Lady Gambit, page 15
Solved the case?
He almost scoffed.
Nora Adkins was at large, no doubt running from the fiend who’d tried to kill her to hide the truth. How could they unlock the secrets of Delphine’s past when she had no memory? Who were her parents? Who was blackmailing Lord Meldrum? And did the devious Mrs Haggert have a part to play?
They had files to read.
People to interview.
But in this moment, nothing mattered more than kissing her, touching her, indulging in every erotic pleasure. He was a man, not a blasted saint. A man who’d caught a glimpse of the one thing he’d longed for his whole damn life.
She laid a hand on his chest. The same irresistible impulses drove her, too. “I’ve never felt like this about anyone. I’m tired of feeling trapped by rules and obligations. For once, I want to make my own choices, and I choose you, Dorian.”
She came up on her toes, brushed her mouth over his and coaxed his lips apart. He moved with her, bewitched by their softness, every muscle tightening when her tongue slid sensually over his.
Merciful Lord!
She tasted divine.
He would die if he didn’t have her.
Seeing Miss Montague confirmed he had room in his life for no one but Delphine. With her, every mundane task would become an erotic exploration. A visit to the stables would lead to a roll in the hay. Passing in the corridor would become a rampant romp in an alcove. A moonlit night would be an excuse to make love under the stars.
“Do you understand what will happen if we don’t stop kissing?” His cock was a solid rod in his trousers. He needed her beneath him in bed so he might ease the damnable ache.
She looked up at him, all swollen lips and shy smiles. “I know we’ll make love, but I don’t know where to begin.”
He brushed the backs of his fingers across her cheek. “You’re doing a remarkable job so far. I’ve never been so aroused. Perhaps you’d like to feel the evidence for yourself.”
She bit her bottom lip and nodded.
He captured her hand, smoothing her fingers slowly down his abdomen to the hard ridge demanding her attention. “That’s what you do to me.” His heart was racing, his blood pumping too fast. “I feel like I’ve been waiting a lifetime for you to touch me.”
He’d waited forever to feel a connection like theirs.
Her little gasp mirrored the spark of intrigue in her eyes. “Is it painful?” She stroked him from root to tip. Sweet mercy! Those dainty fingers had a power of their own. “I heard Aramis telling his wife the ache is pure torture.”
He grinned. “The torture is longing to be inside you, though fearing it might not happen. It’s knowing how badly I need your touch.”
A teasing smile stole over her lips. “Unfasten your trousers.”
That wasn’t the reply he’d been expecting.
He held her gaze while unbuttoning the placket.
Hers dipped the moment his cock sprang free, her eyes widening in alarm. “I should have known everything about you would be large. Thank heavens I know there’s pleasure to be had between a couple in bed.” She flexed her fingers. “May I touch you?”
“I might die if you don’t.”
The feel of her warm hand on his skin was beyond divine. Her fingers circled his shaft, exploring how easily they glided back and forth. The sweet agony in those strokes had him tilting his head back and hissing a breath.
“Tighten your grip.”
She firmed her fingers. “Like that?”
“Just like that.”
“The wait is pure torture for me, too, Dorian.” The sultry sound of her voice had arousal pumping through his veins. “Only you can fill the emptiness. I fear having you will make me want you all the more.”
“You’re sure about this?” His cock wept in anticipation. He was seconds away from laying her down on the bed and taking her fully clothed. “We can be intimate without me taking your virtue.”
He meant every word.
He would honour her decision.
“What about Mr Gibbs?”
“Gibbs can find his own pleasure.” He chuckled. “He’s gone to warn Aaron that Nora Adkins is on the loose. We have until he returns to indulge our whims.”
Her smile said she welcomed his attentions. Her hand moved from his cock to his coat, and she was suddenly pushing the garment off his shoulders. “Then we should not delay.”
She stepped back—though he felt colder for it—and unbuttoned her pelisse with haste. He gaped in awe as she undid the pearl buttons and shimmied out of her dress. While she removed her petticoat and corset, he stared at the luscious curve of her breasts.
“Are you not undressing?”
“In a moment.” While he noticed the shadow of rosy nipples beneath her chemise, he felt the heat of her gaze caressing his manhood. “I’m merely enjoying the show.”
She smoothed her hands over her hips, drawing his gaze from her moist red lips to her slender waist. “Should I keep this on?” she said, her tone turning coy.
“No, love. Show me everything. We’ve nothing to hide from each other.” Though his voice carried the sheer strength and confidence of his masculinity, the old weakness surfaced.
He had plenty to hide.
Her apprehension pushed to the fore, her little shrug drawing his attention back to her breasts. “Is it normal to be nervous?”
“I’m nervous, too. You’re all I’ve thought about for days.” Though he’d won the fight with his conscience, and her beauty held him spellbound, his scarred skin would repulse her.
“I want you to undress me,” she said, pulling the pins from her hair and shaking out the wealth of ebony curls.
God, she stole his breath.
“It would be my pleasure.” His hands were on her in seconds, gathering the hem. If there’d been time, he’d have kissed his way up her thighs, tongued her womanhood, left a scorching trail to her breasts.
