Chapter Fifteen
Alice rose early the following morning, the restless night before made trying to get some sleep a moot point. Her dreams had been filled with the memory of Callum’s lips against hers. Of how he had pulled her hard against his flesh, making the ache between her legs unbearable. She wanted more.
So much more.
She cursed and pushed Juno into a faster gallop, needing to rid herself of the longing that bombarded her every thought, her everything. The feelings he evoked in her were not what she wanted. He was not what she wanted. All her life she’d prided herself on helping others in need, of being truthful and direct with anyone she met.
To want a man who’d stolen from her and others, and who had broken the trust of his peers, went against everything she believed in. His cutting remarks last season were nothing compared to his escapades as the Surrey Bandit. She could forgive him for being an ass, but a highwayman? A thief? She wasn’t so sure.
Damn Arndel and the emotions only he could arouse. It would take her weeks to get over what he’d introduced in the most scandalous and intoxicating way. That a man and woman, a husband and wife, could love one another in such a way, bring pleasure to the other by doing such things was something she’d never known about. Now that she did, well, she wanted to know what else his lordship could teach her, show her, bring forth in her. If only her conscience would allow it.
She slowed Juno as the outskirts of Ashford came into view, the sleepy village still dormant at this early hour. The birds had only just started to sing when she’d saddled her mount, not wanting to bother the young stable lad who only had Saturday mornings to visit his family.
Alice debated whether to go and check on the cottages, one in particular for which she’d recently received the bedding materials. Her mama had helped her pick what was most suitable for the families going into the homes. It would be one less task to do another day, if she called in now and finished off the rooms.
Being Saturday, no builders would be about, so she pushed her mount forward and cantered into town. Coming up to the first cottages, she was pleased that no one was around to see her attire, her breeches and riding jacket were not exactly deemed appropriate for a duke’s daughter, but in her unsettled mood, she’d seen no need to please others.
Riding around the back of the homes, Alice tied up Juno in the narrow alleyway, and pushed through a wooden gate into the courtyard each property came with.
Lifting a small brick beside the back door, she located the key and entered what would be the laundry that sat off the kitchen. Locking the door behind her, she left the key on the built-in kitchen table and headed upstairs, the smell of freshly cut timber, oils, and dust met her senses and she smiled. It was an odor she’d become used to, and it now represented change and progress—two things she loved most in the world.
Making the second-floor landing, she walked into what would be the parents’ bedroom and stopped. Her mouth opened and she snapped it shut before her shock was marked.
Lord Arndel stood and turned toward her, his own surprise at seeing her there clearly written across his features.
Alice didn’t know what to say, but her eyes certainly had a will of their own. Her attention snapped to his chest, his very shirtless chest, that shone with perspiration in the warm little room.
She’d never seen a man who was not her brother clothed such and the sight of him did odd things to her insides, left her lungs without air, and her lower belly somersaulting with nerves.
“Lady Alice.” He seemed to struggle for words. “What are you doing here?”
Alice walked over to the bed and picked up the paper packages stacked on the new straw-filled mattress. “I came to set up the room, as this cottage is almost complete. This room was cleaned last week and I wanted to check that everything had arrived that I needed to finish it off.”
He looked at the parcels and back to her. “I came here after the ball to finish off a few small jobs that required my attention. This room is indeed all set.”
“You haven’t slept?” she asked, wondering if he was as unsettled as she.
“I never tried, for I knew I would not.”
She nodded, knowing exactly how he felt. “Are you done with your work? I can leave, if you have more to do.”
“No, don’t go,” he said, holding out his hand to halt her. “I’m finished.”
Alice nodded, feeling awkward after what they’d done last evening with each other and now she wasn’t sure where that left them, or what was expected of her from this point forward, or if she wanted him to expect anything from her at all. It was all such a muddle.
Needing something to do, she started to untie the strings holding the paper packages together. “Did you want to help me with the linens? Unless you have somewhere else you’re supposed to be.”
“I can help you,” he said, coming to stand beside her, picking up another package and tearing it open. Alice smiled, noting how differently they went about their tasks, she with care, Lord Arndel with none whatsoever.
The linen was dark in color, as her mother had suggested for the working families. White cloth would never do in such households, and Alice studied it, liking the look of the fabric, even though it was nothing like what they had at home.
She walked to the other side of the bed and opened the bottom sheet, watching as Callum grappled to control his side of the bedding. “Tuck it under the straw mattress, the weight of the bed will hold it in place.”
He did as she instructed, walking over to the top sheet and copying her earlier action of throwing it over the bed. “I didn’t think a duke’s daughter would know how to make a bed.”
She grinned, throwing him a mischievous smile. “You would be surprised by what I know, my lord.”
“Callum, please. No one is here.”
Alice didn’t need the reminder of how very alone they were. The air all but shimmered between them with a magnetism that Alice was fighting with all her might. “Callum, then.” She smiled. “Mama thought we should know all about the running of a house, and there was a time when I was younger that I followed the maids about Dunsleigh, bothering them with questions and helping them with their chores. They tolerated me well enough, but I do think they were more than relieved when something else caught my attention.”
