Chapter 9

Isabelle woke to near black, the fire so low, it was just a few burning coals in the grate. She blinked her eyes open, not moving, as she tried to clear the muddled fog from her thoughts. What had woken her?

Silence filled her ears, the stillness of the night, making her relax back into the straw mattress.

That's when she heard a scraping or a scratching just outside her window. Tension filled her body even as she remained perfectly still.

Was it a branch? Animal?

It happened again, the sound louder and more insistent.

Surely it was nothing but all the same, she found herself whispering in the dark, "Bode?"

Though she'd barely raised her voice to rouse him, she heard the squeak of ropes as Bode rose from the other bed and appeared in the doorway. "Isabelle. What's wrong?"

Heat climbed up her face even as a calm filled her chest. Just hearing him eased the fear. "I'm sorry to wake you. I heard scratching outside the window."

"Don't apologize," he said as he came striding into her room, not stopping until he was above her. With a quick jerk, he pulled the blankets back, lifted her in his arms, and carried her into his room.

She didn't ask any questions as he placed her in his bed. But inwardly, they tumbled through her thoughts. Did he plan for her to sleep with him? Would they leave the inn now? "I'll be right back." He brushed a kiss across her temple before he straightened, and headed back to her room.

She nodded into the dark, even as he disappeared into her room. She heard the scraping of the window as it opened and then closed again.

She looked about the dark room, pulling the covers up to her nose as Bode stepped back into the room. "I don't see anything out there," he said with a grimace.

She dropped the covers down. "Am I silly? I'm sorry if I've worried you for nothing."

"Don't be," he answered and then he slid into the bed as well, positioning himself between her and both the window and the door. "Tired as I am, I wasn't sleeping anyhow."

"Why not?" she asked as his arm came about her, pulling her into his side. Which suited her just fine. She snuggled into his body, her arm draping across his stomach.

The pose was intimate and so personal, and yet, with Bode, somehow natural. Like she was made to be in this man's arms.

"I didn't like being away from you."

She hadn't liked it either. Isabelle relaxed deeper into his side. "Tomorrow night, we'll just get the one room. Save money."

He chuckled underneath her cheek. "We'll share for financial reasons."

She laughed too. "I'll be safer."

"And we'll both sleep better."

She nodded her agreement, even as she closed her eyes, the scratching now a distant memory. Next to Bode, she was safe. It was easy to fall back to sleep and within minutes, she'd drifted off…

She woke again, however, the room was still dark, and she tried to discern what had woken her this time.

More scratching? Another disturbance outside?

She shifted to try and hear better when she realized that not only was Bode's arm under her head, and wrapped around her back but his other hand crossed her body, cupping her behind.

What was more, he was massaging the rounded flesh, pushing her apex onto his outer thigh.

Her womanhood gave a decided throb of need, her body shivering at the pleasure that coursed through her.

So that's what had woken her.

Her hand came to his chest and as she pushed her top half a bit further back, trying to see his face to know if he was awake or asleep, her lower half pressed deeper onto the hard muscles of his thigh, the delicious friction making her throb again.

A moan fell from her lips, Bode jerked awake.

"Isabelle?"

"My apologies," she gasped pinned to his side by his hold and trying to ignore the tendrils of pleasure still curling inside her. "I woke to find…"

His hand flexed again, drawing her hips nearer, the pleasure erasing her next thought as she pulsed with need.

She had the distinct urge to rub against him until… his fingers bit into her rear, cupping her closer as a deeper moan slipped from her lips. Her head arched back, her body seeking even more pleasure.

Bode didn't hesitate. Rolling her onto her back, he moved with her, settling on top of her smaller frame.

Both still wore their clothing, but as his hips settled between her thighs, Isabelle could feel the stiff outline of his manhood pushing exactly where she needed pleasure. She arched into him, her groan of pleasure taking on a keening cry.

"Bode," she begged, her hands coming to his back.

But his body stilled. "Isabelle. I didn't mean to take advantage?—"

"Advantage?" she cried, her fingertips digging into the muscles of his back. "You can't mean that?"

"I know you're still innocent. I…"

She appreciated the chivalry. She really did. But she'd been so worried for so long and here in his arms, she finally felt safe. And with that safety, came an aching need she'd never even known was possible.

If he didn't finish what he'd started she might crumble. "Innocent? I'm a married woman."

"That too," he grimaced, starting to pull away.

She held him as best she could. He was so much larger than her, she didn't have a chance of holding him if he didn't wish to stay. "Neither of us should give a second thought to Makem. And I most definitely don't owe him consideration or fidelity."

"It's hard to argue with that." His hips relaxed, his stiff rod pressing closer to her womanhood causing another ripple of pleasure to course through her. They still wore their clothes, but that didn't stop the pleasure from radiating all through her body.

"Thank the saints," she half sighed, half gasped.

"What did you mean then, when you said you're a married woman?"

"I'm not governed by the rules of innocence any longer," she answered. "And after everything I've given, I don't mean to be selfish, but I'd like to take a bit of pleasure."

"Pleasure," he rumbled in return. "That I can give."

With a roll of his hips, he pressed his manhood so tightly against her that she shook as her body pulsed with an intense wave of pleasure threatening to pull her under.

But then he pulled away. Isabelle gave a cry of protest, her hands grasping at his back, but he only chuckled as he reached his hand lower, lifting her skirts up her legs so they pooled about her waist.

Which meant she couldn't see him as he dove under the layers of fabric.

