Xavier murmured something in French—something similar to a prayer.
He caught the back of her head and covered her mouth with his. His fingers slid into her hair, and a pin pinged against the table. He tugged her hair, not enough to hurt but her scalp tingled, and he held her an inch away. When she tried to kiss him, he gave a gentle jerk to her hair to keep her in place. Her breath quickened. They sat there, embracing, exchanging a breath. Several rapid pulses between her legs caused her to whimper softly. He was in control of her body, her pleasure. For as long as she could remember, she’d fought to keep control in every situation. But now, in this moment, she chose faith over fear.
He flashed a wicked smile. “What should I do with you, goddess? You have learned my secrets. Perhaps now it is time for me to discover yours.”
Her heart pounded as if she’d been practicing her exercises, and she couldn’t catch her breath. She had no secrets to uncover, but she didn’t mind him trying. “I heard the French method is very effective for loosening one’s lips.”
He laughed and released her hair, brushing the back of his fingers across her cheek before touching his lips tenderly to hers.
“Are you sure you wish for me to use the most powerful means available to me?”
“Yes,” she whispered.
His fingertips skimmed her waist as he leaned to place his mouth to her ear. “I think you like trouble.” His breath singed her skin.
She smiled. If she’d known trouble was this exciting, she might have gotten into it more often.
He slid his hands up from the slight curve of her waist to the undersides of her breasts before cupping them. “Tell me where you like to be touched.”
His thumbs pressed against her nipples through her corset and drew slow circles. She inhaled sharply, shocked by the unfamiliar, powerful currents traveling to her core.
“I don’t know.” She had touched herself a couple of times, but she would be mortified to admit it.
He grasped the tie to her apron front gown and yanked. He had it loose in seconds and peeled away the fabric to bare her undergarments. “Tell me where you like to be touched, or I will be forced to become more persuasive.”
Bending his head, he kissed the plumped flesh rising from her corset.
She closed her eyes and sighed. “I don’t know.”
He eased her back against the settee cushion, and she sank into it, grateful for the support since her bones seemed to be dissolving with each stroke of his fingers across her nipples. His mouth found her neck, and he licked a tantalizingly slow path to the sensitive place behind her ear. She moaned as a wave of pleasure engulfed her.
“This is your final warning, Miss Darlington. Tell me the secrets to pleasuring you or prepare to accept the consequences.”
His teasing tone made her smile.
“Never,” she said.
“You are a challenge, ma chérie.”
Flutters filled her stomach as he removed his waistcoat and jacket and knelt on the carpet before her. He grasped the hem of her skirts with a mischievous twinkle in his eyes. “I like trouble, but I love a challenge even more.”
He slid his hands beneath her skirts, inching them up her thighs until he found the ties to her drawers. Regina’s heart beat with a driving rhythm. The ache between her legs intensified. He helped her shimmy her drawers over her hips and drew them down her legs then tossed them over his shoulder.
Caressing just above her knee, he locked gazes with her.
“Magnifique,” he murmured as his fingers moved to her inner thigh, gliding up her leg in the most excruciatingly unhurried and teasing manner. “Your skin is as soft as the most luxurious silk.”
Her face warmed at his extravagant praise. As he lifted her skirts higher and her legs were bared, she squirmed with anticipation. His fingers grazed her curls and she gasped. “There.”
A satisfied smile eased across his handsome face. “Here, lover?” He stroked her again.
“Yes.”
He rewarded her honesty with another exquisite caress. She melted into the settee, closing her eyes on a sigh and surrendering to the sensual feel of his skin on hers. Grasping her hips, he pulled her to the edge of the settee and spread her thighs. Her eyes flew open. Her thoughts of protest vanished into oblivion with the first sweep of his tongue over her flesh. A moan slipped past her lips. Each lick carried her deeper into a world she’d never known existed, and never wanted to leave.
Xavier cradled her bottom as he continued to make love to her with his mouth, circling an especially pleasurable spot at the apex of her labia and driving her toward something she wanted with great desperation. Something she couldn’t name or had ever experienced.
