‘Me-e-e. Man of her dreams?’ She’d flustered him, and she knew it.
She laughed again and waved him away. ‘Go. Fetch Lillian.’
As he hurried away, he shook his head, certain he’d never understand the thinking of women. Even Lillian’s ideas and comments often surprised him, yet more times than not he put her suggestions into practice, especially farm improvements.
Twenty minutes later, Brent stood with Lillian as Maggie’s footman helped her into a plain black carriage. “Good night,’ Lillian said, hugging her friend. ‘And thank you for a wonderful experience.’
Brent groaned. ‘An experience never to be repeated. Agreed?’ Maggie laughed again and waved to them through the window, while Lillian nodded but stayed silent. He put his hands on his hips and asked again, ‘Do you agree?’
“Yes, my lord,’ Lillian agreed with blatantly false humility.
Behind him, Brent heard Michael chuckle. He swung to face him. ‘Why are you listening to private conversations and what were you and Maggie talking about when we came outside?’
To his annoyance, Michael glanced at Lillian before giving a nonchalant shrug which only helped convince Brent that his friend was hiding something. But what?
‘Now that I think about it, you seemed rather familiar with Maggie. Do you know who she is?’
Michael shrugged again. ‘Perhaps.’
Brent turned towards Lillian. “Is Maggie her real name?’
‘Perhaps,’ she said with the same shrug Michael had given, and a wide grin.
‘Ha, ha.’ He pointed between Michael and Lillian. ‘You two are very funny.’ He glared at Michael. ‘We’ll continue this discussion tomorrow. Now, do you want to ride with us?’
‘If you don’t mind, though I won’t come between you lovebirds for too long. I’ve made arrangements to spend the night not far from here.’
‘Who do you know in this area?’ Brent closed the carriage door behind Michael and sat opposite him, and beside Lillian. When the driver started the horses and they left Browning’s large house behind, a heavy weight lifted from his shoulders. He’d never forget the lurch of his stomach and the stutter of his heart when he’d realized Lillian was in that ballroom surrounded by leering gentlemen who’d been drinking steadily for hours. Not caring that Michael watched them with eagle eyes, he put his arm around Lillian’s shoulder and pulled her head to his shoulders. Her eyes closed and she relaxed into his side, allowing him to suck in his first easy breath for hours.
He frowned at Michael. “You haven’t answered my question.’
‘A gentleman never reveals his affairs, especially if the lady prefers to be discreet.’
Something about Michael’s answer roused his suspicions, but he couldn’t decipher that puzzle when his thoughts were centered on Lillian and where he was going to instruct his driver to take them. Taking her home to the duke’s house would be simplest, but he still ached for her and longed for a second chance, without Browning or anyone lese to interrupt them.
‘For God’s sake, Brent. I can hear you thinking from over here. The solution isn’t that hard. You’re in love with Lillian and have been for a long time. And she loves you…’ He raised a questioning brow.
Brent nodded. ‘Yes,’ he whispered, ‘I believe she does.’ He smiled. ‘After Browning found us in the wardrobe--’
‘The wardrobe?’ Michael rocked with laughter though he at least tried to muffle it and not wake Lillian. ‘Reclusive Lord Mallory and the widow Armstrong caught together in a cupboard?’ He slapped his hands on his knees and kept laughing. ‘Can’t wait to share that bit of news with…’
‘With?’
Michael put a finger to his lips and nodded towards Lillian. ‘You know I’m happy for you. After all you went through with Marion you, of all people, deserve to find happiness. Are you going to ask her to marry you?’
‘I…I don’t know. We haven’t had time to sort out our feelings, or to discuss what happens next. I need to recover from the shock of Lillian mixing with those…girls.’
‘She’s not as innocent or untouched as you’d prefer to think, Brent. Not after being married to dastardly Geoffrey.’
‘She told me some of it tonight, and I feel guilty that I’d not done more. Helped her somehow.’
‘Nothing you could have done, old friend. Husbands are allowed treat their wives however they like and no one can interfere. Not even the duke could have taken her away from her husband.’
