Kathryn Caskie (24 page)

She opened her mouth to his, and he eased his tongue inside, teasing her with its probing tip. Where their bodies touched lower, she felt him harden against her, and at once she became aware of a tightness building between her legs.

Hannah hesitated for moment and cast her eyes demurely to the one hand that still gripped her arm. She had been here before. Knew what her body was telling her. Knew, too, what his own might offer.

Griffin opened his hand at once and released her.

He would not touch her again, she knew this, unless she let him know she wished it. And she did. Oh, God, she did.

There was no reason to waver. What a goose she was to falter. Griffin St. Albans loved her, and she loved him.

And just now, her body wanted to show him how much.

Rising on her toes, she unhurriedly brushed her lips along his, savoring the feel of his warm breath on her mouth, feeling her own breathing quicken.

Griffin ran his tongue slowly over her full bottom lip, drawing forth a small sigh from her mouth. Hannah drew her head back to look up at him. His eyes burned, even in the darkness, and she felt all apprehension melt away.

She loved him, and nothing else mattered.

Gazing up at him through the fringe of her lashes, she fingered his neckcloth and let it fall to the wind-shaven grass atop the cliff. Then she slipped her hands to his shoulders and, knowing what she desired, shrugged off his greatcoat and laid it out like a pallet on the ground.

“Have you no shame, Griffin?” Hannah smiled.

“None at all.” He slanted his dark eyebrows, in that way of his and kissed her, harder this time. “Sadly, that is one trait my brother and I share.”

Hannah caught the sides of his linen shirt and tugged the tails from his breeches before easing her fingers up beneath the soft fabric to his chest. “And thankfully, one my brother and I do not.” She smiled saucily up at him, as she felt the pleasurable warmth of smooth skin against her palms.

His mouth trailed along her throat, making her moan as the wetness of his kisses cooled in the night air.

Vaguely, she became aware of her nipples tightening in the chill breeze, and she looked down to see that Griffin had parted her pelisse, pulled the silk ribbon that cinched her bodice closed and had lowered her stays so that her breasts were poised atop them, supported by the light boning.

Her nipples throbbed beneath her thin chemise as Griffin smiled wickedly and kissed her again. He cupped a hot palm over the top of her right breast while settling his other hand in the small of her back and pulling her tight against him.

As he fondled her soft breast, heat flowed through her body, settling in the most wanton of places, making her squirm.

This was taking too long. She wanted to feel him inside her. She did not wish to wait any longer.

With a boldness that surprised even her, Hannah lowered her hand and ran it over the swelling in his breeches.

The moon behind her illuminated Griffin in a pale blue light, and she could see that he had closed his eyes. As quickly as she could, Hannah opened his frontfall. His shirt fell over him, tenting his body’s excitement. She lifted it away and took him into her hand, running her fingers along his hardness.

“Hannah.”
His voice was husky and deep, barely controlled. “You have to stop.”

“And so I shall.” She released him from her grip and saw him open his eyes. Hannah smiled then. She wanted him to watch her now. Wanted him to see her kneel before him . . . wanted him to watch as she did the sinful thing the scullery maids had once whispered of when they did not know she had come into the kitchen to fetch some powder for Lady Viola.

She had taken copious notes, in case the maneuver, she told herself, ever might assist a client in securing a mate. And though the need to share “the secret” never presented itself, Hannah had been confident that the information would not go to waste. And she had been right.

Griffin’s eyes were wide and dark. He stood above her, looking down with utter astonishment as she wrapped her fingers firmly just beneath his plum-shaped tip. She could smell the light manly scent of him as she lowered her head and began to trace a slick path along its ridge with her wet tongue.

His girth grew in her hand as she spiraled her tongue over his silken head. Blood pulsed beneath her fingers, all along his shaft, and he hardened like a stone.

Hannah eased her lips over him then, until her mouth met her fingers. She pressed downward and brought him deeply into her mouth.

A low growl burst from his lips, and he grabbed her chin and held it in place as she began to move leisurely up and down his velvety length.

She moved slowly at first, then, as her confidence grew, faster, twisting her hand as her mouth covered him, moistening him as she moved.

