“I’m impressed with how high your spirits are today; you seem more lively,” Amelia mused, her fingers trailing up and down the buttons of his waistcoat, slipping them through their moorings painfully slow.
“The more I move about, the faster I’ll heal.”
“I’m going to guess that line of thinking comes from the days when you used to fight.”
“It does. But it’s nothing more than the truth. If you lay about hoping to get better, you won’t. The sooner you carry on your normal activities, the easier it is to get back into the swing of daily life.”
“Is that an excuse to get my undivided . . . carnal attention?”
“That might have something to do with it.” He grinned at his wife. Because the only thing he needed more than his shoulder healing faster was his wife sitting astride his lap, working over the rigidness of his cock.
She pressed her lips to his with a briefness that tore a growl from Nick’s throat. His hand slid over her waist, holding her close. Amelia stood from the sofa, and Nick tried to pull her back but over-stretched his sore arm in the process.
Amelia raised an eyebrow. “You must stay very still if you want my complete and unworried attention.”
“Are you scolding me, wife?”
The barest hint of a wicked smile tilted up her lips. “Quite possibly. Is it working?”
She walked over to the door, shut it, and turned over the lock so they wouldn’t be disturbed. Her hips swayed a little beneath her skirts as she approached him again. Nick shifted on the sofa, his cockstand straining to the point of pain against his trousers. He adjusted himself and leaned forward to shrug out of his waistcoat. The sooner they were naked, the quicker he could feel Amelia around him.
“Oh, no. Don’t think I’m going to make this easy on you. We don’t want to risk being caught putting your clothes back together. They stay on.”
“Fine, but I want your nipples in my mouth.”
Amelia’s lips parted, her tongue darting out to taste them. The faintest hint of a blush painted her cheeks pink.
“But first, give me that tongue of yours. I want to suck and taste it,” he said.
Leaning over him, she kissed him harder this time, yet holding back everything he wanted, teasing him. He tasted the seam of her mouth, his tongue pushing against it, but he gained no entry.
“You are terrible to tease me when I’m injured and unable to take what I want,” he said.
“Shall I lecture you on the qualities of patience? I was serious when I said you had to let me do everything. You do neither of us any good if you cause further injury to yourself.”
His hand cupped her breast through her dress, the feeling not nearly as satisfying with her clothes on. Her bodice tied at the back, and with one hand not working well, he knew he’d never satisfactorily secure it again.
“As I said, we will do this with our clothes on. You can’t have control of every situation, Nick.”
“Then give me your mouth. Let me at least taste you on my tongue.”
“You say the sweetest, most provocative things to me.”
But she didn’t give him her mouth. No, she lifted up her skirts, placing one slippered foot on the sofa next to his thigh, opening the slit in her drawers to his rapturous gaze. His mouth watered at the slight peak of her mons and the soft down covering of her thatch.
“It can be just as alluring with our clothes on.”
“Straddle my thighs.” His voice had grown hoarse.
She shook her head, holding out her hand, palm up. “Give me your hand.”
He did without a second’s hesitation. She guided it to the soft thatch of hair covering what he wanted on his mouth. He closed his eyes and cupped her for a moment. She was slick, ready for him. His fingers slid through her folds, finding the nub of her pleasure spot. He rotated her wetness around and then shoved two fingers deep inside her.
Her fingers were tangled in his hair, holding him tight, yet keeping him afar. He pulled out of her only to slam in harder. Hooking his fingers inside her, he massaged her sheath, letting the suction hold him tight. He wanted his cock stuffing her, being milked by her. He needed to be inside her.
Opening his eyes, he pulled out of her gripping cunt and sucked the juice off his fingers. Her tongue darted out, licking her lips between the panting that had her chest rising and falling in excitement.
She brought her knee down to the sofa, half straddling him and half standing on the floor as she loosened his trousers enough to free his cock. It sprang free, hard as ever. Nick reached beneath her skirt and cupped her buttocks so he could pull her fully onto his lap. The first touch of her mons to the head of his cock nearly had him going off. He let her go to fist himself hard, to keep from coming.
That was what she did to him. Made him lose all control.
Both of her hands were tangled in his hair; she yanked his head back and leaned over him to suck on his tongue at the same moment she sank down on his cock. She stopped when his whole length stretched her. His hand rubbed at her thigh; his other lay useless over his chest. God, he wanted to throw her down on the floor and fuck them both into the ground so hard that they didn’t have the strength to dress and see to the rest of their errands for the day.
Their tongues tasted each other in an open-mouthed kiss. It was a kiss that familiarized themselves with each other again. A kiss that allowed them to memorize the shape of each other’s mouths, what made the other person’s pleasure soar, and what passion tasted like to both of them as they made love.
“It’s been too long since I’ve tasted you,” he said. And she pulled herself up on his length only to sink back down.
“Only yesterday.”
“Too long. I want to laze about in bed for weeks, take you hard, and then take you slow. I want to fuck you every imaginable way possible, learn what makes you scream loudest, what makes your cunt weep around my cock the hardest.”