“You’re right. It’s a little cold.” She used her arms to cover her modesty as he dropped her chemise on the floor.
“I’ll soon warm you.” He reached for her hands, interlocking their fingers as he spread her arms wide so he could look at every delicious inch of her. His cock swelled. Every muscle in his abdomen tightened. “You’re so beautiful.” So beautiful his lungs ached for air.
“So are you.” She tugged her hands free and began unbuttoning his waistcoat. The minx stroked his cock before unknotting his cravat. “Is it wrong to hope Gibbs encounters a herd of cattle blocking the road? I don’t want this day to end.”
He traced his fingers slowly down the curve of her back. “We’re at the mercy of our passions. This might be the first time we make love, but it won’t be the last.”
Staring at the open neck of his shirt, she said, “Is it always like this between lovers?” She drew her fingers gently down his throat to the dusting of dark hair on his chest.
“Like what?” He couldn’t take his eyes off her.
“Magical.”
“Only with you.”
His reply must have given her the courage to be bold. “I need you out of these clothes, Dorian.” She was pulling the fine lawn shirt over his head, unaware of the ugly marks on his back. “Finding missing people must be physically demanding.”
“More frustrating than demanding.”
“Your body is pure muscle.” She slid her arms around his waist, her fingers fluttering over his back while her naked breasts brushed against his chest.
It was the sweetest torture.
His blood burned. He’d never been so hard. But he was waiting for the heat of passion in her eyes to dim, waiting for her to feel the subtle roughness of his skin, the physical record of painful experiences.
“Every man has a vice,” she whispered. “What’s yours?”
“You.” He was addicted to her taste. He craved her touch. Though he knew taking her virginity was wrong, he’d rather perish in hell than deny himself the pleasure.
“Then indulge yourself.” Her voice carried the hum of arousal. But then a frown marred her brow, and her fingers found the marks that had turned him from a boy into a man overnight.
She moved to study his back.
Then he heard the sound he dreaded.
He heard her gasp of pity.
Every part of her body ached to join with him. The hunger writhing in her veins was like a compulsion she had to feed. But the flames of desire cooled the moment she stepped around him and saw the scars on his back.
She couldn’t prevent a gasp from escaping.
Tears sprang to her eyes as she counted the scars. There were four. One long one cutting across his upper back—the skin dark and thick where it had healed. Three smaller ones on his lower back, dissecting the furrow of his spine.
“It’s not pretty,” he said, the words coated with shame.
“They look like whip marks.” A vision of him crying in pain burst into her mind and she fought the need to sob aloud.
“I was forced to defend myself at school. It was the punishment for disobeying the rules.” His tone carried the same air of detachment she heard whenever Aaron spoke of the past. “The aristocratic fathers of entitled brats couldn’t permit a bastard to beat their sons.”
“Does your father know what happened?”
“I have no idea. One of my tutors bandaged the wounds. He took pity on me and kept me company whenever I was left alone at school. Mr Brown was my saviour. The man who taught me the importance of making my own way in the world.”
She didn’t think Mr Brown should take all the credit. Dorian Flynn was a remarkable man in his own right. His back told a story of healing, of the resilience he’d needed to survive. But it was the tale of the vulnerable boy that brought a lump to her throat.
“Do you want to talk about what happened?” Giving him the opportunity to air his grievances was the least she could do. “Or we can continue undressing if you prefer.”
“Nothing will prevent me from having you, Delphine. Certainly not a distant memory from the past.”
“Then I shall continue. Tell me if you want me to stop.”
He laughed. “Who is being ravished here?”
“Isn’t it obvious? I’m seducing you.” She smoothed her hands over his back and pressed a series of slow, shivery kisses down his spine. “Men like to think they’re in control, but I’ve been seducing you since I laid eyes on you in Miss Darrow’s yard.”
“Then it’s time to switch roles.” He faced her, claiming her mouth in fierce possession, his tongue diving in long, deep strokes until she was damp between her thighs.
There was no sign of the vulnerable man, just a powerful specimen of masculinity who could arouse her to the point of madness in seconds.
Before she knew what was happening, he’d stripped off his boots and trousers and carried her to bed.
“Do you know what I mean to do now, Delphine?”
Tingles danced over her skin when he whispered her name. She watched as he kissed his way up her thigh, his dark eyes almost predatory. “You look like you’re going to eat me.”
“That’s exactly what I mean to do.” He buried his head between her legs. “Eat you, lick you, wring every last whimper from your lips.”
She was so drunk with desire, she let him kiss her most intimate place. She let him suck her, let him ease his long fingers into her and pump slowly until her world shattered, and she cried out.
“Dorian!”
He rose above her, his toned body swamping hers. “We don’t need to continue. It’s not too late to stop.”
She wasn’t sure if he was joking. She was certainly in no mind to dress and go about her day. Taking this man into her body was the only thought on her mind. “Why would I want to stop? I need you.” She ran her hands over the corded muscles in his arms. “Don’t wait.”
He bent his head and kissed her, his tongue penetrating her mouth with consummate skill. Then he was nudging her legs wider, pressing her down into the mattress, whispering how he was going to make her come hard again.
