Christine Merrill - The Mistletoe Wager

‘On the contrary. This time, if you wish, you may claim yourself the innocent victim of my animal lust.’ And he kissed her again, dominating her easily, to prove that any attempt to escape him was quite futile.

‘Really?’ She smiled, delighted, and stopped fighting. His head dipped to nuzzle her neck. ‘I have never been an innocent victim of anything before.’

He laughed against her skin. ‘I thought not. I expect once we are married you shall prove even more difficult to handle than Elise would have been.’

Married? She did her best to frown at him, for it would not do to appear too eager after all the time she had waited for this. ‘I expect you are right. If, that is, I decide to marry you. You have not offered as yet, nor have I accepted.’

‘I have owed you a proposal for over five years. I assumed your answer would be yes.’

‘Never assume,’ she said, a little breathlessly. ‘I would rather die an old maid than spend another Christmas as I’ve spent this one-as someone’s dutiful wife, cooking geese and tending to the ivy.’

He reached out and took her fingers, bringing them to his lips, drawing them into his mouth to suck upon the tips until she gasped. ‘If you marry me, your hands will never touch another Yule Log.’ He held them out, admiring the fingers and kissing each one in turn. ‘But they would look very attractive wrapped around the reins of a curricle in Hyde Park.’

Her eyes sparkled. ‘You would let me drive?’

He smiled back. ‘We must see if you have the nerve for it. And you would have to be very good to me, of course. But if you indulge my every whim, how can I deny you yours? We will discuss that later.’ He tucked a sprig of mistletoe into his pocket and kissed her again, until she was quite breathless.

‘Later?’ She caught at his hand as it reached to touch her breast. ‘You are being quite wicked enough now, Tremaine.’

‘Not hardly,’ he answered back, then kissed her once more until she let him caress her. ‘You have led a most sheltered life, Miss Morley. And you are utterly unprepared to deal with a reprobate such as myself. But I will be only too happy to educate you in the ways of the world. For instance, I’m sure you will agree that this is much more shocking than a few kisses under the mistletoe.’ And his hand slipped beneath the neckline of her gown.

His fingers found her nipple and began to draw slow circles about it. He was right. Judging by the way it was making her feel, it was much worse than kissing. ‘You mustn’t,’ she whispered, and then arched her back to give him better access. ‘If someone finds us…’

He pinched her. ‘Then I shall be forced to marry you immediately.’ He sighed. ‘Which is just what I mean to do in any case. I cannot wait another moment. I must have you, darling. And I cannot very well remain under this roof and do what I wish to do with you. I have just left off trying to seduce Harry’s wife, and now I mean to ruin his sister? I must show some respect for the poor man. It is Christmas, after all. He deserves to be rid of me. And absconding with his hostess in the middle of a house party is a fitting gift, considering what kind of host he has been to me.’ Then he smiled. ‘But I have not given you a gift either, have I?’ And his other hand slipped beneath her skirts.

‘Tremaine, whatever are you doing?’

‘You will know soon enough, love.’ And she felt his hand caress the bare skin of her leg above her stocking. ‘Now, speak. Will you have me?’

She had wanted nothing more for as long as she could remember. But she was afraid he would stop trying to persuade her if she gave in too easily. Was it the knowledge that he was touching her so intimately, or the touch itself that was so compelling? She smoothed down her skirt, to hide what his hand was doing, and tried to appear uninterested. ‘I doubt my father will approve of you.’

‘Then we shall not tell him until it is too late to matter.’

His fingers travelled up, until they could go no further, and then gave a gentle caress that caused her to gasp in shock. She decided it was definitely the touch that was affecting her, for he had increased the speed of his stroking and was driving her mad with it. His fingers played in a gentle rhythm against her body, reaching places that she had never thought to touch, and creating a jumble of new sensations that made it much easier to feel than to think.

She could barely hear him as he said, ‘Now that the roads are clear, it’s Gretna for us, my love. And then to bed.’

‘I have never…never…never been to Scotland,’ she gasped, and grabbed his shoulders for support, trying and failing to hold on to common sense as the feelings built in her.

‘Then it will be a day of firsts for you.’

He held her in place against the wall, one hand tightening upon her breast and the other teasing between her legs. She was not sure what was happening, but she knew at any moment that she would have no choice but to say yes, most emphatically, to anything he might ask.

So she closed her eyes and leaned her head back against the wall. With her last strength she whispered, ‘Show me Pompeii, Tremaine, and I am yours for ever.’ And then she gave herself over to him, and dissolved in pleasure at his touch, accepting his proposal repeatedly and with surprising enthusiasm.

He laughed and kissed her throat. ‘Tomorrow, if you ask for it, I will give you the world. But tonight, Vesuvius is nothing compared to what you shall have.’

Elise had heard Nicholas’s body strike the wall with some considerable force. It had surprised her, for although she knew Harry was strong enough, he was not usually given to displays of brute strength. But now, as he turned back to face her, she began to wonder if she had ever known him at all.

It was not yet noon, his clothing was a mess, and he smelled of brandy. His face had not seen a razor that morning, and a slight stubble emphasised the squared set of his jaw. Everything about him seemed larger, more intimidating than she remembered, and he was advancing on her in a way that might have seemed threatening if she hadn’t known that it was only Harry Pennyngton. But then he reached her, and before she quite knew what was happening he had taken her in his arms and crushed her body to his in a kiss she could almost describe as ruthless.

