents across her silk covered chest.

The renewed
chill hardened her already taut nipples, causing them to peak against the fine fabric. The material chafed their tender peaks as Lily sucked in her breath. Then Arthur knelt beside her, his large, warm palms reaching to cup her swelling flesh. She shivered and fought to suppress her nervous reaction.

“These
show a distinct chill. Do I need to warm them also?”

Desire
flared at the catch in his voice. He held her gaze firm, as he lowered the straps of her shift, baring her ivory curves. She sucked in breath, biting down on her lower lip as goosebumps rippled across her – she knew not whether from cold, fear, or the growing flames of desire.

Lowering her eyes she answered
, “You might.”

He rubbed his hands back and forth across her breasts, each caress building the ache within her and sending tongues of flame flickering along her spine
. When he caught the pearled tips between his fingers a small gasp of pleasure escaped. She let her head loll back as he bent his head to feast, but she did not close her eyes. She must remember where she was, who she was with. At the touch of his lips she forced herself to relax, and then pulled tight as he drew her tender flesh into his mouth, the warm pull drawing deep to her womb. She gasped sharply.

Instantly he pulled back, leaving her hanging, desire rampant within her
. She became still, dazed and bewildered. What had she done wrong? She’d been trying so hard.

What was he doing? Arthur fought the desire to push her down before the fire and yield to the demons longing for satisfaction. He had to restrain himself. He needed to seduce her slowly, to spend time accustoming her to his touch and pushing through her fear. He wanted her with him as he climbed the peaks to paradise.

Cursing the weakness of his own flesh he turned away, glad his trousers were still mostly fastened, concealing the rigid pulse of his passion
. He shifted, trying to be more comfortable as he fought for control. Taking one deep breath at a time, he tried to turn the course of his ardor. Spying the filled glass on the table he drank down a mouthful himself.

“Why did you stop?
” The nervous question cut through his guard.

A
frisson
of awareness warned him that she had moved close behind him. Even without glancing at her, he knew every inch of that smooth, glistening skin, the velvet curves, the gentle indentation of her waist, the chemise hanging loose about her, its veiling more evocative than bare flesh.

“I don’t
want to push you, for you to do this only for me.”

She moved behind, to press against him
. Her high breast compressing against his back, the hard nubs sending sizzling shivers down his flesh. Even the cold from outside was not enough to calm his growing desire. She shifted even closer, her soft belly cradling the curve of his buttocks.