Lord Savage

by Mia Gabriel

  With Lady Carleigh tugging on his arm, Lord Blackledge had no choice but to follow, and as soon as they left me, several gentlemen immediately joined me in their place. Clearly, they’d been warned to behave as well, for although they stared at me with unabashed lust, their conversation was as bland and respectful as if I’d been their elderly maiden aunt.

  And while each was perfectly presentable as gentlemen went, not one of them inspired an iota of desire in my blood. How could they, when they’d be following a man like Savage?

  I was only half listening when I heard the footsteps coming down the hallway. I knew whom they belonged to, even without turning to see, and when he took my arm, his touch was so achingly familiar that I nearly gasped aloud.

  “We must talk, Eve,” Savage said, his voice rough and urgent. “Come with me.”

  “No, my lord,” I said, pulling my arm free. I took a step apart from the other gentlemen, not wanting them to overhear whatever Savage might say. I wanted and needed to be strong. He’d wounded me once already this day, and I wasn’t going to let him do it again. “You’ve made it clear enough that we’ve nothing left to say.”

  “Nothing, Eve?” he asked. “When I’ve barely begun?”

  Although he was impeccably dressed for dinner, his jaw shaved and his hair sleeked back, his expression was ravaged and haunted, his pale eyes as desperate as a wild animal’s. I hated seeing him like this, and it took all my will not to give in.

  “There’s nothing left to say, my lord,” I repeated as firmly as I could. “You made that clear enough to me earlier.”

  He shook his head, his lips pressed tightly together. “The only thing that’s clear is that you misunderstood me. I went to your rooms, only to have your maid tell me you hadn’t waited. You left without me, Eve. I never believed you’d do that, not to me.”

  He was looking at me with a mixture of raw longing and despair so palpable that it shocked me.

  “Please, Savage,” I said softly. “I know the rules of the Game, too. I understand everything ends today. You don’t have to explain them again.”

  “You wore the pearls,” he said. “My pearls. You remembered. You’re remembering now.”

  I blushed. I was remembering, one glorious memory of us together crashing into the next, and with the same intensity of our sex.

  “Please don’t, Savage,” I begged. “I’m not a fool. Don’t make me look like one now.”

  “You’re never a fool, Eve,” he said, that almost-hoarse voice that could hypnotize me. “Never.”

  No matter what he’d said before, the connection remained between us. I felt it, and I was sure he did as well. We might have been the only two people in the room instead of two among twenty.

  He reached out and lightly ran his fingertips down the inside of my arm, letting the back of his hand graze over the side of my breast. My gaze followed his hand, unable to look away; he was wearing the black onyx links in his cuffs, and the diamond eyes of the coiled gold snakes seemed to wink at me as his fingers trailed down my arm. It was the lightest of caresses, yet still I shivered, the familiar desire beginning to build in my body.

  “Not here, Savage,” I begged, yet I didn’t pull away. “Please.”

  “Then where, when you wouldn’t wait for me?” he said, his hand dipping in between my arm and my hip to settle around my waist. “Why not here?”

  “Because—because everyone is watching us,” I stammered, leaning closer to him. The silk of my gown was so light that I felt the warmth of his hand through it, finding the narrowest part of my waist and holding me there, there.

  “Do you think I give a damn about these other people?” he asked, demanding. “Do you think I’d let them keep me away from you?”

  I closed my eyes when I shook my head, thinking that that would be enough to shut him away. But instead of making it easier to ignore him, the image he’d painted for me became more vivid, and infinitely more difficult to resist.

  “I want you badly, Eve,” he continued in a rough whisper meant only for my ears, “so badly that I want to pull up your skirt and take you here, now, with all of them watching, an audience to shock. You’d like that, too, wouldn’t you? To put your legs around my hips and ride my cock as fast and hard as you wanted, your beautiful tits bouncing and your head thrown back until you came, screaming my name?”

  Swept away by his words, I made a broken little cry when he finished, and pressed my hand across my mouth.

