Chapter Eighteen #2
Eoin’s hands slid under her shirt and swept in wide circles up her back.
As soon as he reached the binding around her bosom, he immediately began to untuck the strip of material.
He was defter this time. Within moments, her breasts were free, and his hands brushed along their sides.
Sweet sensation shot through Hannah, and her head arched backward.
Eoin pressed soft kisses along the column of her neck as his hands swept forward to cup her.
She whimpered from the sharp shards of desire cascading through her as his thumbs toyed with her nipples.
Oh, she wanted this man. Utterly and completely.
She reached up and undid the tie on her own linen shirt.
Pulling out the lacing entirely, she tossed it away.
Eoin immediately took advantage of the opening to press his lips against her bosom.
The stubble on his cheeks rubbed against her sensitive skin, triggering a wonderful cascade of shivers to course through her.
Her breath came in wanton pants, and her body began to writhe as her every fiber begged for a release that only Eoin could give.
She buried her fingers in his soft hair until they reached his hair tie.
Wanting to stroke the silky smoothness of his locks, she quickly undid the ribbon.
Eoin shifted his head so that his mouth was no longer pressed against her. But his fingers gently massaged, and his cheek still rested on her chest. “The… ground… too… hard?”
It took Hannah a few passion-dazed moments to understand the question, and she likely only managed to divine the meaning because of how much she wanted what he offered.
This time she was the one who couldn’t manage speech—even half coherent.
She shook her head. Eoin smiled against her before he slowly began to lower both their bodies to the dirt floor.
Hannah stroked her hand down his back, glorifying in how his muscles shifted.
He cradled her head in one hand as her back touched the flagstone.
The smooth rock felt cool against her heated flesh, even through the linen of her shirt.
She shivered. Eoin pressed closer while still supporting most of his weight on his elbows.
His mouth closed over hers again as his thighs bracketed her body.
“I… can’t… not… enough.” Eoin huffed out the words. Even though they were almost nonsensical, Hannah understood that he was trying to convey how badly he needed her. Part of her thrilled that she’d driven such an eloquent man to fragmented thoughts, but she too felt utterly undone.
Huck-chrrr-phew! Huck-chrrr-phew! Huck-chrr-phew!
Hannah froze. For a moment, she wondered wildly if she’d somehow cut off Eoin’s airway even though her arms and hands were nowhere near his neck. The horrid, grating sound was not one of pleasure. In fact, it sounded exactly like…
“Is that snoring?” Eoin asked as he raised his chin.
Hannah lifted her head as far as she could without whacking against Eoin’s temple. “It certainly sounds like it.”
Hannah’s gaze shot to the gosling nested in the corner. Although its head was still tucked beneath its fuzzy wing, the bird was not making a peep.
A different kind of energy shot through Hannah as she began to wiggle out from under Eoin. He immediately sprang away from her as he rose from the ground. By the time she’d scrambled to her own feet, he’d nearly reached the window.
“The bear is finally asleep,” Eoin said as he shielded his eyes. The sun had risen fully during their lovemaking, and light now poured inside, even reaching the spot where they’d taken shelter.
“I thought bruins slept at night.” Hannah vaguely recalled Matthew—who loved all animals—chattering about which animals were nocturnal and which weren’t.
“It’s most likely exhausted from prowling about,” Eoin said as he quickly peered out the opening.
“Well, I am actually feeling remarkably refreshed,” Hannah teased. Anxiety had begun to trickle through her again, and humor was the best way to ward off its potentially detrimental effects.
“So am I,” Eoin admitted as he stole another gaze outside the folly. This time he didn’t pull back. “It’s slumbering very soundly. You can look safely from the window next to me.”
Hannah quickly hurried over to the opening.
And there in a sunny patch lay a great black shape.
The beast had flattened a bed of overgrown honeysuckle to form a rather inviting-looking nest. It lay curled up with its light brown snout resting on pitch-colored paws.
Each claw was trimmed, and Hannah recognized the scars along its muzzle and its patchy, mangy fur.
“That is most definitely Ursus,” Hannah said.
“Yes,” Eoin said darkly.
“We should talk about this with the others.” Hannah watched the bear’s black nose twitch as loud snores escaped him. “It is a most unusual method to kill someone.”
“But first we must escape this folly.” Eoin stepped back from the outer wall and reached down to scoop up their clothes. “I am not sure how long the bear will rest.”
“Of course, the beast decided to bed down just when things had become the most interesting between us.” Hannah pretended to grumble as she yanked on her coat.
She didn’t even bother with binding her breasts.
Everyone in Eoin’s household knew that she was a woman.
The disguise wasn’t that good that they wouldn’t recognize her in broad daylight.
Eoin cast a wary glance in the direction of the snoring as he buttoned up his coat.
“I don’t know what to do with Ursus. It is not as if I can deliver him back to the Horse and Hen even if the Purveyor wasn’t attempting to engineer my death.
That bear was suffering. But I cannot keep him in my garden.
Perhaps he can join the other animals at the Tower, although I am not sure if King George will want to add a mangy, skinny bear to the collection.
Do you think your friend with the menagerie would take him? ”
“He would be delighted to do so,” Hannah promised as she finished fastening her clothing. She didn’t need to glance out the window to check if the bruin was still sleeping. She swore that his snores were loud enough to shake the stone walls of the folly.
Eoin, who had already fixed his attire, strode over to where the gosling lay still asleep. “I think it is best to leave Méibh here and to latch the door from the outside. It should hold, and she’s safer inside these walls. If she starts honking while we pass by Ursus, we could all die.”
“Agreed,” Hannah said. “And she’ll forgive you for leaving her behind. She is exceedingly tender in her affections for you.”
