Nights in White Satin: A Loveswept Classic Romance Read online

  He wondered at her wisdom in bringing the necklace, then dismissed it at the thought that tonight she would be in the bedroom next to his. So close. The vision of Jill in his bed, wrapped in the white satin sheets Annalissa had innocently and temptingly provided, whirled through his brain. He wanted her so badly—wanted to strip away the clinging dress and the sexy heels, wanted to strip away the black silken stockings to reveal the inviting flesh underneath. He wanted a night in white satin with her.

  He realized Jill and her diamonds were drawing more than his eye. Not a gentleman cat burglar, but something more dangerous, he thought, as he noticed several men taking an interest in her. He finished mixing their drinks at the portable bar and walked back to her. There was no hurry in his step, just a proprietary determination that was self-confident in its claim. He could almost see the interest in her fade. Certainly, he could sense the men in the knot of people she was with “retreating” some distance, even though they never moved.

  “Here,” he said in a low voice while handing over her drink. It was her fifth Perrier of the night. Jill was a very thirsty lady.

  She smiled her thanks, then took a sip.

  “… and the lion came rushin’ at me. Biggest brute I ever saw. Jolly well intended to have me for his dinner, I say.…”

  Colonel Fitchworth-Leeds was still holding court with his long-winded stories. He certainly had a pile full of them, Rick thought. The man had been going strong since dinner. Rick noticed his audience was mostly Americans. He supposed the Colonel was harmless enough, although he didn’t care for him. Too stereotypically British for his taste.

  To his surprise, Jill asked, in an awed voice, “Did the lion get you?”

  The Colonel guffawed. “Shot him at close range right between the eyes. Brute dropped at my feet.”

  Rick’s jaw tightened at the callous words. He could feel a shudder run through Jill.

  “I would have been so scared,” she said.

  The Colonel gave her a toothy grin. “You have to stand your ground with these cats. They need to know who’s the boss.”

  Jill nodded, then shivered visibly. “I suppose. But they’re so pretty—”

  “They’re lazy creatures. Anyone on the veldt will tell you they’d kill the livestock every time if we let ’em,” Fitchworth-Leeds said, interrupting her.

  Jill nodded again.

  Rick blinked in surprise. He could not imagine this woman who worked to conserve wild animals would literally stand still for a hunter’s stories. This couldn’t be the same Jill who had raced downstairs in her nightgown in a desperate attempt to glimpse his gentle family of foxes. That Jill would have told the Colonel off—if she didn’t shoot him right on the spot. Now that he thought about it, though, she’d been part of the Colonel’s faithful audience all night.

  The Colonel launched into another story, this one about his import car business. Rick leaned over Jill, inhaled with pleasure the light scent of her perfume, and whispered, “Would you like to go for a walk?”

  She turned her head slightly. Her lips, so near, curved into a smile. “I’d love to … but after the Colonel’s done.”

  Rick almost growled in his frustration. “But he’ll go on forever. We’ll all be dead and buried by the time he’s done.”

  “Shhh.” But she giggled. “I know, but I want to hear about the cars. I could use a good investment.”

  “Invest in blue-chip, my girl. It’s safer.”

  Still, he straightened and listened. The Colonel was obviously unaware of their little conversation. At least, he hadn’t stopped talking once. If Jill were considering investing, then he ought to listen, if only to know where he needed to head her off.

  He couldn’t say the Colonel had actually recommended anything that didn’t sound legitimate. The problem was he didn’t know if the Colonel was legitimate. At least the Colonel hadn’t recommended himself, a mark in his favor. Instead, he’d made a point to say that he already had a partner in John Young.

  However, there was something about the man that bothered Rick, although he couldn’t quite put his finger on it. He decided to encourage Jill to investigate fully any business of this type before investing her money.

  It seemed like hours before he finally was able to steer her outside. A glance at his watch told him it was more than an hour in reality. The house had French doors leading onto a patio, with an open terrace to the back garden. The place was a riot of flowers.