He sucked her tongue into his mouth, playing with it like he wanted to play with her clitoris.
“I can taste myself on you,” she groaned, breathless.
“I like how you taste and want to make a feast out of that pretty little cunt of yours.”
Amelia’s pace quickened. Her ardor rose with each stroke of his cock inside her. He could tell by the way she pulled away from their kisses to arch her neck and stretch her body back that she was surrendering to their moment of passion. Letting go and taking everything he could give her in his limited ability to move.
“The next time we do this, we’ll both be naked.” He pressed a kiss against her cloth-clad and corset-covered breasts. What he would do to suck her pert nipples into his mouth right now.
“For now, we do this my way.” She punctuated that statement with a slam of her pelvis against his and then rotated her hips over him, working his cock in such a way that he came before he could pull back. He shouted something incomprehensible, pumping his cock deep inside her until he was wrung out.
Nick rested his forehead against her sternum, giving himself a moment to catch his breath. She felt so damn good. Too good to be true. And yet she was his wife. She had married him and without a second thought.
Spitting on his thumb—not that he needed to make her any wetter—he pushed his hand under her skirts again and rotated the pad of his thumb around her clitoris. Her hands were in his hair, holding him tight, pulling so hard that he felt the tug at the roots. She went off like fireworks, panting and moaning around his mouth, until she couldn’t breathe and had to stop moving her pelvis altogether. She jerked in his hold a few times, her sheath clasping his semi-firm cock, bringing him back to life.
She collapsed on top of him as her orgasm ebbed. His cock still flexed against the clasp of her sheath. He could stay like this all afternoon. Wouldn’t that be perfect? But the next time they did this, it wouldn’t be a quick coupling.
Her breathing evened out, and she pushed herself into a sitting position. When she made to pull off him, his hand squeezed
her leg. “You are so beautiful when you come for me. Stay for a bit. You feel good around me. And feeling good takes away all the pain.” That, and he felt a trickle of wetness slide down his bad arm. He did not want to be lectured just yet on tearing his stitches.
“You have a devil of a tongue, husband.” She wiggled her bottom in his lap, his hand caressing the round globe and squeezing it. “And very wicked hands.”
“All the better to make you scream, wife.”
She shook her head and eventually climbed off his lap. His cock wasn’t so easily sated and rested on his lap in a semi-hard position. If she sucked the head of it in her mouth, just for a second, he knew he’d be hard in an instant.
She wore a silly grin on her face, one that said she’d just spent time being intimate with her husband. He’d put that look on her face, even though he hadn’t been able to do much of the pleasuring. He vowed the next time they were together he’d taste every inch of her skin.
Her gaze slipped to his arm, and her smile faltered. “Nick, you’re bleeding!”
“It’s nothing.”
“It’s not nothing. We need to get you upstairs so I can properly look at it.”
“I pulled it. The skin is tight, and if I don’t exercise it, my arm will be stiff.”
“I would rather take a look at it than take your word right now. I shouldn’t have listened to you at all.”
With quick efficiency, she got his trousers back on but not before making his cock stand to full attention again. She pointed at him, scolding. “Not a chance. We’ll resume those activities when you are better. You’ve only been out of bed two days, Nick. And I won’t risk your having another fever because you pulled out the stitches and reopened the wound.”
“I will be fine,” he promised. He’d been in worse shape than this.
He grabbed her hand before she could leave him sitting on the sofa like an invalid. It was odd how his shoulder and arm were the only parts of him to be damaged when his whole body felt like it had been dragged behind a horse.
To prove that he was indeed all right, he let Amelia pull him to his feet and then followed her to the door.
Her hand fluttered against his chest as he trapped her between his body and the wall. “If you wanted to get my clothes off,” he said, “you needed only to ask, and I would be more than eager to comply.”
“Stop this instant. I feel terrible that you’re bleeding at all.”
“I don’t,” he said, his voice lowering. “In fact, I have no regrets.”
Amelia shook her head, ignoring his insinuating tone. “Let’s get you upstairs.”
“If you say so.” He pulled away from her and let her lead the way. He wondered how long it would be before he got them both naked and in bed.
CHAPTER TWELVE
“We will be prepared for any scenario this time,” Nick said to Amelia. And she supposed he was right, considering a note had gone to the magistrate of Highgate two days ago.
She wasn’t sure she believed Nick’s way of thinking, but she would rather plan for the worst than face a situation they were not prepared to meet head on. At least he’d rested for nearly a week. She hoped that was enough to keep him going while they searched for Shauley.
Traffic was slow getting out of London’s core, but they were on the road to Highgate all too soon for her liking. Huxley rode outside the carriage on horseback. He insisted they couldn’t go alone, not after what had happened the last time.
Nick hadn’t argued with his man of affairs. Amelia was thankful for the additional help. Nick insisted he was well enough to travel and to mete out whatever revenge he thought was needed, but Amelia didn’t believe it for one second. She’d wished she had been able to delay him at home longer. But Nick had grown restless the longer he remained idle.
So she’d gone along with his mad plan, and she hoped she wouldn’t regret it.
