Jessie peered up at him. Her eyes searched his, and her up turned face in the shifting moonlight made his gut tighten, so earnest was her expression. Eventually she broke into a smile. “Of course I am safe.”
Relief flooded him. Stroking his fingers along the outline of her jaw, he savored the softness of her skin. So delicate, so feminine. The urge to hold her in his arms was almost over whelming. “I feared that Wallace would gain the upper hand with you and you would be unable to leave.”
She gripped Gregor’s hand tightly. “You trusted me with this task. Please don’t doubt me now. I promise I will find out what it is you need to know, and soon. My labor was needed and I am well placed in the household. Today has gone well.”
It had gone well. Why did that make him feel angry? It didn’t even matter that his enemy was close at hand, the man he had dreamed of undermining for these past eleven years. It was this woman that mattered, and when she moved closer to him, resting her free hand against his chest, he knew she’d infected his blood with a desire so strong that he was acting like a fool, and yet he did not care.
“Come, we will find somewhere away from the house where we can talk without being seen.” She nodded toward a place where the gardens grew wilder.
He allowed her to lead him through the shrubs and borders and into a more secluded area. As she moved through the undergrowth he heard her chuckle, and she glanced back over her shoulder from time to time as if to urge him on. How could she see where she was going? Gregor wondered. Especially here under the trees, where the scattered moonlight broke through only in patches? Following her blindly, he wondered at her strange talent. How was it that she surprised him still? Would he ever understand her fully, and why did the desire to do so unsettle him?
“No one from the house will see us here, but I must not be long away lest someone misses me.”
He could barely respond, so eager was he to hold her in his arms. He stroked her cheek and she turned her face into it, kissing his palm. As they grew accustomed to the gloom, he was relieved to be able to see her more clearly.
“Why, Gregor, I sense you are concerned for me.”
“I am. How have you fared?” He had to swallow down the urgent need to demand whether Wallace had touched her. That was the whole point, and he knew it was foolish to the point of absurdity to be angry about it happening.
“I have fared well. I have been given a week’s trial, and have already gained the task of clearing the fireplace in the master’s study. He pores over papers there, papers and maps. Today I learned that the maps are of the land he owns hereabouts. He rambles, and soon he will be telling me exactly what it is you need to know.”
The information she imparted should have made Gregor happy, but he could scarcely hear it for wanting to know something else. “Did he put his hands on you?”
He could not help himself; the question was out before he even thought it through properly. When she shook her head, relief flooded him.
“There is a fire in the old man still,” she commented, “but as yet he hasn’t being able to claim his right to soil the newest serving girl.”
She chuckled, which left Gregor feeling strangely adrift. They had been aligned in purpose, yet now he was not privy to everything that was happening—and he had to know.
When she saw his frown, she continued. “The housekeeper has taken it upon herself to protect me from the leering master of the house.” Jessie rolled her eyes. “It is only a matter of time, but for the present moment I remain the new, pure and virginal housemaid of Balfour Hall.”
There was wisdom in the way she spoke about the place, and her voice was filled with a gentle humor. It was only a matter of time, though? He had to fight the urge to suggest she leave with him now, before it went any further. They had come this far, so that would be ludicrous. But he had missed her presence, and his desire to couple with her was rising by the moment.
Moonlight bathed her suddenly, and it seemed to suit her so well. Her eyes sparkled and her hair tumbled to her shoulders most enticingly. Then she reached up and cupped his jaw, and there was a fondness in her eyes as she smiled at him. “Patience, Gregor. You have prepared me well and soon I will be privy to all the master’s secrets.”
Staggered by the way she looked, Gregor stared down at her. A desperate sense of need held him captive, and he balked at that. Claiming her mouth, he thrust his tongue into its damp warmth, unable to resis
t. Hot blood pumped through every vein in response to her, and he felt his cock lifting.
Jessie responded instantly and moved closer, her hands on his shoulders, her body warm and inviting against his. The need to be between her thighs grew even more pressing when he felt her tremble in his arms. Abruptly, she tugged on his hand and drew him down to the ground, where she lay back among the shrubs and gestured for him to join her.
He dropped to his knees at her side, eager to be united with her. The sight of her there, lying on the earth, with the smell of summer flowers all around them, struck him oddly. How true and right it seemed. It was so far from the place he had found her, and on the doorstep of his most hated enemy, and yet Gregor could not help noticing how fitting the setting seemed for her.
“Let me see you.” The need he felt to reacquaint himself with her was overwhelming. As he pushed her nightdress up her thighs, he ran his thumbs along their soft insides, his cock hardening as he did so.
Jessie grasped the cotton hem. Half-sitting, she wriggled it from under her, lifting it over her head and off, before lying back down. With her arms stretched overhead and the white garment twisted between her hands, she looked like a goddess in the moonlight. Her skin glowed and the flash of white fabric was like a torch held aloft in her palms.
Gregor bent over her, one hand resting on the ground at the side of her head to keep him steady. With the other he outlined her form, marveling at it. She was such a luxurious specimen of her sex. He had bought her for a cruel purpose, yet now he felt luck had been on his side when he’d discovered her. The desire he felt was growing more immense by the moment. His cock had stiffened and now it jerked, eager for the clasp of her. Never before had he wanted to be inside a woman so much.
“Oh, Gregor, your hands on me…” Her head rolled.
She did not need to say more; he felt it, too. “Yes, my sweet, I know.”
The malleable flesh of her breasts lifted in response to his touch, the nipples growing hard under his fingers.
While he explored her he dropped a kiss on her throat, and another on her mouth. Unreservedly, her lips parted beneath his and the warm, wet cave of her mouth welcomed the thrust of his tongue there. Acknowledgment roared inside him. Jessie wanted him—she wanted him as much as he wanted her.
“Ah, that is good,” she whispered, and abandoned the nightdress. With a happy sigh, she pushed her breasts together.