A Christmas in Cornwall: A Regency Christmas Novella Read online

  “I don’t know what I was thinking.” Will met her gaze, holding out his hand. “Let us shake on a truce and work on being friends?”

  May’s delicate fingers entwined with his and heat coursed up his arm. “That sounds perfect. Thank you,” she said.

  Will pulled away and sat back. “You know, I must admit I enjoy liberating conversation as the one we’ve just shared. It’s not often that a lady and a gentleman can talk so frank.”

  “It was, wasn’t it?” She paused, a small frown between her perfect eyebrows. “I’m sorry for how I treated you when we first met. I was very unkind and rude.”

  He waved her concerns away, not liking the worry that clouded her blue orbs. “Should the positions have been reversed, I would have been wary as well. You were right to question me as you did. You are a strong, wilful woman who only wishes to protect her family. That is something to be commended.”

  “Thank you.” For the first time since he’d met her, she looked at him with warmth.

  William couldn’t sever their locked gazes even if he wished to. There was something innocent and wicked about May that drew him like a moth to a flame, and even knowing that his wings would be burned should he get too close, it would not stop him. “You’re a very beautiful woman. Is your heart really set on becoming a nun?”

  The luncheon gong sounded and both of them jumped back. He chuckled feeling absurdly young and innocent, which he was not. His years enjoying town life had ensured his innocence was lost many years ago. “I suppose we should go.”

  She stood quickly and stood there a moment before looking back at him. “I have my reasons for wanting to enter the church. Life is complicated and unfortunately we do not always get what we want or with the passing of time, what we want changes.”

  His eyes narrowed at the resolve he heard in her voice. What did May really want? He doubted she always had her heart set on entering the church. And what a waste of a great woman should she end up doing so. Women such as May were rare gems that didn’t come about in society often. It baffled him how she’d not found a husband in town. She was a Viscount’s daughter, from a good family and home. Her choice made little sense to him.

  There was nothing left to it, he would have to try and change her mind.

  Chapter 3

  May took a calming breath and strolled toward the dining room, noting that the servants were busy decorating the house with holly and mistletoe. The deep red and green ribbons they were wrapping about the staircase banister brought home even more that Christmas wasn’t far away, and very soon her life at home would be over.

  She could hear her father and brother talking upstairs as they made their way downstairs. Her heart pounded and had the lunch gong not sounded, she was sure William may have kissed her. Her first real kiss. Pleasure thrummed throughout her body, causing goosebumps to rise on her skin. Dressed as a gentleman today, he really was very pleasant looking. And when speaking to her like an equal, not a silly, young woman, it made him even more appealing.

  At the dining table, she sat at her usual spot and greeted her family as they entered. William followed and he grinned. May smiled back as he settled himself across from her.

  “I thought with your permission, Lord Levinstone, I could steal away your daughter for the afternoon and have her show me the estate. I understood from Father it’s quite vast.”

  May choked on her slice of ham and took a sip of water. “You want to see the estate? With me?” She vaguely heard her father’s answering chuckle and ignored it. “Why?”

  “Why wouldn’t anyone wish to see your home? I’m sure it is magnificent with its wild beauty and rugged shorelines.”

  Her father nodded eagerly, a large smile on his face. “Of course May will show you around. I look forward to hearing about your excursion tonight at dinner.”

  “Papa, we haven’t anyone to chaperone us. I cannot go.” She quickly met William’s challenging gaze. He looked different from when they were together in the private parlour, as if he was contemplating something that involved her in his stormy blue eyes. May ignored her rioting emotions at the thought of them being alone and away from the house… This was dangerous.

  Her father sighed. “We are not in London now. No need to stand on ceremony. And I trust your judgement, May, no matter what you may think.” He threw her a pointed stare. “Lord Grandison is also a guest. He would not displease me. Would you, my lord?”

  “Of course not,” he stated, nodding once. “And please, call me William. No need to stand on ceremony between friends.”

  May turned to a waiting footman. “Please send word to the stables for two horses to be saddled directly.”

  The footman bowed and left to do her bidding. She ate the rest of her lunch in silence, the conversation of farming the least of her thoughts. All that occupied her mind was that for the next few hours she was going to be alone with a man. And not just any man, but the only man who made her uncomfortable in all the right places on her body.

  This was a dreadful conundrum.

  * * *

  A little while later, May rode Mystic, her Arabian mare, out of the stable yard at a trot. She refused to give way to the urge to roll her shoulders from William’s direct gaze that bore into her back.

  He’d been quiet as they’d mounted their horses. Words threatened to bubble out of her, asking him what he was thinking in that bold mind of his. Or why on earth he wanted to look around an estate that farmed mostly sheep and little else. Even baby lambs after a few years were not that exciting to look at.

  She pointed out some landmarks, the local church and the direction of the closest town as she rode along an old coastal path, known only by the few estate workers. Cliffs gave way to sandy beaches and the view of the ocean called to her to explore and enjoy. Just as it always had since she was a little girl.

  “Do you own all this land?”