“Soon, you’ll be hugging every inch of me, love.”
She did not know what to expect. No one had told her how it would feel to make love to a man. But when Dorian eased into her body, the sudden wave of emotion took her by surprise.
“Are you all right?”
“Yes.” She looked up at him, sucking in a breath as he stretched her, claimed her, owned her. Indeed, she couldn’t shake the thought that she belonged to him now. “Don’t worry. It doesn’t hurt.”
Why would it hurt?
He chased all her pain away.
Perhaps that’s why she rolled her hips, clung to him, encouraged him to fill the emptiness again and again and again. Why they were sweat-soaked and panting yet still couldn’t stop.
Even when they lay drowsy and sated in the warmth of his bed, her hand on his chest, his on her hip, one thought brought clarity.
She didn’t care if her past remained a blur. She wanted to remember nothing other than how glorious it felt to make love to Dorian Flynn.
Chapter Thirteen
“How are you feeling this morning?” Delphine touched Theo’s brow and the back of his neck, thankful he was not burning with a fever.
“Strong enough to be out of this godforsaken bed.” He winced as he straightened and leaned back against the plump pillows. “But now that Nora woman is on the loose, Aaron insists I remain at Mile End.”
Aaron had arrived to take supper with them last night. He’d questioned Dorian about the case, demanding a detailed account of his progress. Dorian made no mention of them progressing from kissing to making love but invited Aaron to sit with them in his study, and together they examined Nora Adkins’ file.
“Aaron feels better knowing you’re here with me,” she said, trying to heal her brother’s wounded pride. Theo may be injured, but he would find the strength to tackle an intruder. “Mr Flynn has supplied you with weapons in case anyone attempts to enter the house.” She gestured to the duelling pistols in the open walnut box on the dresser. Making Theo feel useful was crucial to his swift recovery.
“I trust Flynn is behaving like a gentleman.” Theo’s intense gaze showed no sign of weakness. “I pray he’s not as familiar as he was in Miss Darrow’s yard.”
She kept an impassive expression, though every cell in her body tingled at the memory of Dorian buried deep inside her. “Mr Flynn is the son of an earl and every bit a gentleman.”
“My father was an earl’s son and a reprobate whose family disowned him. The scoundrel forced his own child to fight in the pits to line his pockets. So forgive me if I have concerns about the ill-begotten Mr Flynn.”
She sat on the bed and touched his arm affectionately. “Mr Flynn is not the enemy. He saved your life. You’re lucky he came to the rescue after the dreadful way you behaved in Miss Darrow’s yard.”
Theo tutted, his mouth twisting into a cynical line. “I owe the man a debt, but that doesn’t mean I won’t throttle him if he touches you.”
If only you knew how badly I need his touch.
Or knew how my heart aches for him.
“You owe Miss Darrow an apology.” The modiste nursed Theo like he was her own brother. She was in no rush to return home and must have lost clients in the process. It didn’t seem to matter. One might think she had a reason to hide at Mile End, too. “She’s seen to your every comfort and has barely left your bedside.”
“I’ll not apologise to a woman who lied to me.”
“I hope you’ve thanked her for her efforts.”
“Of course. I’m not completely heartless.”
The remark brought instant relief. She’d come hoping to find the playful rogue who could make women jump through hoops, only to find the light in Theo’s blue eyes had dimmed.
“Do you want to hear about the progress we’ve made?” she said, quickly changing the subject as she was leaving for Covent Garden in an hour.
“Our daily discussions are the only thing keeping me sane.”
She told him what Mr Flynn had found in Nora’s file last night. “Mr Powell lied. There was a record of Nora’s admission papers. They state Meldrum found her on London Bridge, not in a building in St Giles. She was committed to Bethlem for harassing passersby and threatening to jump into the Thames.”
“Meldrum did say his father had concocted a story.”
“Yes, but it gives us a reason to question Mr Powell again.” Dorian was convinced the Superintendent had something to hide. “Lord Meldrum signed her committal papers, as did Mr Powell. Both agreed she was suffering from delusional insanity. Nora has not had her case reviewed for more than a decade. When one considers the injustice of it all, it would drive me a little mad.”
Theo narrowed his gaze. “You seem different today.”
“I do?” She felt the first flare of a blush creeping up her neck. She was in love. Her heart ached whenever she thought about Dorian Flynn. The minutes spent apart felt like hours, the hours like a lifetime. “I’m excited at the prospect of discovering the truth, that’s all.”
He appeared unconvinced. “You look radiant. Like you’re glowing from the inside. Despite the stress of the case, you look happy.” His brows dipped into a frown. “Is it Flynn? Men can be charming when they want something.”
Charming? Dorian Flynn was irresistible.
“It has nothing to do with men, Theo. For the first time in my life, I feel alive.” It was not a lie. “I feel useful, and get to do something more interesting than choosing a new bonnet.”
He fell silent, his shoulders sagging. “I didn’t know about Mrs Haggert. Had Aaron confided in me, I would have persuaded him to tell you.” He reached for her hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. “I know he lied, lied to us all, but all he wanted was to keep you safe.”
She didn’t blame Aaron.
She would never punish him for caring about her.
