Ether & Elephants (29 page)

Because she loved him enough to respect who he was. He understood. That was why he intended to make sure she had a school to teach at—hell, probably to manage. Because love was about knowing that the other person needed to be whole.

“I love you, Nell.” He had to say it, plainly, before this went further. “I’d like to be with you like this every night of my life.”

“Don’t let’s think about that.” She trailed a finger down between his pecs to his belly button, then further, to wrap around his penis. “Just be with me tonight, my love. That’s all I ask. Back in England, we’ll go back to our separate lives.”

Tom had no intentions of the sort, but if she wouldn’t let him love her with words, he’d show her with his body how much he worshipped her. He thrust gently into her hand, wanting more. Pulling out of her grip, he bent and suckled one breast while squeezing the other in his hand. “You taste like heaven.”

This time, all she did was gasp and arch into his caress. He released her breast with his hand and dipped it down, sliding along her belly to the junction of her legs. Gently, he eased them apart and stroked her mons with his fingers. “Gods, Nell, you’re so wet for me.”

She bucked at his touch as if asking for more, so he gave it. Sucking harder on her nipple, he found her swollen clitoris and stroked it until she sobbed with silent screams before breaking apart into a long, rippling climax.

Tom nearly came himself, just from the joy of seeing to her pleasure. She trusted him with her body, now if only she’d trust him with her heart. Because he couldn’t bring himself to force her hand, he pulled away and sat up. “We can’t take this much further, darling. I’m
not
willing to risk a child, not if you don’t want to marry.”

She smiled. “Of course.” She leaned over to the bedside table and pulled a paper packet from the drawer. “Here. Geneva made sure I was prepared.”

He winced at the thought of everyone knowing this was going to happen, or worse, that Geneva had expected Nell to use them with
Roger
, but that didn’t stop him from tearing open the paper and donning the sheepskin sheath. Then he kissed Nell and rolled her to her back, while he leaned on his side above her. He kissed her breasts again and when she was close to completion, he slid two fingers inside the wet heat of her channel and stretched her, breaking the delicate membrane so easily that she didn’t even moan.

He switched breasts and brought her up again. This time, before she could climax, he moved above her, lifted her legs around his waist, and plunged deep inside her heat.

His throat swelled with emotion and he buried his face in the crook of her throat so she wouldn’t see the love and pain that must have shown in his eyes. This was where he belonged, loving her, above, around and inside her. In this moment, nothing in the outside world mattered.

She squeezed his waist with strong thighs and twined her arms around his shoulders. “Yes,” she whispered each time he thrust deeper. “Yes, yes, yes,
there.
” On that last, shuddering word, she shattered around him.

It was too much. With one more thrust, Tom buried himself as deep as he could go and spent himself, pouring over and over into her, until he was sure he must be nothing more than a dry husk.

And even as he lay there, gasping for breath, he wanted her all over again.

* * *

He took her again before morning, and afterward Nell lay close beside him, watching as dawn tinted the sky outside the window.

It had been every bit as wonderful as she’d ever dreamed.

Worse, she wanted more.

Tom came up on one elbow beside her. “If you’d marry me, we could do this all the time.”

“I know.” Didn’t he realize she thought of little else? She couldn’t even dredge up the energy to chastise him for breaking her rule.

“And we wouldn’t have to use condoms.” He brushed a piece of hair away from her cheek. “We could make as many babies as you’d like.” His voice went thick as he began to tease her breasts, already sensitized from the night before, with the tips of his fingers. His cock pulsed against her hip.

He didn’t say another word, just lowered his face between her legs and licked the nub of her clitoris. Nell couldn’t answer, she was too mindless with pleasure.

Tom wanted to give her a child.

Along with the pure physical pleasure he was wringing from her, that somehow made the climax he brought her to even sweeter. Once again, she resisted the lure of his sentiments and reminded herself that this was no more than mere physical gratification.

She slept fitfully after Tom left.

She was becoming addicted to his touch, his kisses, but she couldn’t let the pleasure sway her. What they had together was a physical thing, no matter how much he tried to convince her that they belonged together as man and wife.

