The Winter Wish Read online

  As Devlin teased her nipples with his tongue her hands began to explore the rest of his body. She trailed her fingertips with cautious excitement down between his shoulder blades, her nails digging into his skin until she felt the muscles bunch and quiver. Gaining confidence she reached further, skimming down across his sides and over the flat plane of his stomach. She felt the button on his trousers, cool and hard against her flesh, and – determined to give as good as she was getting – slipped her hand inside.

  “Oh God,” Devlin rasped out as her fingers tentatively brushed the length of his manhood.

  “I am sorry.” Sarah’s hand retreated as if she had been burned, but on a throaty groan he captured her wrist and wrapped her palm around the hard, hot length of him. She stroked his cock slowly, unsure of how much pressure to apply or even where exactly to touch, but if Devlin’s ragged breathing was any indication she was not doing too poor of a job.

  The power of bringing him pleasure was a thrill unto itself and Sarah grew heady with it until Devlin twisted his hips abruptly away. He braced his arms on either side of her head, his strained expression tainted with disbelief.

  “Are you certain you are a virgin?”

  Perhaps it was not the most romantic of questions, but Sarah chose to take it as a compliment. “Quite sure,” she said, her lips curving, and Devlin captured her mouth for another lusty kiss that left her breathless and a bit dazed by the time he reared back and stripped away her nightgown, leaving her bare to his gaze.

  For a moment she was self conscious and her arms crept down of their own accord to cover her breasts while heat bloomed across her chest. Devlin merely shook his head and gently pulled her hands away, placing them on his now bare shoulders, for he had removed his own clothes as well, a fact that was contributing to the blush that spread like wildfire across Sarah’s collarbone and neck.

  “Never hide yourself from me,” he ordered sternly, his eyes flashing blue black in the flickering light.

  Sarah worried her bottom lip. “I… It is just—”

  “I want to look at you. I need to look at you.” And so began an exploration of her body so thorough, so tantalizingly erotic, that Sarah was quite mindless by the time Devlin was through. He left no inch of skin untouched. His hands were everywhere, his mouth quick to follow.

  When one finger gently slipped through her curls down there she went stiff as a board, relaxing only when he whispered sweet assurances and began to stroke her as she had stroked him, and oh, how different it felt to be the one receiving pleasure. It rolled over her in waves, intensifying as his finger slipped inside of her, gentle at first, before quickening in pace and depth until she arched off the mattress and cried out his name.

  But everything Sarah had felt thus far was nothing… nothing… compared to the electricity that jolted through her body when his lips replaced his finger and his tongue lapped at the core of her. He nibbled, licked, and teased while she writhed, tossing her head from side to side and tangling her fingers in his dark hair.

  At last, only when Sarah was all but begging for something she could not put into words did Devlin lift his head and stretch up the length of her body. He adjusted himself smoothly on top of her, and then he was in her, pressing ever so steadily into the tight, narrow recess of her womanhood, whispering soothingly into her ear, stroking her hair, her arms, her breasts.

  The pain was minimal; a quick burning sensation that vanished as quickly as it had appeared for he had prepared her body with expert finesse. She was ready for him. Wet for him. Crying out for him. They began to move in a sinuous rhythm, thrusting and receiving, giving and taking, gasping and pleading, until, in perfect unison, they sought their release together.

  CHAPTER TEN

  The next morning Lily came to call.

  With Sarah relaxing in the bath and the entire staff delayed by the storm that had buried London in snow overnight, it was left to Devlin to answer the incessant knocking. He did so with a grimace and a grumble, pulling a shirt over his head seconds before flinging the door wide and glaring daggers at the brunette waiting on the other side.

  “This had better be an emergency,” he snapped.

  “Oh, it is,” Lily assured him before she swept past without waiting for an invitation, trailing snow in her wake. Swinging her cloak off her shoulders she held it out to Devlin as if he were the butler. He took it grudgingly, as well as the hat, gloves, and muff that followed.