  “Mrs. Hart, are you unwell?” asked Lady Carleigh, her face full of concern as she touched my hand. Beside her stood the tall footman, and beside him was Lord Carleigh, with the rest of the guests clustered around them.

  “Forgive me, my lady,” I said, blushing with confusion as I separated from Savage. “I am perfectly well. His lordship had just told me something that, ah, startled me.”

  The viscountess was not fooled, and her gaze shifted suspiciously to Savage.

  “My lord,” she said formally. “I do not wish any further misadventures in my house tonight, especially not involving you and this lady.”

  Savage took a deep breath, dragging his gaze away from me to collect himself. If he hadn’t, I doubted he could have done it—nor could I.

  “You have my word, Laura,” he said at last, sleeking his hair back from his forehead. “No misadventures. All I wish to do now is take Mrs. Hart in to dinner.”

  At that moment, the butler struck the dinner gong. Two by two, the masters and the mistresses and their Innocents began to walk to the dining room. Savage offered his arm to me, and I took it gingerly, letting him lead me in to the table with the others.

  I didn’t speak, and neither did he, and I could only wonder if he was as confused as I was myself at that moment. He had made it abundantly clear earlier that this was good-bye, and yet neither his words nor his actions now were those of a man who was soon to be free of any attachments.

  What could he hope to achieve by playing the last-minute role of a desperate lover? What was the point of stringing out our farewell over the entire evening, when the outcome would still be the same?

  He led me to my place beside his at the table, waiting as the footman pushed my chair in for me before he sat as well. In the midst of the general fuss and conversation as everyone sat and settled, he squeezed my hand beneath the table, his fingers strong and sure around mine, and leaned close to my ear.

  “You are incomparable, Eve,” he said, his breath warm upon my ear. “Remember that. To me, no other woman can ever come close to you.”

  I turned my face toward his, and he kissed me, fast and hard, and yet with a subtle, unexpected sweetness, too. Afterward he held my gaze for a long moment, then turned away to answer the footman who was offering him wine.

  I stared down at the damask napkin in my lap, surprised by the quick sting of tears that his kiss had brought. It could well have been our final kiss, a possibility that was suddenly unbearable to me. But I would not cry—I could not—and with a great effort I composed my lips into a smile, and raised my face to look around the table.

  As Savage had predicted, they were a much less exuberant company this evening than when they’d assembled that first night. Only one or two of the Innocents still wore their costumes, which, after a week’s wear, were looking decidedly bedraggled. No one seemed particularly interested in sex now, either, and there wasn’t any groping or fondling or diving beneath the table.

  To my eye, my fellow guests instead seemed as if all they desired was a good night’s sleep in their own beds, and I remembered how Savage had predicted there wouldn’t be a stiff cock among the lot. I’d have to agree.

  Except, of course, for Savage and me. Having him beside me was the most exquisite torment, as if my body could still sense and react to his by proximity alone. I could not put from my mind what he’d said to me in the library, and in my thoughts I kept playing the erotic scenario that he’d described, over and over. If he shoved back his chair now and seized me and fucked me there on th
e dining table, I would have been as eager for it as he claimed to be himself.

  I forced myself to dip my spoon into the soup plate of vichyssoise before me, raise it to my lips, and swallow. Yes, I thought, that’s what I must do. Concentrate on the dinner, and try to forget the man beside me. Through course after course I persevered, and though Savage would occasionally smile at me or brush his hand against mine, he didn’t speak directly to me, nor did I to him. Twice, Barry appeared to whisper in Savage’s ear, which seemed to please him, but he did not share his news, and I didn’t ask for it.

  At last Lady Carleigh rose, tapping her spoon against her water goblet for order as she smiled around the table at her guests.

  “I must ask your attention, my dears, if you please,” she began. “As you know, this is our last time as a party together, and it’s the final act of the Game for the Protectors to describe how their Innocents have fared under their tutelage. From that, we shall decide if the Innocent is ready to progress to become a master or mistress, or must return to our next gathering for further education with a different Protector.”