  Jill sat on the edge of a low wall and touched a planter filled with petunias, marigolds, ivy, and lobelia. “In the States we never think to plant a conglomeration of things like this. Either it’s one thing or it’s nothing.”

  “We prefer not to waste the space,” he said, coming to stand next to her. He was glad to leave the noisy, smoky room behind. It was nearly ten and the sun had just set, one of the advantages of the long northern days.

  Jill edged away from him. He frowned.

  “I suppose we’re too rigid in our thinking,” she said. “At least I know I am.”

  He leaned closer. “We’ll have to do something about that.”

  She stood up and walked over to the other side of the terrace. “I’ll take a class in Renaissance thinking.”

  It was a no if he ever heard one. Rick set his jaw. This wasn’t going quite as well as he’d hoped.

  “I’d be careful of the Colonel,” he said.

  She glanced up sharply. “What do you mean?”

  “I mean, check out his investment schemes thoroughly before you invest.”

  She shrugged, clearly dismissing his words.

  Anger boiled up in him, hot and fierce. “Dammit, Jill. What the hell is wrong with you?”

  “Nothing,” she exclaimed, wide-eyed. “What could be wrong?”

  “You’re acting strange. You’ve been … I don’t know, not the same since we met up with your American friends.” He ran his hand through his hair, not able to find the words to describe the change in her. Maybe all those drinks had been her way of trying to get rid of him. “And I can’t believe you’d tolerate a character like the Colonel, let alone be interested in his business dealings.”

  Jill looked frantically around the empty terrace, then back at him. “Good grief, Rick. You come up with more wild conclusions. Don’t ever do a guest spot on Jeopardy. You’d never win.”

  “At least I’m consistent,” he snapped, stung by her words.

  “You’re being silly.” She turned and swept back into the house, leaving him alone.

  “I’m being silly,” he muttered, spinning around on his heel and shoving his hands in his trouser pockets. “My backside, I’m being silly.”

  Something was definitely wrong here. The problem was, he didn’t know exactly what.

  Rick would probably kill her, Jill thought as she rejoined the party. She’d be lucky if that was all he did. But she had had to get rid of him. Earlier she had realized that the Colonel showed an interest in her only when Rick was absent. Although she couldn’t quite get her thinking focused in Rick’s presence, Fitchworth-Leeds had seemed to be buying her “like mother, like daughter” act. His gaze had dropped to her necklace several times, and she could practically see the wheels turning in his nasty brain. Until he would glance at her “protector.” Then the wheels went flat.

  She hadn’t known what to do until Rick had snapped at her outside. It had been scary to hear how nearly transparent she was to him. Still, she had seized the opportunity to turn it into a fight. He was sure to leave her alone now.

  She was becoming very adept at lying to him, and she hated it. But she had no choice. Justice was up to just her. The Colonel wasn’t her only problem where Rick was concerned. That too-thin adjoining door was looming bigger and bigger in her mind. She wasn’t sure whether she was disappointed or grateful that the door would stay safely closed.

  She touched the necklace at her throat and decided that if she were going to sacrifice Rick for justice, she’d better get started.

&nb
sp; But first she had to find a bathroom. Five Perriers were a definite disadvantage when trying to get rid of someone.

  Rick paced the bedroom, cursing under his breath.

  It was after two in the morning, and the party was finally over. Nothing was turning out the way he’d planned. The entire regatta week had been a distinct success until tonight. Tonight had been a disaster. And all because he’d opened his mouth for a stupid question.

  He’d acted almost jealous—jealous of an old, long-winded Colonel. No wonder Jill had called him silly. He had been. She’d stuck with the Colonel for the rest of the party, until it was obvious to everyone present that she was ignoring him.

  He knew she was in the next room; he could hear her moving around, getting ready for bed. He looked at his own, those damned white satin sheets turned down invitingly.

  Cursing, he stripped off his tie and unbuttoned the vice of a shirt. The odd thought hit him that Grahame would have been proud he hadn’t done it before. His jacket had already been slapped onto the chair.

