by Lauren Smith
“It won’t be under their real names. An alias will be provided, of course. And they can always divorce.” Waverly chuckled as though at some private joke.
Avery balled his hands into fists and rested them on his knees. There was something not right about this, but he couldn’t place what was bothering him. Waverly must have noticed, because his tone turned somewhat condescending.
“Now, now, none of us do our duty without some degree of risk. If Miss Sheridan wants to play the spy, she must be ready to face the consequences of her deception. I’m sure nothing will come of it. We wouldn’t be doing our jobs correctly if it did.” Waverly pushed his chair back and stood. Avery did the same.
“When is this mission to begin?” Avery followed Waverly as the other man walked through the door of the study.
“Soon. Less than a week. I will send for you once I have everything in place. I will provide more detailed instructions regarding your French contacts and the revolutionaries you will be engaging with.”
“Understood. Thank you.” Avery shook Waverly’s hand, and they headed back down the stairs to the hall.
He glimpsed Melanie again through a window before he left, and for a moment he froze. She was still in the garden, but she was no longer alone with her child. Daniel Sheffield, the man who would play Audrey Sheridan’s husband, was there in the garden with her. To the untrained eye, it looked completely innocent. They stood close together, speaking to each other. But Avery had learned from the best and could read their body language. The way he leaned in, the brief caress of her hand on his chest before it dropped away. Avery ducked behind the edge of the window. There was some intimacy between them, but Avery couldn’t tell how far it went.
Good God. Waverly’s wife is…
He didn’t finish the thought. He took one more glance their way and saw them break apart. Sheffield reached down to ruffle the hair of the little toddler, a toddler whose looks favored his mother and not Waverly.
Surely not…
Avery was relieved to see the butler waiting for him, who handed him his hat, and then he stepped outside was to his waiting hackney.
If Sheffield was romantically entangled with Waverly’s wife, he would likely not be a threat to Audrey. Waverly had already chosen Sheffield for his team, and Avery would respect that, but he would still need to keep an eye on Audrey. None of her recent training had been put the test, and sending her on a foreign mission like this was highly unusual. If anything were to happen to her, he would never forgive himself, and Lucien would put him in an early grave. Lead knots formed in Avery’s stomach. This mission to France could be very dangerous. More so than Hugo had led him to believe.
It will be up to me to ensure that Audrey returns safely to England.
14
Audrey wasn’t sure what time she woke up the next morning. But the fear and anxiety that had sent her running into Jonathan’s arms faded bit by bit overnight, and she’d relaxed enough to enjoy waking and discovering he’d stayed behind after their passionate kisses. She had a vague recollection of demanding that he help her undress, and her lips curled into a little smile. After a while of lying there beside him, she moved drowsily in the bed, unable to ignore how good it felt to have the warm body of a man beside her.
She stretched her leg over Jonathan’s and cuddled closer. His hand on her upper back drifted down to the base of her spine, just above her bottom. A sensual pulse passed between them as she wrapped her body against his. His hands, which had been slowly stroking her, now began to caress her more earnestly. He was awake now as well, and she couldn’t help but wonder what he was thinking. Did he enjoy this intimacy as much as she did? Had he been just as lost in their kisses last night, or was she the only one affected? Doubts plagued her until he suddenly spoke.
“Let me…satisfy you.” Jonathan’s voice was gruff, and she rather liked it. It sounded real, not pretentious or false. Just him and his needs.
She rested her cheek against his naked chest. “Satisfy me?” She raised a hand up to trail a fingertip around his nipple, and his breathing turned uneven.
She willed herself to meet his cool gaze and steeled herself for what it would do to her, but she saw only a heartrending tenderness in his eyes. And heat, so much heat it made her face burn with a blush. Her heart fluttered treacherously with hope.
He placed one of his hands on her face, brushing the backs of his knuckles over her cheek.
