Chapter Twenty-Six
London
No closer to an answer about Rufus’s strange behavior by the following morning, Clem penned a note to Lavinia seeking her help in making the chance for a private talk with Will.
If Rufus had shared his plans with Will, Clem believed she had an excellent chance of winkling them from her beloved.
After all, she had a secret weapon she could use on Will that was not possible on Rufus.
Kisses.
Will’s were devastatingly effective on her. They left her in a haze of love where nothing else mattered, so it followed that hers should similarly affect Will, if only she could arrange to be in the same room alone with him.
Signing her name to her note, she sent up a quick prayer that Lavinia could entice Will to visit her on some pretext and that Clem could just happen to visit.
Once they were alone in Lavinia’s parlor, if Will did not readily share details with her, she would kiss it out of him. If she could hold onto her sanity, she might soon know how their love could win out over her official engagement.
An elopement to Gretna Green sounded romantic, and she was all for that choice if no other presented itself. To that end, she began selecting clothing for a dash north of the border, in case Will should ask it of her.
One should always be prepared for the spontaneous.
A response arrived from Lavinia within the hour.
The news was excellent; no subterfuge was needed.
Will had requested time with his cousin to discuss her upcoming ball.
If Clem timed her arrival for a quarter of an hour later, Lavinia would be happy to leave them alone.
She would also leave instructions that they were not to be disturbed once she departed for an appointment she simply could not postpone.
Clem’s nerves decided to tag along beside her urgent need to feel Will’s arms around her.
Had she thought through her ploy a little more, she would have noted a serious flaw in her plan.
Will always behaved properly, and he would feel even more constrained to behave well in his cousin’s home.
Within those constraints, somehow Clem had to create a situation in which he would kiss her. The success of her plan depended on it.
How confident was she that his love for her could overcome his sense of propriety?
As she handed over her hat to the hovering maid, Clem froze. Why hadn’t she thought more about her plan?
Relying on Will’s love was wrong.
Will’s love for her would be the reason he would not kiss her in his cousin’s home. Remembering their fervent lovemaking in Rufus’s carriage, about how wild his kisses had driven her, she realized the truth.
It was not love she needed to tap into, but lust.
Before she could work out just how to make Will lust after her, the butler announced her and she stepped into the parlor. Lavinia and Will had been seated side by side on a sofa. They rose at the same time, Will standing back while Lavinia crossed the room and kissed her cheeks in the French mode.
“So lovely to see you today, Clem. An unexpected pleasure, having two of my favorite people here at the same time.” Linking arms, she drew Clem to the sofa.
So that was how Lavinia had decided to play her visit.
Clem happily agreed. “With the ball next week, I know you have much to occupy your time, but hoped you would not be too busy for a brief visit. I’ve seen so little of you this past week.” Turning to Will, she extended her hands. “And it is a special treat to see you, Will.”
Lavinia picked up the teapot and asked, “Would you like tea or—”
A gentle tap on the parlor door heralded a maid carrying Lavinia’s hat and gloves. “Beg pardon, my lady, but you asked me to remind you when it was time to leave for your appointment.”
Lavinia appeared surprised. She set down the teapot and took Clem’s hands again.
“I am so sorry, dearest, but I had quite forgotten I am required elsewhere. If I could stay, I would, and if it were anything other than preparations for the ball, I should not hesitate, but perhaps Will can keep you entertained. He told me some delightful news just now, and I believe our ball will be a wonderful success because of it. But I won’t spoil the surprise.
” Blowing a kiss to each of them, Lavinia glided from the room, closing the door quietly behind her.
A soft sigh escaped from Will. “I had not expected to see you today.”
“That doesn’t sound encouraging.”
What did that sigh convey? She’d heard whispered comments from young women her age that husbands did not expect their wives to enjoy the marital act.
Her abandoned response to his kisses had made her body sing.
She’d felt wonderful and thought he felt the same, but now she wondered—did Will see her differently because she had been so enthusiastic?
Her heart knocked hard in her chest, but she took a step towards him. “Are you unhappy to see me?”
“Never!” He came one step closer but did not touch her, although his body leaned towards hers like a magnet to filings. Their eyes met, his breathing quickened, and he looked as though he were in pain.
