They passed the evening quietly but Flick was acutely aware of Darius’s presence as, she instinctively knew, he was of hers. The conversation was of general matters and nothing more was said about the situation at Brightstone Manor—probably, Flick thought, out of consideration for Mrs. Grantley’s feelings.
Everyone retired early. For once matters were proceeding in a manner that suited Flick perfectly. She dismissed Milly as soon as she finished brushing her hair and sat back to wait. She would go to Darius as soon as the household settled for the night. Having him under the same roof and not being held in his arms was the sort of temptation that was completely impossible for Flick to resist. And she suspected from the knowing glances he’d cast in her direction during the course of the evening that he knew it too.
She waited a full hour after she heard Hal’s heavy tread on the stairs. Rob had gone out, which meant he wouldn’t be back until the early hours. The chance of him catching her in her nocturnal wanderings was a risk she would just have to take. Tying her robe more tightly about her waist and grabbing a candle, Flick let herself out of her room as quietly as she could. Hal and Leah slept just down the hall from her but fortunately she knew every squeaky board in the house and was able to avoid them. Darius and his mother were in the other wing. No one else slept there and his mother’s eyes had been drooping with fatigue even before she’d left the drawing room.
Darius’s most decidedly had not been.
She reached his room and listened at the door. No sounds came from within, which meant that no servant still attended her beloved. She was convinced that he couldn’t possibly be asleep and opened the door without bothering to knock. Sure enough, he was in shirtsleeves, sitting in the window embrasure with papers in his lap. From the brief glance she caught before he became aware of her, Flick didn’t think he’d been faring too well if he’d needed to concentrate. He looked up, put the papers aside and...
And what? What would he do? The Darius of old would berate her for her forwardness and send her away again. He would certainly disapprove but if she’d waited for him to come to her, she might well have died of old age. Darius had his standards, but sometimes they were simply too rigid.
She closed the door behind her, put her candle down and simply looked at him. If ever a situation didn’t require words, this was it. For a moment he did absolutely nothing. Then a slow, curling smile suffused his features and Flick started breathing again. He stood, opened his arms wide and she flew across the room, straight into them. They closed about her possessively, holding her so tightly as he lifted her clean off the floor that her lungs were again restricted of air, but for a very different reason.
“What kept you?” he asked, his words muffled since he spoke them into the top of her head.
She blinked back her surprise. Could it be that her Darius was giving way to a further bout of impulsiveness? “I thought you would be cross with me.”
“But you still came?”
She sent him an impish smile. “I couldn’t seem to stay away.”
“I would have come to you but—”
“You would?” Flick opened her eyes very wide, astonished by the changes in him.
“Yes, but you sleep close to the rest of the family. They would have heard us. I hoped you would think of that and take the initiative.” His lovely smile broadened. “It wasn’t as if I could suggest it in front of everyone in the drawing room.”
“It was such a golden opportunity. I had no idea Leah intended to ask you to stay. I could have kissed her when she did.”
He flashed yet another of the glamorous smiles she’d seen more and more of since the visit to his chambers that changed her life forever. “If you’ve a mind to kiss anyone, why not make it me?”
She returned his smile. “With pleasure.”
Darius lowered his head and claimed her lips in a searing kiss of such intensity that yet again her lungs were severely tested. Joyfully she parted her lips and his tongue slid seductively into her mouth. With his hands splayed against her bottom he carried her to the bed, kissing her all the time. God’s beard, did he mean to make love to her? Flick had certainly intended that he would, but she’d imagined that she would have to persuade him.
Apparently not.
Flick wrapped her arms round his neck and leaned against the solid wall of his chest, feeling safe, protected and loved, wishing that time could be suspended so that the moment could last forever. At the same time, she was anxious to experience what came next. He deposited her gently on the bed and finally broke the kiss.
“Now, what ought I to do with you?”
She nipped at her lower lip with her teeth. “Do I get to choose?”
“No, angel, you do as you’re told for once.”
He leaned over her, his hair flopping forward and tickling her face as he loosened the tie to her robe. “You’re overdressed,” he said, kissing his way down her throat and pushing the robe from her shoulders.
He plastered every inch of her with hot kisses, methodically exposing her flesh, inch by tantalizing inch. All of this was new and wonderful for Flick. Completely naked, she gloried in the soft, appreciative glow in Darius’s eye as he looked down at her with an expression of wondrous awe.
“You are absolutely perfect,” he said, seating himself on the edge of the bed and running a hand seductively down her outer thigh. “I don’t deserve you.”
She offered him a sultry smile. “Well, that’s probably true but you’re stuck with me, I’m afraid.”
Darius lifted one of her feet and placed it in his lap. He rubbed each of her toes in turn, making her squirm.
“I had no idea that a foot rub could be so sensual.”
Darius smiled, bent his head and suckled first one toe and then the next. Flick wriggled and let out a series of little moans. It was an astonishing sensation and she was surprised by just how profoundly it affected her in her most intimate places. She could feel moisture leaking between her legs and desire rippling through her bloodstream in seductive waves.
