“I won’t let you fall in.” He started toward a small blue rowboat and picked up the oars with one hand. “Come.” He held out his empty palm.
She hesitated only a moment before slipping her fingers around his. He helped her into the boat and then pushed off. Ella sat stiffly across from him, her breathing shallow, making him question whether rowing was such a good idea.
“Breathe, Ella,” he said softly.
After shrugging the jacket from his shoulders, he began to row, eager for the physical exercise.
Ella clutched the sides of the boat, her face pale. “I am breathing.”
He grinned. “You look stiff as a board. Do you know how to relax without someone forcing you?”
Ella frowned. “I don’t know.”
Leo stopped rowing and leaned forward, surprised by her answer. “Ella, have you never just lay on the grass and stared at the clouds? Have you never sat on the beach and watched the waves?”
She drew her fingers along the edge of the boat. “When I was a child I remember playing on the beach with my grandfather.”
He found her answer rather depressing. “What happened to your parents?” he asked as they drifted across the pond.
“They died when I was only a few years old. A fever. I lived with my grandfather until I was six.” She leaned over and dipped her fingers into the pond. “He died, and I went to the orphanage. Grandfather and I would visit the beach. I’d collect shells, and he’d sit and enjoy the sun.”
“And your uncle?” He tried to keep his voice casual, even while his heart hammered in his chest, as he was eager for answers and realizing it was the opportune time to ask.
She sat back. “I only saw him a few times. He was always traveling. He had a wife and child who lived in the Americas, but I never met them.”
“Couldn’t you have found them? When your uncle disappeared?”
She smiled and shook her head. “I had no idea where they were, and there was no one to help a young child without a coin to her name.”
He brushed aside the picture of Ella as a small girl, alone and scared, and ignored the clenching of his heart. “And since the orphanage, have you not once relaxed?”
She settled back against the pillows in the bow of the boat and gave him a soft smile. “No. You don’t have time to relax at the orphanage. Always work.”
He tightened his fingers around the smooth handles of the oars and pulled through the water, his muscles flexing with the movement. He couldn’t imagine never resting, never sitting and watching the moon or sun rise. Even in the jungle, he’d had plenty of time to observe wildlife or the way the sun’s rays pierced the thick foliage.
A shrill laugh drew his attention to the others in the group. He’d purposefully rowed them away from the rest, although Ella hadn’t seemed to notice or care.
She leaned forward and narrowed her eyes. “What do you suppose that is?”
He glanced over his shoulder, following her line of vision. A small Grecian building erupted from the center of an island. “A folly. My grandfather built it years ago.”
“It’s beautiful. I almost feel as if I’m in Greece.”
He looked at her, surprised by her comment. “You know about the country?”
She blushed and shrugged. “A little. The bookkeeper in town would loan me novels. I read one once about the area. Have you been there?”
“Years ago, with my parents. Though I barely remember.”
A dreamy look washed over her gaze as she played with the lace on the cuff of her sleeves. “I’d love to see it. I’d love to see anything…anywhere.”
He found her wishes refreshingly charming and innocent. Hadn’t he had the same dreams once? “Perhaps you will.”
Ella laughed, a merry sound that sounded like church bells on a warm summer morning. “A woman does not travel, especially unmarried.”
He frowned, realizing what she said was true. So many ridiculous rules to learn and observe. The sooner he left England, the better.
A sudden breeze sent ripples across the pond’s surface. Ella crossed her arms over her chest, shivering. Above, gray clouds rolled through the sky and thunder rumbled in the distance. A few women on the other side of the pond shrieked.
“Will it storm?” Ella asked, looking up.
Lightning flashed, spreading like tree branches across the sky.
“I guess that answers your question.” He gave one final push of the oars, and they hit the bank of the island.
She turned to look behind them. “Where are we going? Should we not head back with the others?”
“It would be easier to wait it out here. Unless you have a great desire to be in their company?”
