What if, by chance, Aaron knew Standish and went after him?
They reached another corner. Their carriage waited in the middle of the block. “How do you feel after unburdening yourself?”
Like my fragile world will collapse from under me, and I’ll have nothing again. “I’m relieved to have finally spoken of it.”
“Has it restored your appetite?”
She quirked a brow.
Leave it to a man to worry over his empty belly. “Yes, I could use some nourishment.”
They reached their conveyance, and Aaron helped her inside. “The Citadel has private dining rooms and an exceptionally extensive menu. There is nowhere else like it to be found in the city."
Cathlene had heard of the infamous restaurant, of course, with its reputation for its Parisian cuisine. It was a gathering place for many of the wealthy and well-known people of the world. But she’d never walked between the two marble Pompeian columns that held up its entryway, or tasted a sampling of the many wines reported to stock its cellar shelves.
She’d love to one day, but not tonight. She didn’t want to lose this fragile peace with Aaron. This slight hold on her own little world and herself. She wanted to shut herself up inside the house with him and never leave. “I’d rather return home.”
Aaron brooked no argument. He opened the window and called to the driver. “Home, Thomas.”
On arriving home, Cathlene found Mrs. Billings had foreseen their want for food, and swiftly provided them a light repast in the dining room.
“Did you happen to catch a glance of this gentleman you thought had observed you running from the alley?” Aaron asked as they headed up to his chamber after they’d eaten their fill.
Cathlene preceded him into the well-lit chamber. She didn’t need to ponder much on Standish. His black eyes, like vacant bottomless pits, followed her into her dreams. She wouldn’t destroy what tenuous bond they had now. “I can’t quite say. I was so afraid. I don’t know what I saw.” She looked up at Aaron. “But I don’t want to think of this before I close my eyes. I want to think of you.”
She stretched her arms over her head and reached for the fastenings of her gown. The movement molded its front to her breasts, drawing Aaron’s gaze, just as she intended it to.
He came up behind her and pushed her hands aside.
As her gown fell open then slid down her body, she stepped from the material surrounding her feet, clad only in her corset, chemise and drawers.
“Fair enough then, wife,” he said, lifting her chemise over her head after unlacing her corset. “I’ll be sure your dreams will be filled with only me.”
Slowly, and with much care, they finished undressing. Gone was their urgency of earlier. She wanted to prolong every moment she could with him. Their kisses were languorous as they headed to the bed. This time, their loving was slow and gentle.
Cathlene took the time to explore his body. She memorized him again, the new scars, the frown lines around his mouth and eyes, the strong arms that used to hold her tight.
She encircled a muscular bicep with her fingers and squeezed. “On my first night without you, and countless nights after, I missed feeling your arms holding me. You don’t know how many times I wanted you beside me.”
He crushed her to him, his arms going around her back. “I’m here now, love. And I’m never leaving.”
How on earth could she leave him when his declaration seemed to come from his soul? “I prayed I was carrying your child. Having your babe would’ve made these last months not seem so lonely. I would’ve had something of you with me.”
She couldn’t leave him, or their child. If she did, she’d be alone again. She couldn’t stay and hide forever. That was no way to live.
He reclined upon the bed, taking her with him. Cathlene straddled his hips and eased him inside her. “Yet you want to leave after giving me a son.”
Cathlene closed her eyes. She’d be forced to admit defeat if she peered into his face – She knew what she’d see written there. “I do want your child. I must leave you, but…”
“But what, my love?”
“No. Not here, not now. Just love me, Aaron. Make me forget why I have to leave you.”
She rose up then down on his shaft, her words falling silent as her thoughts swirled.
Their loving grew tumultuous as he did as she pleaded. Cathlene knew this wouldn’t be the end of their conversation, but she wouldn’t let it destroy what ground they’d already covered.
She moved faster over him, their bodies sliding and rocking in a primal rhythm all their own. The familiar passion spread like an inferno through her, burning her alive as her orgasm plunged her into bliss. Aaron followed her over, his seed flooding her womb.