  He glanced at the door separating him from Jill. He knew he couldn’t let them go the night without settling their argument. Every part of him was warning him there would be no coming back from that point.

  He went to the adjoining door and tried the knob. It wouldn’t turn. He rapped softly on the wood.

  There was a moment of silence on the other side, then Jill said, “Yes?”

  “I want to talk to you.”

  “I’m listening.”

  “Not through the door. I really need to talk to you. Open up, Jill, and let me in.”

  “Rick—”

  “Please, Jill. I promise not to growl.”

  He waited impatiently through another moment of silence, then the lock clicked and the door opened enough to reveal her. She was clad to the chin in a flowered cotton robe. He was all too aware his shirt was completely undone, exposing his chest. Primitive urges began to roil through him. He suppressed them, knowing this was not the time.

  “I know a couple of pigs who fell for that line,” she said. “They nearly wound up in the dinner pot.”

  “You think I’m the Big Bad Wolf?” he asked, grinning. He kind of liked the notion.

  “Not really, except that you’ve been growling all evening.”

  “I know. I wanted to apologize about that. I was … concerned for you.”

  “Okay.” She stared at his chest, not even bothering to look him in the eye. “Is that it?”

  Her coolness blasted him like an arctic wind, fanning his frustration into a white-hot anger and dissolving his common sense.

  “No, that is not it.”

  He pulled her to him, fitting her body perfectly to his. She gasped, her eyes wide, and he immediately covered her mouth with his, his tongue plunging into the moist interior. Some shred of logic told him he was making a mistake, but too many emotions were welling up for him to pay attention.

  She didn’t respond at first, and he softened his demands, almost teasing at her mouth, coaxing her to join him. He ran his hands down her back, down the long sensual length of her spine. The curve of her hips tempted him, and he let his fingers span her waist, torturing himself with restraint. He curled his other hand around her side to the first curve of her breast. The touch of her was sinful, and his body was already screaming for him to sin more. Slowly, almost imperceptibly, she relaxed against him. Her hands crept up around his neck as her tongue rubbed against his in matching tempo.

  He twisted and turned the kiss, wanting to taste every nuance of her response. Every delicious inch of her body was pressed to his, only the thin cotton of her robe and nightgown separating them. Her hands tugged at his shoulders, and he reached blindly behind her and shut the door. Satisfaction swept through him at the sharp click of the lock. He eased her back against the door, then lifted his mouth from hers. He was surprised to realize his chest was heaving for breath.

  But he couldn’t help smiling at the sight of Jill’s softly swollen lips and closed eyes. She opened them.

  “When you go macho, you don’t fool around,” she murmured.

  “I’m so glad you’re pleased,” he murmured back, delighted with her.

  She snagged a handful of his shirt and pulled him closer. “Please me again.”

  The breath shuddered out of him as he swept her up into another kiss. Need raged through him and there was no denial. He’d waited too long for her already.

  Her mouth was lush and addicting, pulling him into a velvet whirlpool. Her hands were a cool fire on his chest as they slipped under his shirt. Her fingers slid across the swath of hair on his chest and stomach, evoking wild sensations that ignited him to a fever pitch. He knew no other woman had ever lured him into her spell like Jill did. One touch and he was mindless to all but her.

  Jill knew it had been dangerous to open the door. She had wanted so badly to resist, but the tone of his voice, the hurt she heard reflected there, had compelled her to turn the knob. And the moment she had, she’d been lost. Nothing mattered anymore except being in his arms.

  She admitted now that she had wanted to be there desperately. She had wanted to feel his mouth on hers, feel their tongues mating and driving them to a wild darkness. Like now. Everything inside her had shouted a warning that tonight was the most foolish, and the most treacherous, for her with Rick. She was risking all her plans for his touch. And that was what enticed her. He had enticed her from the moment they’d met. She’d known this was inevitable. Something in Rick had reached a place deep inside her, crumbling all reason, all barriers.

  His kiss was endless, unlike any she had experienced before. She became aware, eventually, of a softness at her back, cushioning her as she took Rick’s weight on hers. He had brought her to the bed, she realized. She couldn’t quite remember them moving away from the door. She only cared that they had.