“Hannah.” His breath came in pants and gasps now. “You have to—”

Hannah raised her free hand and reached between his legs to cup him as her lips rode up and down his hardness. Inside her mouth, he became ever harder, and the width of him seemed to grow.

Griffin’s thighs trembled, just a bit. Hannah wondered if this was the moment the maids had mentioned. She wasn’t sure, truly sure about anything she was doing, but moved onward and did the last thing the maids had discussed. She stiffened her fingers and lightly dragged her nails across his tightening sack.

Griffin sucked in a deep gulp of air and grabbed Hannah’s wrist. “You have to stop—
now
.”

She stopped then, and without releasing her grasp, leaned back. He pulsed in her hand, and a single pearl droplet glistened at his tip. Her gaze traveled up his muscled body. His chest rose and fell heavily.

Hannah slowly opened her hand, feeling a wash of crimson overtake her cheeks. “Did I . . . do something wrong?”

A huff of laughter was her reply. “You did everything right. ’Tis just . . . I am not yet finished, Hannah. Far from it, in fact.”

She peered deeply into his eyes, and he met her gaze intently as he reached down and pulled at the closure at the throat of her fur-lined pelisse. He released it and let it spread out behind her, then he eased her down upon it.

Impatiently, Griffin tossed up the blue silk and silver mesh of her gown and the layers beneath it, skimming the profusion of skirts over her silk stockings, bare thighs, and finally her hips.

Hannah struggled to pull her gown down again, but Griffin brushed her hands back.

Cupping his hands behind her knees, he opened her thighs and settled his knees between them. He leaned back on his heels then and devoured her with his gaze. “I believe it is my rotation now.”

Hannah shook her head and lifted her hand to catch him up and draw him to her. He allowed this, in part, and kissed her deep and hard. But then he pulled back and leaned over her to taste her breasts, giving each their proper time, until Hannah was writhing, and both pink nipples were teased into tight, aching buds.

Griffin’s hand moved between her legs, and he stroked her gently, masterfully. He looked into her eyes as he eased his finger up and spiraled, just there, making her whimper, and buck against his hand.

Her heart pounded madly in her ears. She was wet, and swollen with urgent want of him. And she didn’t want to wait anymore.

Griffin bent over her then and began to stroke her wetness with his tip. Hannah squeezed her eyes tightly. For certain, she would go mad from the sensation. She needed him inside her. With a groan, she tried to push down atop him, forcing him to take her. But he only leaned back to look at her . . . to be sure.

But when her gaze met his dark, oh-so-purposeful eyes, she knew he needed her as frantically as she needed him.

Now.

Hannah held her breath as the thickness of him pressed slowly into her, silken and solid, filling the aching void within her. Her every fiber seemed attuned to their joining. Every sense heightened. Every touch, burning.

She ran her fingers through the thick locks of his hair as he thrust into her. Griffin looked down into her eyes.

Cupping her hand to his cheek, she gazed deep into his eyes. “I love you, Griffin.” In the pale of the moon, she could see his eyes glistening with deep emotion as he kissed her mouth.

Hannah wrapped her arms tightly around him and held him, but it was not enough. She wanted to be closer still, and so, she lifted her legs and hooked her ankles at Griffin’s back, holding him tightly against her.

Griffin groaned, thrusting powerfully into her, causing her body to tighten unbearably, making her muscles pulse and constrict around him.

Then, with a look of sheer determination in his eyes, he pushed up on his hands, breaking the embrace of both her arms and legs.

He rammed hard into her, thick and deep. His breathing matched his increasing power, and she lifted her hips, meeting each thrust. Her muscles began to convulse, and she clenched down on his hardness.

He slowed slightly then. Griffin lifted his head and looked into Hannah’s eyes. “I love you more than you will ever know. Marry me, Hannah, and make me the happiest man in the universe.”

As she clung to his body, tears seeped into Hannah’s eyes, wetting her lashes. “Yes, my love, I will marry you. I want nothing more than to be with you forever.”

Griffin kissed her again. “Forever,” he echoed, his voice breaking. With a groan, he slammed deep into her one final time, as though sealing their vow.

Hannah grasped his arms. Her fingers dug into his muscles and squeezed uncontrollably as he pumped his heat deep within her, sending them both tumbling into throbbing ecstasy.