Arndel laughed, helping her with the woolen blankets that had also been posted up from London. “I can imagine you following about the maids, your golden hair in pigtails, your eyes bright with enthusiasm.”
He walked over to her, running a hand through her hair that had fallen down during her hasty ride earlier. “I think, should I have known you when we were children, I would’ve liked you, Alice Worthingham. Would’ve wanted to be your friend.”
Her heart beat in a rhythm that was beyond control, so much so Alice thought it may jump out of her chest. “And now? Do you like me now?” He moved closer still and her knees grew weak. She licked her lips, eyeing his naked chest that was too close, and yet, not close enough.
“I do.”
The breath in her lungs expired. “I like you, too.” Her words were but a whisper, and even knowing all that she did of Callum, what she said was true. If anything, she liked him too much.
He stood before her, and why she decided it would be a good idea to reach up and touch his chest, Alice would never know. The hardened planes of his body met her palm and a headiness swept through her, hot and wanting. This moment, right now, was where she belonged and nothing had ever been so right.
Slowly he bent down and kissed her. Without qualm, Alice reached up and wrapped her arms about his neck, pinning herself against him. He reached around her, his strong, muscular arms holding her hard against his body.
Alice let out a little squeak when he lifted her off the floor and walked her backward toward a work table set up against the wall.
She pulled back, gasping as he stepped between her legs, the hardened length she had pleasured herself against only the night before tempting her yet again to sin. And she so wanted to feel what he could do for her, to have him caress her toward the mindless pleasure he’d bestowed last night.
A small frown line marked his brow and she reached up to wipe it away. There was no time for worrying thoughts, no time to think better of their situation. Alice knew very well what she was doing and the risk she took being here with him, and yet, she wouldn’t change her decision for anything.
Even her own morals were silent right now.
Here is where she wanted to be, and what she hoped they would continue in this small cottage room was what she wished for beyond anything else. “What’s wrong?” she asked, when he sighed, stepping back a little.
Callum ran a hand through his hair, a pained expression crossing his handsome features. “Nothing. Everything.” He sighed. “Do you really want to know what I’m thinking?”
“Yes.” She nodded, hoping it was equivalent to her thoughts.
He raised his brow, leaning in and placing small kisses against her neck. “I’m thinking that I want to push you up against the wall, slide those very tight breeches that will haunt me for years to come, from your legs, and ruin you here and now.”
Alice shivered at his words, her mouth parched from her ragged breathing. His lips left a line of fire across her chest and her fingers curled into his hair, holding him close, loving the sensations he brought forth within her. “And what is it that you’ll do, my lord?”
He let out a self-deprecating laugh. “I’m going to set you on your feet, walk you to the door, and not allow myself to follow you lest you only make it to the kitchen downstairs.”
The hunger in his gaze left her speechless and solidified exactly what she wanted. She didn’t want to go, nor did she want anyone other than Callum to propel her into womanhood in its most delicious, decadent way.
She clasped his breeches and pulled him back against her, his eyes, dark with need, widened and he shook his head. “You’re playing with fire, Alice, and trust me, you don’t want to be burned.”
Alice leaned forward and kissed his chest, tasting the salty residue of his hard work. “You’re wrong, Callum.” She untied the little string at the top of his pants that held them together. “I know exactly what I’m doing.” Next, she flicked the top button on his frontfalls, watching as understanding dawned on Callum’s face. Excitement over what they were about to do made her ache, literally ache, between her legs. “And I’ve always had a thing for fire, its complexity and heat, its power and wildness.” Another button slipped undone and the front flap of his pants fell away. With a boldness she didn’t know she possessed, Alice slid her hand in and against his bulging flesh, wrapping her fingers about his length.
She bit her lip, watching him as she stroked his shaft, his breathing ragged. Callum reached out and clasped her face, his eyes fierce with a need that left her breathless.
“Are you certain?” He kissed her quickly, gasping against her lips when she tightened her hold of him, stroking long and sure.
Alice nodded. “I am.”
Her words had the effect she hoped, and, throwing all caution aside, Callum did exactly what he’d said he would. He pulled her off the workbench and ripped her breeches from her body, leaving her as bare as the day she was born from the waist down.
With no time for modesty, he lifted her up again on to the table, shucking off his own pants before dragging her against him, rubbing her flesh and leaving her moist and impatient.
“I want you so much,” he said, kissing her deep. Alice lost herself in the moment, enjoying the awakening this frenzied need brought forth.
She’d never known a man’s penis was so soft, yet hard. It was the most odd, yet brilliant, thing she’d ever beheld. And Callum himself was unexpected. He shivered, pushed himself against her, laved kiss after kiss upon her, touch after delectable touch, so different to how Alice had thought her first time with a man would be.
Having spoken to young wives in town, a lot of them had said the marriage bed, or workbench in this instance, was uncomfortable, over quickly and unsatisfying, unless it resulted in a child.
And yet, the looks she’d seen her sisters bestow on their husbands, and the way Callum was looking at her now, like she was his whole world, that everything started and ended with her, made her wonder if those women were merely unlucky in their choices.
