How to Best a Marquess (Raven Club), page 13
Then he thrust his hips until he was fully embedded inside her.
He captured her gasp with his lips. “Easy, love.”
His biceps bunched and the muscles of his neck strained. She felt him shudder. Was he in as much discomfort?
Then he kissed her again and his chest brushed against her breasts. He moved his hips. The pain faded, and just as surprisingly, the pleasure returned. With each small thrust of his hips, her need sparked and grew until she was matching his movements. He increased his tempo, thrusting deeper each time. She soon grew desperate and dug her nails into his back.
She felt it now. The growing need in her body that only Hugh could ease. Her eyes met his, and the fierce desire combined with the possessive longing in his gaze made her heart nearly burst. This was what true intimacy felt like, not just a physical craving, but an emotional one that tugged at her soul. Helpless to separate the two needs, she embraced the connection. They rode the wave as pleasure built deep inside her. Each thrust brought her closer and closer until she unraveled in his arms and mewled her pleasure. With two more thrusts, Hugh followed, and she felt the spurt of hot liquid across her belly.
He held her close. She rested her head on his chest and could feel the strong beat of his heart as she caught her own breath. Then he rose and returned with a cloth to cleanse her of the evidence of their lovemaking. She sat up when he was finished.
“Where do you think you’re going?” He joined her on the bed and gathered her in his arms.
She’d thought she could exorcise Hugh from her mind and body. She realized her mistake.
Could she risk her heart and hope for more?
Chapter Fifteen
Hugh ran his hand across Ellie’s smooth hip and then along her taut stomach. She was facing him, her soft breath caressing his neck. Strands of red hair streaked across the pillow and on his arm. Like a bright sunset, the color had bewitched him the first time he’d seen it. She shifted and slipped a leg between his. He’d dreamed of this moment, of slowly undressing her and taking her.
She’d surpassed all his expectations, and he was still reeling from their lovemaking. Her genuine concern over his injury had caused an unfamiliar swelling of his heart with tenderness and reverence. And when her hot gaze had traveled over his naked chest, her fascination had sparked an already insidious hunger inside him. He’d once believed Ellie Swift would be passionate in bed. He’d been right, but there had been so much more…
She was giving and generous and had eagerly slipped into his embrace to gift him with her innocence. She’d possessed his thoughts for more time than any other. The girl from his youth. The girl he’d let go to save.
Truth be told, he’d never gotten over her.
His fascination, it seemed, was increasing.
He was put in an impossible situation. Now that he had finally made love to her, his lust hadn’t been sated but had only heightened. Worse was his inexplicable need to keep her beside him, to make her blue eyes widen in wonder at his touch, and to experience her brilliant smile and tinkling laugher once again.
For a startling instant, he wondered if he was in love, but then dismissed the thought as fancy. He was too jaded, too cynical to believe in such emotion now. His feelings for her were lust commingled with admiration, and he was generally fond of her intelligence and spirit. It made perfect sense, he reasoned, that he was enthralled by her. What breathing man wouldn’t stiffen at the notion of the spirited Ellie Swift in his bed?
He’d taken her virginity. There might not have been words of commitment between them, but Hugh took his honor seriously.
It had been five long years. His father was dead. His miserable mother, the dowager, was rusticating in the country and no longer held influence over him. He had inherited the marquessate and all the lands and fortune that went with it. He’d also become his own man and had wisely invested in the London Stock Exchange and made his own fortune as he was serving his army commission. He was not beholden to anyone.
He was a man different from the one he’d been when he’d first met Ellie. And she had grown into a very different woman. A woman who had become even more bewitching.
He kissed the top of her head and stroked her shoulder. Her skin was so smooth, like fine porcelain.
No one he’d been with could compare with Ellie. He wanted a future with her, but the past stood in the way. Hope lifted his spirits. He could finally confess. After their shared intimacy, things had shifted between them, and she would understand. She would have to. Their rivalry over the Raven Club would be moot. She needn’t feel like she had to succeed or risk spinsterhood.
