Chapter Fourteen

W est stood behind Helena on the steps of Woodley Park. Below them, Silas and Caro stepped into their traveling carriage in a flurry of farewells. But West’s attention wasn’t on his best friend and his bride. Instead his thoughts dwelled on the glorious woman who had at last consented to be his wife. His younger self had been wiser than his years when he’d set his sights on Silas’s pretty sister.

How miraculous that in such a short space, despair could transform to joy. He’d been convinced that he was a hopeless invalid with nothing to offer her. And these last days with her had confirmed something he’d always known—that Helena deserved the best of everything.

While he mightn’t be the best, he swore by everything he held holy that he’d do his best by her. Her hope was contagious. He felt better already.

By God, he’d beat this damned fever. He had something to live for now.

He stepped closer to catch the drift of her scent. Damn him if this surreptitious connection didn’t give him an illicit thrill.

She cast him a quick glance, one knowing flash of bright, black eyes. Under cover of crimson skirts, her fingers tangled with his. Odd that her presence lent his soul such peace. She wasn’t by nature a peaceful woman.

Of course if he announced their betrothal, there would be no need for subterfuge. An engaged couple holding hands might rouse interest but little disapproval, especially on such a romantic occasion. But this was Caro and Silas’s day, however much West longed to shout hallelujahs and turn somersaults. He’d have the banns called next Sunday, but for now, his betrothal remained a delicious secret between Helena and him.

He leaned forward. “Can you slip away?”

She didn’t look back, but her grip on his hand tightened. “Once I’ve made an appearance at the staff dinner, and farewelled the guests leaving today. Any family staying on can amuse themselves this afternoon, I’m sure.”

“Come to my room.”

“Someone will see.”

“Not if they’re all cuddled up in their own rooms.”

“What about Amy?”

She wouldn’t see his smug smile. “Ah, I’ve planned a treat for your inquisitive little sister. She’s got an appointment at Shelton Abbey to talk to my agent about crop rotation.”

Helena muffled a laugh. Not well enough. Her Great Aunt Agnes cast her a curious glance. “How Machiavellian. She’ll be in alt. The poor fellow won’t get away until midnight.”

“Suits me.” West inhaled her fragrance and felt her shiver with awareness. “I’ve missed you.”

Helena directed a sharp eye at her elderly relative as she murmured, “Give me an hour.”

“An hour will feel like eternity.”

The familiar wry smile twisted her lips. “Goodness me, West. Are you sure you’re feeling better? That doesn’t sound like you at all.”

He shrugged, unashamed of his ardor. “You’ve rumbled my secret. Under my rakish manners, I’m a sentimental fellow, my darling.”

With visible reluctance, Great Aunt Agnes shifted her attention to Caro and Silas, who waved as their carriage rolled down the drive. But West predicted when he announced his betrothal, few would be caught unawares. Great Aunt Agnes was an inveterate gossip.

With everyone’s backs turned, West dared to lift Helena’s fingers to his lips. “Don’t be too long, sweetheart.”

* * *

At the soft click of his bedroom door, West sprang from the chair where he’d been trying to read. Trying and failing. How could printed words occupy him, when he waited in a lather of impatience for Helena?

The moment she stepped inside, he caught her up against him for a famished kiss. Fumbling to shut the door, he pressed her back until she bumped into the wooden panels.

He was starved for her, and still not quite convinced that they’d won through to a happy ending. Only this morning, he’d been sure she was lost to him forever. The few kisses outside the church hadn’t come near to quenching his mighty need.

She kissed him back with brazen enthusiasm. It seemed he wasn’t alone in craving more than kisses. When he’d come upstairs, he’d removed his coat and shoes. Now her frantic hands tore away his neck cloth and waistcoat.

In between kisses, she gasped out a breathless explanation. “I’m sorry I took so long. Great Aunt Agnes cornered me in the drawing room. She definitely knows something’s up.”

West tilted his hips forward. “Something is definitely…up.”

“That’s a terrible joke.” But she moved closer, sending the blood crashing through his veins.

“You laughed. I heard you.” That low, alluring chuckle always set every nerve in his body jumping.

For the first time in years, she sounded carefree. “Only because I took pity on you. Seeing you’ve been ill, and all.”

“I’m feeling much better.” He stepped back to admire the lovely creature he’d captured for himself. “Pretty dress. Take it off.”

Helena offered her back. “Unlace me. I didn’t wear this with quick seduction in mind.”

He clicked his tongue in mock disapproval. “And people call you a clever woman.”

She flicked him a glance over her shoulder, as he deftly unfastened the extravagant crimson velvet dress. “Something’s interfering with my mental processes.”

He kissed the shoulder bared under the sagging gown and went to work on her corset. Her undergarments sported more exquisite embroidery, but he was too desperate for her to pay much attention.

Later. Next time. Tomorrow.

The future shone bright as the sun.

“Hmm, I wonder what that could be.”

“No idea,” she said drily, slithering out of dress, corset, petticoat and shift.

“You’ve been practicing,” he said in admiration.

“I have no morals left.” She faced him. “It’s most distressing.”

He paused to enjoy the lovely view, as she raised her hands to release her abundant black hair. In fine clothes, she did a fair job of acting the civilized creature. But he knew better. He always had. She was free and untamed, and her fiery spirit would light the rest of his days.

He gave another disappointed tch. “You must still cling to a few morals. You’re wearing drawers.”

Her narrow-eyed look didn’t hide her burgeoning excitement. “Not for long, I’m sure. Isn’t it time you removed a garment or two?”

He laughed. Partly at her audacity. Mostly because he was just so bloody happy. “Devil take you, you’re a demanding wench. Don’t you want me to woo you?”