“He won’t be expecting you,” Amelia said.
“Shauley or the vicar?”
“I imagine both.”
“I don’t buy into Shauley’s renewed sympathy toward me, sparing me the way he did. He was buying time, distracting us both.” Nick took her hand and squeezed it. “What I can’t figure out is his purpose for doing so.”
“I know no more than you, Nick. He let us both walk away. He had an opportunity to kill either of us. Instead, he let us live.”
“Aside from saying he’s gone bloody mad, I need to end that chapter in my life.”
“You haven’t had a nightmare since you woke from your fever,” she said, her hand squeezing his ever so slightly.
Had he realized that?
“While I was in my fevered state, I felt like I cycled constantly through the past. Mostly the memory of the beating that left the scars on my back.”
Amelia rested her head on his good shoulder. She knew how hard it was for him to discuss what had happened while he was at the vicarage’s school. So she let him talk without prompting him.
“They wanted to break me. They wanted my surrender.”
Amelia knew that was the reason he always had to be in control of a situation. Even when they made love, it was difficult for him to hand the reins to her, but he was getting better. Not that he had a lot of choice when his mobility was something of an issue. But letting her take control was also part of sharing in things equally.
“What do you want with the vicar? You’ve waited so long, Nick; it’s hard for me to understand why you need to face him after all this time.”
“For a long time I was afraid of him. Afraid of what he’d almost made me beg for. Because even though he didn’t realize it, Amelia, he did break me.”
She sat up and looked him in the eyes. “No one broke you, Nick. You, of all people, were made stronger by a horrible past.”
He let out a short laugh and focused his gaze out the window.
Placing her hand over his cheek, she forced him to turn to look at her again. “You are the strongest, kindest, most incredible person I have ever known. Those are not the qualities of a man who is shattered. You rose above that past and carved out a wonderful life for yourself and for those you have taken in, including me.”
“I can do all that and still have demons haunt me.”
“I know all too well about personal demons, Nick. I will never forget where I came from or what happened to me. But I can’t focus on that. I have to move on if I want to grow as a person. I’m not suggesting you need to grow, but you do need to forgive and move on.”
“A man can only tolerate so much. What Shauley did to you was inexcusable and something I cannot ignore. We are heading back to Highgate to make things right, to make sure Shauley can never hurt another person.”
“I agree that he should be stopped. But at the same time, he gave me a second chance. I don’t want to waste that chance by chasing after him.”
Even though that was precisely what they were doing. She had agreed to come with Nick because, despite the fact that she didn’t completely agree with what he wanted to do, she would stand by him. She would always stand at his side as his partner, wife, and friend.
Amelia reminded herself for the millionth time that Huxley was close at hand and wouldn’t go far from them. The magistrate for the district also promised a handful of good men on a moment’s notice. They were better protected during this visit. They were ready for almost anything. Amelia looked skyward and sent up a short prayer, hoping she was right.
The one thing she had now that she hadn’t had before was insight. Nick had opened up to her about his plans, and together, they’d gone over every logistical outcome and problem. Then they’d found solutions to all the possible problems that might come up. It had better be enough, because she couldn’t face the prospect of nearly losing him again.
Still, she worried that he was so focused on rectifying all that had happened in the past few weeks that he was losing sight of what was really important. The school, building up this place outside of London, supporting families, a
nd teaching children who might not otherwise have an education—those were more important than revenge, but until he saw that, she could not convince him otherwise.
While Amelia had long ago made peace with her upbringing and with the cruelty her brother had doled out, she knew every situation was different, depending on the individual. Nick would have to find that same place of peace she had. And that was something he would have to come to terms with on his own. But she would be there in any capacity he needed to find that peace. That was what you did for the person you loved.
Amelia was startled awake when they pulled to a stop. She lifted her head and looked at her husband. “I cannot believe I fell asleep.”
“You’ve run yourself ragged taking care of me.”
She wiped her eyes and looked out the window. They’d arrived at the same inn where they’d roomed prior to the last incident with Shauley.
The proprietor and his wife stood outside in the courtyard, waiting to greet them. As Nick took her hand so she could step down from the carriage, the innkeeper’s wife said, “We have prepared our best room for you.”
“It’s appreciated,” Nick said shortly, making Amelia cringe at the coldness of his voice. It was easy to forget how he treated everyone outside the trusted individuals he cared for.
Amelia approached the woman and took her hands between her own. “I’m happy you would have us again.”
“We all want to stop this madman. He’s threatening our very livelihoods. He needs to be captured,” the proprietor said.
“I take it you are assisting the magistrate?” Nick asked.
The innkeeper nodded at Nick’s query.
Nick nodded sharply before he took Amelia’s arm to lead her inside.
We are here, she wanted to say. Now what? Did they wait? Did they leave right away for the cabin? Anxiety built inside her. Making her hate this whole situation with renewed disgust.
Nick turned to her when they were in their room. “Dinner?”
“You’re going to casually ask if I want dinner?”
“I am. Then I’m going to feed it to you,” he said with a hint of wickedness and suggestion in his comment.
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