She sank her fingers into Darius’s hair, gasping as his tongue left her foot and started to work its way slowly—so slowly she thought she might die of anticipation—up her calf. Instinctively she parted her legs and suddenly her fingers were clutching fresh air. His entire head had disappeared between her thighs and that magic tongue of his was now lapping at the moisture seeping from inside her. The ripple of desire turned into a raging flood and she cried out with need. His tongue found an especially sensitive spot and she shattered with a strangled cry, his lips continuing to feed on her until the sensation faded.
“What happened?” she asked dazedly.
Darius smiled and kissed her gently on the lips, giving her a taste of her own juices. “You reacted like a sensual woman should.”
“I am a woman nowadays.” She lazily traced the curve of his face with her forefinger. “In all respects, thanks to you.”
“Not completely, my darling, but I think that’s a situation we ought to rectify.” He sighed. “God alone knows, I’ve tried to do the honourable thing but there’s only so much temptation a man can withstand.”
Flick smiled at him. “Then perhaps this time you won’t refuse to get undressed. It seems unfair that you can look upon me but I can’t do the same with you.”
Darius stood and shed every stitch he was wearing in mere seconds. He then stood before her, proud and erect, and her eyes widened with appreciation as she drank in the sight of him. If she was perfection then so was he. Her heart swelled with love for her intelligent, principled and outrageously handsome future husband.
“Can I touch you?” she asked.
Darius chuckled. “I should feel pretty hard done by if you didn’t.”
He placed one knee on either side of her prone body, his erection level with her breasts. Tentatively Flick reached out a hand and touched it. It leapt and appeared to swell even more as she closed her fingers, and he placed his hand over hers, showing her how to massage
him.
“I am doing this right?”
Darius groaned. “Darling, you’re a natural.”
“Is that a good thing?”
“Absolutely.”
“May I taste you, as you did me?”
* * *
Darius tried not to show his surprise, wondering where she learned that such things actually occurred.
“I’ll wager that Miss Archer didn’t teach you about that,” he said, laughing.
“Poor Archie would probably have a fit of the vapours if she even imagined I knew about such things.”
“Where did you find out?”
She laughed. “Hal has a wide collection of erotic books.”
“Does he now?” Darius edged the tip of his erection between her lips. “Then perhaps you ought to have a little practical experience to vie with the theory.”
“Certainly I should.”
The little witch was a natural at this as well. She sucked him into her mouth without the slightest qualm, one hand gently massaging the base of his cock, occasionally going lower and touching his testicles. All the frustration he’d felt over the past weeks added to his tumescence. He swelled in her mouth and knew he was close to losing control. He couldn’t risk doing so inside her mouth. She would be revolted. He removed her hand and slipped regretfully from between her lips.
“Will you let me love you, sweet Felicity?” he asked, chastely kissing her forehead.
“You had better. I feel the need of you so very badly.”
“Where do you feel it the most?”
“In my nipples. They feel very hard.”
Darius pinched one between his thumb and forefinger, putting her assertion to the test. “They certainly seem to be. Do they hurt?”
“No, but they feel neglected.”
He chuckled. “We can’t have that now, can we? I should hate to be brought up before the judge on a charge of wilful neglect.”
“Does such a charge exist in law?”
“Hmm, probably.”
Darius bent his head and suckled. Hard. One hand caressed the firm mound of flesh, pushing her nipple more firmly into his mouth. She groaned and he noticed that she was touching the other one herself. God help him, she was killing him!
Aroused almost to the point of madness by her uninhibited behaviour when he knew for a fact that she was still a virgin, Darius nudged her legs farther apart and slowly eased his way into her.
“Don’t move,” he said when she tried to lift her hips. “I don’t want to hurt you.”
“It isn’t supposed to hurt for long,” she said in a faraway voice.
“Even so.”
Darius kissed her deeply, distracting her whilst he thrust hard and breached her barrier. She made a startled sound that was absorbed by his kiss.
“Are you all right?”
“Yes. Is that it?”
“It certainly is.”
Darius settled himself inside her and moved slowly, accustoming her to the feel of him invading her body. Far from appearing to feel discomfort, Flick lifted her hips and took him far deeper inside than he would have imagined possible, closing the walls of her vagina tightly round him as though afraid that he might suddenly withdraw. As if he could! Satisfied that she was suffering no pain, he picked up the rhythm.
“Wrap your legs round my waist, sweetheart. I want to go deeper.”
She did as he asked and Darius drove himself in to the very hilt. He sighed and groaned simultaneously and moved a little faster. He could sense that Flick was close to climax again. In her inexperience she didn’t understand the need to hold back to increase her gratification and Darius didn’t have it in him to suggest that she try.
“Darius, I’m going to...it feels incredible. I can’t wait—”
“Don’t, darling. Let it go. Take what you need from me. It’s all for you.”
Darius kissed her to prevent her from making any noise as she closed about him more tightly still and her entire body spasmed. He stayed with her for as long as he dared, withdrawing at the very last moment and spending his sperm over her breasts, gasping and groaning. The frustration he’d tangled with for what seemed like forever was replaced with a feeling of blessed relief and well-being.