He stroked her arm up and down. “Ellie, there’s something I want to tell you. Something I’ve kept to myself for a long while.”
She lifted her head, her blue eyes bright.
“That day that you found me with Isabelle, Lady Fabry,” he said.
Her expression instantly turned wary. He didn’t want to make her uneasy, but the truth would free them both. “That day. I had no interest in her. She had been pursuing me. I only wanted you.”
Her body had stiffened against him. He didn’t like it.
“Then why did you kiss her?” she asked.
“My father and mother, they were adamantly against our union.”
Her eyebrows furrowed. “Why?”
He let out a held-in breath. “The rumors about the earl, your brother.” He didn’t want to say it, but the truth was long overdue. “About him murdering his brother so that he could inherit the earldom.”
She sat up. “They aren’t true.”
In her surprise, she forgot to clasp the sheet and her breasts were revealed to his hungry gaze.
He forced himself to look away from the tempting vision and meet her eyes. He sat up to face her. “I know that. But my parents, the marquess and the marchioness, they feared scandal. It was also known that Ian owned the Raven Club.”
She realized she was exposed and raised the sheet to cover herself. “I thought you were different. That you knew the rumors had no merit but were the result of cruel and vicious gossips.”
“I knew then as I do now.”
“Then why?”
This was the difficult part to explain. He had just turned eighteen and hadn’t known his future. Hadn’t yet grown into the man he was today. He’d had no control over his life then, and he’d resented every second of it. “My parents were coldhearted and cared naught but for themselves. They promised to leave me penniless. I did not want to do that to you. You are an earl’s sister. You were born and raised in luxury. How could I be selfish and take you away?”
“Ian would have provided for us until then.”
Old feelings of remorse and shame arose in a flash. “I did not want to beg to your brother. I wanted better for you.” It had been bad enough he’d had no say with his father. If he’d been indebted to Ellie’s brother, he would have given over the remaining control of his life.
“So you purposely kissed Isabelle and arranged for me to see it?” The accusation hung in the air like a frigid mist.
“She kissed me, and although I did not fight her, I thought it would be easier if you walked away rather than if I broke your heart.”
Her eyes blazed, and she looked like she wanted to hit him. “You fool! You did break my heart.”
Frustration roiled in his gut. “Don’t you understand? I did what was best for you. To protect you.”
“That’s the problem, isn’t it? You do what you think is best, not what I consider best. You should have told me. We could have found a way together. Instead, you let me grieve for years. Years!”
This was not going the way he’d planned. Ellie was looking at him with more hatred than when she’d first learned he wanted the Raven Club for himself. Why couldn’t she see?
Why couldn’t she understand he had done what needed to be done?
“Ellie. There is no need to grieve now. We can continue as we had years ago.” He reached for her, but she scrambled to the opposite side of the bed and clutched the sheet to her.
“You expect me to forget everything and leap into your arms now?” Her eyes were large blue orbs of disbelief.
He hesitated, more unsure than before. “Yes, it is my hope. Don’t you see? You can even give up your pursuit of the Raven Club.”
Her face fell, and her expression veered from anguish to anger in a flash. “Give up the Raven? Is that what this is all about?”
“No. You misunderstand. This is about us. The past.”
Her knuckles turned white where she clutched the sheet to her chest. She left the bed, dragging the sheet with her. “Get out.”
He froze. A cold knot began to unfurl in his chest and spread to his limbs. “You are being unreasonable,” he said, keeping his voice low.
“No. I’m not. You need to leave. Now.”
His stomach felt as if someone had hollowed it out with a dull knife. Somehow, telling her had been a horrible mistake. He’d thought he could make things better between them, that she would realize she could trust him. Instead, he’d achieved the opposite result. She looked at him with utter disdain.
Without a word, he put on his trousers and boots. He turned to her. She looked so small and vulnerable standing by the bed. “I’ll always do whatever it takes to protect you.”
