Chapter 5
CHAPTER FIVE
Every syllable that Miss Chloe Vaughn had just uttered was echoed in his ears like bells, but Moses did everything he could to pretend that he had not caught the thoughtless words.
And yet heat was rushing through his body: heat longing to meet her own body, and possess it, and make life.
His mind went wild, considering what their children would be like: golden haired of course, and mayhaps tall, like him.
Brave and intelligent, like her. Stubborn, with his strength of character.
Perhaps dimples, perhaps not, you could never tell.
Moses swallowed. If he was completely honest with himself, he desired her far more than he could ever have realised – more than he thought possible.
He wanted her...her with nothing covering that delicious skin, everything taken off except those diamond earrings. The question was, did she?
“Oh, ceremonial bedchambers!”
For a moment, Moses was sure that he had misheard her, but Miss Vaughn repeated herself with a wild look and pink cheeks.
“Ceremonial bedchambers! You must have some, sir, a house as fine and as large as this, and I have a great mind to see them. After all, where was a king or a duke to spend the night when they visit if not in the grandest beds in the place! This way, are they?”
Without a backward glance, Miss Vaughn strode out of the room.
Moses smiled at the whip of her skirts as she turned the corner.
Well, it was all to the good that she was embarrassed, he supposed.
A slip of the tongue like that, it was bound to lead somewhere ill if his instincts had been left completely alone.
“Sir Moses, are the bedchambers this way?”
Moses stiffened slightly as the thought of Miss Chloe Vaughn lying on one of the ceremonial bedchambers, completely naked and begging for his touch, struck his mind.
Oh God, but to see her thus, to reach out and touch her, knowing that she wanted it as much as him, knowing that she was craving him as he was aching for her …
“Sir Moses?” Miss Vaughn’s head had appeared in the doorway, and she looked a little concerned.
Moses realised that he had not answered. “Why yes, Miss Vaughn. They are just up this staircase here.”
It took a great deal of effort for Moses to force his feet forwards, but once he started moving, he found himself almost immediately at Miss Vaughn’s side, walking up the broad staircase together.
Her hand was mere inches from his own, hanging loose, within grasping distance. Moses felt a prickle on his neck as he attempted not to notice, but he could not help but be conscious of every element of her body. She was so close and so beautiful – and so fiery, and so intelligent.
All he had to do was reach out. It could be an accident: a sway of his body, and their hands would graze each other. Just an inch between them, and he could feel the touch of her skin on his own and put himself out of this delicious misery.
Do it, he willed himself. Do it!
The moment that he finally decided to reach out and touch her, Miss Vaughn gave a cry as the gown that she had borrowed, slightly too long for her as it was, became tangled around one foot and caused her to stumble.
Arms outstretched in an attempt to break her fall, Moses acted instinctively, reaching out his arms and catching her around her waist, drawing her to him and balancing her upright.
Oh, but she was warm, and close, and Moses could feel his heart thundering in his chest but then realised that it was not just his own heart, but hers as well, pounding through her chest and into his own, and her face was mere inches from his and there was a look on it – astonishment of a kind, relief at not having fallen, but something else, something he could not decipher, and she was close, and beautiful, and every molecule in his body was crying out to kiss her and taste those soft pink lips.
Moses was just a man. Unable to fight temptation any longer, he lowered his lips to hers and bestowed upon her a gentle kiss.
It did not stay gentle for long – the softness of her lips, the way she trembled in his arms, sparked something in him which pressed his lips on hers and they parted, willingly, welcoming him in.
He thought he had gone too far, dismayed for her honour, but instead Miss Vaughn responded: her tongue crept to meet his, timidly at first, and then matched his passion with surprising sweetness and warmth.
Her hands were in his hair, and he could not remember how they got there but he revelled in the feel of her pulling him towards her, hungry, wanting him, needing him.
Moses’ own hands had moved – first clutching her to safety, then pulling her into his embrace, they now were cupped around her buttocks, bringing her closer, closer still as his mouth utterly possessed her.