Eoin sent Hannah a dry look. “I was not concerned about that.”
Hannah didn’t believe him. Eoin might not want to admit it, but he’d clearly developed a fondness for the formerly dubbed “fowl.” Unfortunately, now was no time to discuss the degrees of affection between a bird and a man.
Hannah squared her shoulders and tried to calm the beating of her heart. “We should leave.”
“Wait!” Eoin kept his voice low, but his urgency was palpable.
“Do not even think of commanding me to stay! I am not waiting here with Méibh while you expose yourself to danger.” Hannah jammed her fists against her hips. “We go together.”
“I know you wouldn’t countenance that.” Eoin reached over and began fussing with her hair. “You look… mussed.”
Hannah started to laugh and then stifled her mirth. It wouldn’t do to startle Ursus with her glee. “I am mussed—although not as thoroughly as I would like.”
“But the servants may see you or, worse, my aunts and uncles. All four of them are very prone to gossip, especially Aunt Eliza. She seems to always know every tiny detail about an aristocrat whether in the capital or out in the countryside.”
“Eoin, it is very kind of you to worry about my reputation, but I’m not a fine lady.
I own a notorious coffeehouse and descend from pirates.
Most significantly, I am posing as your mistress.
People are expecting me to look tumbled, and I am already a walking scandal.
I’m just adding authenticity to the story. ”
Eoin frowned. “I—I suppose you are right, but I feel like… I should protect you or at least champion you. I do not want anyone to think poorly of you because of my actions.”
Hannah softened in a way that only Eoin’s sweet words could inspire. “You needn’t worry. I truly do not care what others say, and I feel no shame about what transpired between us.”
A hesitant but beautiful smile touched Eoin’s lips. “Neither do I.”
“Then let us cease this fruitless discussion and escape while we can.” Hannah lifted the metal latch on the door.
Eoin hurried to her side and removed the heavy bar.
She slipped outside before he could. This time she wanted to take the most dangerous position.
While he latched the door from the outside, Hannah kept a close watch on Ursus.
Thankfully, the beast’s chest rose and fell at a steady rhythm while its snores floated through the air.
As soon as Eoin secured the folly, the two of them slowly moved in the direction of the ducal townhouse.
Grateful that she wasn’t hampered by her skirts and petticoats, Hannah walked as soundlessly as she could manage.
Twigs and stems slapped against her stockinged legs, but the thick plant growth at least served to dampen the tread of her feet.
Despite his height, Eoin moved relatively noiselessly behind her.
As they neared the bear, Hannah swore that her heart stopped beating altogether.
The whole world seemed ensnared in a preternatural calm—or perhaps Hannah’s senses had become so finely attuned that everything felt slowed down.
She could feel each stem brush against her along with the cool touch of the gentle summer breeze.
The bees buzzing around the hollyhocks sounded like the roar of a mighty river, while sweet but cloying perfume from the crushed honeysuckle nearly suffocated her.
As she crept past Ursus, she swore she could smell his sour breath as he snored out puffs of hot air.
Although her heart beat as loudly as a drum, she could also hear every exhale and inhalation from Eoin. Each bird chirp seemed to rival a gong’s ring, and Hannah kept expecting the bear to shake himself awake. But his grunts remained blessedly steady and deep. At least for several yards.
Thankfully, Hannah and Eoin had already passed the bench that they’d shared last night when the snoring abruptly stopped.
Eoin grabbed her hand and tugged her along as they broke into a run.
By the time the first roar sounded through the quiet morning air, Hannah could spy the brick of the townhouse.
Even though they hadn’t raced for long, her lungs burned.
She’d never moved so fast in her life. Ignoring the stabbing in her side, she didn’t slacken her pace.
Over her own huffing breaths, she could hear the crunch of plants being mowed down by Ursus.
Another frustrated roar filled the Mayfair street.
Hannah didn’t think the bear was precisely hunting them.
He was just angry and enraged. Hannah didn’t blame the beast. After all, she’d witnessed his awful treatment at the Horse and Hen.
Still, her compassion for the animal didn’t mean that she wanted to be mauled.
In the windows of the townhouse, Hannah could see the shocked faces of the servants.
Eoin’s aunts and uncles had crowded around an upstairs window, watching the proceedings with less alarm than the footmen and the maids.
Although Hannah couldn’t risk slowing down to study their expressions in detail, she tried her best to observe their reactions.
Francis was pointing while Hugh chewed on some sort of pastry fisted in his hand.
Lady Joan’s mouth was flapping wildly as she presumably chattered excitedly to her siblings.
Only Lady Eliza showed concern as she pounded on her sternum—but Hannah suspected that she was more worried about the bear storming through the house and eating her than she was about the safety of her nephew.
Hannah and Eoin tore up the veranda steps just as Smythe threw open the French doors. A growl, closer than Hannah would have liked, sounded behind her. Digging deep inside, she tried to find a last burst of energy. She hoped that the glass could keep the bear at bay.
Suddenly, a hunk of meat sailed over her and Eoin’s heads. She glanced up to find footmen standing in the upper-floor windows and tossing smoked ham. Smythe stepped back to allow Eoin and Hannah to hurl themselves into the drawing room. Then he quickly shut the door.
Hannah glanced through the glass, praying that the bear would not charge through the panels in its pursuit of them. Thankfully, Ursus was happily chomping on his feast of pork.
“You are both unharmed?” the butler asked in his booming tone. Even though his face remained implacable, Hannah noticed that he was scanning their bodies for any injuries.
“We are unscathed,” Eoin answered.
“Good.” The butler inclined his head. When he lifted his chin again, he added in a dour voice, “I am afraid, though, there will be no meat on the menu tonight.”