Читать книгу Animal Lust - Lacy Danes - Страница 11

Devon walked Jane from the dining hall. “My brothers are a bit rough, but they are all kind.”

She tilted up her head to assess his eyes. A cavalier playfulness swirled about him. He appeared the calmest of the brothers. Her muscles relaxed. She didn’t feel as skittish alone in his presence as she had surrounded by all the brothers.

“Did you sleep well? The storm—I mean, it was something, was it not?”

“Oh, quite. I awoke a few times but briefly.” Under no circumstance would she tell him, or anyone, her dreams. He would take her first for a simpleton and then for a wanton. The first may be true, but the second…. The image of the dark figure kneeling between her legs last night returned. Her face flushed with heat, and she bit her lip. Wicked, wicked thoughts. She was a wanton. She turned her attention back to Devon.

He nodded. “We all are quite nocturnal. It is odd to have us all assembled for the morning repast.”

“Oh, I’m sorry. I—I hope you were not stirred from your bed for me.”

“I imagine we were. But we all sensed your presence anyway. I think Father wanted to see if any of us fancied you.” He smiled, and playfulness lit up his face.

She couldn’t help the giggle bubbling up her throat, and she raised her eyebrows. “A fancy would hold little consequence. I’m not of your station.”

They turned a corner down the main hall. Sweet mother! She barely came to his chest. She glanced at the tight-fitting, expensive coat, pulled taut with each breath he made. All of them were truly large. Large and handsome. She couldn’t imagine any of them actually regarding her.

“Station matters little in this family. Instincts—that is what chooses us. Rules our lives. Father is firm on it. And none of us have selected a mate for our lifetime.”

Her face flamed at such casual scandalous talk. “Sir, you shouldn’t be so informal with me.”

He gazed down at her and smiled broader. “Ah, well, that is true, but I won’t tell if you won’t.” His long lashes closed over his eyes, and the lid shape turned round.

What? She tensed and blinked to clear her vision—oh, my stars—then she stared at his eyes as the lashes opened.

What was wrong with her? This man was just a man. Madness. No one’s eyes changed shape.

“Are you well, Miss Milton? You have gone positively pale.”

“I—I…” What do I say? “I think I may have a touch of something. My vision keeps deceiving me.”

He stopped and turned toward her, his blue eyes wide, an open, concerned expression on his features. “In what way? What did you see?” His lip curved into a grin, and his eyes changed from pale, crystal-blue ovals to round, solid blue.

She jumped and stepped back away from him. Sweet mother! Chills raced down her back. “What…what are you?” The hairs on her neck stood as her whole body trembled in shock and fear.

His smile turned devious. “What an odd question to ask your host. Why, I am Devon Ursus, youngest male boar of the Clan of Tremarctos.” His eyes flashed and jumped, and the clear blue human eye returned.

“You…you…” her hand raised, and she pointed at his eyes, “are not human. What are you?” Her lips trembled, and she stepped back another step, unable to take her gaze from him in fear he would grasp her.

“Ah! That is where you are wrong, Miss Milton. I am human, only more.”

She turned and ran. She needed to get out of this house. She had no wish to know what that “more” entailed. Ever since her arrival, strange things had occurred. This house possessed evil, a witch house, a house of the devil.

She would find her way home; she didn’t care if she caught her death doing so. She didn’t belong here. She hastened her steps as she ran down the hall, Devon’s laughter echoing in the distance behind her.

“Miss Milton, I will not harm you. I only wanted you to know.”

She pushed open the large front door. The rain continued to come down in sheets. She trembled as the damp air pierced the wool of her dress, chilling the sweat gathered on her skin. She glanced beside the door. There had to be a coat, a blanket, a hat, anything she could use to shield her from the rain. Nothing.

She glanced over her shoulder to see Devon mere yards away.

“Miss Milton, please don’t be foolish. You will catch your death.”

She bolted straight out into the rain. She needed to get home to see her mother, to know that what she had just witnessed resided only in her mind. Not that being daft in the attic appealed to her, just…well, craziness seemed better than believing such could exist. Was that wrong?

The rain seeped through her wool dress in a matter of moments as she ran down the slick road fronting the house. Her feet carried her as fast as she could manage as her slippers sank into the thick mud. Just what she needed, to lose a slipper in this sludge! She curled her toes, trying to ensure the shoes stayed put as she continued her fast pace away from Tremarctos.

Thick trees lined the road. She had no idea where she was headed. Her head spun, and her vision grew hazy. She stopped to steady herself. An agonizing cry sliced through her.

Don’t leave. Where are you going? Stop!

