Never Kiss a Laird (19 page)

“Mr. McLeod,”
she murmured.
 
“My
lord.”

Sally felt a
puff of laughter against her cheek, and the Earl raised his head, a rueful
smile on his face.
 
“Don’t you think you
could bring yourself to call me Hugh?” he asked, lifting one eyebrow.

Sally felt
an answering smile.
 
“Hugh.”
 
He captured her mouth once more, and Sally
forgot what she had been going to say.
 
The feeling of Hugh’s hard body pressed against
her
own
precluded rational thought.
 
She felt his hand on her thigh, sliding up to cup her buttocks, gently
squeezing, and sending sparks of electricity through to her core.
 
She slid her own hand down the soft lawn of the
back of his shirt, and when she encountered the fabric of his
pantaloons,
her hand skimmed the surface and continued
lower.
 
She felt Hugh’s intake of breath,
and laughed softly, squeezing his buttock as he had done to her.
  
The Earl responded as if she had lit him on
fire.
 
His kiss became more insistent,
one hand coming up to cup the back of her head, turning her head to meet his
open mouth more perfectly. He started to undo the buttons that reached from her
throat to her waist and she leaned back to give him better access. When he
freed her tender breasts and took one rosy tip into his mouth, she couldn’t
control the shudder that ran through her.
 

Emboldened
by his response to her touch, Sally slid her hand down his firm stomach, and as
her hand reached the rigid part of him, he moaned, and rolled away.
 

“I can’t
believe I’m going to say this, but I have to get back to my guests,” he groaned
reluctantly.
 
“They are still at tea, and
will not retire until I return.”
 
He
flopped onto his back, and Sally did the same.
 
They lay side-by-side, their breath coming raggedly, each trying to regain
control.

The Earl sat
up, and leaned over Sally to brush the red-gold curls from her forehead.
 
“Promise me you will stay right here,” he
demanded.
 
“Mr. Riding was on the point
of retiring when I left him, and I will send your brother to the right-about.”
 
He kissed her.
 
“Do not move an inch.
 
James has been acting as my valet, and I will
inform him that I do not need him, and be right back.”

He stood and
straightened his clothing, and with a final backwards glance, left the room.

Sally
scooted up so that her head was on the pillow, and took stock of the situation.
 
She really should go find Mary, but, she
considered, the other maid would probably retire to bed as soon as she finished
her own tasks.
 
Sally would not be able
to question her about the carrier until the next morning.
 
Perhaps the Earl, Hugh, she reminded herself
with a smile, could tell her the name of the carrier.
 
There were many very legitimate reasons why
she should stay right were she was, she thought virtuously, none of which had
anything to do with the handsome Earl and the way he made her feel when he
kissed her.
 
She sat up and pulled off
her boots, then turned over on her side and snuggled into the soft linens, her
body humming slightly as she waited for the Earl to return.

Chapter Fourteen

Sally
stretched luxuriously, enjoying the feel of the satiny sheets on her skin.
 
Her arm encountered a firm body, and her eyes
flew open.
 
She sat up, and realized that
she was still in the Earl’s
bed,
her dress had been
removed as had her chemise, pantaloons and stockings.
 
Early morning sunlight was streaming between
the curtains, and the clock on the mantel confirmed that it was six o’clock in
the morning.
 
She must have fallen
asleep, she thought, realizing that she had no memory of the Earl returning to
his room.

She looked
over at the other occupant of the bed.
 
Hugh was
lying
on his side, facing her, his
dark hair falling over his forehead, a fine stubble on his chin.
 
Sally raised herself up on one elbow.
 
In his sleep, Hugh appeared young and
vulnerable.
 
Sally traced a finger down
his straight nose, over his firm lips, and his rough chin.
 
She continued down, over his throat, and down
his bare chest. She leaned forward and pressed a gentle kiss to his lips, and
Hugh moaned, and captured her in his arms.

“I thought
you were asleep,” Sally teased.

‘I was.
 
It was the only thing I could do when I
returned and found you unconscious last night.”
 

Sally leaned
against his chest, propping her chin on one fist.
 
“You should have woken me up.”

“I tried
to!”
 
Hugh exclaimed, sounding very sorry
for
himself
.
 
“You didn’t so much as open an eye when I removed your dress, and put
you into the bed.”

Sally
laughed apologetically.
 
“I’m sorry.
 
You have no idea how hard your staff works,
though.
 
From the moment I walked into
the Castle I have either been beating eggs, or building fires, or serving at
table.
 
It’s exhausting!”

A glinting
smile entered Hugh’s eyes.
 
