Chapter 15

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

T hat was strange.

Susanna had not enjoyed any moment of that horse ride, because Edwin was acting odd the whole time. She could see why Martin had freaked out so much, and why he had insisted that they all go for a ride with the cousins.

Thank goodness they had gone along because Edwin had true darkness in his eyes that troubled her. Even when he was putting on an act for Luke.

He had honestly looked like a murderer more than Susanna had ever seen before. He made her feel so cold and uncomfortable, which was a sensation that she never wanted to go through again.

Edwin did not hang around in the stables long. He left the horse he had ridden with one of the stable boys and stormed inside before he had to spend yet another second with Luke and Mary. That was a relief because it meant Luke was safe for a little while longer.

Susanna did not need to worry as Mary and Luke took a little walk around the gardens, wanting to steal a few more moments alone before their day was flooded with wedding preparations.

"Well?" she hissed the moment she could speak to Martin alone. "What did you think about that?"

Martin frowned and shook his head. "Edwin was not behaving like a normal person. I truly am worried about what he is going to do. I might have seen regret in his eyes for a second when we were at the cliffs, but that had long gone by the time we got back here."

"Well, we thwarted his plan today, so we should be proud of that." Susanna stepped a little closer to Martin. "Whatever Edwin was going to do, he could not do it. Luke is alive and well. Safe to see another day. Honestly, at this point, it will be a relief to have the wedding over. Edwin will have to leave Mary alone then."

"Do you think he will?" Martin asked her with a one-shouldered shrug. "It worries me that he will never leave them alone. I have never seen obsession like it."

Susanna shook her head sadly. She did not like to think of Mary dealing with the Edwin issue forever. She did not deserve that. "But soon enough, we will be able to warn Luke and Mary about his behavior. Then they will be able to take precautions of their own."

Martin sighed, running a hand through his hair. "I hope you are right, Susanna. I hope they manage to get rid of his threat before anything terrible happens to them. I hope we help them find a way to rid their lives of him completely."

All of a sudden, Susanna became acutely aware that everyone else had gone. All the stable boys had left, and there were only horses surrounding them. It seemed like Martin recognized the same thing as they were drawn to one another like they were being controlled by magnets.

Much as they both knew that their work was not done yet, and they still needed to keep an eye on Edwin, they also could not take this moment for granted. It was so rare that they could be wholly themselves around one another like this. Susanna was not going to let this moment slip by her…

An intense heat tore through her body as she could feel Martin's breath tickling her lips. Everything about this was so wrong, but it felt so right. The twinkle in his eyes made her heart race. The nearer he got to her, the harder her heart pounded.

She shivered as his lips drew ever closer to her. The anticipation flooded her veins, causing her knees to weaken.

This was not wise… a part of her knew that she should stop this before it got too far…

But that was not what happened.

Instead, she rose on her tiptoes and finally closed the gap between them. They did not need distance, not anymore—what they really needed was to taste one another's lips.

But Martin did not finish the connection, not right away. He rested his forehead on hers and stared into her eyes. Ragged breaths came tumbling out of her mouth as she spotted the intensity of the flames dancing in his eyes. It seemed, at least at this moment, that Martin wanted her just as badly as she did him.

All of a sudden, his finger hooked underneath her chin, and everything intensified. Susanna became so dizzy with desire that she did not even know if she was breathing any longer. It had never felt like this before, the lust had never been so powerful.

Then his lips edged towards her. Just a little bit at first, almost as if he was testing the waters, but the passion soon got the better of him, and he crashed against Susanna, claiming her with his mouth. The butterflies that had been flapping in the pit of her stomach exploded into the size of birds. Susanna held on to Martin, needing him to remain close to her. This was the best feeling she had ever experienced in her life.

"Oh my," Susanna gasped as they finally broke apart, but only because they needed some air for just a moment.

Martin was not done with her yet. He kissed her again, this time much deeper and more passionately. His tongue massaged Susanna's, his body pressed against her, and she lost her damn mind. Her legs had turned to jelly already, her pulse raced, all because of this amazing man.

"Martin, what are we doing here?"

But he did not even answer her. He was too busy caving to temptation and tugging up her skirts. It seemed like he quite seriously wanted her naked, and as utterly terrifying as that was, Susanna did not mind. She certainly allowed him to hitch her skirts up around her waist as he fell to his knees, tugging at her undergarments with his teeth.

"Oh, Susanna," Martin moaned, his words vibrating against her thighs. "Your scent is intoxicating."

Susanna could not hold herself up any longer, not with his mouth so close to her core and those intense words floating through her body. She stumbled backwards, bringing Martin with her, until she hit the stable wall behind her.

She did not have anywhere else to go once she was pressed up against the wall. He took full advantage of the moment, cupping her behind in his hands and trailing kisses along the hypersensitive skin of her thighs.

Just as her eyes fluttered shut, the feel of his fingers lightly grazing her core caused her hips to buck with desire. She had never been touched there, never been felt in such a way, and her whole body reacted to the feeling.

An inadvertent groan fell out of her mouth. Susanna knew that she was losing control of herself, she could feel any rationality falling away. This was a mistake, she knew that it was absolutely going to destroy her reputation, but at that moment, she did not care.

She never wanted this to end.

"Do you like that?" Martin's whisper filled her up. "Does it feel good?"

"That feels utterly phenomenal…"

But Susanna could not say more. She did not have a chance because Martin had knocked the air out of her lungs by tracing his tongue along her soaking-wet core.

