The Taming of a Vixen Ch. 04

"Wait," he said, grabbing her hands and holding them above her head with one of his. "I think I've created a monster." He planted another long, slow, sensual kiss on her swollen lips. "Love, you are probably too sore for more of me now," he said, even as his body strove to disagree with his mind.

Alyssa pouted, making him laugh again. "When, then?" she asked, wriggling her wrists under his confining hand. "When will we make love again, Jamie?"

"I think first we should concentrate on getting you home, before your father sends the guards out after us. He'll be frantic if he finds your coach with you gone and the riders protecting you dead."

She sighed, knowing he was right. "I think the rain has stopped," she said.

"Yes," he agreed, lifting his head to listen before releasing her hands. He climbed to his feet, pulling his breeches up and refastening them in front of her avid gaze then leaned down and lifted her, picking up his shirt and helping her into it. She lifted her hair out from the collar, letting it spill free over her shoulders. With it mussed from his hands, her body outlined so frankly by his shirt, she looked as if she'd just been made love to thoroughly and pleasurably.

He reached out, pulling a piece of hay from her long locks, dropping his head to kiss her warm responsive lips once more before bending and picking up his jacket and laying it across her shoulders. She slipped her arms into the sleeves, looking up at him.

"What about you? Won't you be cold?"

"Love, with you in my lap, being cold will be the last thing I'll be worrying about."

Alyssa chuckled, wondering what she looked like, wearing his shirt and jacket and the tiny silver slippers that went with the stolen gown. He probably thought she looked a mess, with her hair down and in need of a brush, stray pieces of hay sticking out of it. "I can't believe that, considering I must look a fright," she said quietly.

He took her hand in his, lifting his other hand to her chin to force her to look up at him. "You look like a lady who has fallen into a bit of mischief and very, very beautiful. If I weren't worried about your father's reaction, we'd be curled up together in that hay right now and I'd make love to you again in the morning with the sunlight streaming across the fire in your hair."

She felt her heart leap into her throat at his words and the feeling she could hear in his voice. He meant every word. And the image of making love to him, of seeing that handsome body of his during the light of day, of sleeping in his arms...it made her body shiver with pleasure.

"Oh, no," he said, seeing the soft heat come into her eyes. "As much as I would love to give into your feminine wiles, my love, we are getting on my horse right now and I am taking you home before anything else can happen."

He took her arm, barely resisting the urge to kiss her again and lifted her onto his horse's back. Opening the barn door, he took a deep steadying breath of the fresh rain-washed air and then picked up the reins and climbed into the saddle behind her, lifting her sideways across his lap.

He could feel her damp heat sink into his thigh and groaned silently, wondering if he would make it to her house without taking her again. Her body fit his arms; her head sank into the hollow of his neck as if made for it.

She wrapped her arms around his back, holding on to him as the horse found its gait.

They made good time, and it was less than a quarter of the hour before they were at the back of the Duke's impressive London estate. He directed his horse to stand under the balcony was outside of her room.

"Can you climb that?" he asked, peering into her face.

She blushed, thinking of the view he would have if he watched her, especially when she slipped her leg over the top of the railing to climb to the other side. Then she blushed even more, remembering that he'd seen that view before, very closely. She nodded, too embarrassed to meet his eyes.

He lifted her chin and chuckled when he saw the blush, knowing what she was thinking. "Should I offer to be a gentleman?" he asked her, "And look away until you tell me?'

"Would you?" she asked him.

"Oh, I could say yes and then have you catch me as a liar, or just tell the truth and say it is a view I will treasure to remember you by until next we meet."

"Will we meet again?" she asked, quietly, forgetting her embarrassment.

"It is my fervent wish, my lady, to see you again," he said, realizing he spoke the truth.

The smile she gave him was radiant, causing him to catch his breath at her beauty. His head tipped, his lips slowly dropping closer to her own, suddenly unable to stop the impulse to kiss her. She clung to him, her lips kindling a heat that made him feel like he was about to go up in flames.

"I don't want you to go," he whispered against her lips.

"I don't want to go," she whispered back, her tongue slipping past his lips to taste the dark passion of his mouth.

He groaned, his mouth settling firmly upon hers, ravishing hers for one sublime moment before he released her, lifting her in his arms and boosting her until she stood on his thigh. He winced as her weight landed on the still prominent bruise there, then boosted her again, watching with a lascivious eye as she lifted herself over the railing. When she'd made it safely, she stood, striping his jacket off and leaning over the railing to drop it into his hands.

"What about my shirt?" he called softly.

"I'm holding it for ransom," she said, pulling it closer around her. "If you want it, you'll have to come back sometime and get it."

He chuckled, drawing his jacket up his arms, feeling her warmth embedded in the fabric. "Don't think I won't," he said, backing his horse away from the railing.

He blew her a kiss and headed towards the edge of the gardens surrounding the back of the house, glancing over his shoulder to mark the door that led to her room. She was standing there, her hand on the knob, watching him.

She waved when she saw him turn. Then she snuck in the house, closing the door behind her.

The voice, when it rang out in the dark, scared her badly. "What have you to say for yourself?"