SeductivePersuasion Read online

  Aisley looked closer and discovered the grain enhanced the rich mahogany of the wood. “It’s beautiful. I’ve never seen furniture or wood like this in Danford.”

  “You wouldn’t. The trees used to make furniture like this are not grown by Englishmen.”

  “Are the trees grown by Abcynians, as well?” she asked.

  “Aye,” he answered. “Once they were grown in Abcynia, the land of my ancestors. Abcynia is gone now, but our forefathers saved our herbs and seeds and taught us how to preserve them and make them grow in different soil.”

  “How odd, I’d imagine any tree suitable for making furniture would take a long time to grow.”

  “They do,” Garrick said, coming to stand very close.

  She knew he was going to take her elbow before he did, yet when his fingers closed gently, though firmly, about her arm, she started.

  “Come with me,” he urged.

  Aisley allowed him to draw her to the bed. “Garrick, wait, I’m not ready.”

  “Easy,” he soothed. “I do not want you to be wary of our bed, Aisley. Let me show you that there is nothing to be afraid of here.”

  He freed her elbow to catch a silk curtain and tug it upward. After fastening it to an unseen notch he did the same with another veil until the entire bed was revealed. Cushioned with pillows of various shapes and draped in blue silk, the feather mattress could support three men twice Garrick’s size.

  Aisley wanted to touch the mattress, but she knew temptation lingered upon its silken surface. “I really think coming here was a mistake.”

  “Never think being with me is a mistake. Whether we consummate our pairing or hold one another ‘til dawn, being together is right. As my mate, I could claim you here and now, making you my wife under Abcynian law.”

  “Haven’t I the right to say nay?”

  “You will always have that right.” Garrick remained still, his hands at his sides. He’d do nothing to prevent her from leaving.

  “Was last night real, Garrick? You never pressed me beyond what I wanted. Would you do so again?”

  “However long you need me to wait, I will wait.” Movement caught her eye, bringing her attention upward. Garrick’s fingers danced across her cheek. “You’re so lovely. I’d like to kiss you. May I?”

  She didn’t want to refuse. “Aye, milord, you may.”

  Aisley turned to face him as Garrick’s hands framed her face. So gentle was his touch that she gasped when his mouth crashed down on hers. His thumbs caressed. His lips and tongue devoured. His scent and wine-tinged flavor bathed her senses. Briefly, he pulled back and nipped at her lower lip, drawing her flesh between his teeth and sucking ever so softly. Gasping at the sensual play, she reveled in the movement of his mouth and wrapped her arms about his back.

  Upon freeing her mouth, he nibbled his way down to her chin, skimming her jaw and throat. His face was darkened with a day’s beard growth and she welcomed the slight abrasion along her skin. His lips, tongue and teeth scorched a path to the place where her shoulder met her neck and she went right up on her toes to get closer. Once there, he bit hard and sucked the reddened skin before sweeping his mouth upward to the pulse pounding in her throat. To her surprise, he brushed her skin with his nose and chin, his long, damp hair tickling her neck.

  “Fair warning, little one,” he said, his breath warming her ear. “I tend to bite when I want to mate. I’ll never hurt you, but I’ll leave marks on skin as fair as yours.”

  He was sweet to explain. He didn’t have to. His biting and nuzzling excited her, made her heart race with eagerness as something hot and unknown pulled taught in her womb and refused to let go. It wasn’t painful, but it made her want feel achy and needful of something she couldn’t quite name. “I trust you, Garrick.” She’d come to trust him more and more each day. In his own time, his own way, he would tell her about his Abcynian ancestry.

  “Let me pleasure you, Aisley.”

  She thought she knew what he meant and she balked. She wanted to be married before they joined as one. “Garrick, we cannot, this is—”

  “Easy, love,” he amended. “Let me show you pleasure in a way that does not require consummation.” Garrick withdrew and removed her gown before she could object. Left wearing only a chemise, she drew in a breath and permitted him to discard it as well. A froth of satin slipped to the stone floor, where he knelt to remove her shoes and hose.

  She was about to grasp his shoulders when she spied that unusual glow on his skin again. He must have sensed her stillness because he shifted and kissed her bare thigh, distracting her.

