Page 4 of The Runaway Heiress (The Gilded West)

Chapter Four

T he maid hesitated awkwardly, her gaze going from Sophie to Gray and back again, before she gave a brief curtsy and left.

Sophie opened her mouth to apologize for her maid and explain she was new but realized he would know that.

Jean only allowed her to keep a maid for about six months before finding some reason to dismiss her or move her to other duties.

Yet another way that he kept Sophie isolated.

Gray didn’t seem to notice, though, as he stepped into her room and stood looking around.

The furniture was dainty with swirls in the wood and gilded etchings.

It was silly, but it seemed so intimate to have this rugged man in her private sanctum.

The only place that was hers. His very presence had her blushing.

When his gaze settled on the blue satin counterpane across the bed, she quickly moved to her dressing table across the room.

Having him here made her heart pound too fast. He should go.

She placed her sapphire earbobs on the polished surface and reached for the clasp of her necklace, but her fingers trembled too badly to get it open.

“Let me help.” Gray’s voice moved over her like rough velvet, causing her intimate muscles to tighten curiously.

Sophie’s wide-eyed gaze met his in the mirror as he came up behind her.

A full head and neck taller than her petite frame, his deep stare held hers briefly before he looked down to the clasp.

Sophie barely had time to recover from the intensity of that look before his fingertips touched the sensitive flesh of her nape.

The contact sent thrills of excitement through her and made her clench her teeth to keep from visibly reacting.

The clasp opened and the long, heavy strand of sapphires and diamonds tugged across her neck and shoulder in a slow caress as it came away in his hands.

It landed softly on the dresser and then his hand was on her shoulder.

Her shocked gaze came up to find his in the mirror, but it wasn’t there.

He was watching his hand move slowly down the smooth skin of her arm.

She looked, too, and became immediately fascinated by the contrast of his large hand against her pale skin.

She watched its leisurely progress until it covered her own hand, leaving her flesh tingling in its wake.

Sophie wasn’t sure who initiated the movement, but suddenly she found her back pressed lightly against the solid strength of his chest. His other arm crossed over in front of her and she realized she was in the loose cage of his embrace, where she wanted to be.

She watched his graceful fingers as they efficiently divested her of her bracelet and placed it with the necklace on the dressing table.

His body tensed as if to move, and she realized how badly she wanted him to stay. Nothing could happen, but she didn’t want the moment to end.

“My hairpins, too. They’re made of diamonds.”

Her gaze flicked to his in the mirror and she saw something there, something hot and smoldering.

She welcomed its implication. Gray inhaled deeply as his hands released her wrist and moved to her hair.

Sophie closed her eyes and savored his touch as one by one the pins dropped to the polished surface with a click.

Her hair fell around her shoulders and he might have stroked it once.

The movement was so butterfly soft she couldn’t be sure, but the sensation reverberated within her a hundred times over.

If only things were different.

The sixth and last pin dropped and Sophie reluctantly forced herself back to earth.

But when she turned to thank him for his help, Gray’s hands rested heavily on the dressing table on either side of her and he didn’t step back.

She looked up but her gaze never made it past his perfect bow lips.

She wanted to kiss them. To just once feel them on hers.

In her room, shielded from the rest of the world by the breadth of his body, it seemed like one kiss was possible. Just one before everything changed and she was forced to go to Anton. Didn’t she deserve just one moment of joy?

Before she could stop herself, Sophie leaned up on her tiptoes and pressed her lips to his. They were warm and firm as they parted in shock beneath her. His breath washed over her. He was going to pull away. She could feel him gathering himself to do just that.

She made a soft sound of protest in the back of her throat.

A sound she didn’t recognize, and it made him pause.

His lips softened and parted over hers, moving gently and coaxing more from her.

Then she tried something she had no idea she knew how to do; she touched his perfect bottom lip with the tip of her tongue.

Gray groaned softly. She fairly purred at the sound and her palms moved up his arms to his shoulders.

His hands closed on her hips and pulled her against him causing her to gasp at the contact of her front to his.

He pressed the advantage and the tip of his tongue gently pushed inside to brush hers.

The foreign sensation of him, hot and moist in her mouth, made her blood thicken and pool deep in that newly awakened part of her.

He must have known, because his hands moved down below the bustle of her dress to cup her bottom where it met her thighs and pull her tight against him.

Something hard pressed against her stomach.

It should have frightened her; she thought she knew what it was, but nothing about Gray, aside from the intensity of her feelings for him, frightened her.

She didn’t want an inch of space between them, so her arms circled his shoulders and she pulled herself closer.