  Dumping everything rather unceremoniously in the nearest chair, he wiped his hands dry on the sides of his trousers, crossed his arms, and waited for an explanation.

  Lily took her time with it. She wandered in a circle around the large foyer, studying everything from the ornate chandelier that hung from the vaulted ceiling to the collection of crystal ducks – Devlin had a secret fondness for the odd little animal – that were perched high on a shelf. When she had completed her circuit she finally turned to address him. “Sarah is here,” she said without preamble.

  “Yes,” Devlin acknowledged with an annoyed dip of his head. He recognized Lady Kincaid now that she was divested of her outer garments. She had been with Sarah in the park, and then again at the ball. He thought he might have even danced with her once, but he could not be certain. How she had tracked her friend here he had no idea, but he was quite eager for her to leave. Unfortunately, she did not seem in any great hurry.

  “Sarah spent the night here,” Lily continued, lifting one eyebrow.

  “Yes.”

  “Did she spend the night with you?”

  Devlin gritted his teeth. “I believe you know the answer to that question or you would not be here this morning. What do you want, Lady Kincaid?”

  The brunette snapped her shoulder blades together and lifted her chin. “Do not try bullying me, Lord Heathcliff. I am not like Sarah—”

  “I never bullied her!” Devlin interrupted with a scowl.

  “Oh no? What would you call that little incident at Almacks?”

  How his quiet, shy little Sarah and this brash, rude woman were friends was an absolute mystery. Taking a deep, steadying breath to calm himself, Devlin said, “That was a mistake. One I have already apologized for, not that it concerns you.”

  “Everything about Sarah concerns me, including her current welfare. Where is she? I want to see her.” Without waiting for his permission Lily shouldered past and marched up the stairs, Devlin hot on her heels.

  “Stop this instant,” he demanded, but she waved him off.

  “Sarah!” she called out, raising her voice so she could be heard above Devlin’s blustering. “Sarah darling, can your hear me?”

  The door to the master bedroom opened and Sarah, dressed in nothing save a white robe with her wet hair in tangles around her face, peeked out. “Devlin, what is happen—LILY!” she gasped, clapping one hand over her mouth. “What in the world are you doing here?”

  “Exactly what I want to know,” Devlin growled.

  Seemingly nonplussed by her friend’s lack of clothing, Lily all but flew down the hallway and squeezed Sarah in a tight embrace that left them both breathless. “I had to come see if you were all right, or if that man—” she paused to point an accusing finger at Devlin “—had done something horrid to you.”

  “Now see here,” Devlin protested. “Sarah has come to no harm, in fact she…. Well, she…” Realizing too late he had been about to make a regrettable blunder, Devlin cut himself off as both women pivoted to face him and raised their eyebrows.

  “In fact she… What, Devlin?” Sarah asked in a deceptively sweet voice. “Do go on. Finish your sentence.”

  He looked down at the floor and cleared his throat. “I would rather not.”

  “Why Sarah, I do believe he is blushing!” Lily said in delight. “Oh, how the tables have turned. Let us get you dressed, dear, and you can tell me all about it.”

  When Sarah glanced helplessly at him over her shoulder as Lily all but shoved her back into the bedroom, Devlin shook his head a
nd rolled his eyes. Sarah smiled, as if to say, ‘What would you have me do?’ and the exchange, though small and silent, warmed Devlin’s heart.

  He knew now that what he once felt with Moira had been nothing more than a young man’s lust. It had certainly not been love. No, love was what he felt when he gazed upon Sarah.

  He loved it when she blushed – which he had taken particular delight in making her do this morning – and he loved it when she got that little stutter in her voice. He loved how sweet she was, and how kind. He loved how trusting she was, and how honest. Last night they had hidden nothing from each other and Devlin had never felt closer to another human being in his entire life. She was his match, in every sense of the word, and if he had one regret it would only be that he had overlooked her for so long.

  As a plan began to form in Devlin’s mind, he bounded down the stairs to make the necessary preparations, leaving Lily and Sarah to their gossip of which he could only hope showed him in the best possible light for he suspected – and rightly so – that if the Lady Kincaid did not approve of him it would be an uphill battle to win Sarah’s heart.

