The shyness of her gaze didn’t quite meet his. “I am only a little sore.”
He looked at her searchingly, noting only the enlarged pupils and the lethargy created by her having climaxed twice in such a short time. “I will talk to you of this again once we have returned to Blackborne House.” He removed his hand and stepped back. “You may come in, gentlemen,” he instructed tersely.
“About bloody time!” The doctor’s impatience was barely contained as he opened the door and stepped into the room, followed closely by Evesham. But some of the tension seemed to ease from Winter’s movements when he saw Victory standing in front of the bay window and realized her presence was the reason for the delay.
Winter’s nostrils flared, dark brows raised in question when his glance moved back to Gabriel. “I apologize if we are interrupting.”
Gabriel placed his hands behind his back, refusing to acknowledge that Winter, and no doubt Evesham too, could actually breathe in Victory’s arousal and the perfume of her release. On her as well as Gabriel. Hence the flare of the other man’s nostrils and those raised brows. “You have examined Gordon?” he prompted instead.
Winter nodded. “It was a beating, nothing more. No bones broken or other internal damage that I can see. I have applied some salve to his cuts and will call on him at his home tomorrow to make sure there has been no delayed reaction. The man is in his sixties, after all.”
“As Gordon did not have his carriage tonight, I have sent him home in mine,” Evesham put in helpfully.
Some of Gabriel’s own tension eased. “I am once again obliged to you, Evesham.”
“I should like to hear why these things are happening?” Winter encouraged. “This is the second attack by a group of thugs in as many weeks I have been called upon to attend, in which the name ‘the earl’ has been mentioned. So far, there has been no lasting damage, but that does not mean the next assault will not have dire consequences,” he added pointedly.
It was no surprise to Gabriel that Winter’s intelligence meant he had also made note of this coincidence. Winter also knew, but did not say as much, of the attack and murder of Abigail’s stepfather several months ago, when the earl had also been mentioned.
Gabriel breathed out noisily. “I am as much in the dark as you are,” he admitted reluctantly.
“Hm.” Winter scowled. “I fear someone is going to be seriously hurt if the persons responsible for these attacks are not soon apprehended.”
Gabriel was fearful of that too.
He just had no idea where to even start looking for this mysterious earl. “I cannot see that searching for a group of four badly dressed men roaming the streets of London at night would achieve anything.” He gave a shake of his head. “It would be like looking for a needle in a haystack.”
“Jimmy would know them!” Victory spoke up for the first time since the other gentlemen had entered the room, drawing attention to herself. “Jimmy knows most if not all of what’s happening on the streets,” she explained when Gabriel raised a questioning brow at her.
“Jimmy?” Winter echoed loftily.
“An acquaintance of Victory’s,” Blackborne dismissed.
She shot him an irritated glance. “An acquaintance who is sure to know who was hired and is responsible for the attack on the gentleman tonight and any previous ones,” she insisted.
“Will he also know the reason why?” Evesham prompted, his gaze on her appreciative. “Because I am at a complete loss as to why I should have been singled out for an attack.”
Gabriel shrugged. “Perhaps there is no reason and they are merely random.”
“Nothing was taken from me, not my money nor the diamond neck pin I was wearing that evening.” Evesham frowned. “I believe Lord Gordon stated he was not robbed either?” He glanced at the doctor.
“He was not.” The older man nodded.
“I have no doubt Jimmy will know the answer to all these questions,” Victory stated with certainty.
“And he would be willing to confide that information to you?” Evesham seemed impressed.
Victory grinned. “We are friends, so yes.”
Evesham turned back to Blackborne. “Then perhaps he is the person we should be looking for and talking to.”
Victory’s expression was triumphant. “There is no need for anyone to search for him when I know exactly where and how to find—”
“I believe we have discussed this subject long enough for one evening, gentlemen.” Gabriel abruptly put an end to Victory’s claim of knowing a man who was without doubt a felon in his own right. “It is past time that I take Victory home.”
“I could escort her in your carriage if you have other things in need of your attention tonight,” Evesham offered as he continued to gaze approvingly at Victory.
It was an increasing admiration Gabriel had not been and was still not blind to. Or pleased about. “I shall escort Victory,” he stated firmly as he placed her cloak on her shoulders before wrapping it firmly about her body to hide those revealing pantaloons. “I thank you for your assistance, Winter.” His arm about Victory’s waist anchored her firmly to his side. “If you would not mind, Evesham, once again taking charge at Club Venus tonight?”
The younger man’s expression brightened. “I am spending so much time here nowadays that soon you might feel obliged to offer me a partnership!”
Gabriel was fast coming to the conclusion it might be good idea to sell off Club Venus completely. Owning the club was becoming something of a nuisance rather than the act of defiance against his father and then salvation for his soul these past five years. The incidents inside the club were irritating, the attacks in the streets close by worrying. Added to which, Victory had made no effort to hide her suspicions regarding Gabriel’s past—and possibly future—behavior with the ladies who resided here.
Why the hell should Victory’s opinion on the subject matter?
It shouldn’t.
Gabriel’s life and his actions were his own, and always had been, and he did not owe Victory any explanation for any of them.