  She turned to Lord Carleigh, seated beside her. “Please be first, Carleigh. I know you’ve much to say about your Innocent.”

  “Indeed.” The bleary-eyed viscount dragged himself to his feet. He was one of the more worn-looking Protectors, and the perkiness of his Innocent, the Honorable Mrs. Bilton, popping to her feet beside him, only accentuated his exhaustion.

  “I present my Innocent, whom I call Blossom,” he said, putting his arm around her shoulders. “She has much to recommend her. She has become highly skilled in sucking cock, and will take a stiff cock wherever it is presented. She has a special talent for ass fucking, too, and has no shyness for sharing her master with another.”

  While those around the table applauded, the Honorable Mrs. Bilton beamed, as if this were the greatest compliment a woman could receive. I was silently horrified: not that I cared one bit for what was said of Mrs. Bilton, but I cared very much for what Savage was going to say about me.

  Lord Carleigh held his hand up to silence the applause. “Yet, as estimable as this Innocent’s accomplishments are, I recommend that she receive further training with another master. Do you agree?”

  The loud chorus of “ayes” left no doubt. Clearly, this was part of the Game, and Mrs. Bilton looked so pleased by the decision that I was sure she’d been consulted.

  Unable to keep quiet any longer, I leaned close to Savage. “Did you know this would happen? That it’s decided who must remain an Innocent?”

  “Oh, yes,” he answered, nonchalant. His earlier agitation seemed to have passed and his mood had grown calm, or maybe he’d simply drunk enough wine that he’d become resigned. “It’s always the same.”

  “But you haven’t asked me which I preferred,” I whispered.

  He shrugged, and smiled. “I didn’t feel it was necessary. I already have a good idea of what you would wish.”

  “But you don’t know!” I was sure he didn’t know my mind, because I didn’t myself. Neither choice seemed particular agreeable to me, with any of the other gentlemen at the table. How could it be, after Savage?

  “I believe I do,” he said with maddening certainty, and turned away to speak to the man on his left.

  Lord Carleigh was smiling, holding his hand up. “Very well, then. Are there any masters—or perhaps a mistress, since Blossom does need education in Sapphic skills—willing to accept her for training in our next session?”

  “I’ll claim her,” called Lord Wessex.

  “Then she’s yours, Wessex,” Lord Carleigh said with a benevolent wave of his hand. He gave one last, smacking kiss to Mrs. Bilton, and then pinched her bottom for good measure, making her squeal. “Good-bye to you, sweetheart. Go off to your new master, there’s a good girl, and happy fucking to you both.”

  Happily Mrs. Bilton darted around the table to join Lord Wessex, who promptly pulled her onto his lap while the others applauded and cheered.

  “An excellent resolution,” Lady Carleigh said. “Mr. Parkhurst, will you be next to review your Innocent?”

  My anxiety grew as I watched and listened. The other guests were beginning to enjoy themselves more, and the cheering and the catcalls were growing louder and more obscene, enough to make my head ache and my heart race with dread.

  I thought that perhaps I should simply excuse myself and leave now, before it was my turn. I could retreat to my rooms, change my clothes, order a car, and leave. I’d already said good-bye to Savage, or rather, he’d said good-bye to me. There was no reason to remain and be humiliated with a public cataloging and dismissal, and given over to another man that I did not want—

  “Lord Savage!” Lady Carleigh’s voice rang out from the end of the table. “Will you please present your Innocent for review? Eve, isn’t it?”

  Savage took my hand and rose slowly to his feet, pulling me unwillingly with him.

  “Please don’t make me do this, Savage,” I whispered, pleading, my fingers wrapped tightly into his. “To have to hear you say good-bye to me again will—it will break me.”

  His smile was slow and warm, which only made it worse, not better.

  “Be brave, Eve,” he said softly, cradling my cheek with the palm of his hand. “I promise this will all go exactly as you could wish.”

  Then he winked, a true conspirator’s wink that took me entirely by surprise.

  “Come, come, my lord,” Lady Carleigh chided. “The time for private instruction is done. Please tell us of your Eve’s lessons, and what devilish skills you have taught her.”

