CC lay upon her bed much later that night, frustrated and unable to sleep. Her plan to approach Noah at the ball had been foiled when he had departed early, and she was now desperately trying to decide what to do next. Time was of the essence where the arms deal was concerned. She knew the only way she could still accomplish her goal to help the cause was to go to Noah at the inn. A firm resolve took hold of her, even though she readily admitted to herself that she was frightened to face him so boldly. Girding herself, she threw off the blankets and hurried to her armoire to search for her boyish garments. Only a short time later, she was racing, unnoticed, through the night-shrouded streets of Boston on her way to the Red Lion Inn.
Noah sat alone at a secluded table in the taproom of the inn. His thoughts were troubled as he wondered what repercussions might result from his unsavory confrontation with Geoffrey this evening. Noah was glad now that Graves had insisted upon the extra precautions regarding their dealings. He felt reasonably sure that his business connections were still unknown. Certainly, if Geoffrey had had proof positive of his involvement, he would have used it tonight in the presence of the military officers. As it was, Geoffrey had ended up looking the fool for flinging “unfounded accusations” at Noah in an effort to goad him into a fight. Noah smiled grimly at the thought of having bested the other man with words, and he dismissed as unimportant any aspersions cast upon his character for refusing the challenge. His reasons for refusing were his, and his alone, and he truly didn’t care what anyone thought about it.
The only good thing that had come out of the evening was the fact that he now knew who was responsible for his being followed. He had no doubt that it had been Geoffrey. The why of it was less than clear, yet he tended to believe it was all somehow related to Eve. Certainly Geoffrey had responded viciously when she’d tried to divert their clash, and he sensed that perhaps his slight flirtation with her had been the cause. Eve looked to be warm and willing, but he seriously doubted that she was worth dueling over.
Sighing, Noah drained his tumbler of whiskey and glanced up around the room. A good-size crowd still lingered despite the lateness of the hour, and though he was surrounded by people, he knew a moment of intense loneliness. He didn’t like being so isolated…so alone.
Polly gave a throaty laugh as one of the other customers pulled her onto his lap, and Noah suddenly thought of CC. A scowl creased his brow. Damn, but the vixen haunted him! The memory of how lovely she’d looked at the ball flitted through his mind, and he wondered where she was right now. Was she with another man, making love, or home with her father, all safe and sound? He hoped for the latter, and then cursed himself for even caring. Calling out abruptly to Polly, he ordered another drink. His attention focused on the buxom barmaid. He did not notice as a youth entered the dimly lit taproom and crept undetected up the staircase to the second floor.
CC darted around the corner of the second-floor hall, out of sight of the lower level, and drew a deep, ragged breath. She had not thought that many people would be belowstairs in the taproom at this time of night, and she hoped no one had noticed her. Her breathing steadied, she moved on silent tread down the hall to the room she knew to be Noah’s.
All the way to the inn, she had debated with herself the best way to handle this, and she still had formulated no plan. Stiffening, she swallowed nervously and raised a hand to knock softly at the door. CC waited tensely for his answer to her summons, but none came. Inhaling deeply, she knocked again, this time with a little more force, but still there came no answering response. Annoyed, frustrated, and fearful of being discovered, CC knew she couldn’t stand in the middle of the hall forever. Boldly, she reached down and tried the doorknob, and to her surprise, it opened. She thought Kincade the fool for leaving his room unlocked, but at the same time thanked her lucky stars that it had been. Quietly, she slipped into the room and closed the door behind her.
The glow of the low-burning fire in the fireplace cast heavy shadows in the chilly chamber. With her hands on her hips, CC stood in the middle of the room, pondering what to do next. Obviously Noah had not yet returned to his room from the ball, and she couldn’t stop herself from wondering where he’d gone. Was it possible that he’d met Eve somewhere? The thought sent a shaft of pain through her heart, and she quickly put it from her, knowing it would do no good to dwell on such possibilities.
CC paced the room nervously like a caged beast as she tried to decide what to do. She had expected Noah to be here and now was at a loss as to her next move. What did a woman do when she was out to deliberately seduce a man? Should she approach it as a business arrangement or try a more subtle, more feminine tactic? Somehow, the feminine method seemed more likely to succeed. Noah had accused her the last time they were together of being less than womanly, and he had responded excitedly when she’d let her feelings for him run wild. Tonight, again, she would set aside her inhibitions and go to him as a warm and willing woman…a woman who wanted him and no other. That part of her plan did not trouble her, for it was the truth. What bothered her was the part after they had made love…the part where she would agree to be his wife if he would sell the arms to the rebels at a lower price. She hoped she could be convincing, and she hoped he really wanted her enough to go along with it.
