The Abducted Heiress. Claire Thornton

slug?’ Jakob murmured disbelievingly. ‘In silk brocade and lace?’

      His face was very close to hers. His cheeks were grimed with soot, but she could see the small, pale smile creases around his eyes. After a moment she saw his gaze drop to focus on her mouth. She caught her lower lip between her teeth. Excitement fluttered behind her ribs. She found herself looking at his mouth. It was quite beautiful. His lips were well shaped, firm and sensual.

      Unfamiliar tension wound through her belly. Of its own accord, her hand began to slide over his body. She heard his quick intake of breath, felt the crinkled hair on his chest tickle her fingers. Her breathing grew quick and shallow. She felt the rapid rise and fall of Jakob’s broad chest beneath her hand. His blue eyes darkened until they were almost black.

      In a breathtaking instant he took her captive. His powerful thighs closed, holding her hips still. He curved one possessive arm around her waist, while his other hand gripped the back of her head.

      Then he kissed her.

      His action stunned Desire. No one had ever kissed her on the mouth before. She was unprepared for the strength of her physical and emotional response. One moment she wanted to wrench herself out of Jakob’s dominating embrace. The next second she wanted to press closer to him. Her thoughts were too chaotic to allow her to take rational action.

      His lips were warm against her mouth, sometimes commanding, at other times gently coaxing. His tongue stroked her lower lip, half-scandalising her, even as she experienced a new throbbing deep in her belly. She gasped, stirring restlessly between his legs. His tongue immediately probed between her parted lips. She was overwhelmed with the virile taste and smell of him.

      The deep, compelling needs that consumed her suddenly became too powerful. Too unfamiliar. Alarming in their wild intensity.

      She jerked her head away from Jakob’s. Turned her face aside as she panted for breath.

      After a moment she felt his legs relax their grip on her hips. He still held her in his arms, but she was trembling so much she might have collapsed if he’d released her. She didn’t look at him, but she could almost see the disturbing tension that pulsed between their bodies.

      Her hand was still pressed against his naked shoulder. She snatched it away, curling it into a fist she hugged protectively to her body. As her heartbeat slowed a little, no longer thundering in her ears, she realised Jakob’s breathing was also ragged.

      For several long moments they remained frozen in the same position, neither making any attempt to speak. At last Jakob cleared his throat.

      ‘You were well named, my Lady Desire,’ he said hoarsely, a hint of wry amusement in his voice.

      ‘No!’ Desire threw him a startled glance, then scrambled out of his reach to the relative safety of the wooden seat opposite him.

      ‘My father desired a child. A child who would live,’ she said vehemently. ‘“Hope deferred maketh the heart sick,”’ she quoted furiously from the Bible. ‘“But when the desire cometh, it is a tree of life.” None of his other children survived. It was in gratitude to God’s mercy Father named me. Not…not…I am not wanton!’

      ‘I never said so!’ Jakob exclaimed. ‘It is the desire you arouse in others—in me—that I meant.’

      ‘Desire?’ Desire stared at him, startled and disbelieving. ‘You desire…?’

      Her eyes dropped. She had lived a sheltered life for many years, but she still retained a vivid recollection of her mother’s account of a wife’s duties in the marital bed. Her knowledge of what that might entail had been greatly enhanced when she had arrived unheralded in the stables one day and discovered one of the grooms in an intimate embrace with a maid.

      It was the last occasion for a long time she’d ever visited any of the servants’ quarters without making sure everyone knew about her plans in advance. But the incident had left her with a certain residual curiosity.

      Was that…? Was there a greater bulge in Jakob’s breeches than there had been before?

      Disconcerted, uncertain how to react, she pressed her hand against her lips.

      She heard Jakob’s rough, disbelieving laugh and her eyes flew to his face.

      ‘Yes,’ he said.

      ‘What?’ Desire’s blush was so intense she was sure it covered her entire body.

      ‘My lady…’ He dragged in a lungful of air, and exhaled in a long, disbelieving breath. ‘You have discountenanced me,’ he declared. ‘What can I say?’

      ‘Nothing.’ Desire was burning up with mortification. ‘You are to say nothing,’ she ordered him in a strangled voice. ‘Take me to Arscott!’ She pointed an imperious finger in an entirely random direction.

      ‘Why? Do you imagine he will satisfy your needs better than I can?’ Jakob demanded, his voice suddenly harsh.

      ‘He’s my steward!’ she denied energetically. But she flushed with embarrassment at the objectionable image Jakob’s words called to mind. The growing threat of the fire had enabled her to delay giving Arscott a response to his proposal, but soon she would have to tell him she didn’t want to marry him. She hoped it wouldn’t create an awkwardness in their future relationship.

      ‘You do!’ Jakob’s voice emerged as little more than a growl. ‘Are you lovers?’

      ‘No!’

      ‘What then? Why did you flush when I—?’

      ‘I’m…I’m going to marry him!’ Desire interrupted, before Jakob could finish his dreadful accusation.

      ‘Marry him? When did you decide that?’

      ‘I…it seems a sensible solution.’ Desire lifted her head. It was far better for Jakob to believe she’d blushed because she was Arscott’s betrothed than that the steward was her lover. Besides, there might be some measure of protection in allowing Jakob to believe she was already promised to another man.

      ‘I’m sure Arscott will be an excellent husband,’ she said, putting as much conviction into her voice as she could.

      ‘Have you tried him?’

      ‘No!’

      ‘Then how do you know? What if he fails to rise to your expectations after the knot has been tied?’

      Desire gasped. ‘You are crude and unmannerly. You should learn to control your tongue.’

      ‘You should learn to control your eyes.’

      Desire gripped her hands together and locked her gaze firmly on her lap. Not because she was following Jakob’s advice. She’d temporarily run out of verbal ammunition.

      ‘When is the wedding?’ asked Jakob, with heavy politeness.

      ‘It has not…no date has yet been fixed,’ Desire replied stiffly.

      ‘Why not? You’re available. He’s available—and living under the same roof. Why delay even a day? Or are you waiting for his ailing wife to die first?’

      ‘He’s not married!’ Desire said indignantly. ‘I would never consider marrying someone who already had a wife!’

      ‘Hmm.’ Jakob gazed at her thoughtfully. ‘When did you first take a notion to marry Arscott?’

      ‘That is none of your business!’

      ‘Did he, by any chance, first mention it on Saturday evening, after I was dragged off to Newgate?’

      Desire stared at him, startled by the accuracy of his guess. ‘How…? I mean, that is none of your business!’ she repeated, angry at finding herself discussing such a subject with her abductor.

      ‘It wasn’t my business until I was propositioned in a Dover inn,’ Jakob muttered. ‘If I’d known I was going to get thrown