Breathless and spent, she rolled from atop him. He cradled her against his chest. As sleep descended, her heart thawed even more because for the first time in so long, she wasn’t alone. “I-I…I’m so glad you’re here.”
Standing in the entryway two days later, again dressed in finery, Cathlene saw herself through different eyes. Where she used to love adorning herself in the most fashionable of gowns, preparing for this event was more tedious than exciting.
This woman who peered back at her in the looking glass didn’t shine with vitality and exuberance, as fitting someone of her newly returned status. The woman she glimpsed was beautiful, even stunning, but her spirit was broken. And deep in her heart, Cathlene wondered if she’d ever find it again.
These past few days with Aaron had been wonderful, but they wouldn’t last forever, not when she finished telling him everything. She hated to see this time end.
She jumped as Aaron, dressed in full formal garb of dark tailcoat, trousers, and white cravat, returned to her side, a sheepish smile curving his delectable lips. “I hope that furrow in your brow isn’t because you’re nervous about this evening.”
Sharing his bed these past two nights had been paradise. Sharing his warmth, breathing in his own unique scent, and feeling him so near wreaked havoc on her senses. She may now even be carrying his child.
Emotions battled within her. Hope for her freedom. Despair at the thought of losing her child, and their father. For even after these few short days, she found herself caught up in him again.
“I am a little apprehensive,” she said, only telling half the truth. She was taking a great risk in being seen on his arm. “It’s been some time since I’ve mingled with those of the higher echelons of society.”
“They’ll love you. I know it.” He brought his hand from behind his back. “I almost forgot this.” He extended a rectangular velvet box to her. “I was remiss in not giving you a wedding present, my love. I hope this will suffice.”
Cathlene lifted the lid and gasped. Resting on the bed of velvet was the most extravagant brooch she’d ever set eyes on. She’d never seen a piece so magnificent, and she’d seen plenty during her days as a thief. The brooch was set with diamonds, a blood-red ruby glinting in its center topping them all.
“It’s beautiful,” she breathed. “Thank you, Aaron.”
“If you wish to thank me properly, you may do so with a kiss.”
Cathlene blushed under his blunt request. With Hobbs standing a discrete distance away, and two footmen milling about near the opened front door, waiting for them to alight, she was sure all had heard. “Not here,” she protested from the corner of her mouth. “Not with the servants about.”
Aaron’s look went unyielding. “And why not? You are my wife. I care naught if their tongues wag. Kiss me, wife. We won’t depart until I’m fully satisfied. You must hurry. We mustn’t be late.”
If it was a kiss he desired, Cathlene wouldn’t disappoint. She would hold herself just as aloof as he was with her. Let him get a taste of the torture he’d been subjecting her to all day with his heated glances and promising caresses. Aaron’s smile was smug as she stretched up on tip toe to loop her arms around his neck. She pressed herself to his front, moving herself against h
im. His cock swelled hotly between the layers of clothing barring them from meeting skin to skin. Power surged through her as she sought to conquer him with a slight roll of her hips.
She skated her fingers beneath his cravat and loosened the knot at his throat. She stilled his head with her hands settling on both sides as she leaned closer and covered his mouth with hers.
Cathlene swooped her tongue inside to plunder his mouth, tasting and exploring every ridge of teeth and silken expanse of inner cheek and lip. As Aaron tried to engage, Cathlene slanted her lips away, never allowing their tongues to meet. She sighed as he kissed her as thoroughly as she had him.
Aaron reached for the neckline of her dress, his fingers slipping inside to pluck and tweak a nipple. He caught her moan of pleasure as he deepened their kiss.
Time stilled as they immersed themselves in each other. They gave in to the passion between them. A passion that could never last.
An icy finger crawled down her spine. She was certainly enjoying fulfilling her end of the bargain, perhaps too much. And that was the problem. During these past two days, she’d slowly seen the old Aaron she’d known, the man she’d fallen so deeply in love with, return. He was there in the thoughtful ways he looked after her, in the way he gazed at her when he thought she wasn’t aware, in how he touched her.
