Page 44 of With Good Grace
Jake expelled a weary sigh. ‘I really must get around to dismissing you for your impudence one day.’
‘You’d be lost without me.’ Parker damped down the fire and replaced the guard, seemingly unmoved by the prospect of imminent unemployment. ‘And we both know it.’
It was true, of course. Parker had proved his loyalty innumerable times, and was Jake’s most trusted confidante. Even so, Jake sometimes felt duty bound to remind Parker who was master; much good it did him.
‘Goodnight, Parker,’ Jake said, fighting a smile as he left the room.
Jake was well able to manage without Parker’s services as a valet, and did so that evening because he needed a moment to contemplate the wisdom—or folly—of what he was about to do. Olivia might think he required her as a mistress, but nothing could be further from the truth. He wanted Olivia as his countess, but as always when he contemplated that possibility, fears for her safety waged a full-scale battle with his personal desires.
‘Don’t overthink it,’ he said aloud. He stripped down to his shirt and trousers and washed in the modern bathroom he’d had added to the master suite some years previously.
Jake waited another fifteen minutes, until he was absolutely sure that the household had settled down for the night. He grimaced as he pictured himself, slipping from his room and creeping along the corridor like a trespasser in his own house for fear of giving offence. And, of course, to protect Olivia’s reputation, he reminded himself.
He reached her room, conveniently situated a few doors down from his, and knocked twice. A melodic voice bade him enter. He did so and found Olivia in her nightgown, seated beside the fire, her hair cascading like a dark cloud around her face, tumbling over her shoulders and down her back. The sight of her in all her devastating beauty caused his mouth to go dry and for Jake to feel momentarily unsure of himself.
‘Is something wrong?’ she asked, sending him a mischievous look that told him she knew exactly what effect she had on him; the vixen!
Jake closed the door and fixed her with a provocative smile that heated the air between them.
‘Sometimes I forget just how beautiful you actually are,’ he said softly, watching in fascination as the flames from the fire cast her delicate profile in light and shadow, making her appear mythical and unattainable.
‘I cannot take any credit if nature chose to smile upon me, but thank you for the compliment nonetheless.’
Jake still leaned against the door, content to watch her indefinitely. Equally anxious to possess her; to indelibly mark her as his. ‘Are you absolutely sure about this, Olivia?’ he asked. ‘I feel as though I am taking advantage of you.’
Her smile was imbued with a wealth of confidence that he had not anticipated. ‘Stop pretending that you have a choice, Lord Torbay,’ she said in a sultry voice, ‘or I might think that you do not desire me.’
‘I don’t have a choice,’ he replied, with an anguished sigh. ‘You are right about that, and it’s all your fault. You hold me captive, my sweet. I am intoxicated by your beauty, your courage, every vestige of your person. Even so, it is not safe to—’
‘Shush!’
She placed a finger to her soft, enticing lips as though she didn’t want to hear what he had to say. Since he had forgotten what was so important that he simply had to say it, her actions hardly signified. He took a step towards her instead and pulled her to her feet, directly into his arms, where she belonged.
‘This is your last chance to change your mind,’ he told her in a soft drawl as his arms closed possessively around her. ‘I am not made of stone, you know.’
‘I am very glad to hear you say so,’ she replied as she wrapped her arms around his neck, tangled her fingers in his hair and pressed her hips against his. ‘Although I sense that a part of you is.’ She gave a throaty chuckle as Jake smothered an oath, swept her from the floor and carried her to the bed.
A long time later they lay together, temporarily satiated, he with a protective arm around her shoulders, she with her head resting on his chest. Her fingers idly danced across his torso, tangling with the wiry hairs that adorned it and tugging gently at them. He glanced down at her face, at her beautiful mouth, her lips swollen from his kisses, and did not need to ask if she was all right. She had given herself to him without inhibition, allowing her instincts to guide her, and Jake sensed she was not yet ready to part with him. Since she was still a little unsure of herself, Jake decided it would be ungentlemanly to leave her so soon after possessing her. But then, when it came to finding excuses to linger in Olivia’s addictive company, his inventiveness knew no bounds.
Jake rolled over, braced his weight on his arms, and smiled into her eyes. ‘Are you tired?’ he asked.
‘No, but I am fearful hungry,’ she replied, a sparkle of awareness filling her eyes.
‘You hardly ate any dinner. Those damned stays have a lot to answer for.’
She lifted a hand and brushed the hair from his eyes. ‘It is not food that I crave.’ Her eyes glistened with sensual disobedience. ‘I have a different kind of hunger that requires satiating.’
Jake laughed. ‘I have created a shameless wanton.’
‘You only have yourself to blame for that.’ Her soft sigh touched his face as gently as a butterfly’s wing. ‘You are far too good at what you do; at what you make me feel. I might as well make use of you whilst I am here.’
Jake rubbed his nose against hers and growled. ‘Make use of me, you say.’
He tickled her until she screamed with laugher and begged for mercy. He adored the musical sound of her laughter, of the passion that fuelled her expression, of the manner in which she gave herself to him without embarrassment or hesitation. He adored every little detail about her, making him doubly aware that the conflict between duty and his own pleasure was slowly killing him. He kissed her again and, more slowly this time, took them both to the brink of implosion, only to hold back because he loved the way she lost patience and entreated him to finish what he had started.
‘I shall have to teach you some restraint, my sweet,’ he said, regretting the words the moment they passed his lips. He should concentrate on the here and now and not spoil the moment by making any reference to their uncertain future.
‘You have already taught me so much about my body’s needs; about desire. It is all so new. A revelation.’ Her sincere expression conveyed a wealth of passion. ‘So much decadent pleasure it seems almost…well, indecent.’