A shudder of nervousness left her slender limbs quaking, but driven by her determination not to fail, CC pushed all negative thoughts away. A man’s lover, she decided, would no doubt greet him in bed. Hurriedly, she discarded her hat and stripped off her clothing. Pulling the pins from her hair, she combed her fingers through its silken length, letting it tumble to her shoulders in tousled disarray. The chill in the room was a frigid caress, and she was shivering as she slipped naked beneath the covers. CC was tense and more than a little frightened, for she wasn’t sure just how she would be received. The blankets pulled up to her chin, she lay huddled there in the darkness awaiting Noah’s return.
It was almost an hour later when CC heard the heavy sound of his footfalls in the hall, and she swallowed nervously at the sound of the door being opened. With all the bravado she could muster, she adjusted the blankets lower until they barely covered her bosom and then posed in what she hoped was a seductive position.
Noah had been drinking continually since he’d left the ball. He had hoped that the liquor would help him forget CC and all that had happened tonight, but instead of easing his worries, he’d become even more immersed in them. Angry with himself for still caring about the chit and missing Matthew more than he could ever admit, he entered his room in the lowest of moods, shutting and locking the door behind him.
“Noah…I’m so glad you’re here…” CC murmured seductively.
Her greeting stunned him, and he turned quickly from the door. Silence hung between them as he stared at her in disbelief. His mind reeled at the sight of her in his bed, willing. Mesmerized, a man possessed, he started toward her.
CC grew worried when Noah didn’t respond to her greeting, and she wet her lips nervously as she watched him slowly cross the room in her direction. His expression was unreadable in the semidarkness of the room. “Noah…I’ve been waiting for you,” she told him in a strained, husky voice.
Noah could not take his eyes off her as he moved ever closer. CC was here…in his bed…naked and obviously willing. She looked glorious. Her burnished hair was a cascade of caressing curls as it fell softly about her shoulders and lay teasingly against the curve of her blanket-covered bosom. Her expression was inviting, her lips moist and slightly parted as if ready to be possessed by his…
As much as Noah would have liked to cast aside his doubts and take his fullest enjoyment of CC, the cynic in him wondered at the reason for her being there. It was pleasant to think she had wanted him so badly that she was willing to risk everything to come to him, but Noah knew better. When last they’d parted, CC had made no secret of how she felt about him. She had refused his proposal. Noah seriously doubted that her passion was the driving force in her coming here tonight. Though his body was commanding him to take her and not question his good fortune, Noah felt sure that she had to have an ulterior motive.
“Noah?” CC was sounding more nervous now as he drew nearer. Desperately, she was wondering if she’d made a drastic mistake. Did he hate her now since she’d refused his offer of marriage? Would he welcome her or throw her bodily from his room? The latter had not occurred to CC before, and she knew a moment of panic at the thought.
Noah stopped beside the bed and let his gaze roam over her. CC was the one woman he wanted. Still, skeptic that he was, he was not going to allow himself to have her until he knew the truth behind her presence. He would play along with her game for a little while, and then when the truth came out…Noah sat down and, without saying a word, took her in his arms and drew her near.
CC’s nervousness eased at the discovery that Noah was not angry about her being there, and she went into his embrace almost eagerly in her relief.
CC’s newfound submissiveness sent a shock of pure animal pleasure through Noah. He realized this response was what he had wanted from her since the beginning. He had wanted CC warm and willing and loving. His body responded heatedly to the difference, and his previous passion for her paled before the new emotion that surged through him. Noah recognized this emotion, yet fought against acknowledging it. He was shaken to the very core of his being by the unexpected discovery, and his mouth sought hers in a devastating exchange that left them both breathless and desiring more. With eager hands he pushed the blanket lower, baring the sweetness of her breasts to his gaze and caress. Noah pressed her back onto his bed, stripped the rest of the blanket from her, and followed her down onto the wide softness.
CC’s arms encircled Noah’s neck, drawing him to her, and she met him hungrily in another kiss, her small tongue darting boldly between his lips to duel erotically with his. As he lay fully upon her, the heat of his need pressed firmly against the soft flesh of her belly. She knew then that she had been fooling herself in thinking that she was doing this strictly for the revolution. She wanted Noah. She had never stopped wanting him and probably never would. He was the man she loved. She wanted to marry him and bear his children. The war supplies had merely been a justifiable reason to see him again, to love him and to share in the drugging glory of his passion.