What did their bargain mean to him? It was his answer she feared.
Chapter Six
Cathlene abruptly ended their embrace and stepped away. The passion in Aaron’s eyes mirrored the lust that ran deep in her belly. If they weren’t careful, they’d soon find themselves divested of their clothing and locked in each others arms naked and intimate. The servants be damned.
She passed her hand down his shirt and weskit to the growing bulge under his trousers, where she gave a firm squeeze. Peering from under her lashes, she said coyly, “That will have to satisfy you for the moment, husband.”
“No, wife, I haven’t had nearly enough of you. If we had the time, I’d show how truly unsatisfied I am.”
Aaron fastened the brooch to her décolletage, his trembling fingers remaining for a moment longer on the bare skin above her bodice. Cathlene suppressed a shudder of yearning. With such a simple caress, one of many he’d made her privy to these past few days, she knew all would culminate and conclude with her full seduction and submission later that evening.
She was just like that brooch, bought and paid for, holding Aaron’s interest for as long as he needed. But once he was through with her, then what would become of her?
Alive and free? Or stay and die.
“You’ll be the talk of all in our presence.” He sent her a wink as he took her arm and guided her out the front door to the waiting carriage. “I’ll have to keep a close eye on all the gentlemen. I wouldn’t wish for any of them to hatch any schemes to pry you from my side.”
Though his tone was light, Aaron’s dark eyes promised vengeance if any man treated her unjustly. A shiver of secret delight ran through her.
“With you at my side, I’ve no reason to worry,” Cathlene said lightly.
He assisted her inside the lush carriage. Once she was settled comfortably on the velvet squabs, he seated himself across from her. “My associates will be on their best behavior. They are with their wives after all.”
Cathlene didn’t point out that not all married men chose to be faithful to their wives. “Who do I have the pleasure of meeting this evening?” she asked, pulling her shawl tighter around her.
“Arthur Mansfield and his wife, Elizabeth. And Lionel Standish and his wife, Rebecca.”
Terror toppled through her veins. Cold sweat coated her palms and dampened her gloves as her skin crawled with revolting, reawakened memories.
Not Lionel!
“Cathlene.”
Aaron reached over the short space between them to clasp her gloved hands in his. The coldness of her fingers seeped through the sheer satin and into his flesh. He’d known this kind of frigidity before, and knew its cause.
Fear.
“It…it is nothing – just a chill,” she said through chattering teeth.
With mounting concern, Aaron surveyed the sallow look to her skin. The rosiness faded from her cheeks immediately after he mentioned Lionel’s name.
He moved to take a seat beside her and draped an arm about her shoulders. He pulled her to his side, the quivers racing through her turning his blood frigid and setting a fire in his heart. Somehow, she and the bastard had met, and he’d harmed her. “What is it, love? How do you know Standish?”
She finally peered up at him, her blue pupils dilated with fright. Aaron drew her onto his lap, skirts and all, and held her against his chest. “I worked for his household for a brief time as a governess. That was the last job I had before resorting to begging for my livelihood. He ruined any chances of me finding another respectable position. And not having any references diminished that chance tenfold.”
Old resentments flooded to the surface. Resentments of those with power and influence, who, with a single word, could ruin another’s life and opportunity. Standish had reduced this strong, confident woman to a poor beggar. “The bastard. I’ll hang him from his heels and gut his insides if I learn he harmed you.”
Cathlene’s trep`idation seemed to rise as she latched onto his shirtsleeve. “No. I didn’t tell you this to anger you, Aaron. Please, you must promise me you won’t confront him. I shouldn’t speak on this further.”
“Finish it.” He snarled, but stroked his hand down her back. “I’ll know how this brute accosted my wife.”
