Spring Fires (30 page)

Contentment and desire combined to spin a web around the two of them. Silently, Lisette caressed his hard muscles with the soap, but stopped short at his navel. Feeling her touch return to his neck, he smiled and caught her wrist against his chiseled jaw.

"Aren't you forgetting the rest of me?" he chided softly.

Her face flamed. "I'm going to wash your hair now." She crossed the room and returned carrying a pewter ewer. Carefully, his hair was rinsed and lathered, and he moaned in contentment.

"You have the touch of an angel. This is heaven...."

Thankful that his eyes were closed against the soap, Lisette blinked back sudden tears. How she loved him! It was a joy to touch him this way, to feel his thick, glossy hair in her hands. Certainly she wouldn't have a better opportunity to memorize the details of Nicholai's body... and when she returned to her narrow bed above the CoffeeHouse, she would be able to think back to these sweet moments.

"Lisette, I don't mean to complain, but I'm getting soap in my eyes. Are you going to go on with that all night?"

"Oh—oh, no! I'm sorry!" She rushed to fill the ewer with clean water from the kettle, which she'd removed from the fire. "Just tip your head back so that I can rinse your hair."

Nicholai complied; then, when it was done, shook his clean wet head and rubbed the water from his eyes. He slanted a smile at her.

"Now what?"

"Your back." Retrieving the sponge, she set to work, admiring the hard sculptured beauty of his torso.

"Would it be easier if I stood up for a while?" he asked, trying to sound casual.

"No! And I don't see how you can expect me—I mean, certainly there are some places you must be able to reach quite easily—"

He laughed out loud. "What are you afraid of? There isn't any part of me that you haven't seen—or touched—before... or had you forgotten? If that's the case, I'll be more than happy to refresh your memory!"

"I think you are odious to raise that subject at a time like this! Are you trying to humiliate me?" Outraged, she returned to her place next to the center of the bathtub. "Put your leg up!"

Nicholai complied with a sigh, conscious of that maddening pressure in his chest. "You are the most confounding woman!" Lisette went right on, furiously scrubbing his foot and steely calf, not sparing him a glance as he persisted: "I'm not trying to humiliate you, for God's sake, I'm trying to make you see the truth! Was it so terrible? Was I a cruel or thoughtless lover? Did I
smell?"

Lisette had to bite her lip to keep from smiling. "Mr. Beauvisage, as far as I'm concerned, the
truth
is that you would like to take me to bed again. I mean, your baser needs must be quite strong by this time—and here I am! How convenient! You could satisfy your—"

"Yes?"

"Your
lust,
but all I would get would be more shame! Men are all the same: selfish—"

"Will you stop?" Nicholai jerked his leg free, leaned forward, and caught her elbow in an iron grip. "You are a delightful, intelligent woman, but on this one subject you are, quite frankly, demented! There is nothing base or shameful about what we have shared in the past—and what I hope we will be able to share again. As matter of fact, I can't think of anything
less
impure! I would never use you, Lisette—and deep inside, you know that. Trust your own instincts. Trust your body! It won't lie to you."

She tried, unsuccessfully, to disengage her arm. "All right, then, what if I were to tell you that my body has informed me that it has absolutely no interest in you?"

His green eyes rested on her thin wet bodice. "I'd say that you should request that that message be repeated...."

Lisette looked down in horror. Soaked muslin clung to her breasts and outlined the rosy peaks that tautened just inches from his burning gaze. It was impossible to move or speak. Her mouth opened, but no sound came out. Nicholai's eyes said it all. He looked up at her with such warmth, longing—and love?—that her heart swelled and her resistance melted..

Numbly, she watched as he unfastened the tiny hooks on her bodice before standing, splendidly naked and wet, to slip the gown over her head.

"Ah, Lisette, you are so much more than beautiful...." His fingers touched the pink flowers embroidered on the bodice of her gauzy chemise. "Did you do this?"

