Having touched and kissed Elizabeth, felt her writhing against him passionately as he had driven her to climax with his hand between her silken thighs and mouth on her gorgeously lush breasts, how could he ever let her go?
The memory of their passionate interlude threatened to overwhelm him all over again. He had practically collapsed with desire at her response, barely got her out of the cave and concealed the entrance before she had come to her senses. His tiny spy hole looking out onto the beach had revealed her alarmed response, her desperate attempt to find the entrance to the paradise they had shared once more.
He shuddered with longing again, yearning for the taste, touch, smell of her. He had been with a woman before, his wife, but the mere physical act had never prepared him for what Elizabeth had evoked within his own nature. He simply had to have her for his.
His what? Mistress? No, out of the question. He had more principles than that.
Wife? What sort of husband would he make for a delicate blossom, a sensual woman like her? He had not been a notable success in his first marriage, now had he?
How could he ever hope to win that inestimable girl for his own, or make her happy, when he had been such a failure as a husband? When he had killed his own wife?
Chapter Five
Once downstairs in the drawing room at Ellesmere Manor, it was impossible for Elizabeth to escape Thomas Eltham's notice. Her devoted brother embraced her even more warmly than usual and commented, "My, you're looking well-kissed by the summer sun."
She tried not to start at his words, far too close to the truth for her own comfort.
"Yes, you look very fine indeed," Charlotte said, observing her sister-in-law's glow.
"I suppose the storm didn't bother you too much, then?" Thomas asked as he handed her a glass of elderberry cordial.
"No, not really."
"It looked quite fierce. Phelps and I were cleaning out the desk when it hit. Fairly shook the house, so it did. Were you all right out in the open?"
"It wasn't so bad on the beach," Elizabeth said noncommittally.
"It was very fine in Cork up until the time we were starting back," Vanessa said as she too gave her friend a warm hug. "Clifford was so worried, we ended up staying on another half-hour until it abated."
"Well, being under a tree is almost inviting the lightning to strike you, dearest," her husband pointed out mildly.
Vanessa put her arm around his waist and they gave each other the glowing look which Elizabeth had always envied in the past. Now she could well imagine giving and receiving one in return.
"Well, now that we've made such great inroads into the estate business, it's high time we became more sociable. Here three days already, and my cousins still haven't come to see us," Thomas said as they finished their drinks and proceeded into dinner, Elizabeth on his left arm so she would not have to go in alone.
"They understand. They've only just recently got back from the Peninsula themselves, now that we're sure the war is well and truly over," Charlotte said.
"Yes, they've been away a long time. Stewart and his wife, and Vevina's brother Wilfred, commonly referred to as Will. I know several of we Rakehells spent some time in the Army, but our sacrifice was as nothing compared to the men like Stewart and Will, who stayed until the very end."
"And the women's sacrifices," Vanessa put in, her tone one of reproach. "From what I hear, Vevina proved just as much of a hero as her husband and brother."
"Not to mention their friends," Clifford added. "Some of them are here too, aren't they?"
"Yes they are. Quite an interesting group of men and women. The little news that ever filtered back to us from the Continent was quite remarkable," Thomas said with a shake of his head. "But we mustn't pry too much. Reading between the lines, I would say that Stewart and Wilfred were charged with some very important business by Wellington himself.
"I know when Stewart and Vevina were wed, Wellington gave the bride away, paid for their wedding, and stood godfather to the twins. They should have come home at the end of the Salamanca campaign. Then we got a letter saying they were all staying. There wasn't much news after that. I suspect that, like our old friend Jason, Alexander as he is now, they were working behind the scenes to help bring down Napoleon."
Charlotte smiled at her husband fondly. "That's just the romantic in you talking. You know yourself how highly decorated the two men are. You can't get medals like that by hiding in the shadows. You get them by leading your men on the battlefield, to victory after victory, as Wellington and our forces did."