“Out!”
He slipped the bloody shirt over his head. Not bothering to wear the rest of his clothing, he grabbed his coat and waistcoat and left the room.
Chapter Sixteen
“Grace has been waiting for you,” Ian said as he sat by his wife’s bedside.
“I came as soon as I could, and I brought Grace a book,” Ellie said, a leather-bound book in her arms.
Grace smiled in greeting and motioned Ellie to her side. “Wonderful. Ian just finished reading Romeo and Juliet.”
Ellie leveled a somber look at her brother. “I thought that a bad choice, Ian.”
Ian shrugged. “Grace enjoyed the play and cried at the end.”
“That’s because it’s horribly depressing. Have you no sense, brother?”
Ian ignored the barb and stood and kissed Ellie’s cheek. “What have you brought?” He snatched the book from her hands before she had a chance to blink. “Jonathan Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels?”
“It’s one of my favorites,” Ellie said.
Ian cocked a dark eyebrow. “Where six-inch-tall Lilliputians tie up a full-size man?”
“It sounds charming,” Grace said.
“Hmm,” Ian said. “First you want to run the Raven Club, now you choose to read this to my wife. Should I be concerned, Ellie?”
Ellie smiled sweetly. “No more than usual.”
Ian rolled his eyes. “Brooks has updated us. You are working on a women’s gambling room, and the marquess is expanding the boxing salon and plans to increase the number of matches.”
Ellie shrugged and hoped she gave off an appearance of indifference. “My efforts will be more lucrative.” She could only hope so. Too much was at risk, including Lady Willoughby’s future.
“We shall see. Time is passing. You both have only one more week,” Ian pointed out.
“I’m not concerned,” Ellie said.
Grace shifted against the cushions. “Leave us to our ladies’ talk, Ian.”
“With pleasure.” Ian fluffed Grace’s pillows and raised her hand to brush a kiss across her knuckles. “If you require anything, don’t forget to ring the bell, my love.”
Ellie watched the display of affection. Her heart felt like it was bleeding after her afternoon with Hugh. Could that heated encounter have actually occurred? She still couldn’t believe they’d been together. The sweetness of his touch and lovemaking had been tainted by his confession.
As soon as Ian left, Ellie pulled up a chair and offered a weak smile. “Shall I read to you?”
“No. Ian has been reading. I’d prefer conversation,” Grace said.
Ellie lowered the book on her lap. Reading would have been easier. She didn’t want to talk. She didn’t trust her voice not to crack in anguish. She swallowed and cleared her throat. “What does Mrs. Henderson say about the babe?”
“The babe has yet to turn.”
In a flash, Ellie’s melancholy vanished and was replaced with concern for her sister-in-law. “Oh, Grace.”
“But she has hopes the babe will cooperate. Mrs. Henderson assures me there is still time. And if the babe fails to turn, then she has delivered difficult births. Meanwhile, I am to stay in bed. Right now, I’m more interested in the goings-on at the club.”
“Please do not worry about the ledgers. I am maintaining them each day. Just as you showed me.”
“I don’t give a fig about the ledgers. How are you and the marquess managing?”
“What do you mean?” Ellie asked.
“Come now. It must be difficult to spend time in the club and not run into each other,” Grace said.
“Oh, that. We mostly avoid each other.” Ellie felt herself flush and prayed her cheeks were not turning a telltale pink.
“Hmm. I find that hard to believe.”
“Why?”
“I already told you. Because of the way he looked at you,” Grace said.
“You’re wrong.” Ellie swallowed in an attempt to calm her racing heart. She couldn’t talk about her shared afternoon with Hugh. Couldn’t even think of it.
Trust me, he’d said.
She’d asked him to prevent risk of a babe. He’d kept his promise and had withdrawn before finishing inside her, but he was still untrustworthy. He’d been deceiving her for years.
She felt shattered inside, permanently broken. Just when she had begun to believe in him again, he’d told her about the past.