“There’s nothing more beautiful than a woman who is satisfied. It would be my great pleasure to see you glow the rest of the day.”
She tiptoed two of her fingers over his chest as she pretended to think it over.
I should not let him, but Lord, when he gazes at me like no one else exists I simply cannot say no.
“Would you worship me like a goddess?” she teased.
“Is there any other way to worship a woman?” he replied and gave a chuckle that sent shivers of delight through her.
“And what of our agreement? One night a week, untouched, you said.”
Jonathan smiled. “It’s no longer night, now is it?”
“I suppose I will let you…satisfy me.” The words had barely escaped her before he flipped her onto her back and tossed the bedclothes away. She looked up at him and he stared down at her, his eyes blazing like a hearty fire in the winter.
“Do you trust me?” he asked. “Trust that I will pleasure you and nothing more?” His words were so honest that she nodded, trembling. The room around them grew quiet, the fire having died out hours ago. The birdsong outside was muted by the window, and the only real sounds she could hear were the breaths they shared. She reached up and placed her palm over his heart. He smoothed a hand down her left calf, teasing her skin with lazy circles drawn by his fingertips. His eyes glittered with hunger.
“You’re sure?”
“Yes.” The moment she said those words, the power shifted between them. He relaxed as he took control. He moved back, allowing her to sit up.
“Remove your chemise.”
Audrey did as he commanded, her heart hammering. She pulled the chemise off her body, watching him react to her. Animal magnetism drew them together, and yet even when she swore it was only her body that desired his, she would catch flashes of softer emotions in his eyes that reflected the secret desires of her own. She leaned forward, pressing her lips to his chest, covering him with kisses. He hissed out a breath, his hands fisting on his thighs.
“Now what?” she asked.
“Lie back for me.” His voice was gruff and full of a carnal ferocity that excited her. She lay back again, completely bare to his gaze. She arched her back, knowing it lifted her breasts, and Jonathan’s lips parted on a soft exhalation. Evangeline, the infamous courtesan she’d befriended, had taught her a few poses that were ideal for tempting a man. She hoped it was true. If she failed to arouse Jonathan… She swallowed down the fear and tried to stay in this moment with him.
“A true goddess,” he said as he bent over and kissed her.
The last shred of sleepy calmness she’d woken up with vanished under his playful kisses. She curled her arms around his neck, feeling the hard, smooth skin of his muscled back. His shoulder blades were sculpted edges that shifted as he changed his position to lie between her thighs. She wrapped her legs around his hips and gasped at how vulnerable she felt with her bare body pressed to his. Only his smallclothes were between them, and they barely served as a barrier.
The hard press of his shaft rubbed against her body. He panted softly, briefly separating their bodies, but it felt too good to have him pressed against her. She drew his face down to hers to renew their kiss, which left her burning with an inner fire that only he could quench.
He trailed his lips down her throat, nipping at her collarbone, and she giggled at the tickle of his morning beard on her sensitive skin. Then he cupped one breast and sucked her other nipple into his mouth. She gasped. A tugging heated ache started in her core, and her breasts grew heavy at hi
s touch.
He blew softly over her swollen nipple, then twirled a finger over her sensitive peak and around the rest of her creamy swell. She arched her back in delight and moaned. It was so easy to lose herself in that moment with the morning light pouring into the windows, illuminating Jonathan’s gold hair like a wreath of burning sunlight above his summer-green eyes.
He moved down her body again, placing kisses on her stomach and above her mound. He spread her thighs wider with gentle but firm hands. She clutched the bedclothes by her head as she closed her eyes. She felt the soft press of his mouth on her thighs, and then his lips roved upward until he flicked his tongue against her folds.