  Slowly he rose and his calloused palms skimmed from her calves to her waist as he placed gentle, reverent kisses on her belly, her rib cage and her collarbone. His soft body hair teased the same places, feeling like a thousand tiny fingers caressing her skin and her bare, sensitive nipples.

  Standing tall once again, he kissed her softly before whispering kisses from her mouth to her pulse. “Beautiful,” he murmured, rumbling as he went. Warm, moist lips grazed her sternum, caressed the top swell of her full breasts.

  “Your breasts are perfect for my hands, Aisley,” he praised and lifted one hand to touch her left breast. Her nipple stabbed into his palm, the roughness from swordplay abrading the pink, puckered flesh. Several strands of his damp velvety hair slid across her opposite nipple and Aisley gasped aloud at the delicious sensation.

  “Oh my,” she sighed, trying to catch her breath.

  “Feel, little one. Enjoy what I’m doing to you,” Garrick implored. His fingertip circled her nipple, pinched and tugged, gently, firmly, over and over.

  Fearing she might hurt his shoulder, she eased her hands to his forearms and clenched her fingers as his towel fell. The vee between her naked thighs brushed his shaft and a spark of need ignited deep inside, spreading warmth from her womanhood to her navel.

  “Garrick, I fear I’ll burn alive,” she groaned, the heat becoming stronger, centering on a knot of flesh nestled above her feminine lips.

  He brushed his hands to her hips and held her steady as his knee slipped between her legs. “You’ll not. Part your legs a little more. That’s it, just like that. I’ll give you pleasure, Aisley. Trust me in this and you will soar.” Wetness flowed from between her thighs, seeming to prepare her for Garrick’s entrance. To her surprise, he did not remove his knee, nor attempt to forge into her, though she suspected he wanted to. He was moving with her, holding her, rocking into her.

  I want you, but not like this, not yet. I’ll not take you for the first time while we’re standing. Relax and feel, just feel.

  Aisley gave in, allowing his knee access to her womanhood. With incredible strength, he arched her backward, holding her steady as he lowered his mouth to her breasts, his hair falling about her rib cage, hugging her body as surely as his arms held her tight. His tongue swept over her nipples, laving each in turn with a slowness that would have sent her to her knees if he weren’t holding her.

  She whimpered when he caught her nipple and sucked the swollen, tingling flesh into his mouth. His teeth scraped, his tongue swirled, his mouth suckled, creating the most delicious tightening deep behind her naval. Her hips shifted with each pull, grinding against his pelvis of their own volition.

  “You’re so sensitive, so sweet,” he praised, kissing her breast, moving to tongue her other nipple, his fingers tending to the one he’d just pleasured.

  Continuing to pay homage to her breasts, he shifted his knee and rasped it across her dewy entrance. The rush of wetness alarmed her until he groaned so deep and throaty that she felt certain he was pleased. His bare knee slid between her thighs, caressing the most sensitive of places, the most forbidden. A small bud hidden behind petal-soft folds awakened, drawing all thought, reason and sensation to that one small part of her body.

  As his thrusts grew more urgent, more compelling, the silken hardness of his manhood slid across her hip, her belly, her hip again. Tempted to touch him, she allowed her lef
t hand to drift from his elbow and delve between their bodies.

  “God’s teeth,” he groaned, his hips arching with her touch. Almost desperately he wrapped closer, so close that his chest rubbed against her already sensitive, swollen nipples.

  Feeling bolder, she kissed his dark, uninjured shoulder and caressed his shaft. He was greater in size than she’d thought a man could be. She should be repelled or frightened. Instead, stroking his satiny hardness made her feel stronger and more willing to please him.

  He captured her hand, showing her how to stroke him. “Aye, my love, touch me. Pleasure me as I pleasure you.” He called her his love and her heart soared, her hand squeezing and pumping.