Resigned, she continued, “I was upstairs, in the schoolroom, waiting for the children, when he…he…” She gave a shuddering breath. Aaron again soothed his hand down her back. She leaned into his touch, her trembling subsiding. “He cornered me and tore my dress.”
A rage as black as death flashed behind his eyes. He pictured himself wrapping his hands around Standish’s neck and squeezing every last breath of life from his body. But in his fight for survival, Aaron had learned firsthand the many forms revenge could take. Though the physical kind would be the most gratifying, there were other ways a man might destroy another. Plans can always change, just as his had that very moment.
He gently held Cathlene to him, his body primed and ready for a fight. It would take all his restraint not to kill Standish on sight. “Did you get away?”
Cathlene’s shoulders shook as she silently sobbed against his chest. The wetness of her tears further fueled his fury. “Most of the staff there were nasty to me. They thought I believed myself too proud to do work of any sort, even something simple as caring for the children in my charge. I was merely trying to survive.”
He understood that feeling too of trying to find your way in an unfamiliar world that wouldn’t accept you. He still railed against the conventions, the class system set to keep those less desirables such as himself out. Like Cathlene, he'd had to do what he could to survive. And if that meant mingling with the polished rubbish of the earth, so be it.
“Many are afraid when they encounter someone unlike them. It threatens the nature of things. They don’t know how to react.”
“There was one maid, Anna, who was kind enough to warn me of the master’s…preferences.” Her voice broke. “I didn’t listen.”
She inhaled a deep breath and dried her tears. “I screamed and screamed and screamed, but no one came to my rescue. My clothing was in tatters. He hit me a few times in the face, and I had some bruises on my body from his rough handling.”
Aaron’s muscles tensed. “I’ll kill him,” he mouthed. Cathlene hadn’t noticed.
“Anna found me and, once he saw her, he let me go. I gathered all my meager possessions and left. I passed a few of the maids and they simply snickered at me as I walked by. They’d known what he was about all along, yet they did nothing to stop him. I was no worse for wear.”
“The hell you weren’t.” Aaron forced a breath through the heavy wrath that filled his chest
. “I wondered if there was a reason why you were so defensive of my touch. Now I know why.” The humiliation of Standish’s assault and the taunting of those vipers would raise any woman’s hackles.
Cathlene raised her head and passed her gloved hand down his cheek. The carriage turned, pressing her tighter against him. “I’ve never been afraid of you, now, or in the past. I’ve always felt safe with you, Aaron. I hated our time apart. I had to learn to rely on myself. I failed miserably. But look at you.” A genuine smile crossed her lips. “You’ve found your pot of gold.”
In her, he’d found a more precious treasure, but he’d have to let her go. “You didn’t fail. You found a freedom you’d never had before.”
She parted the curtains and glanced out at the bustling city street, her expression turning distant. “Have I?”
Aaron puzzled at this sudden change in her mood. When last she’d spoken of gaining her independence, her eyes shimmered with passion. Was she changing her mind? Had his plan for enveloping her in the riches she’d once known swayed her mind and heart to stay with him?
Cathlene returned her gaze to him. She appeared no less settled after what she’d just imparted. Did she not trust he’d keep her safe? What in bloody hell must he do to prove himself worthy of her again?
Frustration added a sharp edge to his voice. “What is it now? Don’t tell me you regret telling me of Standish’s crimes against you.”
“I’m truly not sorry, but you must swear to not challenge him.”
“I’ll do no such thing. I’ll kill him.”
Her fist connected with his shoulder, her panic returning. “Aaron, please! You don’t know what power he has. You must promise me.”
He’d never known Cathlene to ever show fear. She’d always been one to not cower in the face of intimidation. If anything, she’d been the one in command. Now the tables were turned, leaving her raw.
“You have nothing to fear from him. I won’t allow harm to come to you. I swear it.”
“Her lips quivered as she struggled to maintain her dignity. “You d-d-don’t understand.” The pulse in her throat beat like a hummingbird caught on a limb. “He was the gentleman I saw riding away on the night I k-killed that man.”
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