“No,” she said, inching her way toward the bow.
Leo jumped from the boat and held out his hands. Always so trustful, she leaned forward, and he wrapped his fingers around her waist, lifting her to the ground. She was only inches from him. Slowly, she lifted her gaze, and their eyes met. Did she think of that field of wildflowers? Did she think of their kisses? Did her body burn for him as his did for her?
A cold drop landed with a splat on his cheek. He looked up to find the sky threatening more. Ella bolted around him, her laughter trailing behind her. Leo glanced across the pond. The others had disappeared, most likely to return home.
They were alone…utterly alone.
Ella’s boots tapped against the marble floor as she sought shelter under the alcove of the small temple. She spun around, watching Leo race up the hill after her. His feet hit the steps, and the skies opened, releasing a torrent of rain.
“In the knick of time,” Ella breathed.
Droplets of water trailed down his neck, wetting his white shirt and making the material cling to his muscled chest. She swallowed hard and looked away.
Trapped.
She was trapped with Leo on an island. Trapped with a man who made her heart race, a man whom she found she always wanted to be with. Yet at the same time she feared the heat in his eyes and the way he made her feel. Dear Lord, of all times not to be able to read his feelings, it had to be now.
She’d been trying since he’d stepped into the gardens but with no success. She took in a deep breath and smelled musty earth, mingled with the scent that was Leo. Hot and pulsing, the necklace thumped against her chest. Why was it when she couldn’t read his feelings, the necklace reacted as if offended?
He leaned against a pillar and gazed out across the lake. “I love the smell of rain. Everything smells so clean, so fresh.”
Ella merely stood there, feeling like a mortal in the company of a God. Truly, he was magnificent. Was he real or a Greek statue come to life? Her fingers curled into the folds of her gown as she resisted the urge to touch him…to smooth her hands over the hard planes of his face. How she wished she had his artistic abilities so she could paint him.
“When I was a child, I would visit here and dream of what my life would be,” he said.
It was difficult to think of him as a child, living here pampered and spoiled. It was easier to think of him wild in the jungle. “What would you dream?” she asked.
He smiled, crossing his arms over his chest. “Of adventure, of visiting far off lands. I begged them to take me with to India. My first trip from this country and my parents were murdered.”
Ella took her bottom lip between her teeth and resisted the urge to comfort him. As much as she wanted to, he wasn’t hers to comfort. “And what do you dream of now?”
He turned and looked at her, his gaze intense, heated. “Peace from nightmares, from the demons that have plagued me since childhood. Sleeping through the night without waking in a cold sweat.” He stepped closer. “Help me forget, Ella.”
When he pulled her close and pressed his face to her hair, she knew she would agree to anything. She heard him breathe in her scent right before he lowered his head and kissed the side of her neck. Her knees went weak. She turned into him, and their lips met. Greedily, she tasted. His arms
slid around her waist and pulled her against his hard body. He tasted of rain, of cleanliness, of him.
Much too soon he pulled away from her. “What do you want Ella? If you could have anything?”
You. Her breath caught as that thought popped into her head. No, no. Absolutely not. She couldn’t have Leo; she wouldn’t even think such thoughts.
She pushed away from him and stepped back, suddenly needing distance. “I told you, my freedom.”
What was she doing? She couldn’t be here…alone…with him. She was his governess, merely his teacher, and the man was stations above her.
His attention slipped to her arms, crossed tightly over her chest. “You’re cold.”
She shook her head. “I’m fine.”
“No, you’re shivering.” He moved across the patio and into the small building.
“Leo?” She followed him into the open room, surprised her legs could hold her. “What are you doing?” The circular area was surrounded with windows that were covered with floor-to-ceiling drapes of royal purple. A settee and a large daybed were the only furniture, and in the middle of the room stood a statue of a couple, naked and embracing. Ella flushed and tore her gaze away from the erotic piece of art.