Every muscle quivered with expectation. Her fingers curled into fists. Her breathing ceased, and for a split second, she teetered on the peak. Then she was crying out as wave after satisfying wave rushed over her, and through her, until she was spent. She collapsed against the settee, her legs trembling. Xavier’s hand splayed across her bare bottom, holding her as she recovered. He placed a lingering kiss on the fleshiest part of her thigh, watching her with nearly black eyes.
When her breathing began to even out, he released her, allowing her skirts to drop. He stood and kissed her softly before retrieving her drawers to help set her back to rights.
She brushed a loving hand over his dark hair as he knelt at her feet once more. “I could grow accustomed to having you on your knees,” she teased.
He glanced up with a roguish grin. “Maybe next time you will kneel for me.”
A fiery blush swept over her at the suggestion, but she mumbled, “Maybe.”
“I should have done this the first time I was on my knees.” He cupped her hand between his, and all traces of teasing fled. Her eyes widened when she realized he intended to propose like a true suitor. He looked up with such earnestness, her heart skipped. “Miss Darlington, would you do me the honor of becoming my wife?”
To others, his proposal might sound silly at this point, but she appreciated the chance to have a say. “Yes, I will marry you.”
Scratching sounded at the door, and Cupid’s sharp bark echoed in the corridor.
“Aunt Beatrice must be awake,” she said. Xavier pulled her to her feet, and she smoothed her hands over her wrinkled skirts. “I should slip upstairs to see to my hair before Auntie is dressed and comes down for breakfast. Sophia is to send for Lord Margrave as soon as we vacate the study.”
Xavier captured her wrist before she could move toward the door and pulled her back to him for a kiss. “Regina, I don’t want to quarrel with you, but I meant what I said about New Orleans. If that is the safest place for you and your family, I will insist upon everyone coming with me. Even Cupid.”
Regina caressed his cheek, touched by his concern for her and her loved ones. She knew he meant well, but a long voyage would be a hardship for Aunt Beatrice. Sophia was on the verge of a betrothal, and Evangeline had plans to join Uncle Charles on his next expedition. Besides, they didn’t know how to reach their uncle to inform him of any travel plans, and there was no one to see to the running of Wedmore House or the family manor home.
“I don’t know if my aunt and sisters would agree to leave England, and I cannot desert them. Please don’t ask me to choose.”
“I fail to see that there is a choice to make. Your family has been threatened. I am offering my protection.”
Her stomach pitched. There truly was no choice when it came to her family’s safety, but at least she knew what dangers they faced here. “This is our home. We won’t be driven out by anyone, but I need your help to defend it. Will you stand beside me? Please.”
His sigh could almost be mistaken for a growl. “What choice do I have? If you stay, I stay.”
He released her wrist, and she turned for the door, circling her hand over the burgeoning warmth in her chest. After the intimacy they had shared, there was no going back. She would marry him. Her conscience insisted it was her d
uty now, but she couldn’t deny that he’d awakened longings she kept buried deep inside.
Suddenly, the life they could have together unfolded before her. Reading the morning newssheet to each other over breakfast. Playfully teasing one another and their children as they strolled through the meadow in the country. Everything her beloved parents had done to create a happy home for her and her sisters, she and Xavier could do, but more.
She would teach him Wing Chun, and they could spar together. Perhaps he’d show interest in Uncle Charles’s studies and engage him in academic discussions over brandy. He would dance with Aunt Beatrice at every assembly if she wished it. Xavier would be Regina’s companion, her love. And her newfound vulnerability scared her to death.
Twenty-one
“Wait,” Xavier called to Regina as she opened the study door to admit the exuberant black poodle. Cupid dashed around her skirts then leapt at him. He scooped the dog in his arms and followed her into the corridor. “Regina, I asked you to wait.”
She whirled toward him with a slight pucker to her forehead. “I really should hurry to my chambers before Aunt Beatrice asks for me.”
He scratched the dog’s chin to quiet his whining. “When you said you cannot leave your family, did you mean now while there is danger or never?”
