To Seduce a Bride

“I think I should.” He molded himself to her body, triggering a surge of heat deep inside her. “I could take you right here, you know…from behind, so that I wouldn’t even have to see your face.”

When he lifted her skirts, Lily went rigid, feeling the sudden kiss of cool air on her bare thighs, her exposed buttocks. She couldn’t believe Heath was acting this outrageous way. It would be scandalous to make love in a church.

His wickedness shocked her, but his coldness shocked her even more. Yet she was powerless to pull away, and she remained mute as his hands slid softly over the globes of her buttocks, even when his knee eased her legs apart.

When his fingers trailed up her inner thigh to brush against her silky folds, though, Lily gasped, her stomach clenching as she felt those long, strong fingers caressing her. When he teased the bud of her sex, Lily gritted her teeth, fighting that part of herself that hungered for him. It was shameful, how much she wanted him.

Then he slowly slid a finger inside her and nearly buckled her knees. She pushed back against him helplessly, locking her jaw to hold back her moan of need, her hand gripping the doorknob as if her life depended on it.

Yet he was right, Lily realized in some distant part of her mind. Carnal pleasure was not enough. His touch was detached, passionless, calculating. Nothing like the tender lover she longed for.

His voice was just as remote when he spoke again. “I don’t believe I will take you this way after all. You see, angel…if all I wanted was nameless, faceless sex, any woman would do.”

Withdrawing his finger from her, Heath let her skirts fall. Lily shivered with disappointment and shame, but it appeared he wasn’t done with her.

He kept his body pressed against hers while his lips found her ear. “I could make you scream with pleasure, Lily. But in the end, all that would be engaged are our bodies. It is your heart and mind I want. Your very soul.”

A sharp ache escalated in her chest while absurd, ridiculous tears pricked at the back of her eyes. She bit her lip hard because she didn’t want to cry, but Heath went on, his voice harsh and low.

“It is you I want, Lily,” he repeated. “Not any other lover. Not any other woman. Not any other wife. But I intend to grant your wish. I am through chasing you and beating my head against the walls you’ve erected. Unless you agree to wed me, I intend to keep away from you.”

His hands reaching up to lightly grasp her shoulders, he eased her away from the door and opened it, then stepped out into the corridor. But he glanced back over his shoulder at her, his eyes dark as night and bright as fire.

“What we have between us is unique and very rare, Lily. Only a fool would throw it away. I never took you for a fool, but perhaps I was wrong.”

He left her standing there, staring after him. He couldn’t have unnerved her more if he’d shaken her. She felt dazed, dismayed, miserable.

Which was supremely foolish. Heath shouldn’t have the power to hurt her. But he had walked away, Lily acknowledged, feeling the hot sting of tears behind her eyes.

Becoming aware of her weakness, she dashed furiously at the dampness. She wouldn’t cry over a man as her mother had done so frequently. Indeed, there was no reason for her to cry. This was exactly what she had wanted, hoped for! For Heath to leave her entirely alone.

She had been right to refuse his offer of marriage; right to reject his dubious declarations of love. She couldn’t deny that a sharp pain had settled in the pit of her stomach, but there would be far worse pain in store if she allowed herself to be drawn into loving him.

Wiping her eyes one last time, Lily took a shaky breath and left the room in search of Basil.

“Where the devil have you been?” he demanded when she found him outside on the portico. “You told me to remain beside you-”

“Never mind, will you please just take me home?”

His gaze narrowed. “What is wrong, Lily? Have you been crying?”

“Yes, because I am sad at losing my sister. But nothing is wrong. Indeed, everything is utterly perfect.”

She kept telling herself that during the entire drive back to the boardinghouse, no matter that she couldn’t make herself believe it for a single moment.

As soon as they entered, however, Lily was jarred from her emotional turmoil.

Something was wrong, she realized as Ellen came rushing up to her in agitation. Apparently the chambermaid had been watching for her arrival.

“Oh, Miss Loring, Miss Delee wants to see you right away!”

“What is the matter, Ellen?” Lily asked, somewhat alarmed.

“I don’t know exactly, but I think it has to do with Miss Irwin.”

“Where is Miss Delee?”

“In her sitting room upstairs.”

“I will go to her at once,” Lily said, turning away quickly.

She hurried up the stairs with Basil hard on her heels. When she reached the sitting room, she found Chantel wringing her hands and Fleur pacing the floor. Another distraught woman was seated on the sofa, her face splotched with tears.

Fanny’s dresser, Joan Tait, Lily realized as she entered.

“Thank God you are here, Lily!” Chantel exclaimed, while Fleur’s head snapped up.

“Where is Lord Claybourne, Lily?” Fleur demanded urgently. “We need him at once!”

“Why?” Lily asked in bewilderment, looking from Fleur to Chantel and back again. “What has happened?”

“That dastardly O’Rourke took Fanny, and we need Claybourne to rescue her!”

Chapter Eighteen

For a nobleman Lord Claybourne is exceedingly fearless and daring, even heroic.

– Lily to Fanny

“He took Fanny?” Lily repeated, her stomach clenching with dread.

“Yes,” Chantel replied hoarsely. “That devil abducted her in broad daylight. Tait saw it all.”

Trying to control her alarm, Lily turned to Fanny’s dresser. “Tell me exactly what happened. You saw Miss Irwin being abducted?”

Gulping back tears, Joan Tait nodded vigorously. “Yes. Just as Miss Irwin returned from the wedding a short while ago. Mr. O’Rourke’s carriage was waiting on the street in front of the house-I saw him from an upstairs window when his coach door opened. Then two hulking footmen jumped out and pushed Miss Irwin inside, and the coach drove off right before my very eyes.”

“She didn’t go willingly?” Lily asked, wanting to be certain.

“No, Miss Loring. I heard her cry out for help.”

Basil clenched his fists in fury. “That bastard. If he has harmed her, I swear I will kill him.”

Lily felt a similar sentiment. Fear and fury warred inside her as she imagined what Mick O’Rourke might be doing to Fanny this very moment. “How long ago was this, Tait?”

“Perhaps twenty minutes. I came directly here-I didn’t know where else to turn.”

When the dresser started weeping again, Chantel patted her shoulder comfortingly. “You did exactly right. Lord Claybourne will help.”

“I am not waiting for Claybourne,” Basil declared, spinning on his heel and heading for the door.

“Basil, stop!” Lily exclaimed. “You cannot go off half-cocked. We need a plan.”

“My plan is to find O’Rourke and cut out his liver.”

Lily shook her head, thinking furiously. “They are right. Lord Claybourne can help us.” Although she wasn’t certain he would be willing to help her after their acrimonious parting barely an hour ago. But she knew Heath would be more capable of dealing with O’Rourke than she and Basil were.

Basil wasn’t of the same mind, obviously. “You go fetch him, Lily. I am riding to