The true past.
Never had she suspected his parents had feared scandal by wedding their son to her. The awful rumors that Ian had killed Matthew to gain the earldom had haunted her brother. Ian might never have spoken of it, but both Ellie and Olivia knew the damage it had done to their brother.
Grace had learned of it as well. Ian must have told her.
Ellie had often believed that it didn’t matter what others whispered behind their backs, only that they knew the truth and loved each other. Family was what mattered. Ian had protected and sheltered his siblings, his wife, for as long as Ellie could remember.
As for rumors of the Raven Club, it was all true. Ellie hadn’t given those rumors much thought.
She’d been wrong not to.
The old marquess and his wife had. And it had influenced their son. Hugh had known Ellie was to come to the gardens that fateful night. They had arranged it. Then he’d intentionally let her see his shared kiss with Isabelle. He’d purposely broken her heart.
Why?
Because his cold-blooded aristocratic parents had been against their match, had threatened to toss him out without a shilling? Ellie would not have cared. Ian would have given his consent for the marriage and would have aided them until they could have managed on their own.
But her feelings hadn’t mattered to Hugh. He hadn’t wanted to go to her brother. Hugh had been too proud to ask for money, and his pride had ruined their future. The only thing that had mattered to Hugh was his twisted belief that he was doing what he thought was best for her. He’d never given her a chance and had never asked her opinion.
Even more devastating was the fact that he still believed he’d done the right thing.
Once again, she’d let her guard down, been her most vulnerable, and allowed him to mislead her.
Grace watched her, her eyes sparkling with intelligence. “At one time, I was as stubborn as you are now.”
Hugh had called her stubborn as well. Anger rose to her defense. “I am not stubborn!”
“Hmm.”
“Stop saying that.”
“I apologize. But please know that I am here should you wish to talk. I am a good listener. Plus, I have nowhere else to be, remember?”
Ellie let out a puff of air. It wasn’t fair to blame Grace. She didn’t know the entire truth. Ellie had just learned of it herself.
“Thank you, but all is well.” Ellie refused to speak of the marquess, not when everything was fresh and she was hurting.
Grace reached for a piece of foolscap on an end table by her bedside. “We received an invitation to Lord and Lady Scotchfield’s ball, and it is two evenings from now. I cannot attend, but Olivia wishes to. Will you attend with your sister if Ian escorts both of you?”
“Ian agreed to go without you?”
“I gave him little choice. I insist he do right by his sisters,” Grace said.
Ellie’s heart was not in a ball, but she could not let Grace down. Or Olivia. “Yes, of course, I’ll go with Olivia.”
Grace patted her hand like a mother soothing a child “Whatever is bothering you, I trust you to sort out. Only a week remains until we decide who gets the Raven.”
…
The carriage rolled to a stop before Lady Scotchfield’s London mansion. Torches lit the entrance of the magnificent white stone structure. Liveried servants aided well-dressed gentlemen and ladies from their carriages.
“You both look lovely this evening,” Ian said.
“I’m anxious to see who is in attendance,” Olivia said. She looked exquisite in a pale yellow dress that highlighted her fair hair. An emerald pendant and ear bobs matched her green eyes. Her sister was a romantic at heart and sought a handsome, wealthy, and titled lord who would sweep her off her feet.
The Marquess of Deveril had all three qualities.
He was also the devil.
Perhaps she needed to speak with Olivia about protecting her heart.
A servant opened the carriage door and lowered the step. Ian helped his sisters alight, and they walked up the steps and followed a stream of guests to the ballroom. Ellie smoothed imaginary wrinkles from the skirts of her green silk gown as they waited to be announced.
When it was their turn, Ellie stood at the top of the ballroom stairs and studied the crowd below. The scene was one of melted elegance, as the glittering ballroom and the warm evening resulted in a crush of lavishly dressed people overheated and vigorously fanning themselves in the humid air. A group of people stood by the open French doors hoping to catch a breeze.