  Suddenly, wave after wave of delight tingled through her body, raising her need, guiding her hand and her hips. His knee rubbed against her feminine entrance and she cried out. At last, pleasure, deep and magical, crested within her as she rode his thrusts and soared with Garrick to the heavens, their shared cries filling the cavernous chamber.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Garrick came to his senses and smiled at the feel of his mate wrapped about him from shoulder to knees. She was clinging to him, still trembling with the aftermath of their passion and all he could do was rock her through it. He didn’t want to let her go or acknowledge that he’d been as shaken by what they’d just done as she was.

  “Ah, little one, that was beautiful. You are beautiful,” he praised.

  “What have we done, Garrick?” she asked, gripping his injured shoulder too tightly.

  “Nothing to be ashamed of,” he said, refusing to wince. “We gave one another pleasure. It was beautiful and sweet. I won’t have you feeling badly for it.”

  Aisley stiffened and he helped her to straighten, purposefully leaving his hands at her waist. With her hair falling in tangles about her face she looked ravished and beautiful. Even though he’d spent his seed, he was already hardening as he looked down upon her. Lovely, he thought silently, and soon she would be his to bed by English law when they wed.

  “I cannot feel badly when something feels so good, but I’m not certain we should have done that,” she whispered. “At least we weren’t joined, not in truth. My chastity remains.”

  Garrick shook his head, wanting her with a fierceness that awakened his panthera instincts to both claim and protect her. “I would not have known such pleasure without you, just as you needed me. We were joined, Aisley.” The leopard wanted him to bite and begin her conversion so that she might accept what he was. The Abcynian wanted to lift her into his arms and carry her to bed, where he would claim her as his own in the most primitive way he could.

  Aisley trembled and glanced down, belatedly discovering the evidence of what they’d done on his thigh and hers. Her eyes remained on his manhood, her breath heavy. She watched him lengthen and he felt the warmth of her gaze linger while he hardened. Bloody hell, if he didn’t move away he would spend himself again without much more than a glance and kiss. All he had to do was to lift her chin and silence her concerns with his mouth.

  “Aisley, look at me,” he encouraged. “Don’t be afraid.” Realizing that she was still shaking, he released her waist and placed one hand on her cheek and jaw, raising her head. “Thank you for coming to me tonight, little one. Being with you was a gift I shall treasure.”

  A whisper of a smile came to her lips, drawing his attention to its fullness. “Garrick…I should go. I’m new to this and worry that continuing to court temptation is wise.”

  “You’re not going back to your chambers,” Before she could protest, he lifted her into his arms and placed her on the bed.

  “Garrick? Didn’t you hear me?”

  “Worry not. I heard you. I’ll not press you further tonight. Stay where you are,” he insisted.

  Turning away, he strode across the room to the bathtub and soaked a clean cloth in the water. Watching her to make certain she didn’t move, he returned to the bed and washed her thighs. Only after she was clean did he tend himself.

  “You are a kind man,” Aisley said with a smile. Her cheeks were flushed innocently from what he’d done, but he was pleased that she permitted him to take care of her.

  “Do not let Lucien hear you say that.” Garrick tossed the cloth aside and climbed into bed beside her. “He takes too much liberty at my expense.”

  “It is strange that you allow him to. He is a lord and has sworn fealty to you and the King. As an earl, you hold a higher rank.”

  Garrick noticed her frown and brought her head to rest on his shoulder. He didn’t like when Aisley was unhappy or worried.

  “In the eyes of England and Henry, he is beholden to me and the monarchy,” he said. “Aisley, you should know that Lucien is the eldest of Abcynian kind. To us, he is the equivalent of a king. Even here in England I wouldn’t be surprised if his title someday surpassed mine.”

  “Now I understand why Lady Hunter reminds me of a queen.” Aisley’s voice had grown tired, revealing the exhaustion she felt in the aftermath of their pleasure. “Garrick, does the King know about the Abcynians? What would happen if he knew?”

  “He does not know about my lineage. Abcynia was destroyed so long ago he would see my kind as nothing more than myth. I was born and raised in England. I’m the rightful Earl of Danford and my family has controlled the earldom for centuries. My brothers were able to earn themselves baronies for their loyalty to Henry. He knows the Forresters belong in England. You needn’t worry. For now, I think it best for us to rest and speak of this on the morrow.”

  “As you wish,” she sighed and curled further into his body. “Are you certain this isn’t difficult for you? Lying together as if we were wed, I mean.”

