Page 55 of The Pirate and the Pagan
As he looked down at her he was filled with tenderness. He was so much in love with her that he knew he’d never have enough of her. She was like the other half of himself, the half that made him complete. Only a month ago he would have laughed cynically at love. Marriage was a dull duty a man assumed for the purpose of begetting an heir. Now all his previous thinking had been turned upside down.
Her dark lashes made half-moons upon her cheeks and he thought he’d never beheld a lovelier face in his life. He couldn’t believe they’d only been married for five days; it was as if they’d been together throughout eternity. He smiled to himself as he thought of the diamond necklace he’d bought her. It was like a waterfall of diamonds and he wanted to see her eyes sparkle when he gave it to her. It was to be an anniversary present … an anniversary of one week. He was vain about her and wanted her jewels to be finer than those given to any mistress, even the King’s. She was his precious wife; she deserved only the best. He stretched out his legs and closed his eyes to doze, deeply content that she lay asleep against his heart.
They didn’t arrive home until late afternoon and Summer knew that the most important person in her life for the next week would be Mr. Burke. Without his advice and guidance she would never be able to face entertaining the King and court. She was totally ignorant about food, wine, entertainment, and the pecking order. To top everything off she simply couldn’t endure the thought of Spider being in prison any longer if she had the means to free him.
The mortgage money to Solomon Storm would become due about the same time as their guests would be leaving and she realized that distasteful as it was to confess all to Ruark, she would soon have no choice. It must be faced, and she knew she would only be able to breathe freely once she’d gotten the whole thing off her chest and unburdened herself to Ruark.
Summer found Mr. Burke the easiest man in the world to talk with. He had already set two maids to unpacking all the lovely things she’d brought back from Plymouth and she found herself telling him all about the exotic things the Golden Goddess had brought from the Indies.
He told her that they would select the menus together for the King’s visit and then leave everything up to the cook, who had a small army of assistants to carry out her bidding. He informed her that Ruark would select the wines for his guests and set her mind more at ease by assuring her that Lord Helford was a superb, attentive host and all she would have to do was look beautiful.
“Mr. Burke, the sophisticated ladies from the Court of St. James laughed at the rustic masque performed at Stowe. We must put our heads together and come up with something that will catch their imagination. They are so easily bored.”
“If I may be so bold, my lady, it is because they are shallow, hedonistic, and immoral. Someone as clever as you are will have no trouble setting a new pace with some unique frivolity, I’m certain.”
Summer wished she had as much confidence in herself. She changed into boots and breeches and went to the stables to visit Ebony. Ruark had gotten there before her.
“I thought I’d give Titan some much-needed exercise. I see we both had the same idea. Will you ride with me, love?”
She hesitated only a moment. She would not be able to ride into Falmouth to the prison now. However, if she gathered enough courage to tell him of her brother’s plight, she knew she would never have to visit the prison again.
“Ru?” she said tentatively.
“Yes?” he asked, looking fiercely into her eyes.
“I … I’ll race you,” she said, her courage fleeing before the sheer authority and power of this husband of hers.
They headed inland, following the Helford River. He allowed her to take the lead for a while, but in the end, like any red-blooded male, he could not let a woman best him. “I win!” he shouted triumphantly as he dismounted and waited for her to catch up.
“Unfair!” she cried. “I couldn’t bring myself to ride through those pink samphires and crush their beauty.” She dismounted to gather an armful of the pink flowers.
Ruark watched her with such intensity that she was drawn to him almost against her will. He stared at her as if he wished to imprint every last detail of her image upon his memory. The look upon his face took her breath away and made her heart beat with thick, slow strokes. Her arms filled with the pink flowers, she came to him and stood close in the warm, scented twilight. “Don’t touch me,” he warned, “I’m too full of wanting you.”
She felt triumphant to know that she could make him lose control of himself and his words aroused her. “If you want me, take me. Here in the wildflowers,”
He undressed her slowly, kissing each lovely curve as he uncovered it, then his hand slipped down inside her breeches to play with her before he removed them. She stood poised for one brief moment, totally nude, then before he could disrobe she ran from him through the pink samphires just for the pleasure of having him pursue her and catch her and take the spoils of his victory.
He pulled her to the ground in a mass of yellow poppies and the golden pollen painted her breasts and thighs. They caught their breath on a ragged sigh and a sob for the sheer beauty of the moment. It was a perfect mating; when they coupled, they became the perfect male and female … a fusion of silken flesh … obelisk and sphere.
They were so aroused by their wild ride and the erotic setting of their sylvan glade that before he had penetrated her fully, she began to climax. As he felt her fluttering convulsions along his entire length he spilled into her with a low groan. “Let’s go home to bed,” he whispered urgently, and helped her to dress.
He took her up before him on Titan. She sat pressed in tightly between his legs, the inside of his muscled thighs gripping her legs and his hands caressing her sensitive breasts until she flung her head back and screamed from sheer excitement.
Early the next morning when Summer awoke, the bed curtains still cloaked them in intimate darkness. She sat up to push them back and let in the early-morning sun. Ruark reached up to pull her back to their warm cocoon and she lay in the curve of his arm, knowing he could never love her more than he did at this moment.
The waterfall diamond necklace was in a cabinet beside the bed and he wanted to give it to her now. He dipped his head to steal a kiss, but she stopped him.
“First, I have something to tell you, darling.” She hesitated, her heart beating rapidly now that the moment was here. “I have some secrets that I have to confess to you,” she said softly.
His look bathed her with love and tolerant amusement for her great confession.
She knelt before him with bent head and lowered lashes. “My brother Spencer was arrested on suspicion of smuggling with some other men—”
His voice like a whiplash cut off her words. “When?” he demanded.
“He … I … the night before we were married,” she answered truthfully. “He’s in Falmouth prison and I told him … I hoped … you would be able to release him.” Ruark flung from the bed and reached for his breeches. The silence in the room was terrible. No one could have guessed at the panic that was rising within her. The only thing she wanted to do was confess all and receive her punishment. “Ruark, we had to dabble in smuggling, we were starving! My father gambled away everything we had. He sold the horses, the paintings, the furnishings. Roseland hasn’t had servants in years. The stables are falling down, the grounds are overgrown, and the house in in total disrepair. When I met you in London, I’d just learned that it was mortgaged for eighteen thousand pounds. That debt has now grown to twenty thousand, and it’s due next week or the London moneylender, Solomon Storm, will sell it.” She took a great trembling breath.
“You little bitch!” he ground out. “You mercenary little bitch. You only married me for my money!”