  The question started her out of her musings and she pulled her mount to a stop. “Yes. The beach below is very good for fishing. There are some old smuggler caves there as well.”

  “Can you show me?”

  “If you wish it.” She dismounted and tethered Mystic to a nearby tree. William did the same and followed her as she showed him the way down to the beach. Grey, angry storm clouds gathered on the horizon and May paused. “I’m a little worried about the weather.” The wind picked up and the sweet, fresh scent of forthcoming rain accompanied it.

  William gazed past her and narrowed his eyes. “You might be right. How long would it take for you to show me the smuggling caves?”

  “Not very long, but the weather can come in quickly here. I’m not sure if we should risk it, it’s quite a steep climb to the shore.” She took another glance at the gathering clouds. “Oh well, come on. As long as we don’t dawdle, we should be all right.”

  “Dawdle?” William laughed. “Now that’s something I haven’t done in a while.”

  May headed for the worn walking trail. No doubt he never dawdled. He was probably too busy with numerous women to ever think about taking some time to just enjoy their company instead of their bodies. Although, after the images she’d seen in those books, enjoying women as he did, he probably enjoyed life immensely. May sighed, not knowing how she felt about such thoughts.

  They reached the sand, and with the increased wind, the waves swirled and broke higher against the shore than normal.

  “Just over here they are.” She entered one smuggling cave. “Now where did I leave the lamp?” she mumbled to herself.

  “You have a lamp here?”

  The question asked quite near her back made her start. In the dark, she supposed William hadn’t known how close he was to her. The thought the he knew exactly how close she was and what his nearness did to her nerves wasn’t worth thinking about. “I used to play in most of the caves along this shore and others. I left lamps in all of them. I can’t see in the dark, you see,” she said, lighting it quickly.

  He laughed and stepped closer
still. “Do you realise you just made a joke?”

  “I may be a future nun, my lord, but I’m not dead. I do know how to enjoy myself.”

  “Really?” A disbelieving eyebrow rose. “How?”

  “I do all manner of things. None of which you need to know about.” The thought of what she would like to do, with this man especially was enjoyment enough. And it was all his lordships fault in any case. Had he not shown her those naughty books, she would never have had any of these thoughts haunting her mind.

  May stilled when he placed a stray curl behind her ear, his fingers lingering to slide down her neck.

  “What if I’d like to know? Would you tell me?”

  His voice was low, and the breath of his words brushed her ear, leaving heat to pool at her core. The flickering flame cast a shadow across his face making him look like the rugged man she’d first met on the beach. “Probably not.” Her whispered voice sounded breathless with need. Had she known better she would assume William was courting her right at this moment. Seducing her even.

  “What if I begged?” His touch glided down her arm and she shivered at the roughness of his palm.

  “You shouldn’t touch me like that.” May made no move to remove his hand and she knew her statement was moot. She did want him to touch her like that, and in a lot of other places not just her arm. If only she could blame the books entirely, but she could not. After her disastrous Season in town, where she’d seen many of her friends find husbands, and noted the many stolen kisses they partook in, May had wanted to experience the same. It looked so delicious to be held against a man’s body, to have them want you with a desperate need that matched your own.

  Slowly he leaned down and brushed his lips against hers. “I want to touch you. Desperately.”

  His gaze searched hers and she read the question he held inside. Would she allow his kiss? Oh, yes, absolutely. If only once before entering the church. May reached up and pulled him against her mouth. Their lips meshed and held and on a gasp his tongue swept against hers with abandonment.

  The need to enjoy every moment and place everything they were doing in her memory urged her to follow his lead. Tentatively she flicked her tongue against his. The oddest sensation, one she’d never felt before bombarded her senses. Heat, soft flesh against flesh, a mating of mouths ensued. Her stomach clenched in desire and she closed the space between them completely.

  William’s hand slipped about her waist and slid down to pull her against him. She gasped as the hardness she recognized as his manhood stood against her body. He wanted her. Wanted her as much as she craved the touch of him.

  The stone wall of the cave met her back as he pushed her up against it. He broke the kiss and May felt a slight chill as he lifted the hem of her gown. She bit her lip as William slowly kissed his way down her neck and across the bodice of her down.

  “We should stop.” William pulled back a little. “I promised your father.”

  May inwardly cursed. They couldn’t stop now. Her body craved him, needed him. This was possibly her only chance of ever experiencing such a tryst with a man and having the memory to keep her warm for many years to come. Determined to get her way, she slipped her hand about his member and stroked. “No. I forbid it.”

  He growled as more air swept across her thighs. She closed her eyes, hoping William might touch her where she now thrummed in pleasure. It was wrong. So deliciously wrong, but so good as well. If only to experience this once in her life, she would be content.

  “Just say the word and I will stop,” he said.

  May couldn’t bring herself to say anything. She clasped the hair at his nape and brought him back to her mouth just as the feather-light touch of his hand skimmed over her most private of places. She moaned. His kiss deepened, their tongues entwining with force as his fingers, one in particular slid across her nubbin. May wrapped her leg about his hip and William took advantage of her action and parted her undergarments. Moisture pooled at her core, her body craving his touch. He stroked her heat, flicked over the part of her that ached for more.