Golden lashes brushed her dusky cheeks. "It wasn't for your benefit! I—I had to do something to pass these long nights...."

"You should have consulted me," Nicholai murmured, his voice spiced with amusement. "I would have found something for you to do."

"Oh... I wish—"

Nicholai was in the midst of adding the remainder of the clean hot water from the kettle to the bathtub.

"What do you wish, sweetheart?"

One hot tear slid down her cheek. "I don't even know myself!"

His hands cradled her face as he kissed first the tears, then the sweet, trembling lips. Nicholai groaned. His fingers flicked open the tiny chemise buttons, then rested lightly on her creamy shoulders. Already the hard ache in his loins was agonizing—and he'd scarcely touched the chit!

Her arms burned and tingled as his practiced fingers lowered the straps. Slowly, the chemise opened downward until her swelling breasts were bared to Nicholai's fiery gaze.

"Good God..." he breathed.

There was a whisper of batiste as the chemise slid down graceful legs before it settled into a pool at Lisette's feet.

Chapter 27

May 6, 1793

Nicholai helped Lisette into the bathtub; he smiled as she huddled self-consciously in the steaming water.

"You won't be able to hide from me in my own bath, Mistress Hahn," he remarked mischievously.

Watching him settle down across from her, she tried to see only the play of Nicholai hard muscles in the firelight—not the bold proof of his maleness that passed through her line of vision.

"I should have kept my eyes closed," she whispered. "I should have kept my clothes
on!
I should have—"

"I know, I know," he interjected while reaching over to pluck the soap and sponge from a chair. "You should have run for your life the night we met at Belle Maison!"

"That's exactly right!"

"My darling..." Having lathered the sponge, he now reached forward to pry apart her concealing arms. "Haven't you heard that it's useless to fight destiny?"

"Is
that
what this is?" Her voice sounded tremulous rather than sarcastic, as she'd hoped. The reason she'd struggled against this particular destiny for so long was that she had no clue to the ending. Should she surrender completely now, body and soul, only to find herself alone and heartbroken in a few days or weeks?

The words wouldn't come. It would be too humiliating to ask him if his intentions were honorable; besides, wasn't she supposed to be too independent to care?

Warm water drizzled down Lisette's arm, rousing her.

"Tell me about that strange smile that curves your lips," Nicholai murmured, moving the sponge up her shoulder. "Help me to understand the thoughts in your mystifying mind."

Meeting his tender gaze, she felt many of her doubts dissolve. Suddenly she was conscious of the pleasurable sensation of his hard leg touching her satiny calves in the water. His arms drew her nearer and his beloved face came close enough to kiss. One slim hand reached up to smooth back his damp hair. She wanted to trace each irresistible feature, but then surely he would feel the love in her fingers... see it in her eyes.

When Nicholai caught her hand, and pressed his lips to each sensitive fingertip, she hurried to break the silence. "Do you really want to know my thoughts?"

"Mmm," he smiled, kissing the tender inside of her wrist.

"I was wondering about this destiny you described... does it mean that there will be a happy ending—like a
fairy
tale?"

He regarded her soberly. "That's the thrill of surrendering to destiny. One never knows what lies ahead... and I suppose the fun is in finding out." With an index finger, he did what she had yearned to do, grazing her brow, eyes, and finally each rosy lip before parting them and barely touching her tongue. He felt her quake. "As for fairy tales... no princess was ever desired as I
yearn for you, Lisette, nor did one ever experience the sensations you will discover tonight."

"And you truly care for me?"

Abruptly, Nicholai pulled her to her knees and met her in an intimate embrace that joined them from thighs to scorching mouths. After a deep, blazing kiss that left Lisette both dizzy and hungry for more, he answered her question.

"I not only care—I love you."

"Oh—" She had to gasp for breath, but then he was kissing her again, more gently this time, savoring the heady nectar of her lips and mouth.

"You don't have to say a word. Just relax..."

"I love you"
echoed over and over in her mind, but soon all thoughts were swept away by an intense tide of feeling.