There was no way to hide her indiscretions from Eileen, who came bustling in a half hour later with strong tea and a hearty breakfast.

Nell had barely managed to remember to put her nightgown back on, but the scent of sex hung in the room despite the open windows.

Worse, Nell was in the bathtub, in an adjoining room, when Eileen came in and saw the blood on the formerly crisp white sheets.

The older woman marched in and looked down at Nell in the tub. “You just finished your courses on the way here.”

“You’re very observant.” Nell soaped her arms, grateful that the hot water soothed some of the aches in her more tender areas. “We also used precautions.”

“You’re going to marry him, right?”

Nell stared the older woman down. “No. And you’re not going to tell anyone—not my parents, or the other servants—about this. What happened was between me and Tom. It’s no one else’s business.”

“Fair enough.” Eileen pursed her lips. “Gallivanting all over town today ought to be pleasant.”

Nell groaned and ducked her head under the water.

She decided not to wear Indian trousers for her jaunt around town.

Surprisingly, the day was a pleasant one, despite her lingering soreness. Jonathan and Vidya turned out to be pleasant companions and tour guides. She bought a number of books on Indian history and mythology for her future students, including one of photographs. Unfortunately, no matter how many shrines or temples they visited, there was not the slightest hint of a ruby-eyed Buddha, which confirmed what both Jonathan and Lord Elgin had told them.

Meeting back with Tom and Baba Vivek after dinner, they discussed the situation. Apparently the men had found nothing of use in any of their business meetings, either.

“Someone has to be at the docks when the Lady Godiva arrives, to watch for our suspects,” Tom said. “Although I’d rather follow them than try to take them in the middle of a crowd. Innocent lives could be put at risk.”

“I have an idea,” Vivek said. “I can meet the ship. No one will be watching for me. Then I can follow Pritchard and his friends while the two of you go with Jagganesh to the ruins.”

“I don’t see how that helps. We can’t be sure they’ll go there, and we don’t know how they’re planning to travel. If they have a private airship, they could get from the docks to the site in under an hour.” Tom had already pinpointed the location of the ruins to some ten miles northeast of the city. “In two they could be anywhere.”

Vivek stroked his moustache. “You are right. So here is what we will do. At dawn, we will all take my steam car to my country estate. A trusted servant will watch the ship, and cable the estate. From there, we will take the elephants if they go to the temple, since there is no real road to the ruin. That will put us there perhaps two hours ahead. I’ll bring along a couple of my most trusted servants as well. And weapons.”

Tom liked the way the man thought. “That’s a good plan, if they go to the ruins.”

“If not,” Vivek said, “we have an airship of our own at the estate.” Less experienced in battle plans of this variety, Nell just listened, memorizing every word of the plan. One way or another, she was getting Charlie back, and no one, not the Alchemist or even Tom and Baba Vivek, was going to stand in her way. She was no fragile thing to be kept from the fight as she’d once believed. She was a woman with a mind and with powers, and this fight was
hers.

* * *

Later, she waited in her room for Tom, and again, he didn’t disappoint her.

Once again, he devoted himself to worshipping her body, to murmuring endearments and vows that he’d love her forever. This time, she pushed him to his back and she took charge, running her hands up and down his muscular torso and legs, kissing the soft hairs on his chest and the thin trail of blond that went all the way down to his sex, where it widened out around the base of his cock. She touched him everywhere, with hands, lips and tongue, breathing in his scent.

When he said her name, she said, “Quiet,” and took his erection into her mouth.

He moaned and tossed his head.
That
she allowed. She explored the slit with her tongue, running her fingertips above the thick ridge on the front. Then she sucked.

“Nell!” The muffled cry was somewhere between pain and pleasure, so she continued until he was bucking on the bed.

Yes, this was it. She held as much power over him as he did over her. She pumped her hands along his length.

“Love you.” He groaned, bucking up into her mouth, his hands clenched tight in the sheets.

She pulled her mouth away. “No talking,” she reminded him. She considered singing a compulsion, but stopped short.

He held his hands up in concession and she continued, until his entire body was taut as a bow and she could feel the increase in his girth, the tension of his testicles, which she cupped in her free hand.

