She’d come thus far almost entranced, her feet carrying her with solemn purpose. And then, at the bottom of the stairs, her mind had taken control and she’d balked before the rest of the journey. All at once the questions, the doubts, had assailed her. They would not be silenced, and swirled, endlessly, in her mind.
What if she was imagining things? Finding meaning where there was none? What if Liam had underlined the words to note that they were his favourite. Toshare, not to express any hidden thoughts or feelings.
If she was wrong about this, it would be...
Humiliating. Disgraceful.
More than enough to warrant dismissal. The presumption. The sheerwantonness...
And if she wasn’t wrong?
There was an attraction—no denying that. Even if she had wished to chalk it up to her overactive imagination, she wouldn’t have been able to. She had seen the heat in his eyes, felt the current when they’d dared get too close. Felt the pull, the magnetism, the desire. And the kiss they’d shared—there had been a connection no one could deny.
Was it not the danger of what might happen that had given her the strength to pull away? The fear of the depths she’d succumb to, of the heartbreak and sorrow which lay therein, which had forced her to break away? And now she was actively seeking it out, seekinghimout, willing and eager to explore those tempting depths? What sort of consummate fool was she?
The wanton, fallen, brazen kind...
If she did march up those stairs and offer herself, what would he think then? In the cold light of the morning, what would remain of him as master and she as housekeeper? If she bridged the fragile chasm between them, separating their worlds, what would she be condemning herself to? Would he ever be able to look at her the same way, once she’d shared his bed? Or would whatever was left of his respect be gone?
It wasn’t as if he thought her an innocent. He’d seen the tattoos, and she’d been quite thorough in her revelations, telling him all about the men she had welcomed into her bed. Was this sort of behaviour all he expected? Did he dare invite herbecausehe thought her a woman such offers could be made to?
Yet he had seemed to understand her choices, her search for comfort. Perhaps that was all he sought, too. Which was reassuring. Wasn’t it?
Reckon you won’t answer any of those questions just standing here, getting right nithered in your nightclothes...
Two choices. Accept the consequences of offering herself up to the master, or go back to bed and wonder forever what might have been.
With a deep breath, she took hold of the banister and made her way up the stairs. If there was one thing life had taught her, it was that there was no time for regrets. If Liam did not want her, so be it. She would live with the shame. But she would not live with the regret of having let what she knew to be something special pass her by.
Her resolve got her to Liam’s door, though once she stood before it she found herself yet again paralysed. But turning back, returning to her own rooms, seemed even more impossible than going through with this. And so, her hand as steady and sure as her heart was not, Rebecca made to knock on his door.
Just as she did, it swung open. She and Liam stood there, staring at each other in shock for a long moment. There was no doubt he’d been intent on going to her, and Rebecca’s heart sank. It would have been so much easier had he not wanted her. Rejection she would have recovered from. But his own desire, she would not.
Liam backed away slowly, and Rebecca stepped into the room before she could convince herself to flee as far from him and Thornhallow as she could. He closed the door gently, leaning so close she was certain he could hear her heartbeat, pounding away against her ribs as it was. She could certainly hear it.
She could hear his shirt rustling as he moved, the gentle patter of his bare feet against the rug, the crackle of the fire in the hearth. Every sense had heightened when she’d stepped inside. The faintest of touches as Liam took the candle from her, and set it down by the door, sent an electric current through her entire body.
Rebecca took a steadying breath before she dared look at him. ‘I ask nothing of you,’ she breathed as he stood before her. ‘Not now, not ever.’
‘And I ask only that you not leave me.’
Rebecca nodded, sealing the perilous pact, and Liam, his eyes alight with molten heat as he swept her into his arms, kissed her with a hunger and a passion she’d never known.
All his restraint evaporated, and he claimed her with that kiss, his hands tethering her as close to him as he could, as if he could meld their bodies together with that simple contact. And perhaps he could, for Rebecca felt as though she was tumbling into him, with him, to the place beyond the world where only their souls existed, entwined, connected.
Rebecca felt her dressing gown drop from her shoulders, and felt herself sweep away Liam’s. They were moving, moving away from the door towards his bed, neither willing to break the kiss that heated their blood and tied them together. Rebecca felt the same hunger she sensed in Liam rise within her. Desperate, unyielding and destructive desire which could never be satisfied. Not in a thousand years.
Liam broke away with a gasp, long enough only to send her nightdress flying into a crumpled mess across the room along with his shirt. Rebecca’s breath caught in her throat when she glimpsed him in the firelight, a sculpted paragon of male beauty, a god or an angel of light. Even his skin seemed to glow with the same magnetic pulse that shone in his eyes, drawing her to him with everything he was.
Her hands had a life of their own as they swept across his chest and abdomen, her fingers greedily mapping every inch of him as he took her mouth again. Their initial hunger sated, now they savoured each other, feasting slowly on what the other gave. Gently, fiercely, tenderly. Each touch was a breath, giving life in a way air could never.
Rebecca’s heart soared and felt as though it had leapt from her own chest into his. She pulled herself closer, so that she could feel his chest against hers, feel his breast against hers.
A low growl sounded in Liam’s throat and then his hands were on her hips, pulling the rest of her against him. She felt his desire pressing against her inner thigh, and her body decided it wanted more of him. All of him. Her hands found their way to his neck, then to his face, her fingers trailing along the lines of his jaw, his brow, his cheek, until they were running through his hair and she was entwined around him.
He lifted her, wrapping her legs around his hips, and carried her the last few steps to the bed. He laid them down together gently, his weight upon her, and the feel of him within her arms reassuring. A promise of all that he gave. He broke away and gazed down at her with such adoration and appreciation Rebecca’s heart skipped a beat. His thumb brushed her cheek before his fingers found their way to her long auburn tresses and fanned them out around her head like a crown.
His eyes swept across her face, simultaneously mapping and feasting, as Rebecca’s did. She wanted to commit every detail of him to eternal memory.