Suddenly a great bright ball of light roared up over the horizon and streaked directly overhead above them, followed by an ear-shattering roar unlike anything Hannah had ever heard before.

The ground began to rumble slightly. Hannah’s eyes went wide.

She felt tiny stones vibrating beneath her bottom, and for a brief second she wondered if this is what the maids had meant by great lovemaking making the earth move.

And then she heard the sound of a hundred cannons firing at once somewhere in the narrow field near the cliff.

Startled, Hannah gasped and clutched Griffin to her.

“Amazing! Do not fret, ’tis just a fireball. Watch now, for you will likely never see this again in your lifetime.” He leaned his head on her shoulder and together they stared up in amazement at the vast shower of floating sparks drifting slowly down from the heavens like thousands of tiny fireflies.

Griffin’s face lit up, and he kissed the whole of Hannah’s face excitedly. “Brilliant, wasn’t it?”

“Brilliant?” Hannah knit her brows. “Griffin, we might have been killed!”

Griffin shook his head. “That outcome would have been highly unlikely. The earth passed through the Bath Comet’s orbit. That’s all.”

“That was the comet then?”

“Good lord, no.” Griffin withdrew from Hannah’s body, rolled over onto his back, and pulled her against his side. He pointed up into the heavens at a wide smudge of teardrop-shaped light far off to the right. “That is the Bath Comet. What you just saw was a meteor.”

Hannah smiled and snuggled close to Griffin. It pleased her that he was so passionate about the stars and how much it excited him to speak about his science. “What is the difference?”

“Meteors, some call them shooting stars, are tiny specks of dust that burn up in our atmosphere. Some rare meteors, like the one that passed over us just now, are much larger, and can produce spectacular fire-balls . . . and even strike the earth and explode.”

“That was the sound we heard.”

“Yes. There’s likely nothing left of it.”

“But there may be.” Hannah sat upright.

“Possibly. Shall we go have a look?”

Hannah nodded excitedly.

Griffin kissed her again as he hurriedly helped her adjust her underpinnings and gown, then wrapped her pelisse around her.

He fastened his breeches and threw his shirt over his head. Snatching up the lantern, he left everything else lying on the ground. “We have to be quick about it. If we are very lucky, we’ll see something amazing.”

Twenty minutes later, with Griffin’s sense of the fireball’s trajectory as a guide, the two had made their way by lanternlight down to the western boundary of Prior Park. They stood before a hole perhaps the depth and width of a carriage. In the center, was a black rock the size of a large portmanteau.

“That’s it?” Hannah peered quizzically at Griffin. “Somehow it seemed so much larger.”

“The ice that surrounded it likely evaporated in the explosion.” Griffin climbed down into the shallow crater and studied the rock in the center. He bent to observe its base, and when he did, he set down the lantern and noticed a small field of shards from the meteorite skirting the larger rock. At once, he excitedly began to collect them.

“Ought you to touch those?” Hannah nervously called down to him.

“How else am I to study them?” Griffin removed his shirt and used it as a collection net for his prizes. When he had retrieved every broken piece and shard, he tied his shirt closed and grinned up at Hannah, as happy as a boy with a handful of sugar sweets. “Do you hear that—that buzz?” Griffin hurriedly tried to climb from the hole, but the walls were wet with a black slick mud. “What is it? Can you see?”

Hannah looked up to see the field behind her awash in lanternlight. Scores of people emerged from the woods, and the road, and were bearing down on Hannah and Griffin.

“People. At least a hundred of them!”

“Can you help me climb out?”

Hannah knelt and extended a hand to him, but she could not reach him.

Just then, a pair of gentlemen approached the lip of the crater.

“’Ere, miss, just get up and stand aside. We’ve got ’im.” The two men reached in and pulled Griffin up by his wrists. By now twenty or so people stood around the crater, murmuring and whispering to one another.

At first, Hannah could not discern what they were saying, until the woman next to her spoke. “That’s the comet?” she asked Hannah. “’Tis so small . . . well, for a comet, that is.”

Hannah shook her head. “No, no.” She pointed into the sky, as the comet’s tail of light was just beginning to disappear in the west. “
That
is the Bath Comet.
This
is a meteorite.”