“Coming,” he whispered. “Pull away.”

Nell sucked harder until her mouth filled with hot, salty liquid. She swallowed several times as he bucked into her. Finally, he lay back, limp. She wiped her mouth with her hand and gazed at him.

He smiled. “I can do that to you, too, darling. Would you like that?”

Her sex tingled. He’d given her a taste of that the night before, but not brought her to completion with his mouth. “Yes, I probably would.”

“Give me a moment.” He reached up and pulled her down beside him for a fierce, full-body hug. “Thank you. That was…astonishing.”

She grinned. “Purely physical, but I certainly see the appeal.”

Tom snorted. “Not one damn thing between us is purely physical, Nell. There’s a mountain of difference between sex and sex with someone you love. I think you’d find it a great disappointment if you continue this nonsensical idea about taking other lovers—which you’d better not while I’m alive, not if you wish
them
to continue breathing.”

She sat up and moved back, while he leaned up against the headboard. “Why not? You’ve had others. Why shouldn’t I? We’re not an item, Tom. I keep telling you that, but you don’t listen. I’m not some fragile china doll who needs a man—well, except for this.”

“Fragile? You? You’re about as strong as one of those elephants out in the street, but you’re still a woman, dearling. You love me, and I love you. Our bodies recognize one another as mates. Marriage is the usual progression. Hell, you were going to marry bloody Roger. Why are you suddenly holding back from me?”

“Because I can’t trust you.”

“Bullshit.” He cast a spell, one she recognized as a privacy dome that would keep them from being overheard. “I slept with a barmaid before you and I ever kissed. That doesn’t make me untrustworthy. This is just…punishment, isn’t it? Give me a taste of what I can never have?”

“I am not punishing you.” Well, maybe she was, just a little bit. It was hard not to. The more he made her feel, the harder he was to resist, and that made her lash out. Knowing her behavior was bad, however, didn’t change anything. “You’re just determined to win, even though you know it’s over. You simply can’t believe anyone could resist the perfect Sir Tom, especially not poor, timid, half-caste Nell.”

“What?” He was a good enough actor to look genuinely confused.

“I can just see it. You at Whitehall, while all the other wives sniff over your dreadful misalliance. Poor Tom, stuck with that dark thing. Taking care of helpless little Nell, who can’t manage for herself. Well, I don’t want to be that thing. I want to be my own woman, in charge of my own life.”

“Me? I’d be the poor one? Get over yourself, dear.” Tom’s voice lifted, making her glad of the privacy spell. “You’re the perfect one. I know I’m not good enough for you. I’ve always known it. But guess what? I don’t care anymore. You and I were goddamn meant to be together.”

She was the perfect one? Strange, she’d never felt that way. “I’m not sixteen, Tom. We can’t go back to that innocent love we had once upon a time, although I guess it wasn’t innocent on your part, even then.”

“No, we can’t go back,” he replied. “None of us can. But we
can
go forward and live the rest of our lives, instead of hiding from them.”

Nell wanted to growl but held it back. “I’m not hiding from anything, damn it. I’m an adult, and I want the choices of one. I’ve seen too many women who have lives beyond just marriage and children. Once, I thought I might be different. Then I learned that I just hadn’t found my place. I was meant to be a teacher.”

“So? Be a teacher.” He dropped his voice. “You can still be a wife. I’m not the same randy young idiot I was, either. I don’t need to worry about finding a woman who can accept a Knight and cope with my less-than-savory background. I know plenty. The point is that I love you, not any of them.”

“Because helpless little Nell needs protection?” She couldn’t resist the taunt.

“Bollocks. You’re about as helpless as a pit viper,” he said. “Hell, the last time we were in trouble, you rescued me and shot the snake. Will I always look out for you? Of course. But I’d hope it went both ways. Christ, Nell, you’re one of the most competent people I’ve ever met.”

She’d started to run out of arguments, and he took advantage of her temporary silence. “Do you think that when I touch you, I can’t feel your love?” He crossed his arms over his chest. “You can’t fool me, Nell. You can quit even trying.”