“I will
treasure forever the sight of you flipping vegetables all over the dining table,
Miss Denham.”

“That is
definitely a skill that is not as easy as it appears,” Sally told him, with a
rueful laugh.
 
“I have a new found
respect for our footmen back at Denham
Park, believe me.
 
Be that as it may, I have to go.
 
I have to bring up the breakfast trays.”

“I am very
much afraid that you are going to be late for your assignment,” Hugh informed her
firmly, rolling her over onto her back and trapping her arms over her head.
 

“My lord,”
Sally demurred.
 
“Mrs. Cameron will
be wanting
me.”

“Not half as
much as I do,” Hugh murmured, and then he kissed her.
 
Sally surrendered to his touch, reveling in
the feeling of his body against hers. She opened to his kiss, pressing her
tongue against his as he explored her mouth.
 
Hugh gently held her wrists over her head with one hand, and with the
other, he traced a line from her jaw, down to her sensitive breast.
 
The tantalizing sensation of his trailing
fingers pulled a cry from Sally.
 
She
arched her back, pressing her breast into Hugh’s hand, turning into his hand as
his thumb teased the taut tip.
 

Her breath
came more quickly, and as he released her lips and began a trail of kisses down
her throat, Sally bit her lip.
 
His lips
reached her breast, and he licked the sensitive tip,
then
took it into his mouth, tugging gently with his teeth.
 
Sally squirmed beneath him, aching for closer
contact with him.
 
She wanted to touch
him, and she tried to pull her hands free, but Hugh held her in place.
 

“Not yet,”
he whispered, moving to her other breast.
 
He sucked the rosy tip, and as he did so, he moved his weight over her
body.
 
Sally shivered with anticipation,
the heady, insistent throbbing between her legs urging her along.
  
She ran her bare foot up and down Hugh’s
calf, feeling the soft hair on his leg.
 
Hugh raised his
head,
sliding his hand up her
arm to twine both is hands in hers, their fingers interlocked.
 
Their eyes met, molten brown and hot blue,
and then he captured her mouth again.
 

Sally
released his hands, and ran her fingers down to rake his shoulders, gripping
him tightly against her.
 
She skimmed his
back, and ran her hands over the firm round of his buttocks, pulling him
against herself.
 
She could feel his
response, his rigidity against her, and she wanted to be filled with him.
 
Her throbbing center was aching for him, and
she didn’t want to wait.
 

Hugh rolled
onto his back, pulling Sally with him.
 
He tugged one of her legs over him
,
 
rolling
onto his back, and Sally found
herself atop him, straddling him.
 
She
leaned down over him, her red gold curls falling over her face, kissing him
deeply, and rocking against him, finally achieving the contact she craved.
 

Hugh slipped
his hand between them, finding her soft wet center.
 
His magical fingers teased her, thrilling her
throbbing core.
  
Sally cried out,
arching her back and pressing into his searching fingers.
 
Hugh released her, and slipped his hands
beneath her buttocks, lifting her up.
 
She took her weight on her knees, and Hugh took her hand and placed it
over his throbbing shaft.
 
Sally rocked
forward, and centered herself over him, and as he pushed up into her, she
lowered herself and engulfed him.
 

A cry
escaped her, as she moved up and down, pushing against him, controlling their
intimate contact herself.
 
She threw her
head back, and couldn’t repress a laugh of pure joy.
 
Hugh’s hands skimmed over the soft white
flesh of her stomach and came up to cup her heavy breasts, his thumbs rasping
her tightly pebbled nipples, and she lowered her head to capture his
mouth.
 

She pressed
him back onto the pillows, and slipped her arms beneath his shoulders, pulling
herself into him again and again, as the incredible tension continued to build.
 
She moved faster, needing more contact,
deeper contact.
 
Her breath came
raggedly, and Hugh groaned aloud, moving with her.
 
Sally felt as if she would scream if the
sweet torment didn’t find an outlet, and she raised herself up, arching her
back, her palms flat against Hugh’s firm stomach as she moved above him.
 
Just when she thought she could no longer
contain the overpowering sensations that were building between them, the
incredible tension exploded into wave after wave of shuddering release.
 
Sally rode out the tide of passion, until she
subsided, exhausted and spent, against Hugh’s chest.

They lay
that way for a long while, their frantic breathing slowing.
 
Sally finally raised herself up and rolled
over to
lay
beside him.
 
Hugh took her hand, and clasped it between
both of his, resting on his chest.
 
 
He raised it to his lips, pressing a kiss into
her pink palm, and Sally turned her head to smile at him.

“This must
be the best kept secret in the polite world,” Sally marveled.
 