  Inside the master bedroom, Lily reclined belly down on the bed while Sarah combed out her long hair and began to plait it into a braid.

  At first she had been reserved in sharing details of her heavenly night spent in Devlin’s arms, but after enduring a barrage of merciless questions she had finally caved in and, blushing head to toe, gave Lily a full report on what had occurred, leaving no detail unspoken.

  Her friend listened with rapt attention, interrupting every once in a while with little gems such as, “he did what?” and “oh, I would have positively died” and (Sarah’s personal favorite) “I am going to faint”.

  When she was finally finished recanting her first experience with lovemaking, Sarah sat on the bed beside Lily and wrapped her arms around her knees. “And then we did it all over again this morning,” she confessed.

  Lily clapped a hand to her forehead. “And here I was worried you were being taken advantage of.” Sitting up, she rearranged her skirts and crossed her legs at the ankle. “You little minx, you seduced him! Sarah Emily Dawson, I never though I would see the day. How do you feel this morning?”

  “Wonderful.” Sarah smiled. “Absolutely wonderful.”

  “And when is the big day?”

  “The big day?”

  Lily rolled her eyes. “The wedding, you ninny. When are you getting married? Why, even now you could be, you know,” she paused to look pointedly at Sarah’s stomach, “in the family way. There really is no time to waste.”

  Sarah’s smile faltered. “I… We… That has not been discussed yet.”

  “That has not been discussed yet? What is there to discuss! He ruined you, thus he has to marry you.”

  “He did not ruin me,” Sarah protested, even as a seedling of doubt in the back of her mind said otherwise. She and Devlin had yet to talk about the future, but she had naturally assumed he would offer for her hand. Now she was suddenly not so certain. Perhaps last night had not meant to him what it meant to her. After all, he had probably had a thousand of those nights with a hundred different women. How was she any different? Why would she be any different? Because she loved him? Sarah winced at the thought.

  She did not know if love meant anything to Devlin, let alone if he even loved her or would be capable of loving her. She was such a fool. A silly, presumptuous fool who never learned from her mistakes and now may have made the most grievous one of all.

  “I have to speak with him,” she decided. Leaving the bed, she picked up her clothing that had dried in front of the fire overnight and began to dress herself while Lily watched, worried concern marring her pretty face. “Help me with the stays,” she implored, and Lily stood at once, crossing the room and tightening the back of Sarah’s dress with four quick pulls.

  “Everything will be fine,” Lily assured her, although she could not quite keep the doubt from creeping into her tone and Sarah heard it clear as a bell.

  “You said it yourself.” Sarah fretted anxiously with the end of her braid. “He ruined me, Lily.”

  “Ah yes, well, perhaps that was a poor choice of words.”

  “What if he never wants to see me again?”

  “Darling, of course he wants to see you. He loves you. I saw it on his face the moment I walked through the door. I was merely being cautious. You know how I can be. Why, I bet at this very moment he is planning out his proposal.”

  “No.” Sarah shook her head and began to pace. “No, he is not. Why, by now he has probably forgotten my name. What am I going to do, Lily? I w-wanted this to happen but I never though it would really happen.”

  Unbeknownst to either woman, the bedroom door creaked open.

  “Sarah?” Devlin asked uncertainly, stepping into the room and taking in the harried scene. “What is it? What is wrong?”

  Lifting tear drenched eyes to his, Sarah choked back a sob, shot past him, and fled.

  In the deafening silence that followed her abrupt retreat, Devlin rounded on Lily with a snarl. He had never shaken a woman, but he was sorely tempted now, especially after witnessing the naked pain he had seen flash across Sarah’s face. The urge to help her, to protect her, was like a live thing inside of him, clawing to get free. “What the hell did you say to her?” he demanded.

  Helpless to explain, Lily could only shake her head.

  On a vicious oath, Devlin spun on his heel and bolted out of the room.