He sensuously caressed Lisette's exquisite body with the sponge. The memory of her touch on his own naked flesh just minutes before was branded in his mind, and he wanted to rouse her to the fever of his desire. Languorously, her eyes closed as he ran the sponge down her back. How lovely she was! As graceful and beautifully made as a long-stem yellow rose. Leaning around, Nicholai slowly lathered her silky back with his hand, massaging her tired muscles at the same time.

Gradually, he moved back and ran soapy fingertips from each curving hip upward. Lisette shuddered as he caressed the first blossoms of her breasts, then drew leisurely patterns over the full firmness. Gently, he pressed her back against the bend in the tub and lifted her upswept golden curls over the rim.

"Comfortable?" he inquired, his tone both loving and wicked.

She could barely manage a low gasp of contentment.

Smiling to himself, he rinsed her with the sponge from her throat down, then bent forward to kiss one aching pink nipple.

Lisette bit her lower lip, swallowing moans, as Nicholai's mouth burned a trail over her breasts, lingering on the tenderest places.

"Sweetheart..." he murmured, "as much as I wish we could spend hours in this bath, I fear that we would freeze to death. I'm going to have to finish washing you so that we can get out. But"—Nicholai drew back to give her a roguish grin—"it will still be the best bath you've ever had!"

Lisette's wide blue eyes opened with an effort. Her entire body was suffused with a tingling heat, which was exacerbated by the warm water that swirled around her. There was a concentration of yearning so acute inside her that she knew there was only one cure.

When Nicholai lifted her delicate foot and proceeded to lather not only it but the rest of her leg, she sighed with pleasure and pointed her toe in the air to make his task easier.

If not for the soap, he would have tasted every inch of the beauty she so obligingly displayed for him. After washing her other leg, he moved her ankle to rest on the bathtub rim, and slid his fingers along the graceful line of her flesh, disappearing under water halfway down Lisette's thigh. She stared, knowing what he was about, but made no move to close her legs. Instead, she found Nicholai's free hand and gripped it tightly as, deep in the water, his other fingers brushed the sweet throbbing core of her desire. He reached for the soapy sponge and turned to tenderly wash between her thighs and up to her rounded derriere.

Then the sponge fell away.

Lisette flinched under his expert fingers. He seemed to know not only where she was most keenly sensitive, but also just how she needed to be touched. Finally, yearning seemed to fill her and she trembled in anticipation. Nicholai's hand moved away and emerged from the water.

"Shall we dry off and continue our explorations upstairs?" he asked huskily, knowing that her fevered longing could not easily be contained.

Lisette could only stare dazedly. Did he imagine that she was so mesmerized with desire that she would follow like a docile lamb? Narrowing her blue eyes, Lisette decided that she would share in the control of this night's destiny.

"I'll be glad to dry off, Mr. Beauvisage, when we have finished this bath." She sat up in the water.

Nicholai felt the hairs stand up on his arms; the water had definitely cooled. "I thought that we
were
finished." One brow arched a trifle irritably.

"Oh, no. I definitely recall that there were parts of
your
body that I left unwashed. Your left leg, for instance."

"Lisette, for God's sake! I'm sure that with all this soap—"

"I would be remiss in my duties if I allowed you to take such a chance," she replied as seriously as she was able; then she leaned forward to grope for the sponge, conscious of his eyes on her gleaming breasts. They invited Nicholai's touch, but he restrained himself.

"Put up your leg, please," ordered Lisette.

Something in her bold demeanor rekindled his desire. He felt an exciting rush of curiosity. What did she mean to do? After bracing his hard-muscled leg on the rim of the tub, he watched as she began to soap his foot and calf with a deliberate sensuousness quite unlike her earlier technique. When she slanted a brief seductive smile at him, Nicholai was stunned. Long before her slim fingers found their way through the water to the top of his thigh, he wondered how he could contain the aching fire in his loins.