Susanna gasped. This was all happening so quickly, yet somehow not fast enough. The sensation of his hot breaths along with his tongue caused her to shake uncontrollably. She had imagined what it might be like to really feel him, but this was off the scale. Even her fantasies could not have imagined this .

"Oh my, Martin," she gasped as she tossed her head back in desire.

Her head smacked against the wall behind her, but that did nothing to stop the passion flooding her veins. If anything, the dizziness only intensified how incredible all of this felt. The heat burned upwards, setting her heart on fire.

Every time she shuddered, and her body convulsed, her heart thundered against her ribcage. Her legs had turned to jelly, she was not sure how to keep herself upright any longer.

Unfortunately, the wall gave her nothing to hold on to. She was terrified that she might tumble to the ground and destroy this beautiful moment. That was the last thing that she wanted to do. She could not stand losing all of this.

However wrong it was, she wanted to stay here forever.

Martin plunged his tongue deep inside her, tasting parts of her that she did not know could be tasted by another person. He had become a madman on a mission, and that stole all the air from her lungs. Susanna was certain that he was utterly determined to push her over the edge. She was hopeless, helpless, completely at his mercy, and that was so thrilling that she could not contain herself.

A pressure of pleasure began to build within Susanna as she knotted her fingers in Martin's hair, tugging every time it felt good. He did not seem to mind her clinging to him, and even if he did, his moans simply vibrated through her, dousing her whole body in intense flames.

His tongue picked up speed. It seemed to be everywhere, all over her body. Susanna could no longer keep track of what he was doing to her, but she simply did not care.

It was all just so wonderful.

Her toes curled as the burning hot bliss danced through her. She felt herself rise upwards a little, but thankfully not out of Martin's reach. Truly, she never wanted this phenomenal sensation to end. She loved the idea of sitting atop this bliss for the rest of her life, no matter what the rest of the world wanted from her…

And then she fell.

Susanna screamed loudly. She fell hard as the waves of pleasure cascaded through her, hitting her like a powerful tsunami. It zapped all the energy out of her, she could no longer keep herself upright.

It felt like she was sinking deeper under the waters of heaven, and she wanted them to drown her. As Susanna lost herself in this, she knew that however dangerous this was, she wanted to remain here forever.

Even Martin could no longer hold her upright. Susanna slumped downwards, panting desperately against the wall as she tried her hardest to regain any semblance of self-control. The dizziness was so intense that even her vision had blurred. But she could still see him .

Susanna reached out and cupped Martin's cheek in her hand, loving the way that he smiled at her. He might have had a sharp tongue when he was teasing her, but he caressed her softly with the same tongue when it mattered.

Eventually, Martin rose to his feet, and he pressed his lips to hers, kissing her softly. There was something so sweet and romantic about the kiss, it made Susanna's heart thunder with feelings. The rational part of her mind knew that she could not really have feelings for this man because it would only end in disaster, but how could she close her heart off completely after that unexpected, magical experience?

That was far more than just kissing. They had really overstepped the line now. Susanna's reputation could truly be in ruin, but in the heat of the moment, she did not care. Nothing mattered, other than this man in her arms. The man who she was working with to save the day.

"There is something very special about you, Susanna," Martin declared smilingly as he brushed a stray strand of hair out of her face. That was a stark reminder that Susanna was going to have to take care of her appearance before she left the stables, or someone might guess what they had been up to. "Very special, indeed. You are unlike any woman I have ever met before."

Susanna parted her lips, wanting to respond to Martin, but truth be told, she did not know what she was supposed to say. Since she found it difficult to tell if he was joking or not at the best of times, she most certainly could not be sure now. Was he teasing her? Trying to make her react and embarrass herself?

For that reason alone, she ended up saying nothing. But that did not stop Martin from continuing with his little speech.

"In fact, darling Susanna, one might even dare to say that I am falling for you."

Falling for me?

Susanna was gobsmacked. She could not believe those words had just left Martin's mouth.

Now she was utterly certain that he had to be teasing her, and that was a terrible feeling. Knowing that he could make such throwaway comments when it came to matters of the heart was horrifying. The heat that Susanna had been drowning in before had just been doused in an iciness she could not stand.

"I… I need to go," she muttered almost under her breath as she backed away from Martin, desperately needing to put some distance between them now. "I have to… to help with the wedding, and… I am sure Mary is looking for me. I am sure she needs me…"

There was nothing else she could say. She could hardly stand to look at Martin any longer because his words had affected her deeper than she wanted. Thinking about him falling for her was a lot. She could hardly bear it. Susanna needed to race inside, she needed to lock herself away in her bedchambers, she needed some time alone to process everything that had just happened before it swallowed her up whole.

Tears pricked her eyes as she gathered herself, grabbing her undergarments as she went. Humiliation burned within her. She could hardly breathe as she raced away from the stables, needing to get as far away from Martin as humanly possible. She could not stand to even see him any longer after that.

Why would Martin do such a thing? Why would he play with me in such a way?

He had already let her know that he did not really believe in love and that he found the idea of marriage laughable. Susanna had not wanted to put her heart on the line either, because of what she had witnessed with Mary after Duncan's death, but it still did not feel good to have her heart stomped on in such a way.

I will not be able to face him again, she thought sadly to herself as she headed inside and made her way to her bedchambers. That might truly have ruined everything. What on earth are we going to do now?