For Your Arms Only by Linden, Caroline (best fiction books to read .TXT) 📗

She was breathing hard, her heart galloping along. “You wouldn’t dare.”

“I think you know I would.” He kissed her again, a hard and ruthless kiss this time that made her weaken. Her grip on his coat eased and she melted into him with a moan.

“Don’t go,” she begged. “Please. You frighten me. Let me finish translating the journal before you do anything. Please, Alec, if you care for me at all—”

He didn’t reply, just kissed her again. With two jerks he pulled up the front of her skirt, pressing his hand between her legs. She gasped, but her body responded instantly. Love and desire, fear and desperation made her hands shake as she yanked at his trousers. By the time she shoved aside the fabric and cupped her hands around his erection, her knees were weak and she was almost on the verge of climax. He knocked her hands aside, his face drawn tight, and pushed her back against the wall as he drove up into her.

Cressida threw her arms around his shoulders and held on as he moved in sharp, hard thrusts. When he reached down to pull up her knee so he could go even deeper inside her, she came with a great shuddering sob. Her body clamped around his so hard tears sprang into her eyes. Alec thrust once more and gave a guttural exhalation as he found his release, pinning her tightly to the wall and letting his head fall to her shoulder.

One tear leaked from her eye and ran down her cheek. She stroked the back of his neck, running her fingers through the short, crisp hair. Her heart would break forever if anything happened to him. “I love you,” she said in a small, lost voice.

His shoulders shuddered, and his arms slid around her, holding her tightly to him. For one euphoric moment, she thought he had relented. He lifted his head and gazed down at her with eyes as blue and boundless as the twilight sky, but filled with resolve. Without a word he eased out of her, letting her feet back to the floor and gently smoothing her skirts down. His expression was somber, and she knew he wasn’t going to agree to her pleas. She closed her eyes and turned her face away when he touched her cheek, but he tipped her chin back to him.

“Cressida, my darling, stay here,” he murmured against her lips. “I’ll answer your every question when I return, but don’t ask me not to go. If you truly care for me”—he paused, then continued more evenly—“please don’t try to stop me from this.”

He was telling her that she could stop him if she tried—but he asked her not to. Without opening her eyes she nodded. Gently, reverently, he kissed her once more. There was a soft rustle as he stepped away, cool air rushing into the space where he had been, and she shivered. Without another word, he opened the door and was gone.

Damn him. Damn all men who thought they could handle any problem alone. Damn him for taking her heart with him into harm’s way and leaving her to suffer the agony of waiting. She opened her eyes and looked around the room. Damn her father, for whatever he had done. And damn her, too, if she stood here and did nothing to help Alec in whatever he was about to do.

She marched through the house, hoping her quarry hadn’t left already. Madame Wallace, dressed in a smart blue traveling gown, opened the door at her knock. A valise sat on the floor behind her. “Oui?” she asked, as if it was not surprising Cressida was at her door even though they had barely been introduced.

“May I come in? I must talk to you.” Cressida hesitated. “It is urgent.”

“Of course, Miss Turner.” Madame opened the door wider to allow her to enter. “What is the problem?” asked Madame with polite curiosity.

Cressida drew a deep breath and faced the other woman with an even gaze. “Alec has gone to confront someone who was involved in causing him to be suspected as a traitor.”

“Goodness,” she said mildly. “Just now?”

“He refused to let me go with him, but it may be dangerous and he would not wait.”

“Men,” said Madame with a sigh. “But why have you come to me about this?”

Cressida suffered a moment of doubt. Madame Wallace was so slim and elegant, with her exotic face and sensual movements. Next to her, Cressida felt like a giant, clumsy girl. Was she really here to ask this delicate woman to go help Alec? Tom was still in Portsmouth and Mr. Hayes had gone, but Mr. Wallace looked very capable…“I think you are more than you appear,” she replied, trusting her instinct. “I think you can help him.”

Something flickered in Madame’s eyes. She leaned closer. “Why is that?”

Cressida opened her mouth, but realized she didn’t have a good reason. “Can you not, then? Because if you can’t, I shall have to go myself.”

There was an odd humor in Madame’s smile. “This is why I do not like to work with gentlemen,” she said. “They are forever being led astray by their hearts or by their—” She stopped and pursed her lips. “Where has he gone?”

“I don’t know, but I think I can figure it out.”

“Go do that. I will be at your room in a few minutes.” She picked up the valise and set it on a chair. “We will leave soon; hurry.”

“Thank you,” she said in a rush of relief. “Thank you so much—”

“You will come with us.” Madame was digging through the valise and didn’t look at her.

“What?” Cressida exclaimed. “Oh, no. Must I go? Alec told me to stay here…”

“You are bound to know more than I do, and if you stay here I will be blind. Go, and be ready to tell me where he has gone.”

Cressida hoped she had done the