Page 39 of A Lady Igniting Wicked Passions
“But only to protect you,” Aaron replied.
“It has caused me a great deal of pain,” Arabella said.
Aaron looked away; his face stricken. Arabella reached through the warm beams that barred the air between them, taking his hand. He looked at her, meeting her gaze.
“What made you come to me, today?” Arabella asked, softly.
“I…needed to be with you,” Aaron replied. “Today I discovered Isabella’s price. It is a high one.”
“Too high?”
Aaron nodded, face grim. “I thought it to be so. It means betraying every man I served alongside, men who risked their lives for their country. And worse further down the line. But I have no choice. If I refuse it means the end of your reputation.”
Arabella moved closer to kneel in front of him. She clasped his hands to her chest, pressing them against the warm skin left bare by her dress.
“I do not want to be the cause of your dishonour. I do not want to be resented forever by you. Do not do it. Keep your honour.”
“At the cost of yours?” Aaron asked sceptically.
“What does it matter?” Arabella demanded.
She forgot that they were meeting in secret and in hiding. She spoke from the heart. Aaron reached out and stroked her cheek, smiling fondly.
“I do not think you know what you are saying. I have seen what happens when men take it upon themselves to disgrace a woman. I have known women who could not bear the shame.”
“I can,” Arabella said with conviction.
Then, taking Aaron’s face in her hands, she kissed him. Pushing him back into the straw she mounted him, pressing his hands against her breasts.
Chapter 23
Aaron felt as though he were free in a dangerously wild way. After his encounter with Gove and the casual assumption by the politician that he had Aaron firmly in his pocket, Aaron had felt an overwhelming urge to be with Arabella. It was, in all likelihood, the worst possible thing he could do.
When his enemies’ control over him was predicated upon his relationship with Arabella and his desire to protect her honour, why risk being seen with her or even caught with her?
Then, another thought had occurred to him and with it came the reckless feeling of liberty. Their power was based upon the assumption that he was ashamed of his relationship with Arabella. That it was something she was ashamed of too.
But what if neither of them was ashamed? What if both wanted to shout their desire for each other from the rooftops. To elope or even, he scarcely dared to think about it, to marry. Marriage would not help him in any material way. His financial dire straits would continue and he and Blakehill might even end up in a debtor’s prison.
But he would be free of the control of those who needed his shame to blackmail him. On the journey to Portman Square he had pondered the situation. Did he want to marry Helena and shun Arabella? No.
Did he want to do Gove’s political bidding at the expense of the regard of men he respected, like Flint? No. Did he want to destroy Arabella’s reputation? Of course not. But did she consider it a price she would pay in order to be with him? It was a question he could not answer.
Upon arriving at Portman Square, he had gone to the stables and bribed a worker there to carry a message to Arabella. He had already seen her father riding out and knew that only Arabella would respond to such a message. Then he had climbed to the loft and waited, not knowing precisely what he would do or say.
Arabella had made that decision for herself. He fell back into the soft bed of hay, Arabella’s body suddenly weighing him down, despite her slim frame. He felt his hands pressed against her breasts and his desire came alive in an instant.
He rose up from the straw, squeezing her breasts as he kissed her with barely contained fury.
Unable to limit his touch to one part of her, his hands roamed freely across her body. He caressed her neck, stroked her cheeks, tangled his fingers through her hair and pulled it tight in his fist. That caused her to lift her head with his hand and exposed her lovely, pale, and soft throat.
Aaron opened his mouth and then closed his lips upon her neck. He pressed his teeth in gently, then bit, making Arabella gasp but not enough to leave a tell-tale mark. He was careful, distributing his kisses and bites, never lingering too long in one place so as to bruise. Again, Arabella took matters into her own hands.
She pushed his tousled hair away from his neck and then began kissing him there. Following his example, she sucked and then bit gently. Suddenly, she was biting harder, drawing her breath in at the same time. Aaron’s eyes widened.
She raised her head to look at him. Her cheeks were flushed and her lips parted, breath coming in rapid gasps. Her hair was wild after Aaron’s hands had roamed through it. She looked like a wild, wanton creature and he knew that she had just marked him for all to see. Her look said that she knew what she had done and was glad of it. Aaron smiled and then pulled back her hair and bit her, just as she had done to him.
“Now, we are both marked,” Arabella gasped, putting a hand to her throat. “It will be difficult to mask this.”