  “I am certain, little one. Being with you like this is a privilege I’ll not deny myself unless you are ill or the moon is full. Once we take our vows, the moon will have no consequence on where I sleep.”

  Aisley hummed, shifting her head on his chest. “Why would the moon change anything?” she asked, though her yawn warned that she was too tired to understand the significance.

  “I’ll explain when the time comes,” he decided, then placed a kiss on the top of her head. “Rest, my lady, I will hold you and keep you safe.”

  It wasn’t long before her breathing slowed and her eyes closed. Content holding her, Garrick brought her closer, offering his mate the protection of his body.

  Sleep came upon him easily. When he awakened much later, it was to find Aisley’s back pressed to his chest. Her soft, warm buttocks fit nicely between his thighs. He was hard as stone and he wanted nothing more than to slip into her from behind, but he knew it would be wrong.

  Aisley wanted to be married before they crossed the final barrier as lovers. Eventually, he would persuade her to trust him and he would have to hold his needs at bay until they wed. When he took her on their wedding night, she would know what he was and he would introduce her to Abcynian desire and mating.

  “Go back to sleep, Garrick,” Aisley mumbled, half asleep, yet aware of his stirring.

  Garrick placed a kiss to her temple and followed her command.

  * * * * *

  “John, you are an invaluable ally,” Sedgewick proclaimed.

  “Only because I afforded you the right to a wench’s bed,” John Brewster granted. With the skill of a warrior, he studied the darkened, crowded tavern and Sedgewick couldn’t help admire his friend. “Remember that right will last only for a night. By the morrow, I hope to find Edwina and ask her to join us. If she balks, I will use any means necessary to assure that she changes her mind.”

  Sedgewick smiled, watching a tavern wench come toward their table. “I will remember,” he said.

  How could he forget the luxuries John provided since they’d left Fernley? Even though they had slept outside a night or two, he’d never he eaten so well. Mostly, they slept in inns or in houses owned by barons and lords and dined on meals reserved for nobles.

  Sedgewick wasn’t certain how John worked his mir
acles, but he was pleased that he decided to follow him to Welford. They’d formed a plan to thwart the Earl of Danford and his witch and they would succeed. John felt as though they would need Edwina Baker to help them. Mayhap his friend was right. But he’d rather not rely on the whims of a woman that had sold her niece for a few marks.

  The wench finally reached them and smiled at John. A little jealous, Sedgewick showed her the coins on the table. She smiled and took a seat right in his lap. She felt good, smelled of ale and bread. Her teeth were clean. Her body pleasantly plump. She would do for the night.

  “Go and take your lady upstairs,” John insisted, tossing two more marks on the table. “Enjoy the whole evening.”

  The service wench hopped off Sedgewick’s lap to reach for the money. “Hold right there, I’ll be handing you the money,” he warned.

  “Sorry, m’lord,” the wench said.

  “Let’s go,” Sedgewick ordered with a slap to her rump. Reaching across the table for the money, he made to leave.

  “Wait,” John ordered. A firm hand snatched Sedgewick’s wrist, chilling his skin. It was hot and crowded in the tavern. The man’s hand should not feel cold. “Ask your lady for the whereabouts of Edwina Baker,” he whispered.

  “Can it not wait until morn?”

  John shook his head. “It cannot.”

  “Woman, I’ll have your name,” Sedgewick asked the wench.

  “Hazel, m’lord.”

  “A very nice name,” he said. “Hazel, would you happen to know a woman named Edwina Baker? She once resided in this town.”

  Hazel’s plump face softened with a smile. “She works ‘ere in the tavern, she does.”

  Sedgewick searched the crowd. “I do not see her.” His memory of the girl had faded, but he’d been certain he would remember her face when he saw her.

  “She works in the kitchens.”

  John mumbled something and stood. “The two of you may go,” he granted.

  Sedgewick turned back to the wench, giving little thought to what might happen next. Edwina was the key to bringing revenge upon the witch of Danford and the Earl of Danford. Without Edwina, nothing would proceed. He’d have to trust that John Brewster would convince the woman to help them.