Authors: Beth Trissel
“Not yet,” he breathed
against her quivering skin
, and traile
d one hand down across the curve of her
hip.
C
hills flushed over her as he parted her legs and stroked between her thighs.
Never,
ever, had he come anywhere close
to touching her like this
before
.
And nothing he said could have prepared her for the shocking
effect of his teasing fingers.
Not
even
remotely.
Moisture slicked his gliding
re
volutions as he circled her
intimate womanhood
,
and
then
probed within her
pulsing flesh.
She
clutched
his
firm
shoulders, wanting
to cry out in exhilarating
torment.
“Cole
––
Will
––
”
He
lifted
his head and
laughed
.
“Sweet Lord, why have we never done this before?”
“Never had the chance
.
Seize it.”
Pulling
him
back down,
she
reve
led
in the feel of his corded strength stretched
over her.
“Take me to you so closely no one can ever separate us
again
.”
He circled
his arms around her, moving
closer. With infinite tenderness
,
he slowly slid his
extended organ
inside
her, and said in husky tones
, “
Sweet
Julia
, dearest
Jules
,
my love
forever.”
She couldn’t speak.
His manhood
throbbed
within her
, filling every possible
space so that she hurt
wit
h the fullness of their union.
She might split apart,
like a sacrifice,
b
ut no
thing would keep her from him.
Now
.
N
ow
she was as close
as she could possibly be
.
No
.
Maybe
no
t quite.
She sensed there was more.
As if mindful
of her sudden tension, Will eased i
n and out of her aching mound.
“I’ll go slow
ly,” he said
.
Gradually
,
she relaxed
,
expanding
to receive him.
W
ith a low groan
,
he slid tightly against her,
c
uppin
g her bare bottom,
rocking
he
r
harder, faster
.
S
urging tremors swept her ever
nearer
him
.
She
crested
one
wave
after
another
, certain her
mounting excitement
could
climb
no
higher.
It wasn’t possible.
She shook, t
he poun
ding intensity almost frightening
her.
Almost.
“Will
?
”
She sought the reassurance of his lips
.
He caught her up
as h
er world erupted in
an
explosion of bliss,
like dazzling
white
light
showering
her in a blaze of
sparks
.
She burned in
frenzied pleasure
,
from her fiery depths to the soles of her
hot
feet
.
His ecstatic
m
oans echoed hers.
Breathless, chest
thudding, she
melted to him.
Now
, they were as close as they
could be this side of paradise
.
****
What rapture.
Will cradled Julia
against him
, listening to her even breathing
.
Thank God.
She’
d fallen into the deep slumber
of a supremely contented woman.
He smiled in wonder at her transformation from wretched to wondrous.
She’d been strong before,
but wounded, as surely as Cole
had been
stabbed
with that
bitter blade.
Through the power of their union, Will had imbued her with his strength.
How he’d love to imbue her again, but she must sleep.
And he must exert
some
self-
control.
He smoothed a length of curling hair from her face,
so
peaceful in the faint light shining through the window.
“
Sweet Julia,” he
whispered.
“Your father is
never getting you back
again
.
And he won’t have the
opportunity to rage a
t me for defiling his daughter.
Even if you conceive this very night,
I’m
marry
ing
you long before you show, the instant
we have a spare moment to plan the service.”
Maybe Will could take Father Seth aside at the next play practice and give him a heads
up on the impending
nuptials
.
It seemed he had his
eccentric
grandmother’s blessing
in a roundabout way.
E
ven if she balked, Will was
determined to wed
Julia
before
summer’s end
.
They’d see this
play through and then, if they had to leave Foxleigh
at the old lady’s whim
, so be it. M
uch as he hated the thought of p
arting with
his beloved home
, Julia was vastly
m
ore important
.
It wasn’t as if Will had to live at Foxleigh
‘to be,’ as Hamlet phrased it
, even though the hou
se was so tied to him
.
He could still be himself somewhere else.
O
ne matter
still
troubled him,
though,
the mysterious curse that he
couldn’t swear thei
r coming together had lifted.
But he
felt more equal to dealing w
ith it
now and trusted
Julia
did
too
.
What was it she
had said
earlier
in warning?
There’s a worm in the lily
.
He
heard the words in
his mind almost as if he’
d uttere
d them himself. Maybe he had.
This was the strangest
,
most
magnificent
night.
All was
divinely
right
, even though something was
still very wrong.
A chill ran
through Will and he held Julia
to him
with
almost fierce possessiveness.
God had given them this chance, and by heaven,
no one would rob them a second time.
Will
hadn’t been at th
e top of his law class for nothing, a
nd he’d sailed
through the bar
.
Now was the time to
summon
every bit
of cunning
to outwit the fox he sensed still lurking.
****
Maybe it was as Will
suspected and he’d found his fox
.
He stared unflinchingly, face to face, at Lyle’s tig
htly drawn glare.
Rehearsal
was about to
commence
for the evening and the big Aussie appeared
on the verge of snapping at his throat
.
“You had her, didn’t you, Wentworth?” Lyle
growled,
in obvious reference to Julia.
Will hissed his reply.
“No
ne of your damn business.
And since when do you have any claim on her?”
Lyle fixed him with ey
es glow
ing in red-hot anger.
“Since you screwed with her mind and sent her into a tailspin.”
Will couldn’t repress a slight
smile.
“She’s
swiftly
recovering in my care.”
Lyle snorted.
“Until she nose-dives again.”
“Does this protest stem from heart-felt concern, or
does it
emanate somewhat further down your anatomy?”
Bristling
like a reddish dog, every hair
on his ruddy arms
standing on end, Lyse growled,
“I don’t have to justify my sentiments to you.”
“Nor I, my devotion to Julia.”
“Is that what you call it?”
Will itched to seize Lyle by the shoulders
and
throw him into the white plastered
walls
. He refrained, barely.
This was just the sort of confrontati
on he’d hoped to avoid
for as long as possible.
Julia had agreed
that
it was best to conceal their passionate encounter and feign normalcy
––
Will
sleeping in
h
is bed and she in hers
, apart
––
until after Midsummer’s Eve
.
But once unleashed, the fervor between them had been almost impossible to contain.
She’d
tried her best to appear nonchalant, failing ad
orably.
The gold heart Will had given her was back at her throat
this morning
.
All day long, her melting gaze
searched
for him
wherever she was
, whether guiding plant-lovers through the
garden or dashing down the steps in yet another e
nchanting
––
on her, costume. When she spotted him, her eyes shone like sunlight th
rough forest leaves and her soft
mouth curved beguilingly, as if he weren’t already under her spell.
His heart swelled
with delight
just to glimpse her and he yearned to d
o far more than that.
It took
every shred of discipline
he possessed
not to suspend whatever he was doing
at that instant
and
take her in his arms.
He couldn’t wait to decl
are their engagement the moment
this play and ball were dispensed with
and his duty to Grandmother Nora fulfilled
––
that very night.
U
ntil then, he was burst
ing with the secret,
not
one he cared to share with Lyle.
More
actors assembled in the hall.
Apparently disinclined to
cause
a scene, Lyle
clenched his jaw and stalked
off in his
work boots
.
Charlotte tapped Will on th
e shoulder.
He met her close inquiry
with an open glanc
e.
Nothing got past this
woman.
“I’m relieved
to see Julia looking so happy.
Remember, she’s still fragile
emotionally
,” Charlotte cautioned.