  His body pressed her into sleek cool sheets. She sensed they were satin, and they enveloped her in a glowing white cloud. He lifted his mouth from hers, gazing down at her with those mesmerizing blue-green eyes. His face was flushed with passion.

  “I want to wrap you in white satin,” he said, unbuttoning the cotton robe, his voice and heated fingers making her feel seductive and exotic.

  She pushed the shirt off his shoulders, letting her hands absorb the warmth of his skin. His muscles were hard from the life he led, and their strength made her moan.

  He pulled the slim straps of her nightgown down her arms until the material was around her hips. He lowered his head. His tongue teased at her already diamond-hard nipple, nearly jolting her off the bed. Her blood shot through her veins, hot and heavy. His hands and lips excited her beyond awareness for endless minutes.

  What was left of their clothes was shed, leaving the incredible sensation of flesh to flesh. Jill ran her hands down his torso, following the path of silky chest hair arrowing beyond the tight muscles of his waist. His fingers stroked her. She dragged her nails lightly across his thighs, eliciting a groan from him. She wanted to give him pleasure, the kind of forbidden pleasure he was giving her. Sensations throbbed through her at the torment he was creating, giving her no peace and lifting her to near madness.

  His kisses touched every erotic place on her body, ones she didn’t even know she possessed. His mouth went lower still. Her thighs opened, and he was tasting her, sending her into a mindless frenzy. She tugged at him with nearly clawing hands, until he rose above her in the darkness and thrust into her.

  She flowed about him like fine wine, moving with him, matching him in the ageless rhythm, her mouth feeding on him for breath and giving him back sustenance. She felt protected … and loved. With each building stroke, she gave of her body and gave of her heart, until she reached the dizzying heights to which he’d brought her. And at last, the waves of satisfaction sluiced through her again and again, Rick joining with her in the swirling currents.

  When she finally opened her eyes, she had only regrets. Regrets for the way she was deceiving hi
m.

  “What?” he mumbled, clearly sensing the change in her. He opened his eyes and raised himself on his elbows. “Was I that bad?”

  She chuckled and wound her arms around his neck, forcing away the guilt. Surely she was allowed one forbidden night. “Hardly. I think I did things I’ll be ashamed of in the morning.”

  “I knew I should have gotten rid of Grandmother sooner,” he said, relaxing.

  Jill smiled. Lettice had been a protector of sorts. So had the Colonel and the emerald necklace. But Rick had overcome them. Rick had overcome everything.

  “Don’t go home when she goes,” he said. “Stay a while longer. Stay with me.”

  “I—I can’t,” she said, thinking of her job waiting back in the States. And her job here. It was slowly seeping in just what she’d done. Like Sir Lancelot, she’d been tempted from the path of purity by the one person who could wreak disaster on her quest for justice. She doubted Guinevere had caused as much confusion as Rick did. “I knew we shouldn’t have—”

  “No,” he interrupted. “We should have. Nothing will make that different. But this was not the time to bring that up.”

  She wanted to protest, but the words never came as he nuzzled the curve of her shoulder. She moaned, her heightened senses instantly responding. He grinned against her skin and rubbed his thigh along hers.

  “I think I’ll bring something else up instead,” he whispered.

  She giggled and pressed herself to him. “I think you already have.”

  Jill pushed aside the last of her doubts as he rolled her over. Quests and justice and heritage be damned.

  She would have one night in white satin with Rick.

  It wasn’t until they got home to Devil’s Hall that Jill discovered the real disaster that had been wreaked by the night with Rick.

  They had managed to present themselves sedately enough for breakfast, she also managing to keep her guilt and regrets to a minimum. She hadn’t paid much attention to some things that hadn’t seemed right before Annalissa et al. had waved them off. The Colonel had been perfectly charming, and she knew from the conversation that he’d be staying with the Youngs. It would be easy to make further contact with him after she settled her confusion with Rick. That was first.