As his lips left hers to trail fiery kisses down her throat and across her shoulders, her need overwhelmed her senses. CC didn’t care about anything except Noah and the joy that came from pleasing him. Her nipples hardened as shivers of excitement coursed through her veins. She arched against the solidness of his chest, begging in mute testimony for the more intimate touch of his mouth upon her aching, throbbing breasts. When at last his lips sought out that tender flesh, CC cried out at the wonder of it and began to move beneath him as her hands caressed him in restless need.
“Noah…Oh, Noah, I love you…” She said it before she realized, and yet her passion was such that she didn’t even care.
Noah, however, was surprised by her declaration and he paused in his lovemaking, his moment of the mindless passion lost. She loved him… Over and over she had declared her hatred for him, yet now, tonight, she was telling him she loved him? It didn’t ring true. His desire drained from him as he realized her presence here really was a lie.
CC, caught up in the wonder of his ardor, didn’t notice the change in him immediately.
“What is it you want, CC?” Noah asked, the cynicism of his tone muffled against the softness of her breasts. He was tense as he anticipated her answer.
“You, Noah…only you,” she gasped, still in the throes of the feverish excitement he’d created within her.
It bothered Noah to discover that he wanted to believe it…that he wanted to be the one who held her heart, but he wouldn’t allow himself even to pretend.
“CC…I want to know what it is you want.” He repeated his question sharply as he braced himself above her on his elbows and glared down at her.
“Noah?” CC blinked in confusion, her passion-dilated emerald eyes gazing up at him questioningly. She knew a moment of true apprehension as the smoky depths of his eyes turned to the impenetrable, steely regard she knew so well and hated so much.
“I want to know the real reason you’re here, CC,” Noah demanded cuttingly. He watched the play of emotions on her face. She had never been adept at disguising her feelings, and Noah could read in her expression all the embarrassment that went with his calling her bluff. His heart sank as he realized that he had been right in his assessment. She was up to something. “Well?”
“I don’t know what you mean…”
“Spare me your innocence, darling,” he mocked her as he moved away, needing to distance himself from her shapely unclad body. “I’ve told you before how bad you are at hiding your true emotions.”
CC shivered involuntarily and she wondered if her reaction was from the chill in the room or the derision in his tone. She answered simply, “I’m here because I want to be.” The truth…
Noah strode across the room and parted the drapes as he stood at the window. Keeping his back to her, he retorted, “CC…I find that very difficult to believe. The last time we were together you vowed your hatred for me and wanted me to stay away from you forever.” When she started to speak, he cut her off and kept on talking. “I complied with your wishes. I stayed away from you as you asked. Yet now you show up here in my bed, and you tell me that you love me. Do you really expect me to believe it?” Noah faced her. “Or are you the type of woman who always wants what she can’t have?” His gaze rested heatedly on her lush figure. “Cover yourself, woman!” Noah barked the order.
CC, seeing the desire revealed in his eyes, decided to make one last attempt at seduction. “Noah…Come to me, Noah… I want you desperately…” In an alluring movement, she rose from the bed and walked enticingly toward him.
Noah’s passion taunted him to take her and be done with it, but his logic asserted itself over his baser needs. Though he found the sight of her captivating, he kept a tight rein on his desire.
CC came to stand before him and then lifted her arms about his neck. On tiptoes, she raised up to press her lips to his, hoping to distract him from his thoughts. Noah accepted her kiss with a minimum of participation. CC was puzzled by his lack of response. Wanting to break through his suddenly icy control, she began to rub herself sensually against him. Her sinuous motions did come very close to shattering his composure, but CC never knew it as Noah viciously gripped her by her forearms and pulled her arms from about his neck.
Holding her away from him, he ground out, “I want to know what’s going on here, and I want to know it now.”
CC was caught in a trap of her own making. She knew there was only one way to escape from the web in which she found herself entangled. The only solution was to tell him the complete truth from the very beginning.
“You’re hurting me…” she protested.
Abruptly he released her. “Get your clothes on.”
No longer confident of her ability to seduce him, CC hurried to do as he’d commanded.
“Start talking, CC,” Noah ordered as he tried not to watch her as she dressed. Desperate in his own way, he struggled to look anywhere but at her, for the sight of her tempting breasts and dark triangle of femininity at the junction of her thighs was all too appealing.
CC sighed as she conceded, “All right, Noah.”