The trees moved before her, inching in bit by bit. Her eyes widened. She’d gone mad! She swayed, the earth buckling beneath her feet as the forest closed off the road in front of her. She raised her fisted hands to her eyes and rubbed them. The forest has closed off the road. She squeezed her eyelids shut and shook her head; raindrops flew from her mane.

Pounding hooves shook the earth and vibrated through her. Sweet mother! They were after her. She darted into the thick grove of trees now covering the road. The branches were so thick she barely wiggled her way into the thicket. Her arm caught on a branch. She yanked, and the fabric of her dress tore; the bramble scraped her skin. Ouch! She wanted to cry out in pain but crushed her teeth together and whimpered instead. She needed to get farther in and hidden from the road. There was no room to turn. The branches snaked and twisted about in a thick mesh, holding her still.

She slumped beneath a large branch, unable to push against the bramble. She would never make it home! Her body shook, and she covered her face with her hands. The wet of her wool dress chilled her skin, and her teeth chattered.

Come back! Damn you! Do not fear me.

Leave, damn voice! Covering her ears with her hands, she tucked herself closer to the tree trunk and out of sight of the road. She would find shelter somewhere tonight! The pounding hooves stopped in a sloppy smash of mud. A loud whinny snort pierced the sound of the rain just beyond her shoulder, and she jumped.

“Damnation, woman!” came from the road behind her. That voice she had heard in her head; she remembered from her dream. It had been a dream…hadn’t it? The man from her scandalous dream stood in the road! She needed to look, to know whose voice, hands, and tongue had caressed her so pleasurably. Her head turned without further thought, and she peeked through the branches at the gentleman in the road.

One of the twins sat astride a draft horse and stared into the thicket covering the road.

What a mesmerizing sight! Soaked through, the horse blew fog from its nose. Steam rose from its body as it stomped its foot, mud splattering. Rain poured off the rider’s greatcoat and hat in streams. His broad shoulders and bunching muscles handled the large mount with ease. Her heart pounded, and her nipples pebbled hard. His beauty and confidence radiated power. She gasped. She’d gone daft. He was a beast. Her eyes widened as the rider’s gaze locked with hers as he swung down.

You are not mad, Jane. Though at times I think things might be easier if we didn’t exist, we do. Please don’t run from me. Let me explain who we are.

She scrambled to her feet, but before she could take a step away from him, large arms wrapped about her and pulled her from the bramble.

She twisted and thrashed in his arms but to no avail. With the ease of someone holding a feather, he held her in his grasp. His body about her, the rub of his arm against her stomach and sides, set her skin awash in heated dew. Oh! Her body wanted this man! His breath deepened to the laborious sound she remembered from her dream. How could that be? It had been only a dream, yet her body knew and craved his silken touch on her bare skin.

“Hold still, damn you.” The warmth of his breath heated her skin about her neck.

“Then release me.” She inhaled and tried to calm the intense arousal pumping through her. The smell of cinnamon filled her senses, and moisture flooded her sex. He groaned.

“Jane….” He pulled her tighter against his body. Through his greatcoat, his large erection pressed into her buttocks and back. She struggled, unable to control her body as her sex pulsed. Rubbing her bum back against the large ridge, she craved his phallus filling her. She was doomed to be a wanton.

“Let go of me!” Her voice held no fortitude. She cursed.

He backed up to his horse, muscles tremoring about her. “I will not permit you to drown nor catch your death out here.”

He growled as he placed her in front of the saddle and mounted behind her in a movement so fast she had no time to slide to the ground.

You goose! Where would you go if you did leave? You have no idea in which direction Sudhamly lies. But where did he plan to take her? Not back to that house. If he could handle her like a piece of dust, all five together could squash her. What a terrifying thought! But this man alone….

“What are you about, sir?”

“I’m taking you home.”

“Home?”

“Indeed, back to Tremarctos.”

“That is not my home, sir. If you are going to take me anywhere, please take me to Sudhamly.”

Warm breath tickled her ear. “I have no intention of letting you go anywhere.”

Her body responded traitorously to those words, trembling with longing so strong; the emotion frightened her. Her heart sped, and warmth peaked her nipples. He wanted her with such conviction. Desire and love with Jonathan paled in comparison. The passion of this man’s voice, of his body when he touched her, spoke to her soul. She was too naive to know that such desire existed in the world.

The ridge of his arousal heated her bum through her dress, and she squirmed in his lap, eliciting a groan from deep in his chest.

Indeed, the passions were carnal. She could not befool herself otherwise. If she returned to Tremarctos, this man would do only one thing to her. The act. He would not stop until they joined completely. The flesh of her sex burned; the remembered sensations of this man’s tongue sliding along her sex slammed into her anew.