She captured her bottom lip between her teeth, hesitating for several moments. “I was honest with you from the beginning. I vowed to never marry, because I intended to stay with Aunt Beatrice and Uncle Charles. Now I will have a husband—one that lives far away—but Aunt Beatrice’s needs haven’t changed. With Evangeline off on her expeditions and Sophia creating a home of her own, there will be no one left to watch over her. I thought you understood.”
A heaviness settled in his chest. He’d been so focused on escaping England he hadn’t thought about what was left for him in New Orleans. An empty old house and bad memories were the only things awaiting him. Everyone he loved had made a life in England. Even his ward was here, and he wouldn’t take his cousin Rafe away from his own sister.
He cleared his throat. “Perhaps we should just focus on finding the map for now.”
Cupid’s ears darted up, and he cocked his head to the side. A faint whistle sounded from deeper in the house. The dog whimpered, twisting his body to break free of Xavier’s arms. He set Cupid on the stone floor before he took a tumble. His nails scraped the stone as he tried to gain traction, then he darted toward the foyer.
“It is Aunt Beatrice,” Regina said with a groan.
Before she could escape, he entangled his fingers with hers and drew her to his side. “Promise you will be careful until Farrin and his employer have been dealt with. No venturing out without a proper escort. Joy would be of no assistance if Farrin’s men accost you, and I want a manservant hired before the end of the week. I cannot be here all the time.”
She smiled and his heart tripped. “In this instance, I will do as you wish, but don’t grow accustomed to blind obedience. I might be challenging at times.”
“I wouldn’t have you any other way.” He placed a kiss at her temple then released her, so she could make a quick stop by her bedchamber before they met with her aunt and Lord Margrave.
Sophia found him waiting in the foyer. “Would you like to join Auntie? Regina said she would be along shortly, and I’ve sent for Margrave.”
“Yes, thank you.” Xavier expected he was in for a lecture, and he would prefer to get it over with before Regina came below stairs. She had suffered enough embarrassment because of his actions.
Aunt Beatrice greeted him with a wide smile. “Why Mr. Vistoire, what a pleasant surprise. What brings you to Wedmore House this morning?”
Xavier blinked and looked to Sophia for direction. She smiled pleasantly at her aunt. “Mr. Vistoire came to see Regina. They are betrothed. Isn’t that wonderful news? Lord Margrave is assisting with obtaining a special license.” She whispered behind her hand to Xavier. “The laudanum is causing her to be a little forgetful this morning.”
Aunt Beatrice’s mouth pinched. “I am not forgetful. I recall last night’s situation. I simply chose to greet my future nephew with a civil tongue and give him a chance to ask permission for Regina’s hand, as he should have done in the beginning.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Sophia said. “I’m sorry.”
Aunt Beatrice lifted her spoon and wagged it toward the chair across the table before dipping into her porridge. “Have a seat, young man. There are words I wish to have with you. Leave us, Sophia.”
“Yes, Auntie.” She ducked her head and hurried from the breakfast room without glancing back.
Regina’s aunt raised her brows, staring him down as if she were royalty. “I said sit, Mr. Vistoire.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
As soon as Xavier’s backside touched the seat cushion, Aunt Beatrice launched into a diatribe on unbecoming behavior and the dangerous allures of lust. And because he was very recently guilty of every charge she heaped on him, he did his best to sit up straight while also appearing contrite.
“And further more, sir...”
After awhile, his spine lost some of its rigidness. Even his father’s lectures hadn’t gone on this long.
Eventually, Aunt Beatrice ended her set down with a loud sigh. “There. I have dispatched with my duties.” She paused with her spoon halfway to her mouth. “Would you care for some porridge?”
“No, thank you. Please, don’t allow my presence to interfere with your breakfast. I could wait in the drawing room until Lord Margrave arrives.”
“Your company is most welcome, Mr. Vistoire. Tell me, what are your plans after the wedding?”