“Here.” Leo pushed a woolen blanket into her arms, the material scratching her skin, but providing warmth from the chill.
“Thank you.” Ella placed the wrap around her shoulders, using the blanket as a buffer. With a throw and her clothes on, perhaps she could keep the man at bay and forget about the ache he produced, forget…
Leo began to unbutton his shirt.
“What…what are you doing?” she demanded.
“You may be able to wait out the storm in wet clothing, but I won’t.” He tossed his shirt to the settee. She turned her back to him, but not before she took in the dips and hills of his muscled chest. “You are not taking off your trousers too.”
“Well, it’s only fair that since I saw you naked, you see me naked.”
He couldn’t be serious. Could he? Preposterous, horrifying, yet…yet, she couldn’t deny her curiosity was piqued. Fair was fair, after all.
“It’s all right,” he said. “You can turn around.”
Slowly, she turned. A blanket was wrapped around his waist. Disappointment washed over her, but she tried not to let it show and took satisfaction in the realization that his chest was deliciously unveiled, tanned and glistening with rain.
He strolled to the open doors and she couldn’t help but admire the way his muscles bunched as he moved. Like his cat, he was sleek and fit. Perhaps it was silly to be ashamed of her attraction. After all, any woman would be attracted to Leo. He was a work of art, a perfect creation of God.
“It still amuses me how much clothing the English wear,” he said. “In India you’d suffocate with so much material. Yet, the women still try when they come with their husbands.”
She didn’t respond, although on hot summer days, she’d often cursed her shift, corset, and crinoline.
“It doesn’t look as if the rain will let up anytime soon.” As if to support his words, thunder shook the small building. The room seemed to shift, as if a veil of fog, heavy and depressing, hung over them. “It rained all the time in the jungle. Never to relent. It seemed I was constantly moldy and damp.”
She sank to the edge of the bed, realizing the heavy fog was his depression. Why now, could she read him so suddenly when she hadn’t been able to all day? “And you want to go back?”
He turned toward her and leaned against the wall. “I don’t plan to. I’m going back to Italy.” He crossed his arms over his chest, his muscles bulging with the movement.
“Why Italy?”
“It’s where I lived before coming here. Where I learned to paint, where I learned to be human. After living like an animal in the jungle, it was heaven.” He turned back toward the window. The scars where there—faded, but still there. Ella took her lower lip between her teeth and slipped from the bed. Silently, she padded across the floor, only to hesitate beside him. How badly she wanted to touch his back, to press kisses to those scars. He hadn’t told her what happened, but she didn’t need to know the details.
“It’s over Leo, that jungle, that life. It will never happen again. Now, you have all the money, the power in the world. You can do whatever you want.”
He turned and met her gaze, his eyes so intense that she couldn’t look away. “And what if I want to kiss you?”
Her heart stopped in her chest. She couldn’t have prevented the words that sprang to her lips even if her life depended on it. “Then kiss me.”
His fingers wrapped around her upper arms. With a jerk, he pulled her against his chest. There was no hesitation when his mouth claimed hers. Her hands rested on his shoulders, anticipation skittering down her spine. She was afraid of what this could lead to and at the same time, eager to know.
When she sank into him, sighing against his mouth, his tongue slipped between her lips. Heat raced through her body and pooled in the pit of her stomach. She didn’t know…had no idea it could be like this. She’d been kissed by only one other man, caught off guard by the baker’s son. But that kiss had been nothing compared to the way Leo kissed. As much as she feared the feelings assaulting her body, she wanted more…needed more.
“Leo,” she whispered when he moved to her neck.
But he didn’t respond, and he didn’t need to. Her eyes rolled back into her head, and she sank toward the ground. Leo scooped her up into his arms and started across the room. She knew she should protest but couldn’t seem to get the words out. In the air swirled their emotions, thick and heavy, seeping deep into the pit of her belly until she thought she’d scream with need.