His fingers tightened as a low and primitive sound came from his throat.

And suddenly the kiss became something she never expected.

It became the conversation that always existed, hovering between them but never expressed in words.

It was hungry and unrestrained and so much more intimate than she had ever thought a kiss could be.

And, all too soon, even that wasn’t enough.

Gray moved her back until she felt the press of the table against her thighs and she knew what he wanted.

Closer. Her hands blindly pushed the jewelry to the side, and he lifted her so she sat on the edge, her thighs pushed apart so that he could settle between them.

He kissed her again before his fingers tangled in her hair to pull her head back. She was reluctant to lose his mouth until it began blazing a path of open-mouthed kisses down her neck. Then he settled on the swells of her breasts and breathed in deeply, inhaling her scent.

“Gray,” she whispered and curled her fingers around the warmth of his neck. If this was all they could have then she wanted it all. She wanted as much from this stolen moment as they could possibly squeeze. “Yes.”

It was all the encouragement he needed. He tugged on the silk of her bodice and the cool night air touched a breast, only to be replaced by the wet heat of his mouth.

Sophie gasped and held him to her as odd pulses of pleasure shot to her groin when he suckled her.

She gave herself up to the decadence of his mouth feasting on her and dropped her head back against the cool mirror, eyes heavy-lidded with passion.

It probably would have taken her a lot longer to notice it, except he paused and pulled back enough to drink in the sight of her exposed to him.

The pause made her open her eyes and that’s when she saw the door behind him.

It was still open.

His mouth settled on her again and suddenly she realized the picture they would present if someone should happen by. A small part of her wondered if the pleasure might be worth the inevitable punishment, but no. There was no telling what Jean would do to Gray.

“Gray.” It was a whisper, too soft to dispel his passion. Then more urgently. “Gray! The door is open. Mon Dieu, the door!”

Shit!

Gray pushed away from Sophie with such force he propelled himself backward several feet and made the dressing table wobble precariously.

What the hell had happened to him? He’d only meant to help her with her jewelry but her warmth, her scent, the sweet innocence in her eyes had been his undoing.

And when she’d pressed her lips to his, he’d told himself one kiss wouldn’t hurt anything.

He’d never meant for it to go further, never meant to put his mouth on her body.

If anyone had seen them—he didn’t even want to think of that.

Even now, chest heaving from lack of air and an excess of adrenaline, he couldn’t tear his eyes from the sight of her nipple, pink and glistening from his attention.

Thankfully, she became aware because she had the good grace to blush and pull up her gown. Then, more slowly, she pushed forward until she dropped down to stand on the thick carpet. Gray would have helped her but his hands shook and he wasn’t entirely sure what he would do if he touched her again.

“Why did you do that?” His voice was harsher than he intended.

She bit her bottom lip, clearly as confused as he was. “I…I’m sorry. I wanted to kiss you. I’ve wanted to kiss you for a long time.”

Gray might have laughed. Even he wasn’t sure what the harsh exhalation of air meant.

She surprised him. But it wasn’t a subject he was willing to discuss.

She was off limits and the sooner he put distance between them the better.

The longer he stayed in her room, the more his good sense deserted him.

“Is that all the jewelry?” He took a step toward the pile on the dresser but waited for her to move out of the way before he approached it, still unable to trust himself with her.

“Yes.”

Gray picked up the sapphires and diamonds and suddenly hated himself for having to take them away from her.

He paused and looked at the pile in his hands.

They must be worth a small fortune. Then he noticed her dressing table held only a few bottles of perfume, a pot of skin cream, and assorted cosmetics.

It was devoid of the jewelry box he expected.

“He doesn’t let you keep any jewelry at all, does he?”

Gray had followed her to her room because Sinclair had mentioned the safe.

Usually, Sinclair followed her upstairs and waited for the maid to hand the jewelry over to him, so that he could put it in the safe in LaSalle’s study.

Gray had convinced himself that the jewelry was important in some way, family heirlooms. He had not expected her to not have any jewelry at all in her room.

When she didn’t answer he pinned her with his gaze. “No,” she whispered.

“Why?”

No answer.

But she didn’t need to answer. LaSalle wanted to keep her. To keep her he had to make certain she had no means of running away.

“You don’t want to marry that bastard, do you?”

She reluctantly shook her head and there was a suspicious sheen in her eyes.

Gray noticed it and detested the twin spasms of pain and anger that shot through his heart. “Dammit!”

He didn’t want to care. He didn’t want to want her. He left her there before he could descend any further into madness.