That perhaps there were men in the world who gave and received pleasure equally.
Callum’s hand slid down her hip, clasping her bottom before touching her stomach and delving between her legs. She moaned, clasping his nape. The bold embrace against her most private of places relieved a small amount of need that coursed through her, but still, it wasn’t enough. She wanted more. Much more.
“You’re ready for me.” Callum nipped her lip and she moaned as he slid one finger within her. Her body seemed not her own, and wrapping her legs about his hips she pulled him closer, liking the feel of him inside her, pushing against a secret little spot that left her breathless and in need of him. All of him.
“Damn it, I need to go slow with you, but you test my self-control.”
Alice liked the sound of his voice, rough and without restraint. That she, Alice Worthingham, had made a gentleman want her, exhilarated her more than anything ever could.
Impatient for more, Alice placed the tip of his member against her and urged him to finish what they’d started. Callum took deep, calming breaths against her neck, the muscles across his shoulders taut and fighting what Alice had recognized as a losing battle.
For today was, when she thought back on their association, always going to happen. For weeks a simmering attraction, a flirtation, had thrummed between them. Yes, they disagreed, argued even, but always, beneath such repartee, there’d been this. A conflagration of two bodies, two souls that would never be satisfied unless they were together.
“Damn it all to hell. I have to have you.”
Alice gasped and stilled as Callum thrust deep and hard into her, taking her virginity within a moment of time. He stopped moving, holding himself against her, kissing the lobe of her ear while whispering sweet apologies over the pain he’d caused.
The sensation of him seated within her was…different, to say the least. Where once she was empty, now she was heavy and full. She realized, with some relief, that she liked him where he was.
“I’m sorry, love,” he said.
She shook her head, wiggling a little to accommodate him more. “I’m fine. In fact, I’m more than fine.” Her voice sounded breathless, wanton even. Callum swore under his breath before he slowly pulled out and then slid back in again with exquisite care.
“Tell me if you wish me to stop.”
Alice pulled him down for a kiss, relishing in the feel of his lips against hers while their bodies were together in other, more delicious places. This act between a man and a woman was truly a marvel, and the more Callum increased his pace, sliding his hands about her bottom and shifting her a little against him, made her body sing and climb to pinnacles she’d not known existed.
She clasped the nape of his neck, holding herself against him as he pushed into her, dragging her into a world he’d only recently shown her to exist. Alice wrapped her legs about his waist, feeling the wood beneath her bottom, and the hard planes of Callum before her. If only they were naked, to have him kiss every part of her body, to tease her as he’d done the night before.
The fleeting thought that this could happen again, if they snuck away and used the cottages late at night, thrilled her beyond anything.
“You’re so beautiful,” he breathed against her lips, watching her as he led her toward a pinnacle, a relief from this desperate yearning that grew to a conflagration of pleasure. “I can’t get enough of you,” he gasped.
Alice shivered at his words. She was so close, her whole focus shifted to where they were joined and she fought for release. Needed to shatter in his arms with him inside her.
“Keep going,” she begged as he pushed hard and deep, quick strokes that threatened her hold on reality. “Don’t stop, Callum.”
Callum’s strokes became harder and faster and then exquisite torture burst through her body like a ray of light. Alice moaned his name as tremor after tremor racked her core before Callum’s own shout of ecstasy sounded against her throat.
They stayed entwined for a little while, until their breathing was level and heart rates calm.
Callum stepped back, a sheepish look to his face that made her laugh. “Are you all right?” he asked. “Truly?”
Alice slid off the workbench and, leaning up against him, wrapped her arms about his neck. His hands came about and clasped the globes of her bottom and even after all they’d done, her body purred with expectation. With a need only he brought forth. “I told you I’m fine. What I would like to know is when we shall do that again.”
He grinned, shaking his head. “Minx.” He laughed. “Not today, but perhaps in a few days’ time. I must travel to London, but I’ll be home four days hence.”
“London?” Alice stepped out of his hold, wondering what would take him to the city. Was it the unpaid debt he owed that took him there? The thought of him trying to garner more time to pay his cousin’s debt, against people who had little care for other’s concerns, left dread churning in her stomach. “Why?”
“Estate business, nothing to concern yourself with.” He tapped her nose, and bending over grabbed her breeches. As he stood, Callum ran his hand along the inside of her leg. She shivered. “I’ll miss you when I’m away, and I’ll think of nothing but you and your delectable self.”
Alice slapped his arm, taking her breeches from him. “I’ll miss you, as well. Don’t stay away too long.”
“Nothing would keep me away,” he said, kissing her deep and long and all thoughts of London and why he was traveling there floated out of her mind when he picked her up and threw her onto the bed, before joining her.
“You may be right,” he said, sliding his hand under her shirt and touching her breast. His fingers circled her nipple and Alice bit her lip, her body aching for more of the same. “Waiting four days before I touch you again is too long.”
Alice chuckled, but allowed him his way, only too happy to have him exactly where he was.
“I agree,” she sighed.
It was many hours later before Alice rode out of Ashford and toward home.