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  Sarah made it through the front door before she came up short and nViscounty flew off the front steps in amazement at the sight that greeted her. There, in the middle of the empty snow covered street, stood Devlin’s gray horse and sleigh.

  Both had been resplendently decked out in lavish red bows, ornate gold bells, and – even though she had to squint to make them out – sprigs of mistletoe tied together with silver ribbon.

  “Do you like it?” Devlin murmured from behind her. “I was coming upstairs to get you. I wanted it to be a surprise.”

  Sarah startled slightly as Devlin draped her cloak – forgotten in her rush to flee – over her shoulders. “Thank you,” she said absently, still distracted by the sleigh and the possible implications of what such a grand gesture could mean.

  Coming to stand beside her, Devlin gently took her hand, his long fingers wrapping easily around her smaller ones. “Come on a ride with me?”

  She hesitated. “Devlin, there is something I need to ask—”

  “Come on a ride with me,” he repeated. This time it was not a question.

  Arm in arm they walked down the steps. The gray horse waited patiently while Devlin first helped Sarah into the sleigh before he went around to the other side and climbed in himself. A flick of the reins, a cluck of his tongue, and they were off, moving with a swift speed Sarah was more accustomed to the second time around.

  The wind whistled past her cheeks and caught the hood of her cloak, nearly causing it to fall from her head before she pulled it more firmly down around her ears. Wordlessly Devlin reached down underneath the seat and pulled out the fur blanket he had given her before. This time he used it to cover them both and their thighs brushed intimately as the sleigh moved briskly down the street and turned left, towards the park.

  Sarah’s heart pounded, so loud she feared Devlin would surely hear, but when she sneaked a sideways glance at his profile she saw his attention was firmly fixed on the winding path in front of them.

  Taking a deep breath she settled into the seat and forced herself to relax and enjoy the scenery. Now that they were beyond the houses and shops of the city it passed by in flashes of green and white, so pristine and clear it made Sarah smile despite the aching in her heart. Winter may have been many things, but ugly it was not, at least not in the typical sense of the word.

  Despite the frigid temperatures and the ice and bone chilling wind there was a loveliness to all of it that many people failed to acknowledge.
There was a sense of magic as well, a soft tingling in the air that made one appreciate their surroundings far more than usual. It filled Sarah with awareness, not just for the beauty of a solitary pine standing guard over a field painted in white, but for herself as a woman.

  For the first time she recalled the wish she had made in the darkened study with only Lily to bare witness. A wish that had, for all intensive purposes, come true threefold since it’s making.

  I wish Devlin would simply notice me.

  Sarah glanced at him again and this time he was looking back at her, his blue eyes calm and soft with an emotion she dared not name. When he shifted the reins to his left hand and raised the right to gently cup her cheek she leaned into the pressure, closing her eyes and releasing a quiet sigh.

  “You are not a great beauty,” he said huskily.

  Sarah’s eyes shot open. “What d-did you say?” she said, her forehead creasing. She would have drawn back, but he had begun tracing the curve of her jaw with his thumb, and she was too weak a creature to deny herself such a simple pleasure.

  “The other women I have been with were all great beauties. Their hair was more golden than yours, their lips more red, their bodies more voluptuous.” Here Devlin paused and Sarah, who had grown more and more incredulous with every word he spoke, finally jerked free of his grasp and wedged herself into the farthest corner of the seat she could reach.

  “If you are trying to pay me compliments you are not doing a very good job!”

  “Oh,” said Devlin, his blue eyes gleaming and his dimples flashing, “I am paying you the biggest compliment of all. These women,” he continued, apparently oblivious to the fact that Sarah did not want to hear of anyone else he had slept with, “were so beautiful it often pained me to look upon them, for I knew beneath their glittering smiles and batting eyelashes they were as cold and empty as porcelain dolls. They cannot love another, you see, for they are already in love with themselves. I knew this, and in knowing it pursued them all the more, for I did not seek love, I sought beauty and all the coldness it brought with it.”