  “Oh, I have taught her a great many things, Lady Carleigh,” he said, raising his voice so that everyone could hear him. “And in turn she has taught me as well. Never underestimate the talents of the American people.”

  “Enough of your damned drivel, Savage,” Lord Blackledge called. “You needn’t go on any further. I’ll take her next.”

  “No, you won’t!” I exclaimed. “I don’t care what the rules of this foolish game might be, I will not go—”

  “You will not go anywhere,” Savage interrupted calmly. “Unless you go with me. You see, I have decided that one week is not nearly sufficient for this lady. It has been only the beginning for us both. Instead, I intend to take her with me tonight, to London, to continue her further education there.”

  I gasped, too stunned for words. He didn’t want to leave me. Instead, he wanted to leave with me, now, just the two of us.

  “To London!” cried Lady Carleigh as the other guests burst into a babble of confused outrage and oaths. “Savage, you cannot do that. What of the rules? What of the Game?”

  His smile widened, for he was so obviously enjoying every moment of this. “My dear lady, where Mrs. Hart is concerned, the rules exist only to be broken. That is, of course, if she agrees to come with me.”

  And at last he turned to me, lifting my hand to his lips.

  “My car is waiting,” he said, over the back of my hand. “My house is ready. God knows I’m ready, Eve. All you need do is say yes.”

  “You are sure of this?” I asked, unsure myself. He was an easy man to take to bed, but he was not an easy man. Far from it. Yet, after only one week with him, I could not now imagine my life without him in it. We belonged together.

  “Give me seven more days, Eve,” he said. “One more week. That’s all I ask.”

  I took a deep breath. One week, seven days. I smiled, a giddy, daring smile for him alone.

  “Seven more days with you, Savage,” I whispered. “Seven days, and seven nights in London. And I cannot wait for it to begin.”

  Read on for a sneak peek at

  SAVAGE NIGHTS

  the next book in the Savage series,

  coming in May 2015.

  1907: On the road to London

  “You’re not frightened, are you?” The seventh Earl of Savage leaned closer, curling his long arm around the back of my shoulders in a gesture that could have bee
n protective, or something else entirely. “If you’ve any regrets—”

  “None,” I said swiftly, determined to show no hesitation, no doubts. “And if I shiver, it’s from excitement, not fear.”

  He smiled slowly, and if I hadn’t shivered before, I did then. Desire did that to me, and I’d never desired a man as I did Savage. Wild, reckless, burning desire, desire that I’d never dreamed possible or ever wished to end: that was what I felt for Savage.

  We sat on the curving back bench of his Rolls-Royce, racing through the inky darkness of the Hampshire countryside toward London and away from the house party at Wrenton Manor. There were no stars, no moon, and the only light came from the car’s headlights and silver carriage lanterns. Sitting on the other side of the curtained glass, Savage’s driver clearly had orders to carry us to London as quickly as possible; we traveled at a breakneck pace, heedless of anything save each other in our luxurious haven.

  “You shiver from excitement,” Savage repeated. He eased aside the front edge of my sable coat to find the red silk of my evening gown. I’d daringly worn nothing beneath it—no petticoats, no chemise, no corset—and as he lay his hand upon my thigh, I felt at once the heat of his palm and his fingers through the slide of light silk.

  He heard the little catch in my breath, and his smile widened. A flash of reflected light briefly lit his face in the darkness, a glimpse that was exactly long enough to remind me of how seductively, impossibly handsome he was. In that flash, his face was all planes and shadows, hard in all the ways that a man’s should be, and framed by hair as black as his evening clothes. Yet his mouth was sensuously full, and his pale blue eyes could glow with a white-hot intensity that weakened my knees whenever he looked at me, the way he was studying me now.

  “You are excited, Mrs. Hart,” he said. “You’re almost feverish. It’s rather obvious, isn’t it?”

  “To you it is,” I said breathlessly. “Because of you.”

  “How very scandalous,” he said with mock severity. “Were all the widows of New York society as eager as you?”