Gently, he laid her down upon the daybed. “You are beautiful, Ella, do you know that?”
Tears stung her eyes as she felt the honesty in his statement. How could she respond? He lowered himself next to her and kissed her forehead, lower to her temple, and still lower to the corner of her mouth, soft kisses that barely brushed her skin.
She slipped her fingers through his damp locks. The length had shocked her at one time, now it suited him. He’d look strange…too cultured…too contained if his hair was cut short. She moved to his jawline, tracing the rugged lines of his face, taking in the rough stubble on his skin, and knew that her touch fed the fire within him.
“Do you trust me, Ella?”
She took her lower lip between her teeth. Only sincerity and hunger pulsed from his body. Leo leaned over her on his elbow, his gaze locked to hers. She knew things about him his own grandfather didn’t know. Did she trust him?
“I would never hurt you,” he said.
Perhaps he wouldn’t…intentionally. But what could come of this, besides physical gratification?
His hands cupped the sides of her face, and he pressed his mouth to hers. When his tongue slowly slid across her lips, heat rushed down her body, pooling between her legs. All reservations vanished. She wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him closer, deepening the kiss.
She felt wonderfully confined under his muscled weight. Her body…dear Lord, her body wanted him to…she wasn’t sure, but she knew she didn’t want him to stop. His tongue stroked hers, slowly, languidly, as if they had all the time in the world, as if he had no plans to end his sweet torture any time soon. Ella squirmed, her body thrumming with need.
Finally, he pulled away, only to press his mouth to the sensitive skin of her neck. “Do you feel my desire for you, Ella?”
By God, yes. She felt his attraction throb within. She wanted to burrow into the feelings, to cling to his emotions until he eased the deep ache.
“Does your heart race?” His fingers slid down her neck to the valley between her breasts, resting over her heart. “Does it ache, Ella, down low in your belly?” Slowly, his hand trailed down…further…further over her shift. She closed her eyes, her breath held, her muscles tight. When his hand touched her stomach, her body jumped. Dear Lord,
did her heart still beat? His fingers stopped just above the soft nest of curls. She wanted to beg him to go lower, to release the ache; at the same time she was thankful for the clothing that blocked his access.
“It’s all right to enjoy this, Ella.”
“Yes, oh yes,” she whispered her agreement.
He nuzzled his face in the area where her neck met her shoulder, the scruff on his chin scraping against the sensitive skin. “In India there are texts that describe the way to please a woman. Where to touch, where to kiss.” Slowly, his hands slipped down further, cupping the area between her thighs. The ache flared. “Do you like that?”
She hid her face against his shoulder. “Yes.”
He pressed his lips to her forehead, then lower to the bridge of her nose. “Why can I not stop thinking about you? Why do you invade my every thought?”
His lips pressed to hers as his fingers lifted to the buttons of her bodice. Slowly, he slipped the material from her shoulders. Heat rushed to her cheeks. She’d been naked in front of him before, so why was she so anxious now? Because here, she knew there was nothing, no one, to stop them.
“I thought I threw this out,” he mumbled, fumbling with the corset she wore.
“I had another.”
The binding fell away, and she could almost breathe once more. His hands, warm and strong, cupped her breasts over her shift. A gasp escaped her lips as his fingers caressed the soft mounds until her nipples were hard under his touch. Slowly, he lowered the strap of her chemise, exposing her chest to the chill air. The necklace lay cool and shimmering between her breasts.
“Beautiful,” he murmured. His breath seared her skin right before his lips closed over a nipple. Ella practically jumped off the bed as he suckled, tasted, licked…sending waves of heat spiraling through her body. She moved her head back and forth, unable to stand the delightful torment yet wanting more.
“Leo, please,” she pleaded.
“Shh, love, it’s all right.”
All right? All right! Nothing was right. She ached with a fierceness she’d never experienced, and she was rather sure she would die soon if the pressure wasn’t relieved.