Did he?
The intimacy of their lovemaking a short time ago had gone beyond anything he had shared with another woman. In the past, he had always preferred to be with a woman whom he paid to either suck his cock or let him thrust it inside her quim for the requisite number of times it took for him to release. There had been no emotional connection between them beyond attaining that release, nor any sexual intimacy beyond that.
Making love with Victory had been exactly that. A searching for and enjoyment of everything that gave Victory pleasure, and as a consequence, allowing Gabriel to feel that same pleasure.
Which brought him back to his original question: did their intimacy tonight now mean he owed a loyalty to Victory to discuss his actions and decisions with her?
Because…?
Because I have fallen in love with the little minx!
The truth of the love he now felt for Victory was so overwhelming, it hit Gabriel with the force of a blow.
He, Gabriel Samuel Richard Jasper Templeton, the seventeenth Duke of Blackborne, son and grandson respectively of the previous two dukes, had fallen in love with Victory Jones, daughter of Edwin and Rachel Jones, a sailor and retired schoolteacher both now deceased, and the granddaughter of Gryffyn Trelawney, a Cornish fisherman.
It was a match guaranteed not to find favor in Society.
And when had he ever given a damn what Society did or did not find favor in!
Except, Gabriel realized with a pained wince, neither did he have any idea if Victory felt, or ever could feel, that same love toward him. Let alone wish to become his duchess.
The irony of that was not lost on Gabriel. Despite his ownership of Club Venus, he knew any unmarried lady of Society would accept a marriage proposal from the wealthy Duke of Blackborne. But Gabriel had no guarantee Victory would do the same if he were to make the offer.
Did he intend doing that?
Maybe he
would wait a day or two first to give Victory the time to get to know him better, but the thought of other men looking at her in the way that Evesham just had was enough for Gabriel to want to publicly claim her for himself.
As his wife?
In whatever guise she would take him!
The once proud and toplofty Gabriel Templeton, the Duke of Blackborne, was proud and haughty no more, but merely a man hopelessly in love with a young woman he was not sure would have him as her husband.
“Gabriel…?”
He roused himself from his life-altering thoughts to realize that everyone in the room was staring at him expectantly. What the hell had he missed while he was so deeply lost in thought? Damn it, if Evesham had made an offer to visit Victory tomorrow and Gabriel had somehow missed it, he and the younger man were going to come to blows.
Victory, noting Gabriel’s earlier distraction and now slightly disorientated expression, stepped forward to link her arm with his. “I am ready to leave now, if you are?” she prompted gently.
Some of the tension eased from his body. “Gentlemen.” He gave them a dismissive bow before escorting Victory from the room, collecting his hat, gloves, and cloak in the entrance hall from Bruno before they left the club.
Gabriel followed Victory into his waiting carriage after assisting her inside. He took the seat opposite her as the carriage moved forward. “There shall be no more talk of you contacting and questioning Jimmy,” he warned as Victory would have spoken. “When or if the time comes for that to happen, I am perfectly capable of contacting Jimmy myself.”
“But—”
“I have spoken on the subject, and is it no longer up for discussion,” Gabriel snapped.
Victory’s eyes widened. “Did you just use your ‘I am in charge’ voice with me?”
His brow creased into a frown. “My ‘I am in charge’ voice…?”
She nodded. “It is imperious and does not allow for any argument from the person to whom it is addressed.”
“Then yes.” He nodded. “It would seem that is exactly what I did.”
Victory snorted. “Except I am not under any obligation to obey you.”
“No?” he challenged softly as he crossed from his side of the carriage to sit on the padded bench seat beside her, the warmth of his thigh almost touching her own. “You have agreed to become my secretary, which makes you my employee. And what of the fact I am now your lover?”
Her eyes widened. “Oh but…” She lowered her lashes. “We did not… You did not…”
“Oh, but I did.” His gloved hand beneath her chin kept her face tilted up toward his. “Not inside you, granted, but I will do that too when we have the time and privacy enough to both enjoy it,” he added dryly.
Victory ran her tongue over her dry lips before speaking again. “You will?”
“We will,” he assured her gruffly. “Our lovemaking is meant to be enjoyed by both of us.” He eyed her searchingly. “You did enjoy it, I hope?” Dear God, he was doubting his own physical performance now! Soon he would be stammering like an inexperienced schoolboy.
Well…no. Perhaps he would not go that far, but everything about loving Victory was outside his experience. He did not wish to say or do anything that might hurt or shock her.
“Very much,” she answered him huskily.
“There is more for us to enjoy together. So much more,” he promised.
She looked at him shyly. “Will you kiss me now?”
There was no mistaking the uncertainty in Victory’s expression and voice. “It will be my absolute pleasure to do so,” he promised before lowering his head to kiss her gently and lingeringly on her parted lips. After which he released her chin to sit back and away from her. “In the meantime, I will be the one to seek out Jimmy and ascertain whether or not he has any knowledge of these attacks near Club Venus. I found him once, I shall do so again.”
Victory, slightly flustered after being kissed so slowly and deliciously, could only nod her agreement.