‘Stupid bloody British laws. Time someone brought it up in parliament and pushed for some reform. Even small reforms. To allow women to leave if their lives are in danger from their husbands.’
‘Good idea. I know a peer in a position to do that.’
Brent frowned. ‘Who?’
‘Michael pointed. ‘You, my dense friend. Long past time you came out of seclusion and took up your seat. Think of the good you could do for women like Maggie and Lillian.’
Brent narrowed his eyes at Michael. ‘What do you know about Maggie?’
Michael thumped on the carriage roof to signal the driver to stop. He touched a finger to his forehead in a mock salute. ‘If you want my advice, you’ll tell that lovely lady that you love her.’
Michael leapt from the coach onto the road before a large gateway and Brent squinted into the dark as Michael strode towards the iron gates. Too dark outside for Brent to discern the gold-lettered name on the arch, but tomorrow Michael would have some explaining to do. As the driver whipped up the horses, the carriage rocked and Lillian awoke with a start. Looking out the window she said, ‘Oh, Maggie’s house,’ before subsiding into the seat and dropping back into a sound sleep.
Brent threw his head back against the leather headrest and silently laughed. No wonder Michael was being secretive. At this very moment, he was no doubt sauntering down the driveway to Maggie’s house where he’d spend the night in the house owners bed. Maggie was a widow who’d suffered at her husband’s hand, but Brent knew nothing else about her except that she was Lillian’s friend and his softly-snoring sweetheart was generally an excellent judge of character. Perhaps Michael would also fall in love.
CHAPTER SIX
THE CARRIAGE PULLED TO A JERKY STOP and Lillian awoke with a start. Brent’s arm was wrapped about her, holding her close to his side and his warmth and presence reassured her that she was safe. She turned to see him watching her through hooded lids, looking sleepy and ruffled and…delicious.
She pushed herself upright and looked out. ‘Oh, Brent.’ She smiled. Oh how she loved this man, and now she’d have to chance to show him how good it could be between them. His servants had left a light burning in his house, ready for his return. She reached up and kissed him. ‘Thank you for not taking me to my father’s house. Thank you for bringing me to you house instead. Thank you for being my best friend.’
He bent his head and took control, kissing her with a hunger that matched hers. Kissing her as if his life depended on having his lips pressed to hers and their breaths mingling. “Let’s go inside. My staff will be asleep and I’ll take you home before anyone stirs abroad. No one but the two of us will know that I’ve had you in my arms all night. Had you all to myself, as I’ve longed to do for what seems like forever.’
Brent used his key to let them inside and ushered her quickly up the staircase. Though she’d been in his house several times, she’d never before been alone with him and a tremor of anticipation rippled through her body. An entire night to explore his long and lean form, so different to her own, thrilled her and she silently thanked Maggie for pushing her into attending the courtesan’s ball. Otherwise, her relationship with Brent might never have had the jolt it needed to push them out of their comfortable friendship and into something a lot more exotic.
Her fingers tingled where his bare hand gripped hers, another first as normally they both wore either thick riding gloves or thin leather ones suitable for visiting. And the image of Brent’s deliciously male chest and her first glimpse
when he’d removed his shirt would stay in her mind forever. Impatient for another moment pressed against him, she slowed, waited until he’d turned and questioned her with his eyes, she drew his head down for another kiss. That he came willingly and met her lips with his as eagerly as she felt, relieved a nagging thought that she might have trapped him into this assignation. While she wanted this intimacy, wanted him desperately, she wouldn’t be able to face him year after year if her doubts and fears lingered.
‘Tell me honestly,’ she whispered, ‘that this is what you truly want. There is still time to change your mind and take me home, before we enter your bedchamber and commit to each other. I couldn’t live with the guilt if we were somehow discovered and our affair revealed. If you were you trapped into…into…’
‘Marriage?’
‘Yes.’
He gently wrapped his long fingers around her face and she felt the callouses that proved him the opposite of an idle peer. His hands displayed his love of the outdoors and his willingness to dive into hard work with his estate laborers as if he’d been born to dig soil and mend walls, rather than ride the estate and survey the work from a distance. Those calloused hands told her that he tended to the things, and people, he loved. She yearned to be one of those he loved because Brent’s style of loving was an encompassing, dedicated, and for life.