“You don’t appear to be happy.”
“I’m always happy to see you.”
“Then—may I kiss you, as your unofficial fiancée?”
His brow furrowed, and his eyes closed for a moment.
When he met her gaze, his was agonized. “I want you, Clem, so much that it’s a physical ache, but if I touch you, I fear I will not be able to let you go.
What happened in the coach almost went too far.
I won’t dishonor you like that. I must not. ”
“Until we are wed, you mean.” Certain now that her plan to draw information from him would work if she could just kiss him, joy filled Clem as that secret place between her thighs softened and tingled. Since their passionate interlude in the coach, she was aware of it every time she thought of him.
As much as she admired Will’s honorable intentions, it was not his honor she needed now. He was the best of men, and she felt safe with him, but she longed to know what came after they said, “I do”.
“I can’t wait to be your wife,” she said softly. “To know you in all the ways a wife knows her husband.”
“We shouldn’t. We can’t, not yet.” Rigid as a stone pillar, Will’s hands clenched at his sides.
Without realizing she was doing it, Clem took the final step that separated them and pressed herself against Will’s chest. Her hands crept up his vest, over his shoulders and around his neck.
At her hips, there was the same mysterious bulge in his trousers she’d felt in the carriage, the bulge he had tried to hide from her gaze.
Tipping her hips towards him, she rocked a little, surprised by a shaft of longing that pierced her woman’s parts. A breathy sigh escaped her, and she pressed harder against him, her lips seeking his as her body began to burn with need.
Will tried to step back, but she curved into him, unwilling or unable to let him go. “No, not yet.”
“Clem, darling, you’re killing me here.”
“It feels wonderful. Why do you want to stop now?”
“Because we’re one tiny step from joining as man and wife, and I’m holding onto my honor by a thread.” His voice was strained. Clem had never seen him so afflicted.
“Aren’t we almost man and wife?” Her desire was a living thing, so much did she want him.
Ignoring his attempt to create space between them, Clem pressed harder against him.
“We have promised ourselves to one another. It’s the same thing as if we had already made our vows in church. Please, Will, do not stop now.”
She kissed his chin and his cheek, and when he could hold out no longer, their mouths met with a passion neither could deny.
Soon, the softness of a velvet cushion was behind her head, and she found herself half reclining on the sofa.
Will’s lips traced a path from her ear to her neck.
She tipped her head to give him better access as one of his hands loosened the laces of her dress.
His breath whispered across her skin, and Clem half opened eyes heavy with desire, surprised to see Will’s mouth hovering over her bare breast. Her nipple stood proud as though willing his mouth to taste it.
He paused, then bent his head and touched her with his tongue. A jolt of pure energy arced through her body, and she arched up with a gasp of wondrous joy. “Oh!”
Staring wide-eyed at Will, she said, “I had no idea. Do it again.”
“If you like that, I’ll do more.”
His mouth closed over her, and he sucked gently. The sensation was delightful at first until a wave of something glorious began to pulse through her, building quickly. Her body yearned for him, for more of this awesome feeling his mouth was giving her.
“More, please, more!” Her hand slipped into his hair, and she pressed him closer.
And more was what he gave her, his lips sucking first one breast then the other, growing firmer as her body demanded more from him. She felt as though she were rising up to meet him and then—
Like a shooting star, her body blazed across the darkness of a world that slipped away beneath her until nothing existed but them.
Him. Her. Wrapped in each other, they were a single being.
When the blaze began to ease, she looked into his eyes. “Oh, Will, is it like that every time?”
He grinned, but his shoulders and back felt tense beneath her wandering hands. She, on the other hand, felt more like a blancmange, all quivery and soft.
“I hope so, but there’s more, if—”
“Show me.”
He reached down to her feet and grasped the hem of her skirt, sliding it up her legs and bunching the material to one side so it trailed off the sofa.
It felt strange looking down the length of her body and seeing her limbs exposed, but then Will slipped off his jacket, cravat and vest. He reached for the fall in his trousers, and Clem no longer worried about her own limbs being visible.
All she wanted was to see Will’s body, but he stood suddenly and crossed to the door.