As she was meant to do?
Had Gabriel just deliberately kissed her in order to befuddle her brain?
And if he had, what did it matter. She had enjoyed it either way and very much looked forward to when it would happen again.
Chapter Twelve
When Victory woke in the four-poster bed in the blue bedchamber at Blackborne House the following morning, she immediately tried to ascertain as to when, precisely, she had lost her mind.
Was it when Gabriel had made love to her so intimately in his office at Cub Venus?
Or perhaps when he treated her so protectively by insisting he would be the one to go and look for Jimmy?
Or maybe it was that gentle and yet passionate kiss Gabriel had given her on the drive back to Blackborne House in his carriage?
Or perhaps the manner in which he had kissed her with care on the forehead outside this bedchamber last night before sending her to bed. Alone.
Whichever of those things it was, or perhaps an accumulation of all of them, Gabriel had very neatly circumvented her intention of returning to St Giles without so much as evoking a whimper of protest from her.
He was the devil incarnate!
A bewitching, enthralling, mesmerizing warlock who had cast a spell over her to prevent her from indulging in any actions that he had not first approved of.
Bathing and dressing in one of the gowns he had bought for her before going downstairs, only to have the butler inform her that Gabriel had left the house an hour ago, was not conducive to improving her feelings of resentment.
“His Grace wished me to inform you that he has left some ledgers and bills in his study for you to deal with this morning,” Ellis added lightly.
Victory’s mood brightened. Perhaps Gabriel really was serious about making her his secretary. If he was, then not only did it mean she could remain close to him, but also that in future, she would be doing something for him in return for all the kindnesses he had shown to her.
Victory was no fool. She knew the intimacies they had shared yesterday meant no more to Gabriel than an hour or so of enjoyment in his very privileged life. That being the case, she had no intention of making any more of it herself.
And if it should happen again?
Then she would welcome it. Welcome Gabriel and any physical pleasures he chose to share with her.
In the knowledge that, once he tired of her, she would have to leave here, leave Gabriel, and return to her dismal life in St Giles.
* * *
Gabriel took a moment to stand in the open doorway of his study and enjoy the sight of Victory seated behind his desk scribbling in the ledgers he had left out for her.
She looked very beautiful in a gown of ivory lace with a pale blue bodice. Her short dark curls were swept up and pinned at her crown, her delicate features slightly flushed as she concentrated on the columns of numbers in front of her.
Gabriel had come up with the idea of setting Victory to work as he lay alone in his bed last night, unable to sleep in the knowledge she was only just down the hallway in the blue bedchamber. He had believed he was behaving the gentleman in sending her off to her equally lonely bed, but the hours of sleeplessness that followed for him made him deeply regret that decision.
So instead of holding Victory in his arms and making love with her, he had considered ways in which he might keep her in his life.
He had, as she had reminded him, suggested she might become his secretary, and if he did not wish for a repeat of yesterday evening, when she made it clear she was leaving Blackborne House and him, the time had come to put her to work. If nothing else, it would keep her furtive imagination from coming up with yet more mischief for her to get into.
Who would have ever thought he would fall in love with someone as young, beautiful, and feisty as Miss Victory Jones?
Certainly not him.
And now he had yet more bad news to impart to her, something he seemed forced to do all too often to ever allow her to form a ser
ious attachment to him.
“Victory.”
Her expression brightened into a blinding smile the moment she looked up at him, but Gabriel doubted that would continue for long once he had shared his news with her.
She stood up before he could do that and hurried around the desk to press her body against his as she linked her arms about his neck to move up onto her tiptoes. “I have missed you,” she murmured before kissing him on the lips.
Gabriel’s arms instantly moved to encircle her slender waist and pull her tightly against him as he deepened the kiss by sweeping his tongue across and then between her deliciously soft lips.
His cock, nowadays ready to respond at a moment’s notice, instantly hardened and throbbed inside his pantaloons as Gabriel continued to gorge himself on the feel and taste of Victory’s lips and mouth.
Her neck arched as Gabriel’s lips moved down the length of that sensitive flesh before licking and sucking on the tender skin at the base of her throat.
He had no resistance, no will to even try to hold himself aloof from this. From Victory. She was fire and light and everything in between, and to hold her in his arms was the equivalent of holding a living flame.
Gabriel groaned helplessly against her throat. “God, I want you!”
She raised her head to look at him. “Then take me.”
He scowled darkly. “You cannot say that and expect me to resist you.”
“I am not asking you to.”
Gabriel shook his head. “I cannot in all conscience—”
“Be damned with your conscience!” She pulled out of his arms to glare at him, her cheeks flushed. “I hardly slept a wink last night for thinking about you and our lovemaking. I have waited impatiently all morning for your return, worked diligently, and now you are refusing to reward me—”
“I am not refusing you.” His wince was pained. “I am merely being the voice of reason. One of us has to be,” he protested after she gave a disgusted snort. “Otherwise, I am as like to bend you over the front of my desk right now, throw up your skirts, pull down your drawers, and fuck you until we are both in a state of exhaustion.”
Gabriel's Torment (Regency Club Venus 2) Page 10