Regency Collection 2013 Part 1. Louise Allen

or hurt her. Lily felt the trust wash through her, only to be swept away by a jolt of desire so intense she almost cried out. ‘Yes. I love you.’

      He lowered her a little, watching her, filling her with love as he filled her with his body. Waves of arousal rippled through her belly, lower, lower, then suddenly it was as though he had hit a barrier. Lily caught back a little cry, tightened her arms around Jack’s neck for reassurance.

      ‘Love, I can go slowly, or I can go fast. Beyond this, I promise it will not hurt any more.’

      ‘Fast.’ She locked her lips on his, let her cry be swallowed in his kiss as he plunged, took her in one long thrust that turned pain into pleasure, sent her over the edge, down, falling into delight so intense she thought she must die of it.

      Somewhere, beyond the swirling blackness, the stars, the liquid delight that turned her limbs to water so that she could hardly cling to him, she was aware of the hard, virile body, sheathed in hers, the final thrust as he joined her in ecstasy. I have done this, she thought hazily as he collapsed against her.

      Lily came to herself to find they were still in the same position, only Jack was nuzzling gently at the angle where her neck met her shoulder. ‘So soft,’ he murmured.

      ‘I do not think I have any bones left,’ Lily confessed. ‘Jack, that was so wonderful. I do love you so much.’

      ‘I love you. I had no idea how much.’ He straightened up, gingerly. ‘I will try not to drop you.’ Unsteadily Lily regained her feet, looked down at herself, then regarded her lover.

      ‘Jack, look at us! We look like the cross between a carriage accident and an orgy!’

      ‘What do you know about orgies?’ He was buttoning his trousers and stuffing his shirt back in.

      ‘Nothing,’ Lily retorted demurely. ‘Although I hope to learn, providing one can have them with only two participants.’ She held up her borrowed trousers. ‘I do not think I can bear to put those on again.’

      ‘No.’ Jack regarded her, his expression a cross between desire and amusement. ‘How did you get to the mine?’

      Lily explained, and was left to regain what composure she could while Jack rode off to get the gig. He drove her back, wrapped in his greatcoat, the grey hunter trotting along behind.

      ‘Miss France fell in the river,’ he explained blandly to the concerned grooms who hurried to greet them. ‘I must get her inside as soon as possible before she catches a chill. Give that bundle …’ he nodded towards the filthy clothes she had been wearing ‘… to my valet.’

      The Great Hall was mercifully empty. Jack carried Lily through, and up the stairs. ‘Where are we going?’

      ‘To my room.’

      ‘But …’

      ‘Shh.’ Jack shouldered open the door, deposited Lily on the bed, locked the door and went through to what she assumed was the dressing room. There was the sound of voices. Lily scooted down under the greatcoat until Jack came back.

      ‘Who was that?’

      ‘My valet, who regrets that his lordship feels so tired that he must eat in his rooms tonight, and is so dirty that he needs a very large amount of hot water fetched for his bath and who will, of course, pass the message to Miss Lovell that her friend Miss France is so weary that she is retiring to bed and does not wish to be disturbed by anyone, not even her maid.’

      ‘Jack, you are outrageous.’

      ‘I can do what I like in my own castle.’ He smiled at her with unrepentant arrogance as he began to undress.

      ‘Jack—how did you overcome your scruples about my money?’ Lily sat up, trying not to stare. She had seen Jack stripped to the waist, she had just been as intimate with him as it was possible to be, but she had never seen him naked before—except for that fleeting glimpse when he had scandalised Aunt Herrick. She realised with a gulp that it was a good thing that she had not, because she might have suffered considerable apprehension if she had seen quite how … how masculine he was beforehand.

      ‘When you asked me why I could not sell my land, it made me realise just how rich—how blessed I was with what I had. That there was no inequality between us that I need consider, any more than you need feel inferior because of your birth. We both bring wealth to this union, but, infinitely more important, we bring love.’

      Lily, struggling with the distraction of the powerful naked body so close to hers, smiled. ‘I thought my heart was broken when you said we should act as though there had been nothing between us. It was as though someone had snuffed out the light. I had not realised, but I was still hoping you might come to love me.’ In answer, he bent and kissed her eyelids, his lips gentle on the soft skin, his breath tickling the fine hairs at her temple. His hands moved down to the shoulders of her shirt. ‘Jack, what are you doing?’

      ‘Taking your clothes off. We will then have a bath. A long, hot, very soapy, very wet bath. I intend ensuring that every nook and cranny of your entirely lovely body is free from coal dust.’ He ran one hand, flat-palmed, down over the swell of her breast, making them both catch their breath.

      ‘I then mean to make love to you. At length and slowly and as many times as we can manage before daybreak. I have made love to you on the carpet. I have made love to you in a furious temper and I have made love to you against a tree. I think it is time I made love to my future countess in my own bed, in my own castle.

      ‘Lily, my love, is that a proposition which meets with your approval?’

      Lily could feel the blush tingling all the way up from her toes. She dropped her eyes to cover the utterly immodest desire in them and murmured, ‘I believe so my lord. Naturally, I will be guided by you in such matters.’

      ‘Naturally,’ Jack said drily as he slid the straps of her camisole from her shoulders and leaned forward to trace the sensitive line of her collarbone with the tip of his tongue. ‘I look forward to seeing just how long this unnatural state of meekness lasts. Let me see now. Did I mention that I will expect my wife to give up all her business activities once we are married? I would not want you to trouble your feminine brain with all those nasty figures.’

      ‘I will do no such thing!’ Lily sat up so abruptly that the camisole fell down to her waist, producing a moan of erotic delight from Jack. ‘I have every intention—You are teasing me! Wretch!’

      Jack caught her hands, raised to box his ears. ‘Yes, my love. Just teasing. Now I know I have my Lily back!’

Innocent in the

      About the Author

      CHRISTINE MERRILL lives on a farm in Wisconsin, USA, with her husband, two sons and too many pets—all of whom would like her to get off the computer so they can check their e-mail. She has worked by turns in theatre costuming, where she was paid to play with period ballgowns, and as a librarian, where she spent the day surrounded by books. Writing historical romance combines her love of good stories and fancy dress with her ability to stare out of the window and make stuff up.

Miss Winthorpe’s Elopement

      Author Note:

      I can’t point to any one place or idea that inspired me to write the story of Penny and Adam. But I started on a day when I really just wanted to sit by myself and read. That is probably why I have a book-loving heroine. There is nothing quite like the feeling of sitting down with a good book, although I can’t seem to read as many as I buy. Penny’s overstocked library is definitely inspired by my own.

      I don’t normally use pictures as inspiration, but the little china figurine in Penny’s sitting room really exists. I don’t own anything like it, but I wanted something that would remind me of long afternoons I spent in an aunt’s living room, surrounded by ‘breakables’. I found just the thing, searching the internet: a figurine so fussy that it seemed the polar opposite of