Eventually he lifted his head and looked down at her. Chloe – Miss Vaughn, that is – was lazily smiling, her eyes filled with lust, her lips still parted, pink with the pressure of his passion.
“I – I will admit,” he said raggedly, barely able to find enough breath to speak, “that I am starting to become … well, a little overwhelmed by my feelings for you, Miss Vaughn.”
“You are not alone in that regard,” breathed Chloe – and he could only think of her as Chloe now, and would always. “Curiosity has always been my fault, and yet in this case, it is surely a sin to be tempted so. Oh, Sir Moses, you make my body feel things – things that I have never felt before …”
And her hands were still twisted into his hair, and he could feel her heart pounding in her chest, and it made him want her all the more …
But he couldn’t. How could he even consider such a thing? A woman such as her, a woman on her own, a woman unprotected, with no chaperone.
No one would ever have to know. The thought raced through his mind faster than he could stop it, and now there was nothing he could do.
He had to ask, he had to see whether the look in her eyes was just a feeling, or a determination to luxuriate in the pleasure that was but minutes away, should she choose it.
Moses’ eyes darted upwards. “We … we are about to view one of the most spectacular bedrooms in all of England.”
His voice was jerky, and for a moment he was unsure whether she had heard him correctly, so transfixed as he was with the lust in her eyes.
“I would never want to take advantage of you,” he breathed, and he meant it.
This woman wasn’t just flesh, she was intelligent, and witty, but most of all at this moment, she was doing things to his body that he had thought would no longer be possible.
“I would only do what you wanted. What you asked of me. What you craved.”
And then the light of dawning comprehension illuminated her eyes, and there was excitement there too, he was sure of it.
“You said to me,” Moses said hurriedly, “that you do not believe romance to be necessary for a successful marriage. What was it you said, exactly – that it is possible for two people to come together – ”
“With a mutual understanding,” Chloe smiled, and it was wicked. “For the betterment of both without the entanglement of romance. Is that what you want?”
“I want you,” he breathed. “And I do not think that I am wrong when I say that you would not be averse to exploring the pleasures of the flesh.”
He could not have imagined it; there was a quickening in her heart rate, and his own body throbbed in response.
“But – but the consequences,” she whispered.
“I can take precautions,” Moses said quickly. “This can be completely physical, Chloe.”
She shivered in his arms at the sound of her name on his lips, and he almost groaned aloud. By God, he must be mad to suggest this, mad to even think of it, but if she said yes…
There was a smile on her face, but it was wry. “Like an itch that needs to be scratched?”
“No one will ever know,” he breathed. “It will just be between us – an experience that we share, treasure even, but never need to speak about.”
If only he could read the expression in her eyes; if only he could know what she was thinking.
But that was what was so intoxicating about Miss Chloe Vaughn: she was no village miss, with naught in her mind but gossip and tittle tattle.
This was a woman, in body and mind, with a soul of practicality that matched his needs and a smile that made him want to do dark and wonderful things.
“Then yes. And you will owe me nothing,” Chloe said eventually, and her gaze was sharp, even through the haze of desire. “Nothing, do you understand?”
Moses’ heart started to sing, but before he could respond she had leaned upwards to capture his lips with hers.
It was more than he could take. With a growl that was barely contained, Moses lifted her up in one quick movement and strode quickly up the stairs.
Had the floor fallen away, or was she so mesmerised by the kiss that seemed to sear and burn her very soul that she had forgotten how to walk?
Chloe did not care, for she was in Sir Moses Wandorne’s arms and she had said yes to the most scandalous request she had ever received, and yet it felt so right. His arms around her, his mouth possessing hers, and her eyes were closed and she was lost, lost to him.
She swung round as they entered a room, and she was falling, caught by the softest sheets she had ever felt. Opening her eyes, she gasped.
There was too much, too much to take in.
The bed on which she now lay was large, larger by far than any bed she had ever encountered.
Rich hangings adorned the four poster bed, and the room seemed to go on for miles, with tapestries on the walls, gold shining everywhere, lit by the one solitary candle that Sir Moses had carried – but the decorations were not what had caused the gasp.