No half measures, and though her parents loved her, she’d never been the absolute focus of anyone’s attention. Perhaps she was gluttonous in her need for him, but she’d never be as self centered in her demands as his first wife had been and she’d never drain him, as Marion had, of the innate liveliness that made Brent special. Yes, she’d wallow in joy of having his single-minded attention on her, but she also adored and treasured Brent and longed to shower him with the marital love he’d been denied.
The sweetness of his kiss weakened her knees and she leaned on him as he murmured in her ear, ‘Being married to you, my love, would be a joy, not a burden. And as I intend speaking to the duke tomorrow, or rather today, and asking for your hand in marriage, I wouldn’t care if every newspaper in England featured slashed our story across their front pages.’ His lips touched hers again, sliding back and forth until her legs trembled and only clutching his sleeves stopped her from collapsing in an emotional mess at his feet. Tears ran down her face and she swiped at them.
“You know my father is likely to kick you to the street, no matter your land and titles, if you tell him the entire story.’
‘As any good father should do in protection of his daughter.’ He waggled his brows and the wall lights showed his white-toothed grin. ‘My shotgun is already loaded and ready for any man who keeps my daughter out all night.’
She chuckled, as he’d intended. ‘I’m a widow, yet my father meddles in my affairs as if I’m just out of the schoolroom.’
‘Again as it should be. If my daughter is as ravishing as you when she’d older, I’ll exhaust myself beating away all her admirers.’
Again she laughed. ‘Hard to believe when she has her papa wrapped around her little finger and knows he’ll do anything to make her happy.’
He smiled. ‘She does have a way of getting what she wants from me, so it’s good that she’ll have a new mama to teach her some restraint.’
‘Hmm, much as I’d adore to be her mama, I’ve not been asked. Yet.’
When Brent dropped to one knee on the passageway’s carpet, she gasped and quickly glanced around to ensure they were still alone, but the house remained silent. ‘Brent,’ she hissed, trying to pull him to his feet. ‘I didn’t mean here.’
He shrugged and gave her a don’t-care look. ‘By tomorrow, the servants will know you’re to be my wife and my daughter will be shouting the news from every window.’ He took her hand and rubbed the bare fingers on her left hand. ‘Lillian, love of my life, will you marry me and transform me from a forlorn recluse into the happiest peer in the House of Lords?’
‘Oh, Brent, does this mean you’re finally going to sit in parliament?’
He nodded. ‘Isn’t that what you’ve been urging me to do for the past three years?’
Tears flowed again as she said, ‘Yes, yes, yes. You’ll be brilliant. Our government needs young men with new ideas who can shake the stubborn old goats out of their complacency. They need you, Lord Mallory, and others like you. What about Michael? Can you convince him to follow you into parliament when his father succumbs?’
Brent threw back his head and laughed. “Only you, my darling Lillian, would view my going into government as more important than my proposal of marriage.’
Suddenly aware that she’d skimmed over the first part of his statement and ignored his position on bent knee on the floor and jumped to the excitement of him as a parliamentarian, she felt ashamed. Her eyes went wide with guilt. ‘I’m so sorry.’ She covered her face with her hands but he pulled them away. ‘Perhaps you should rescind your proposal. I’m certainly not conservative enough to make a good politician’s wife.’
He kissed the backs of her hands and smiled. ‘But you’re the perfect wife for me. And I’d really like your answer because this floor is rather hard on the knees.’
‘Yes, yes, yes, I’d be honored to become your wife, Lord Mallory.’ His sagging shoulders told her how tense he’d been waiting for her answer, though surely he’d guessed that she’d cultivated their friendship because she’d been infatuated with him since they’d been children. Rising to his feet, Brent slipped off his signet ring and slid it onto the fourth finger of her left hand. ‘I love you, Lillian, and I’ll do everything in my power to make you happy.’ She clung to his neck when they shared kiss after kiss.
Tugging her with him, Brent strode to his room and opened the door. When she was inside, he locked it and tested that no one could barge into the room, especially his daughter. ‘Alone at last,’ he teased. ‘We have few hours left until we face your father and I intend savoring every moment.’