“I believe Miss Darlington would prefer to stay close to home, at least for a time. With your permission, we would like to stay at Wedmore House.”
Aunt Beatrice directed her gaze toward the ceiling and shook her head. “Poor Regina worries too much about her sisters and me. I suppose it is best for a while, but I do hope you and she will plan a honeymoon trip. It would benefit her to venture from Wedmore House and discover the world is not as frightening as she believes.”
“Oh?”
Regina hardly seemed the sort to hide from the world. Only half an hour earlier, she’d been ready to take on Farrin and his men.
“She was an impressionable age when her parents were killed while traveling abroad,” Regina’s aunt said. “The circumstances were tragic but uncommon. A riot. It was a stroke of bad luck, really.”
“Miss Darlington mentioned her parents’ deaths, but she didn’t say how it happened. Now I better understand why she feared the men would come for her and her sisters. It sounded as if she outgrew such worries.”
Aunt Beatrice’s smile was grim. “Does anyone truly heal from childhood wounds, sir? Perhaps we forget about them with the passage of time, but our view of life has been altered and influences our decisions.”
Xavier sank against the seatback and considered her words. Hadn’t his own decisions been driven by hurt? His father had rejected him from a young age. He’d called Xavier worthless and predicted he would become a gadabout. And Xavier had. He’d become the best libertine in all of New Orleans—a reprobate gambler, a drunk, and a rake—because proving his father right about his character was less degrading than begging for approval he would never receive.
“There is wisdom in what you say.” He drummed his fingers against his thigh as he mulled over his own life more. “I see how my childhood led me toward a certain path, but I made the choice to follow it. Ultimately, I am responsible for my mistakes.”
Her broad smile lit the breakfast room. “Yes, and your choices have brought you to Regina. I expect you are wiser now and will take more care with your decisions in the future. They no longer affect only you. We will pretend last night never happened.” She winked and spooned a bit of porridge into her mouth.
“For what it is worth, I’m ashamed of my behavior. I never meant to disrespect your niece, you, or her uncle.”
&nbs
p; She discarded her spoon and stretched across the table, extending her hand. He placed his in hers and she squeezed. “All I ask is that you love her, if not fully now, someday soon. She deserves to be cherished.”
A small lump formed in his throat. “You have my word, Aunt Beatrice. I already cherish her.”
Twenty-two
Regina barley held her temper in check when Crispin, Lord Margrave, looked up from the marriage contract once again to peer at Xavier sitting in the chair opposite him at Uncle Charles’s desk. Her uncle’s godson leaned his elbows on the scratched wood surface and narrowed his intense hazel gaze on Xavier. Crispin’s blank expression and the inordinate amount of time he stared without blinking was quite unnerving, but she’d become accustomed to his tricks over the years.
She rose from the settee where Sophia was scratching Cupid’s belly and approached the desk. The four of them and the poodle had been ensconced in Uncle Charles’s study for nearly an hour. It was high time the contract was signed, so she and Xavier could make their way to the Doctor’s Commons to apply for a marriage license.
Regina knocked on the desk to gain Crispin’s attention, but he didn’t break eye contact with Xavier. “This is no time for a staring challenge,” she said, “and we are no longer children. You’ve read the contract Evangeline drafted several times. Is it sufficient for our needs?”
Crispin didn’t so much as twitch in response.
“Ludwig! You are infuriating.”
“Hear, hear,” Sophia interjected. “You should see how he tries to intimidate my suitors at the assemblies.”
Regina drew back. “You are attending balls regularly now? The man who has sworn never to become leg-shackled? Surely you haven’t had a change of heart.”
“Absolutely not,” Sophia said. “He has no heart to change. Besides, wife-hunting would interfere with his plot to ruin my life.”
Crispin’s unwavering focus shattered, and he turned to glare at Regina’s sister. “I couldn’t care less about your aims to snare a husband, and I have better ways to spend my time than scheming against you. You are not the sun every gentleman gravitates to, Sophia Darlington.”
Secrets to a Gentleman's Heart (Gentlemen of Intrigue Book 1) Page 17