With jerky motions, she tugged on her shirt, quickly buttoned it across her breasts, and then pulled on the trousers. She felt decidedly unattractive and very vulnerable, but she was determined that he not know of her insecurities as she turned to face him. Schooling her expression not to reflect her nervousness, she glanced up at him. What she saw there caused her to grimace inwardly.
“Well? Why are you here? And what is it you want?” Noah folded his arms across his chest, the gesture making him seem even more unreachable, as his gaze bore unnervingly into hers.
CC wavered… Should she just blurt it out or try something else? Finally, knowing she couldn’t avoid it, she admitted, “I do love you, Noah. I have for a long time.”
“Right,” he drawled sarcastically.
“No, that is the truth.” CC almost took a step toward him, but his ominous expression put her off. “I freely admit that I didn’t want to love you, but…but sometimes we can’t control our feelings.” She gave a small, helpless shrug.
“So,” Noah began somewhat bitterly, “you love me, and you came here tonight only because you couldn’t bear to be parted from me any longer. Is that what you want me to think? Really, CC, sometimes you do astound me. You love me, but you refused to become my wife…” His eyes were cold upon her. “Somehow, it just doesn’t fit.”
Suddenly CC was angry. She had just bared her soul to him and he was mocking her. “I wouldn’t become your wife because you don’t love me! Do you think I wanted to be married to a man who doesn’t love me? You proposed, but you didn’t profess any feeling for me at all! I know you’re attracted to me physically, but beyond that, what do we have? You want to return to England, and I-”
Noah was stunned by her outburst. She had said that she loved him. His heart was swelling with joy at the thought as the recognition of his own feelings surged forth. The emotion he had refused to confront for so long was before him now, and he knew without doubt that he loved her, too. Before he could speak and declare himself, though, CC went on.
“And I want to help the revolution in any and every way I can. That was the reason why I came to you tonight. I knew that you wanted me. I came here with the intention of offering to become your wife if you would sell the munitions to Ryan at a lower price.” CC drew a deep, ragged breath as she paused.
Noah went from overjoyed at the news that she loved him to completely furious at her for her deception, and his voice reflected the heat of his wrath. “So you’re making the ultimate sacrifice, are you?”
“No…it’s not like that at all.” CC tried to convince him that it was no sacrifice on her part, that she wanted him as much as he wanted her, but he was beyond listening to her.
“The hell it isn’t, CC!” he snarled. “You didn’t want to marry me before, but now that you need something from me, you’re willing to barter your body to get it!”
“Noah! You don’t understand!” she cried, wanting him to know that she loved him, and even if she didn’t hold his love, she would marry him.
“Oh, but I do, Miss Demorest, all too well.” Noah’s eyes narrowed as he studied her. “There’s one thing you haven’t considered in your approach, though. What if I no longer wanted to marry you?”
His words were like a physical blow, and CC blanched. “Don’t you?”
“I’m not sure…” Noah took a step toward her and reached out to tangle one hand in the velvet curtain of her hair. “Perhaps I should sample of the merchandise you’re trying to trade one more time before I firm up or dismiss the deal…”
His hand tightened in her hair, and CC whimpered slightly as he pulled her to him. Noah’s mouth ground savagely down on hers, raping the sweetness there, and CC felt her knees buckle at his cruelty. She struggled to get free then, knowing that her cause was a useless one.
“Noah…please…”
“What?” He quirked a brow in sardonic disbelief of her protest as he drew back. “You aren’t willing to let me taste of the charms you want me to ‘purchase’ for a lifetime? Come now, CC, be reasonable.” His lips curled into a sneer as he jerked her tightly against him and ran his hands over her with insulting familiarity.
CC felt degraded and abused by his actions. “Noah…I do love you. Please don’t do this…”
“Do what? Take what you’re offering? This time, my dear, there can be no dispute that you are offering, can there?”
Tears stung her eyes as she looked up at him, and for an instant Noah felt himself waver. Did she really love him? Had she been telling the truth, or was it a ploy? He was confused and angry, and he shoved her from him.
“Get out of here, CC,” he told her brusquely, “and tell Ryan and all the others that my terms have to be met or I will sell the shipment to someone who has the money.” With that, he stalked to the door and opened it for her.
CC stood in shock for a moment before snatching up the rest of her belongings and racing from the room. Noah closed the door quickly behind her, and when she heard him turn the lock, she could no longer prevent her tears from falling. In failure and misery, she leaned against the hallway wall as she pulled on the rest of her clothing. Disguised once again, she hurried from the now deserted inn.