Page 59 of Captivating the Countess
Rainford looked as if his ice had started to crack. His eyes smoldered, and he swept her up in an embrace so fierce that she feared they’d both come undone.
“This is madness. I know better,” he whispered as he kissed her cheek and down her throat. “I thought if I just knew you were here and available like my boxing gloves or shooting range, that I’d be all right. You ease my tension simply thinking about you. Butthinkingisn’t what I want right now.”
His very real desire thrilled her far more than his dutiful proposals of marriage. Bell wrapped her arms around his neck and let him carry her to the bed.
“I want to say I’m doing this in hopes we are somehow helping your father,” she whispered as he lay her between the covers and started on her buttons, while she tore at his cravat. “But that would be a lie. Not a complete and total lie, but a partial one.”
“I have no such excuse.” He nipped at her ear and neck. “I have wanted you since you walked through my door and took command of my household. I still cannot fathom how someone so small and seemingly insignificant can wave a magic wand and restore order.”
She laughed at this description of her as he opened her bodice and kissed her breasts. Laughter only enhanced her desire—and his, apparently. Rain nearly tore open her pretty corset.
“You are not romantical even in passion, sir. I do adore that about you.Smallandinsignificant, indeed! Apparently I do not need flattery. Just your presence can reduce me to this silly miss aching for the caress of a man she shouldn’t have. I fear your ghosts have infected us with foolishness.” She cried out in delight as he kissed the hollow of her neck and caressed her breasts.
“We may as well be as mad as the rest of the household. I don’t think I can survive without this.” He hiked up her skirt and touched her through her drawers, rousing her to readiness.
It was still daylight. People would be looking for them soon enough. Their time together was so short...
Bell took him in her hands when he unfastened his trousers. His groan of pleasure was music to her ears. She could dothisto a man who controlled a world larger than she could imagine. She loved that she was the one able to break his ice and reduce him to human instead of marquess.
They came together quickly and roughly, not hiding their cries as they quaked with pleasure. The release was exquisite. Bell wanted more. She roamed his chest while he gasped for air.
“Marry me, dammit,” he muttered. “I don’t care if the whole place goes to hell. I need this. I need you.”
She pinched his nipple. “If we heal the duke, you will have a lifetime to regret your choice. I want what Iona has... a love so strong that she can think of abandoning her duties and run off to Italy because her husband wishes to test his skills. I doubt that I would even follow you to London. Or that you would go as far as Edinburgh for me. And Craigmore is much more remote.”
Rain kissed her nose and rolled to the side of the bed to right himself. “If you ask me right now, I think I can assure you I’d hie to Craigmore at a moment’s notice as long as I knew I could have you in my bed.”
Bell chuckled and sat up to tie her corset. Her nipples were engorged and still aching for his touch. “I think I can appreciate that. We need a honeymoon period where we work off all these... energies... before we can return to normal.”
“Yes, that might work. Except I’m no longer certain what normal is.” He turned to caress her breasts before she could finish enclosing them. “I live with chaos. You are this serene oasis where I can retreat as needed. Don’t ever leave.”
She couldn’t promise that. She finished fastening his shirt and collar. “There will be fewer guests this evening. The doors have stopped slamming. Let’s take this one day at a time. By next week, you’ll most likely find mysmall and insignificantpresence very boring and be ready to hie off to parts unknown.”
That the doors had stopped slamming gave her icy shivers, but she wouldn’t burden him with her fears.
It wasn’t having his child that worried her. She knew he would do right by her, and she loved children, even if she feared she’d not be able to take care of one. Her fear was that his hysterical nagging grandmother had decided to take over any infant growing inside her.
That evening,Rainford regarded the much reduced company in his formal drawing room in a more relaxed mood than these past few days. Or weeks or months. The parrot had escaped its cage and was even now squawking from the crystal chandelier. Victoria had the servants moving enormous pots of exotic greenery in front of the mullioned windows where the Christmas tree had been a few weeks ago. Salina had her tarot cards out and was entertaining Lady Pamela and Lady Dalrymple with their futures. And his brothers-in-law were quietly arguing over who could cut expenses most, if he understood the few phrases he caught. Nothing had really changed.
But because of the woman practicing card games with Alicia in a far corner, he had hope.
Rain realized he’d lost hope a long time ago. He’d become more and more cynical as time passed and his marriage prospects seemed less and less interesting. With his father’s illness, he’d given up any expectation of finding a true match and simply attempted to find an honest woman. There for a while, after he’d proposed to Araminta, he’d felt as if he were finally moving ahead, finding his place in the scheme of things. But gradually, as he’d realized how entirely unsuitable she was, the tension had returned until he’d nearly reached a breaking point.
Now, he was expecting the intractable female who refused to marry him to restore the promise of a future. His formidable intellect must be disintegrating. He supposed he could try to change her mind about marriage. But she was right. Years of proceeding cautiously demanded time to make alogicaldecision, not one made in passion.
He didn’t have time.
Abandoning her lessons, Alicia approached to take his arm. “You will play whist with us this evening, will you not? Bell has agreed, although she has some mysterious errand that prevents her from joining us directly after dinner.”
“That mysterious errand is visiting the duke. She is too discreet to say so. I will be with her, so set your tables up without us. If all goes well, we’ll join you later.” He’d rather take Bell back to her suite, but the dratted maid would be there.
Alicia squeezed his arm. “He’ll be all right, won’t he? The doors have stopped slamming. Doesn’t that mean our ghostly grandmother is satisfied?”
“Or the house has settled back to normal now that there aren’t numerous guests darting about. Or that Lady Pamela is a less disturbing presence than the opera singer. You may make up any reason that pleases you.”
She wrinkled her nose in distaste. “You resist all my best persuasion. Why is that?”
“Because I’m your brother and know when you’re practicing your wiles. Behave, and I’ll tell Harry to take you into dinner. He’s a good, steady man. Try your wiles on him.” Knowing his guests would talk if he aimed directly for Bell, Rain began working his way around the room.