“Is it always like this?”

Hugh
laughed, but immediately sobered.
  
It
was definitely not always like this.
 
The
thought made him look closely at Sally.
 
A warm blush tinged her delicate cheekbones, and her red-gold curls were
a riotous tumble on the pillow.
 
A very
contented smile curved her lips, and her blue eyes glowed.
 
He was drawn to this girl in a way that was
new to him.
 
Hugh felt the stirrings of
desire again, and reached for her, but she pulled out of reach.

“I have to
go,” she demurred.
 
“The servants will be
starting to work, and I definitely should not be here when James comes
in.”
 
She slipped out of the bed, and
padded over to the chair where the Earl had thrown her dress and chemise.
 
As she slipped into her clothing, the Earl
stood and wrapped himself in a sumptuous dressing gown.

“Before you
go, you have to tell me why you are doing this,” he insisted.
 
“What possessed you to come here disguised as
a housemaid?”

Sally
hesitated a moment, and then spoke.
 
“Do
you remember a maid who used to work here named Bridget?”

“Bridget?
 
Of course I do.”

“Did you know
that Mrs. Cameron turned her out simply because she fell in love with the
carrier’s lad?”
 
Sally accused with a
penetrating look.

“I know that
Mrs. Cameron turned her off.
 
I didn’t
know the reason.”

Sally bit
her lip.
 
“She is staying at
Whitethorne
cottage.
 
I found her on the day of the thunderstorm, wet and cold, hiding in a
hedgerow.
 
Her family had turned her
away, and she was penniless and had nowhere to go.
 
So I took her in, and have been trying to
locate the lad she’s in love with.”

Hugh sat
down on the edge of the bed.
 
“I should
have questioned Mrs. Cameron more closely,” he said.
 
“I don’t understand, though, why Mrs. Cameron
would do so.
 
What difference does it
make if Bridget fell in love?”

“She’s going
to have a baby, that’s why.” She sat and pulled her stockings on and started to
push her feet into her serviceable boots.

“Oh.
 
I see.
 
Do you know who the father is?”

“Robbie
Fraser, the carrier’s lad.
 
She is a good
girl, Hugh.
 
Bridget told me that they
intend to marry and she is going to live with his family in London.
 
The only problem is that she does not know where he lives, or the name
of his employer, or where his family lives.
 
I have been trying to find the name of the carrier, and when they might
be coming back to the Castle, so that I can reunite Bridget with Robbie.”

“Well that’s
easily done.
 
I will ask my agent.”
 
Hugh took her hand and pulled her down beside
him.
 
“But that still does not explain
why you are now a maid in my home.”

“It was not
my first plan,’ Sally assured him.
 
“Rupert was supposed to find a way to ask one of the maids to get a
message to Robbie.
 
Unfortunately neither
Robbie nor Bridget can write, and Bridget had not anticipated being sent away,
so she didn’t find out anything about his whereabouts.
 
Rupert came up here to get that information,
but he was never very good at subterfuge, even when we were children.”

“No, I can
see that subtlety might not be Rupert’s strong suit,” Hugh smiled.

“He meant
well,” Sally defended her brother.
 
“He
was supposed to meet me yesterday morning, but instead he went for a ride with
your beautiful houseguest.
 
So I had to
find a way to get the information myself, and this was it.”
 
She looked at Hugh with determination.
 
“I will not allow Bridget to just be tossed
aside.
 
I am going to reunite her with
her Robbie.”

“I think I
now understand why you had such animosity towards the Earl of Kane when first
we met,” Hugh said.
 
“You believed that I
had treated Bridget much as your father treated you.”

Sally
nodded.

“I
didn’t.
 
But I might as well have.
 
I did know that Bridget was being let go, and
I didn’t question Mrs. Cameron about it.
 
We turned her away, and so did her family.
 
I’m glad you found her.
 
Is she all right?”

Sally slipped
her arms around him and reached over to place a kiss on his mouth.
 
“Thank you.”

Hugh held on
to her when she would have released him.
“For what?”

“For asking
how Bridget is doing.”
 
She pushed his
arms away, and started tying her apron around her slim waist.
 
“I must get down to the kitchen.
 
I need to find out when the carrier is due
next, and arrange to get a message to Robbie from Bridget.”
 

“Very well,”
Hugh agreed grudgingly.
 
“But I must see
you again very soon.”

Sally gave
him a mischievous smile.
 
“Yes, my
lord.”
 
She bobbed a curtsey, and left
the room.

Sally
hurried down to the kitchen, and was not surprised to find Mrs. White at the
stove with several steaming pots before her, despite the early hour.