Darius left the bed, gathered the towel from beside the ewer and used it to carefully clean all traces of his seed from Flick’s breasts. He then rejoined her, lay on his back and gathered Flick in his arms. She rested her head on his chest, smiling like she’d just discovered something remarkable.
“We must talk,” he said when he finally had the energy for words.
“What about?”
“I think you know.”
“The trial.” She wrinkled her nose. “Must we spoil the moment?”
“I’m afraid we might not get another chance.” He paused to choose his words with care. “Pallister won’t give up trying to derail my defence.”
“What can he do to you now?”
“Not me, but those I care about. My mother will be safe here and thanks to Hal, Brightstone Manor is well protected.” He levered himself up on one elbow and met her gaze. “Which leaves you.”
“If your mother is safe here, so too am I.”
“Yes, but what about when you venture into society?”
“Ah yes, I see what you mean.” She thought it through for a moment. “All right. I don’t mind in the least not going anywhere for the next few days, until the trial is over—”
“Thank you.” Darius had expected her to put up more objections.
“But I do have one condition.”
He smiled. “I thought it wouldn’t be that easy.” He tweaked her nose. “What’s your condition?”
“I’d like to attend the trial.”
“All right.”
“All right?” She appeared astounded. “I thought you would say it was out of the question.”
“It is if you wish to come alone. But if you promise only to come with at least one of your brothers, then I see no harm in it. Even Pallister wouldn’t dare to attack you in such a public forum.”
“I so look forward to your giving that man and his son their just desserts.”
“Don’t get your hopes up. He has much influence and every reason in the world to try and stop me.”
Chapter Seventeen
Darius spent Sunday alternately keeping his mother calm and trying to concentrate on his last-minute preparations for the case, when his mind wasn’t returning to his heady bout of lovemaking with Flick the previous evening. The little witch was temptation incarnate at the best of times but on days like today, when the devil got into her, she was impossible.
She drifted about with a sensual smile playing about her lips, and her eyes glowed with happiness. She was hopeless at hiding her true feelings and Darius was absolutely convinced that everyone in the house, Hal in particular, must be able to interpret that wretched smile. If he could get his hands on her, he’d kiss it right off her sweet lips before it got them both into hot water. Fortunately, if Hal did know what it implied, he made no comment about it and Darius began to relax, thinking they had got away with their rash behaviour. It was bad enough to ravish Hal’s sister at all, but to do so under Hal’s own roof was very bad form indeed.
Darius managed a few brief words with Flick during the course of the day, advising her not to visit him again that evening, hard though it was for him to make the request. She appeared to understand that he needed to be alert for the start of the trial and didn’t put up any objections.
Monday morning dawned to find Darius feeling full of self-doubt about his ability to obtain an acquittal for clients who were guilty of nothing more than an inability to choose their friends wisely. He knew for a certainty that they’d had nothing to do with the robberies. With Hal’s carte blanche to proceed without fear of tainting his family’s reputation, and the knowledge that Pallister couldn’t reveal what he thought he knew, he ought to be full of confidence. Unfortunately, fear of Pallister’s Machiavelli
an determination to protect his position, no matter what the cost, still made him uneasy.
“All ready, sir?” Bartlett asked when Darius made his way to the robing room at the Old Bailey.
Darius had never felt less ready for anything in his entire life. Worse yet, he was nervous and he had long thought he’d got beyond nervousness in this theatre that was so familiar to him. It was only natural, he supposed. So much rode upon a successful outcome for him, both professionally and, far more importantly, on a personal level. He thought of Flick and his resolve strengthened.
He could absolutely do this. And he would.
“Yes, are the witnesses all here?”
“Yes, sir. All the ones we expected have been summoned by the prosecution.”
“Well, that’s something.”
Frustratingly, unlike the prosecution, the defence couldn’t compel witnesses to attend and give evidence. Fortunately Woodard could and would call all those who had been robbed to give damning evidence against his clients. Darius didn’t doubt that they would all have been well-primed beforehand, both by Woodard and Pallister’s lackeys. What he hoped his foes had overlooked was the one piece of damming evidence that was pivotal to Darius’s defence.
Pallister was bound to be in court and the moment he heard the first person reveal the condemning snippet that would see his son hang, he might well take drastic action to eradicate it. Still, there was no help for that. Darius had to go on the way he’d planned. The incriminating factor was so insignificant that no one else appeared to have thought of it. Hopefully Pallister was among that number and hadn’t warned the witnesses against revealing it.
“Are they all in the witness room, agreeing their testimony?”
“At the moment,” Bartlett said. “Hopefully they will get tempted by the tavern and a few mugs of ale might make them forgot what they’ve been told to say.”
“We can but hope.” Darius donned his horsehair wig and sighed. “Right, we’d best get along.”
They stepped into the well of the courtroom to be greeted by a cacophony of sound. The public gallery was full to capacity, with people jostling for standing positions along the back wall. It wasn’t every day that the gentry got their come-uppance so publicly, and there was nothing people enjoyed more than the spectacle of the mighty falling. Besides, the case was likely to last at least all day, perhaps even spilling over into tomorrow. That was almost unheard of. The Bailey usually heard cases in batches of twelve, none of them lasting more than half an hour each.
Beguiling the Barrister Page 21