The stroking of his tongue sent jolts of pleasure through her. She’d never imagined anything like this before. She didn’t care if it wasn’t proper or ladylike, or the scandal it would cause if they were somehow discovered. This was glorious. She whimpered as waves of ecstasy throbbed through her, and she closed her eyes. Jonathan was all she could see. Beautiful green eyes, sandy-brown hair. He was so clear, so perfect in that moment, just like when she’d first met him. She surrendered to the aftershocks of pleasure as he continued to lick her, and she let herself open up to him. Please…just love me, at least for this moment.
She opened her eyes as he moved from between her thighs and fell onto the bed beside her. He smiled rakishly as he glanced at her. Sweat covered her body, and she could feel every muscle in her body still vibrating with the aftershocks of that moment. She didn’t want to move, yet she wanted him to feel the same as her, sated and delirious with pleasure.
“How was that, my goddess?”
She turned on her side to face him. His erection hadn’t gone away, but he made no move to hide it. She couldn’t resist acting a little brazen.
“Splendid. But what about you?” She placed a hand on his chest, half expecting him to remove it, but he didn’t. She slowly slid her hand down to his waist, below his navel. A dark trail of hair began below his navel and disappeared beneath the waist of his nightclothes.
“Would you…teach me how to…?” Her heart raced, but she wanted to ask him. “To pleasure you in return?” That was one lesson Evangeline hadn’t taught her yet.
His lips kicked into a grin. “At this moment it’s not necessary. One touch with those little hands of yours would make me explode.”
“Explode?” She wasn’t sure what he meant. She knew so little of the male anatomy.
He was staring at her. “You really don’t know what I mean, do you?”
She shook her head. She could have allowed his amusement and surprise to hurt her, but she chose not to. This might be one of those few opportunities she had to finally have answers.
“My brother would never dream of telling me, and Horatia is far too…modest to tell me much. There was no one else to educate me.” She drew patterns on his abdomen as she talked. He sucked in a breath as she slipped a finger beneath the cloth of his nightclothes. “So…will you teach me?” She looked up at him from beneath her fluttering lashes in a way she knew made her look coquettish.
“More lessons.” He sighed, though he was grinning as well.
“Well, if you don’t want to teach me—” She started to pull her hand away, but he grabbed her wrist and pressed it back down on his abdomen.
“Do you truly want this? I have no desire to force you.” He bit his lip in an almost bashful way that made her want to swoon. Of course she wanted this, wanted it so much her body hurt for it.
She leaned up as his eyes lowered to gaze upon the globes of her breasts nestled against his chest. “Show me.”
“Well… There are few ways to…either with one’s hand or one’s mouth or…” He blushed and trailed off.
“Or?” she pressed.
“Or one’s…breasts.” He almost whispered the word and glanced away, his face turning red.
She paused in stroking his lower belly. “Oh!” How could she use her breasts? It seemed too strange, at least for now. But she was curious about what he’d said about the other two ways.
“You used your mouth upon me,” she observed as she stroked the V-shaped indentation of his hip. “Should I use my mouth on you?”
Jonathan cursed softly, and she drew back, startled.
“My apologies,” he muttered. “It’s just the thought of your mouth anywhere near my cock…it might bloody well kill me.”
She was thrilled at the power she held over him right then. “My mouth then!” she announced and looked at him and licked her lips. “Now remove these, if you please.” She tugged on his nightclothes.
He stared at her for a long moment, his eyes settling upon her lips, and he lifted his hips and slid his drawers off. His erect shaft was in full view. Audrey stared at it, amazed at its girth. The thing was…massive. She’d seen statues of men in their naked form, and they were all quite tiny compared to him. How was that supposed to fit inside a woman? Or her mouth?
“You don’t have to—”
“Shush. I’m learning.” She reached out and gripped him, stroking him. He moaned softly, his head falling back on the bed. “How do I start?”
“Any way you want. There’s no incorrect way…as long as you don’t bite down, that is.”
Audrey moved down his body and lay at his hips. She leaned over him, boldly drawing him into her mouth. The taste of his silky hard shaft was intriguing, and the way his hips jerked and he fisted his hands in the sheets was most gratifying.