His warmth radiated along her side, and she shivered, cozying her face into his coat to get away from the rain and closer to his heat, his intoxicating scent. His head rested on the top of hers. His arms circled her as she sat across his lap, rocking to the beat of horse hooves. He protected her from the rain.

His heart beat beneath her ear, the rhythm calmed her body and soothed her own rapidly beating heart. How could the embrace of this man feel so correct? Promise so much? He would surely do just as Jonathan did—bed her and then leave! No man would knowingly, willingly take a fallen woman. A woman who could be carrying another’s child. And he knew of her folly.

Tilting her head up, she tried to see his eyes. Which of the twins carried her. Raw determination and concern etched his face. His cheekbones were all harsh angles, his dimpled chin set in harsh masculinity. He was ruggedly handsome, more so than any man of her acquaintance. Yet he remained not a man. Or he was “more,” as Devon had said. More? He so desperately wanted to keep her. His intensity scared her yet peaked her hopes. She had never experienced desire this all-encompassing from a man. She needed to know his intentions.

“What…what will happen to me if I return with you?”

He didn’t answer and spurred the horse into a gallop. Tremarctos loomed out of the mist, and she squeezed her eyes shut as her head spun. “Please don’t take me back to that place. It frightens me.”

There is no choice. Tremarctos is my home.

He pulled his mount to a halt in front of the great door. A groom came forth and gripped the reins. Grasping her firmly, the twin swung his leg over the withers and slid down, never letting her leave his hold. He strode up the steps and pushed open the door.

“Damned foolish woman.” Devon strode up to them and then down the hall with them. “You will catch your death.”

A violent hiss of warning came from deep within the chest of the twin who carried her, and his muscles clenched possessively about her.

“Back off, Martin. I’m not here to challenge you, and you know it. I was the one who spooked her off. I want to make sure she is well.”

The muscles in Martin’s body relaxed but did not release their possession of her. Martin…. The one with the velvet eyes.

“Pardon, Devon. I can’t control it.”

“I know, you never could. Just try to go easy. Father wants to see you. He said for you to come to his study at once. I think he is afraid of what you and Mac will do. We all felt you use your mind. It was strong. Like nothing we have experienced before.”

Martin grunted.

He and Mac? What did that mean? Mac had touched her at the table this morning, and Martin had burst from his chair.

Would her presence in this house cause a family squabble? Would she come between two brothers? She couldn’t allow that. Family was important, the most important thing. She rolled her eyes. Her own family! She should notify her parents of her whereabouts. But with the rain, how would they get any note she wrote?

“Martin?”

He grunted as he glided up the stairs, taking them three at a time.

“I wish my family to know I’m well and where they can find me. Is that possible?”

He shook his head but said not a word.

Blast! Ma and Pa would be worried sick at this point. Shame on her for not thinking of them before this!

With his shoulder, he pushed open the door and carried her into the same room she had stayed in the night before.

“Martin, I—I need to know more…. I—I can’t stay here not knowing what is in this house. It frightens me.”

His entire body tensed, and his breath blew out between his teeth.

“I will tell you…. You need to know—just not yet. What Devon showed you was enough for the moment. We are all different, us brothers. Devon has the best control of what he is, and he easily showed you by his command. The rest of us are not that way.”

“But—but what of you, Martin? All this is rather odd, and not knowing what you are…unnerves me.”

He nodded tersely. “As you should be.” He deposited her on the large bed and stared at her with heat in his eyes. “Lock all the bolts. I will send up Jerome and Bruno with hot water for you to bathe in.” His gaze assessed her dress, and he frowned. “Please put on the dress I left for you.”

She gasped. “You left that dress for me? How did you obtain it?”

He stared at her with desire, and her knees jumped. Remembering the gift he’d given her the night before, she quivered. He was real. The man who gave her that bliss was real.

His lips were set in a serious line; she wanted nothing more than to kiss them. Her tongue slid out and wet hers in a blatant invitation. He didn’t move. Her brows drew tighter. Why? She didn’t know how to go about this or what she attempted to get herself into. But at this moment all she could think of was his firm lips traveling along hers as she tasted his warmth. Would he taste of cinnamon as well as smell of it? She assessed his face; warmth burned across her skin. His gaze locked on her lips. “Martin?”

“If I touch you at this moment, Jane…” He groaned and shifted his stance. “I had better not.” He nodded his head, turned, and strode from the room, water trickling off his greatcoat, leaving a trail on the hardwood floor.

Sweet mother! She had practically thrown herself at him. What good did bolting the door do when he commanded that effect on her? Besides, even with them all thrown, he had entered last night.

She sat back on the pillows, staring at the shut door, and shivered. He said they all were endowed with different powers. Did that mean only he possessed the ability to unlock doors? Well, the locks surely did something. She scrambled to her feet and slid each one closed.