Page 77 of The Smuggler’s Escape

Her eyes flew open. She stared down at him.

Oh, God.

The ecstasy on his beloved face all but destroyed her. That first time, so long ago, had been nothing like this. “Chéri,” she whispered. I didn’t know what it meant to you.

A tiny smile crooked the corner of his mouth. He reached under the cloak and pulled out the pistol. His other hand rested under the covers, on her quivering thigh.

The bedroom door banged open. The remaining candle flickered and went out. “All right, boys,” came Lieutenant Hale’s voice. “Give yourselves up without a fight, and maybe the judge will have mercy.” He marched in, holding a lantern high. A couple of his minions hovered behind.

“I beg your pardon?” Richard drawled. He aimed the pistol nonchalantly at Hale. “Are you feeling merciful, my love?” Under the coverlet, Richard’s thumb skimmed across her nub.

Her face flaming, her body clenching around him, she glared down at Richard. “No,” she choked.

“Oh, my Gawd,” one of the minions said.

Richard laughed. “Now, now, my sweet, I’m sure Lieutenant Hale didn’t mean to interrupt us. I’m inclined to be merciful if he goes away.” He paused, but his fingers didn’t cease their tantalizing motion. Noelle squeezed her eyes shut and tried to shut the pleasure out, too, but it built and built and built.

“Stop it,” she whispered, slapping ineffectually at his arm, shaking with the effort to hold back. “Please.”

“Get out,” Richard ordered. “Right now.”

Hale’s voice cracked. “I beg your pardon, my lord.” The door shut behind him, leaving them in darkness. A moment later, the exterior door slammed.

For a moment, neither of them moved. Even Richard’s clever fingers stilled. He said nothing, and neither did Noelle.

A moment of truth, Noelle thought dimly, but her body of its own volition squirmed against Richard’s hand.

Richard calmly laid the pistol on the bed. He moved lazily underneath Noelle, grasping her hip with one hand, once again fondling her with the other. “We can stop pretending whenever you like, my love.”

Noelle moaned, writhing as his member slid slowly in and out of its home. Oh, God in heaven.

“You needn’t moan anymore,” he said. But she hardly heard him, she was too far gone.

She arched back, sobbing and clenching, and rode the wave of a glorious climax. Richard thrust hard once, twice, three times, and exploded inside her.

~ ~ ~

Reluctantly, Richard removed his hands from the delightful curve of her derriere and rolled her off him onto her back. “Never again.”

She quivered under his touch. “What?”

He suppressed a chuckle. “As a tactic, that was both brilliant and exciting, but lovemaking should be private. In future, it will be.” He wished he’d lit the candle before speaking. He needed to see her expression. To gauge her response. “It’s too dark in here. I want to feast my eyes on you.”

He slipped off the bed, stirred up the embers in the grate, added another log, and lit the candles. “That’s better.”

Noelle’s eyes rested on him a little too long before turning resolutely toward the ceiling. Richard intended to have no such resolve when it came to looking at Noelle. He lifted her and stripped the nightdress over her head.

She was superb, and she was all his. He would never let her go.

He lay on his side facing her, head propped on his arm. His fingertips traced the curve of her breast. “You may even now be carrying my child.” Richard wondered how soon he could interest her in making love to him again. Not long, he hoped, rubbing her nipple, reveling in its response.

Unless she rejected him completely. She wiggled out of his grasp and turned away, rolling onto her side. He raised himself to see over her. She pulled the coverlet over herself and closed her eyes.

“Oh, no, you don’t,” Richard said. “I’ve decided on the condition. Against my inclination, I helped you save the brandy and foil poor Hale.” He chose not to mention that she had once again played into his hand, and with superb results. She’d been with him all the way there at the end.

“You’re planning to leave Sussex. I don’t know why, and I don’t care. The condition is that I’m coming with you.”

~ ~ ~