I own him now, at least in this. Emboldened by his reactions, she moved her mouth up and down his length again and again, trying different paces and sometimes pausing to lick the tip, giggling as he cursed again and again.
“I’m not going to last, sweetheart. You need to stop—”
She used one hand to stroke the base of the shaft and used her mouth to cover the rest as much as she could, and then she sucked hard. She was startled at the sudden flood of a slightly salty taste upon her tongue. What was that?
He groaned, and then his rigid body went limp beneath her as every muscle in his body relaxed.
“Dear God, woman, you’ve done it,” he said, throwing one arm over his face. “You actually killed me.”
She released his shaft, and it fell against his thighs, no longer hard and erect. How interesting… “I can taste you,” she said, and licked her lips.
Jonathan lifted his hand up from his face. “Come here.” He gathered her in her arms, crushing her down on top of him. He claimed her lips hungrily, ravaging her mouth, even biting her bottom lip and tugging on it with his teeth, before he relented and his kisses turned more gentle.
“I’ve never met any woman like you.” He cupped the back of her head, his fingers massaging her scalp in the most delightful way.
“I’ve never met any man like you,” she echoed. She knew that once her sanity returned, she would feel some shame for what they’d done, not because she didn’t believe in passion, but because she still believed he didn’t really care about her, not the way she did him. There was a difference between affection and mere sport, but in the heat of the moment one might resemble the other.
Once this glow between us fades, he will regret sharing this intimacy, and I will regret opening my heart to him again.
They lay together for a long while before he finally sighed, his breath stirring her hair by her temple.
“I must get up and return to my chamber before breakfast, and…I need to shave.” He stroked his chin and jaw. The light stubble, darker than his skin, made him look rather devilish.
“If you must, but I would like to watch you shave, if I may.” She nuzzled her cheek against his. She wanted to imprint this on her memory. It may well be her only real chance to feel this with anyone else.
Even if I am the only one who feels this way, at least I have this quiet moment of intimacy to remember.
A knock on her door had Jonathan leaping out of bed and back into his clothes.
“Just a minute!” she called out. It had to b
e the maid her sister had assigned to her, Sarah. Audrey covered her mouth with one hand to keep from giggling at the sight of Jonathan’s bare backside as he jerked his drawers up.
“Don’t you dare laugh,” he warned.
“I’m not!” Now she was giggling because he’d told her not to.
He jerked on the rest of his clothes and finally faced her, hands on his hips.
“You best cover up unless you want your maid to see you lying there like the goddess Venus.”
Audrey pulled some of the bedclothes over her hips and flashed him what she hoped was a saucy look.
“And now?” she asked, batting her eyelashes.
“Somehow that makes it worse,” he said with a hungry look. “Having tasted heaven between your thighs, all you’ve done is now wrap yourself up like a present for me.”
“Very well.” She sighed and this time fully covered herself. Only then did Jonathan open the door and allow the maid to enter. Sarah’s gaze was downcast discreetly while she waited for Jonathan to leave. Once Jonathan had removed himself, the maid looked at Audrey with blushing cheeks.
“Shall I draw you a bath?”
“Yes, thank you.” Audrey remained in bed, taking in the lingering scent of Jonathan on her bed.
What a wonderful morning it was. She only hoped the rest of the day would be half as pleasant. But she couldn’t shake the fear that Jonathan would return to his old ways and put a fresh distance between them.
15
Jonathan scraped the razor over his chin, then swished the blade in the bowl of hot water. Then he put the razor to his skin again, watching himself carefully in the mirror. His gaze darted to his bed in the mirror. It was immaculate since he hadn’t slept there last night, but he could still picture Audrey lying there, half-naked, tempting him with that seductive look to stay in bed all day with her.
He smiled at the thought of her wanting to watch him shave. This morning had been a true victory in his war to win her heart. She wouldn’t surrender to just any man.