She looked up the face she’d once held so dear. He had once been everything to her.
“Joseph?”
“Yes.” He leaned over her, bracing a hand beside her head.
She touched the side of his face again. Cocooned in the dark, suddenly all her barriers had lowered. Joseph was here, and she had longed for him on so many lonely nights that she had lost count.
Arching toward him, she pressed her lips to his. Just a kiss, nothing more. She wanted another memory.
He held still as she kissed him, as if her touch had turned him to stone. But as she pulled away, his arms banded around her, pulling her to his chest. His lips then claimed hers and demanded a response that Milly was happy to give. She met his demands, and asked for more. The taste and scent of Joseph filled her head. The feel of his hair against her fingers made them tremble. She lost every rational thought but one, the need to be with this man.
“Milly.” He whispered her name against her lips.
Where one kiss finished, another started, and soon she could think of nothing but him, and the delicious feelings he was creating inside her.
His hands were on her body, moving up her ribs to her breasts. She felt them dip beneath the bodice to touch her. The feel of his fingers on her skin, so near the aching peak of her nipple, was exquisite. She needed more. Wanted him to assuage the ache that was growing inside her. The need for fulfilment rose with every touch. For so long she had been alone; now, here in this room, she wanted to feel a connection to this man. The man she had once loved.
She sighed as his lips moved to her neck, where he pressed hot kisses to her skin, then lower to trail across her chest. When he tugged her bodice down and took her breast in one large hand, she moaned.
He took her mouth again, teasing, tormenting, building the fire inside her. Milly reached for the buttons on his shirt, fumbling to free them. She managed three, and then slipped her hand inside to touch his chest. Roaming the planes of warm muscle, she traced a rib, and he shuddered.
“More,” Milly whispered. She needed this. Needed him to erase the dark that had filled her life for so long.
One hand moved to her legs, sliding beneath the hem of her skirts. She could feel the heat from his palm as it moved upward, and then he was there, touching the soft hair between her thighs, and lower. Stroking her secret places. Milly arched into his body as he ran a finger over the hard bud, and exquisite sensations shot through her. Then he placed his finger inside her, and she was beyond thought, could only feel. As he lavished attention on her breasts, circling and licking the nipple, his hands drove the ecstasy higher, until suddenly she shuddered, a cry torn from her lips as she shattered under his touch.
Milly heard the rasp of his harsh breath as he lifted his head.
“Joseph.” She reached out a hand to touch him, but a shout from the courtyard below the window startled them.
“Dear Lord, what are we doing!” His groan was savage. “Forgive me, I should not have done that.”
Milly felt his weight leave the bed, and suddenly she was alone again. Her body tingled and twitched as she grappled with what they had done. Moments later she heard the door shut, and knew she was alone.
She lay there, too stunned to move. How had that happened? It was as if a flame had ignited in them. Such passion had consumed her, such need had filled her, and she knew it had consumed him also.
“Dear Lord.” Milly rose to sit on the bed. She had allowed him liberties. No, she hadwantedhim to take liberties with her body. All but begged for them.
“How will I face him now?”
What must he think of her?
After a wash in icy water, she tidied herself and rebraided her hair. Donning her cloak, Milly then left the room. She could not hide from Joseph, so she would face him. She was good at hiding her feelings. If he did not speak of the incident that had just taken place, then neither would she.
He was eating when she arrived downstairs. His eyes followed her as she crossed the room and sat opposite him. Unsure when or where her next meal would come from, she ate, even though the food made her want to gag. When they were finished, he rose, so she followed. Minutes later they were on their way to London, Milly in the carriage alone, and Joseph seated on his horse.
They arrived in London early afternoon. Milly tried to stay calm as the carriage rolled through the narrow streets. Her eyes were everywhere, remembering, reliving memories. Had it really been four years since she was last here? It seemed a great deal more. So much had transpired. She had changed beyond recognition, and yet outside the window, very little had.
The Ellsworth town house was a large, elegant, white building, with towering columns and mullioned windows that climbed many stories, and was grand in every way. When they pulled up outside, Milly opened the door and stepped down. She had grown used to doing everything for herself, and saw no need for that to change now.
“Come.”
Milly looked at the eyes of the man who had given her her first taste of passion this morning, and found nothing in them but impassiveness, which suited her just fine. She may still feel unsettled from the incident on the inside, but she could portray a cool facade when required.
She climbed the stairs at his side, and the door had opened by the time they reached it.
“Good afternoon, my lord.”
“Good afternoon, Gilbert.”