  “Can you remember what this part is called,” he asked, making her whimper with longing as his hand sent another burst of pleasure to course through her blood. “Do you want me to show you what it can do?”

  Without heed, May undulated against his hand. “It’s called a nubbin and yes, please show me what it can do.”

  William smirked flicking her smart little nubbin again, and then he did something she’d never thought possible. He slid one and then two fingers into her and there was no stopping her moans as he worked her heated flesh toward pleasure. With each stroke, he kissed her, his tongue mimicking what his hand was doing beneath her gown. This was so much more than she’d ever imagined and realization hit her that this was why women married men. Who would not want to enjoy such touch every day.

  “You’re so beautiful. I want you, May. I want to taste your sweet body more than you’ll ever know,” he said, his voice rough with need.

  Would she go to hell for enjoying herself so much? Probably, but right at this moment she couldn’t bring herself to care. May made a mental note to pray for forgiveness for her sin when she arrived at the convent. “I know…” She sighed as pleasure mounted and her body burned in his arms.

  William rubbed her button and kept up his relentless invasion. May rocked toward his touch, her need for more of what he could give her overriding all decorum and ladylike manners she ought to have.

  “Hell, yes. I want you to come.”

  She met his gaze, his eyes large and luminous in the flickering lantern light. “Come?”

  “Orgasm,” he said, stimulating her once more. “Pleasure, absolute pleasure.”

  May grinned, but agreed to do whatever he wished, especially if the things he did to her felt this good, like her body was not her own, and something marvellous was about to happen that she didn’t yet know existed.

  She held on to his shoulders, the muscles beneath his clothing taut and flexing with every stroke he bestowed on her wanting body. He kissed her again, making her dizzy and yet a part of her realized he wasn’t experiencing anything like she was right now. All this attention was just for her. Determined to remedy the shortfall, May glided her hand down his chest, enjoying the feel of a man beneath her. His stomach was tight and flat, his breathing fast and getting quicker the further her hand moved toward his breeches. Finding what she was looking for, May clasped his hardness and revelled in the startled gasp from him. “Do you enjoy it when I touch you this way?”

  He slowed his strokes upon her flesh and met her gaze. “Very much so.”

  * * *

  William swallowed the desire to lift May onto the ledge to the side of them, push her skirts further up her body and take her sweet, hot core in one thrust. His body roared with need. Hunger to make her his clawed at his very soul. He wanted her, more than he’d ever wanted any other woman before in his life. Her frankness in his arms, her enjoyment and innocence pulled at his heart.

  The thought should scare him and yet it didn’t. For even with all of May’s ideas over the future she thought she craved, what they were doing together right now only proved to him it would be mortal sin to place her in a church married to the almighty God. The pliant, sexually awakening woman in his arms who waltzed with him so deliciously in the most sexual of ways would never last in a convent. It would be a sin indeed to hide such a treasure behind robes and prayer.

  And he was determined to ensure she altered her ideals and instead, saw him as her future. To walk away from a woman who was smart, well educated and easy to speak with while also making the blood in his veins sing, would be absurd. She was kind, loving and passionate young woman. A prize too precious to leave behind when he sailed.

  The thought of settling down and marrying May ought to scare him, but it did not, if anything, the idea left him calm.

  He increased the pressure to her sweet nubbin with his thumb, while he worked his finger relentlessly inside h
er. She panted, her body riding him as he dreamed she would. Just the thought of her riding his cock made him dizzy. The wetness coating his fingers proof she’d been aching for a man’s touch for too long.

  And not just any man’s touch—his.

  Her fingers bit into his skin, her body tightening about him and he could feel how close she was to release. Each sigh and laboured breath dragged him deeper within her enthralling spell. Then with a hiccup of a sigh, she convulsed about him and shattered in his arms.

  “That’s it. Enjoy me.” William nipped her chin and kissed her, milking every last tremor from her body. In the shadowed light, her eyes glistened with awakening and enjoyment. He smiled. “You’re so beautiful. I wish to make you do this every day for the rest of your life.”

  She sat back a fraction, her bottom lip clasped between her teeth, her cheeks flushed. “I should feel embarrassed and ashamed of myself, but I cannot. I had no idea it could be like that between a man and woman.”

  William grinned. “It can be a lot better than that. I assure you. And when you’re ready, I can show you if you like.”

  May pushed his hand away and settled her skirts, before adjusting her bodice. “While I did enjoy our encounter, I don’t believe we should go any further. Our lives are going in two different directions, and while what you just showed me was amazing, I don’t want to risk getting with a child.”

  William stepped away and adjusted his engorged cock so not to scare her entirely. He had another three weeks or so before his departure, and she may not think an encore of what they’d just shared was necessary, but he had time to change her mind and make her see sense.

  There was so much to explore, to see, do and visit in the world, and although he’d not known this woman for long, to know she’d missed out on life cocooned in a convent just wouldn’t suit. He wanted to show her a life she could only ever dream about, but make it her reality. “Of course.” He smiled. “Whatever you think is best.”