Her smile was sizzling seduction. He’d thought he already tested the limits of arousal, but the wanton invitation in her expression made his cock swell massively against his trousers. “Of course.”

He paused in pulling off his shirt. “Really?”

With greedy hands, she reached for the buttons on his trousers. “Later.”

He gasped as she opened the front fall and curled her fingers around him. She didn’t linger past a few breathtaking caresses. Soon he was naked, and her drawers lay white and sheer on the carpet.

Backing her toward the bed, he kissed her. What a fool he’d been to imagine he could live without this. He pushed her onto the mattress and came down over her. Lacing his fingers through hers, he slid her hands high and pressed them into the pillows near her head.

Helena raised her knees to frame his hips. Her eyes held no hesitation, just joy.

“Don’t make me wait. I feel like I’ve already waited a century.” Her light tone cracked, and he realized that she, too, ached for the transcendent joining.

West tightened his hips and plunged into her. She cried out and clenched hard around him. He went still, letting the radiance seep into his bones.

He felt entirely possessed, united with Helena in a way not even their most passionate earlier encounters had achieved. Knowing that she gave herself without condition or limit transformed the physical act into a mysterious connection he’d never experienced before.

At last, he moved, and on another cry, she convulsed. He rose on his arms to watch her swift climax. She arched against the sheets, quivering with ecstasy. As she started to come down off that shuddering peak, his kiss promised her forever.

Then blindly he sought his own release. Driving into her hard to stamp his claim on her. She moaned and rose to meet every thrust.

She was his. He was hers. At the height of the union, there was no difference.

He released her hands to hold her hips. The rake of her nails down his back was like a streak of lightning through the storm.

West didn’t last long. He wanted her too much, and he’d been too sure that he’d lost her. The mighty surge began in the soles of his feet, blazed up through his legs, and centered on his burning balls. He gave a guttural groan as his seed burst forth into her welcoming body.

Gasping, he slumped over her, crushing her beneath him. Then with his last strength, he rolled to the side and separated their sweat-slicked bodies.

Never before had he given so much to a woman. Masculine satisfaction flooded him as he relished the idea that they might have started a child.

The air was thick with the scent of sex. In the early February dusk, Helena’s lithe form gleamed white and beautiful. Her hair snaked around her as she lay sprawled against the sheets. She looked exhausted and well used, but contented in a way he’d never seen her before.

When his pulse had calmed, he caught the hand lying loose and open on the sheets and raised it to his lips. “I’ll use more finesse next time.”

Her laugh was a soft puff of weariness. “I’m beginning to think finesse might be overrated.”

“I’ll look forward to convincing you otherwise.”

Her free hand gave a floppy wave. “I’ll have to marry you now.”

“If you don’t, I want Artemis back.”

“There is that.” Then contrary to her teasing, she turned to curve one arm around his neck and kiss him as if his presence was as necessary as air.

“Come here,” he muttered, and drew her close. She rested her dark head on his chest and curled into his side.

For a long time, they lay in the gathering twilight. Gradually West’s heart found its natural rhythm.

He spoke the words he’d kept hidden for more than a year. “I’m sure a woman of your enormous intellect has already worked out that I love you.”

The silence that greeted his declaration seemed to last a month.

Then she rose on her elbow to study him through the shadows, her eyes like a starlit night. “Of course I hoped. Especially once you started acting like a hero, afire to save my honor and sacrifice yourself for my happiness.”

He gave her a sheepish smile. “The result of temporary madness. I promise to return to being a selfish swine forthwith.”

She smiled back and ran her hand down his jaw with a tenderness that made him ache. “The problem, West, is that for a woman of such vaunted intelligence, I’ve always misunderstood you. I think it’s because you stole my heart when I was a silly girl, and I never got it back.”

Stole her heart? He brightened. That sounded damned promising.

Attempting his old sardonic manner, he arched an eyebrow. “You weren’t a silly girl. You were smart enough to choose me.”

She kissed him softly. “I was, wasn’t I? But not smart enough to see that under your arrogance, you were a man of honor. And I should have seen that. Even when I was sixteen and mad about you, you restricted yourself to a few kisses, although you must have known I was ripe for seduction. Crewe certainly knew.”

West didn’t want to talk about her vile husband. Not now when she said things that made him hope. “You were my best friend’s sister.”

“See what I mean? And you’ve verged on Sir Galahad in the last few days. Bone-headed, I think you’ll agree, but unwaveringly gallant.”

“Would you rather have a clever cad?”

Another of those bewitching, enigmatic smiles. “Cads don’t go the distance, in my view. I’m all for knights in shining armor these days, even when they choose to wear a bedsheet instead.”

With care, he picked his way through her words. This was too important for him to get wrong. “So you’ve decided you like me?”

A brief laugh. “I’d better, given what we just did.”

“And you want me?”

“Oh, yes, that’s in no doubt.”

Devil take her, why wouldn’t she say it? “And do you think you can bring yourself to call me Vernon?”

She frowned. “That seems very intimate.”

“Damn it, Helena,” he growled.

Her hand rested above his thundering heart. “Will you give me Artemis?”

“She’s been yours from the start.”

She lowered her eyes. “In that case, there’s no hiding the sad truth.”

Tension filled him. “Sad truth?”

Helena shook the mane of hair back from her face and grinned at him with all the mischief of her childhood self. A mischief the years had almost ripped away from her.

“Yes, the sad truth that I’m head over heels.”

That was close, but not close enough. When he covered her hand with his, the contact radiated through him. He was counted a brave man, but it took all his courage to take the next step. “Say it, Helena.”

His ruthlessness sparked a flash of excitement in her eyes. Then her expression turned serious, and at last she opened the gates of her soul to him. He read the answer in her face before she spoke. Although when they came, the words were sweeter than honey.

“I love you, Vernon. I’ll love you forever.”