She pushed up on her elbows, trying to see what he might do when the swipe of his tongue sent lightning shooting through her as he licked up her seam. Her eyes rolled back in her head, her body arching, and she exploded in pleasure as an orgasm ripped through her.

Frantically, her hands pawed through the skirts, searching for him, not that he was done. In answer to her body's response, he repeated the lick, his tongue flattening out on her flesh to send another wave of pleasure building in her nether region.

She found his head, her fingers twining into his shortly cropped hair, pulling him closer as he focused on her tight nub of pleasure, his tongue swirling about the sensitive bud.

She moaned again, her toes curling as her hips lifted off the bed to give him better access.

He inserted a finger into her channel, the pressure so new and deliciously unexpected that she stilled, her eyes going wide.

And then he stroked some spot deep inside her that had her exploding with pleasure again.

It had been nothing like Isabelle had expected. This experience had been so much more. She refused to think about the future or what she'd come to understand about her feelings toward this man.

Instead, she focused on the now.

And right now, she knew she wasn't the only one who needed a bit of pleasure.

She pulled at his hair, wanting to see his face. He obliged, sliding up her body, and she reveled in the feel of his weight on top of her. "I won't take your maidenhead," he murmured. "It's too?—"

She reached between his legs, cupping the thick length of him in her hand. His breeches were still on but that didn't stop her from feeling the contours of his manhood. He rumbled out his enjoyment, pushing deeper into her palm.

She'd never been this bold. But with Bode…it just felt right. She felt neither shy nor unsafe. "I want to touch you the way you did me," she whispered into the dark. "Let me make you feel as good too."

* * *

Bode shook his head, trying to resist Isabelle's words. He ought to be a gentleman. He'd done so much wrong since he'd met her. Hell, he'd done wrong most of his life, but with her fingers sliding along his girth, he couldn't quite muster the ability to stop.

He wanted to claim her for his own. He knew it was true. And while her marriage was nothing short of a complete sham, he also refused to compromise her. She was too precious, too wonderful not to be treated with respect. She slid her hand down his shaft to the base and then further, cupping his balls, and erasing a fair bit of his good intentions. "Isabelle. I'm trying…"

"Don't," she said as she pushed him onto his back, her fingers plucking at the falls of his breeches.

His cock sprung free, his seed already weeping from the tip like an eager schoolboy. Then again, how long had it been since he'd engaged in anything like this?

Then again, Isabelle had been just as eager. He'd felt the power of her response. The way she'd practically exploded from his touch, which made him feel slightly better that he couldn't hold back. His finish would not take long.

He'd wanted this woman from the first moment he'd laid eyes on her and as her graceful fingers, glowing in the sliver of moonlight, wrapped about his hard length, he knew he had no more will to fight off his desire.

But she wasn't done. Her tongue flicked out, licking at the pearl of seed that had collected on the tip. He threw his head back, pushing up on his elbows as his guttural groan filled the room.

Her fingers slid down his length, her lips fanning out around the head. He thrust up, pushing into her mouth as another rumble of need escaped his lips. "Just like that," he pushed out through gritted teeth, wrapping his fingers over her own to show her how to move.

Not that she needed much help.

Her hand glided up his length, her lips pressed down, taking him more deeply into her mouth until her lips met her hand.

The swirl of her tongue against the head, the wet slide of her lips, was all it took to tighten his balls, triggering his finish.

He was a man who prided himself on control. He never let go.

But not only had Isabelle lowered all his defenses, she pushed him past the point of reason in mere seconds, her touch sparking an orgasm that ripped through him, but his grunts of pleasure would surely awaken half the inn as he let loose a torrent.

Isabelle pulled back, her hand still wrapped around him as she watched his finish, her eyes wide.

His head fell back, his eyes closing. "Did I scare you, love?"

In answer, she kissed his tip once again. "Not at all. That was magnificent."

Bode spent his time around women who were not in awe of the male orgasm and a laugh rumbled out of his chest. "Trust me when I say, it's very mundane."

She smiled at that, but then, leaning down, she kissed the head of his cock once again. "I shall like to try again and see if that is true. Because I suspect that nothing about you is mundane."

Bode ought to say no to her offer of another tryst like this one. It was a bad idea, and not part of the plan for his life or even this journey, and deep down he knew, the closer that he and Isabelle became, the more dangerous this situation grew. Emotions always clouded judgment and his job here was to keep her safe.

The entire reason Bode had left London with her was because he couldn't be the man that put a woman in danger.

But also, he wasn't certain he could survive another loss like he'd experienced with his mother. He'd spent years holding himself apart from nearly everyone, to avoid that sort of heartache ever again.

Isabelle looked up at him from between his thighs, so stunningly beautiful in the moonlight. Her delicate features pleaded with him not to reject her, his lips softly parted as she waited for his answer, and he couldn't hold himself back.

She'd experienced her own heartaches and he'd not do anything to make them worse, or cause new ones. "I'm not sure I could deny you even if I tried."

"That's encouraging." She flashed him a small smile, sliding up his chest and settling her weight on him. "Because I'm not certain I wish to be denied."

He wrapped her in his arms, grazing a kiss on her temple. "I think the sun will rise soon."

"Did you sleep at all?"

"Enough," he said, holding her tighter. "Which is why we should press on. At this pace, we'll reach Scotland in another four days and then I'll breathe easier."

"Me too," she said, but she snuggled deeper into his chest, her eyes closing. He wrapped his arms about her, kissing the top of her head.

He couldn't deny her anything. Not even a snuggle.