‘Harry, whatever are you doing?’

‘What I should have done months ago,’ he said through gritted teeth. ‘We are going to settle what is between us once and for all.’

‘I thought it was settled,’ she said.

‘For you, perhaps. Since dear old Harry has allowed you to do whatever you want, in the vain hope that you will grow tired of wandering and come home. But I am done with patience.’

‘If you think that I am so easy to control as all that, you had best think again, Harry.’ She squirmed in his arms, expecting him to release her, but instead he held her tighter, until she gasped with pleasure.

‘Easy to control?’ He released her then, and she swayed against him. ‘You are more trouble than any two wives. I am sure that the sultans of Arabia do not have the challenges in dealing with an entire harem that I have with you.’

‘If I am so much trouble, you had best divorce me and save yourself the bother.’ She started towards the door.

But he was past her in a flash, and pushed her back into the library ahead of him. Then he stepped in after her and slammed the door. ‘On the contrary, my dear. I have no intention of letting you go. Especially if you mean to throw Tremaine aside and take another lover.’

She stopped and stared at him. ‘Whatever difference should it make to you, who I choose to be unfaithful with?’

‘I have always known, should you choose to leave me, that it would be for Tremaine. For you have wondered from the first if your decision in marrying me was a wise one. But now that you have had a chance to compare us, I hope that I appear more favourably in your mind.’

‘Harry,’ she groaned, ‘that is the most cold-blooded thing I have ever heard. If you are willing to stand aside and allow me a lover for purposes of comparison, then it proves you don’t love me in the slightest.’

‘Not a lover, Elise. Only Tremaine. He has been as regular a feature in our marriage as a dog, lying beside the fireplace. Lord knows, I have often had to kick the blighter out of the way to regain your attentions. But it is my good fortune that he has as much initiative as an old dog as well.’

‘I beg your pardon?’ she said indignantly. ‘Nicholas Tremaine is a notorious rake, with a very passionate nature.’

Harry scoffed. ‘And no threat at all to our marriage. If he were half the man you claimed he’d never have let me take you away. Failing that, he’d have hounded you day and night, until you could no longer resist the temptation and allowed him into your bed. Instead, I have borne his half-hearted flirtation with you in good humour, knowing that it would lead to nothing. That in the end you went to him, and not the other way round, should tell you everything you need to know about his grand passion for you.’

The words hit close to home, and she felt like a fool for not noticing earlier. But at least Harry did not seem jealous any more. And then, as though unable to resist, she taunted him again. ‘If what you say is true, and he does not have a burning desire for me, then I am sure there is someone who does.’

Harry’s eyes narrowed. ‘Oh, Elise, I have no doubt of it. But if you think you will be allowed to seek any further than this room for such a man you are sorely mistaken.’

He was finally angry enough to show her the truth that she wanted to see, and his words sent desire pulsing to the centre of her being. She pushed him again. ‘Seek in this room a man with sufficient passion to hold my attention? If you had sufficient passion, Harry, I would not be looking elsewhere.’

If she had hoped for a reaction there was none apparent. His smile was the same vaguely placid one that he often wore. But there was a strange light in his eyes that had not been there when last she’d looked.

‘Very well, then. If you wish a demonstration of the depth of my feelings…’

Before she realised what he had done, he’d locked the door behind her, torn the key from the hole and pitched it into the fireplace.

She stared into the embers, and she thought she could see the metal as it heated to glowing. ‘Harry, what the devil are you doing?’

‘Making it impossible for you to leave the room before we have finished our discussion. I imagine the fire shall be almost out by the time I am finished with you, and then you will be able to retrieve the key and open the door.’ He said it in a way that made her think discussion was the last thing on his mind, and she felt another thrill go through her-one that she had been missing for over two months.

‘Now, let me describe to you how I am feeling.’

And then she felt the desire start to fade, for it seemed they were only going to have another silly argument. ‘You are going to tell me now how you feel? After five years of nothing, you have told me more than enough of your feelings in the last few days. Must I hear more of them? For I have had quite enough.’ But when she looked at him, staring into his eyes, she wondered if that was true.

‘Really?’

‘You have made it quite clear that I have lost your trust. And I am sorry, Harry. I know I’ve given you cause to doubt me. But until recently I did not think it mattered to you how I behaved. I am sorry. There-I have said it. Though we did comfortably well together, proximity has not made us into lovers. You deserve more. As do I.’

‘More comfort than I have given you?’ he sneered. ‘My pockets are deep, Elise, but they are not bottomless.’

She slapped at his shoulder. ‘I cannot make you understand, and I am tired of trying. I do not wish you to buy me a new dress, or a diamond, or even a larger residence, so that I can live in luxury without you. If you want, you can take it all back. Sell every last jewel and turn me out on the streets in my shift. I do not care a jot for any of it if I cannot have a marriage that is more than remuneration for services rendered.’

‘Am I to understand that you wish a meeting of hearts, and not just an equitable living arrangement.’ He smiled.

‘Exactly.’ She was relieved that at last he understood her. But she found it strangely disappointing that it might mean he’d let her go.

‘What utter nonsense.’

‘Harry, it is not nonsense at all. It is what I have longed for all my life.’ She reached out a hand to push his shoulder, to move him out of her way. But he caught it easily, sliding his palm over hers, wrapping his fingers around it and squeezing tightly, rubbing the ball of his thumb slowly over the pulse-point beating on her wrist.