Lillian groaned. ‘I doubt the duke will be thrilled with any of our news. First, he’ll be furious that I snuck out of his house last night without the servants noticing because he’s keeping close watch over Candace and her recklessness. Secondly, he might not picture you as the best person to polish my reputation, considering the scandal when you fortified Marion’s reputation after her affairs. Such heroism is rarely seen in our circles, and therefore your gallantry was misconstrued. As for having a liberal-minded son-in-law sitting with him in Lords, he’ll be more incensed by your radicalism than by you having an illicit affair with his daughter.’
While she’d been speaking, Brent had skillfully turned her and, for a second time, eased her out of her garments.’
‘You’re rather good at that,’ she said over her shoulder.
He chuckled. ‘I’ve had lots of practice recently…’ She hissed in a breath and he kissed her bared shoulder. ‘But only with a small girl’s clothing. You’re the only woman I’ve touched in years.’
‘I’m glad,’ she said with a huff. ‘Oh, dear, I sounded like a green-eyed cat, didn’t I?’
‘I liked it. A lot. Been a long time since anyone cared enough to feel jealous of who I’ve been with, and I must admit, I’m feeling rather possessive of you too. The thought of any of those louts putting their hand on you tonight drove me crazy. I knocked over a footman’s tray of champagne and banged into at least ten women in my rush to find you.’
‘Mmm, I must say, I like your eagerness too. A lot.’ She pointed at his clothing. ‘Lose those, right now.’
He touched a finger to his forehead. ‘Yes, milady. What ever you desire.’
She licked her lips. “What I desire is you, naked, and on that bed.’
He groaned and she watched in awe as his cock swelled and stood upright. She pressed against him, reveling in the feel of his hard length wedged between their bodies, but when his fingers ran through the nest of hair between her legs, her knees threatened to give way again. Scooping her up, Brent strode to his bed and laid her on he
r back, following her down to lie over her, stretched to his full-length and with his weight resting on his elbows.
‘I need to send Maggie a gift. What would she like?’
She pushed at his shoulder and mocked, ‘Tut, tut. Not even married and you’re lavishing gifts on other women.’
‘Only one woman. The one to whom I’ll be endlessly indebted. Without Maggie, I might have regarded you from a discreet distance for another four years, because I came with the encumbrance of a daughter and a sordid past marriage.’
‘I adore your daughter and my marriage became a more sordid tale than yours, so cease this talking and make love to me. Please.’
He nodded, his expression full of love and his eyes moist, before licking one nipple and twiddling the other. Her back arched and she was lost in a continuation of the lust and longing she’d felt in Browning’s house. After licking her second nipple, Brent blew air over them and she shivered. Shivered again when he used one knee to spread her thighs and rubbed himself, hot and engorged, up and down between her wet folds.
She groaned. ‘So good, Brent. So very good.’
‘We’ve a long way to go yet, my love.’
She clutched handfuls of his hair as he slid down further and opened his mouth over her mons and sucked, insistently. She screamed his name as the first waves of pleasure hit and ran through her body. Screamed again when he took her clit between sharp teeth and tugged. Screamed and sobbed when he moved up and thrust inside her welcoming channel, withdrawing and plunging in an erotic rhythm that her calling his name over and over, like a series of prayers that praised his actions, yet begged him for release.
‘Oh, yes, sweetheart. Let yourself fly. Come for me, my darling.’
When she spasmed again and squeezed him with her inner muscles, he threw back his head and yelled, plunging into her two…three…four times until he jerked and her womb filled with his hot seed. Nothing in her life had ever felt so good, so right. Still inside her, Brent rolled them so she was spread across him and with his arms encasing her trembling body. Their breathing was ragged, as if they’d raced on their horses across his fields and not stopped for rest. Her nose was pressed to his chest and she inhaled his familiar smell of a physically active male. In an instant, her lust stirred and she wriggled her groin against his flaccid penis and giggled like a girl when it twitched and grew.
Seven Nights of Sin: Seven Sensuous Stories by Bestselling Historical Romance Authors Page 41