by Abby Gordon
“Oh, my God,” wept Jessica, getting up and standing next to her chair. Soft arms held Pippa to her. “Oh, Pippa.”
“She held me down while he…”
“Why didn’t the police do something?” demanded the comtesse, taking both of Pippa’s hands in hers. “Mon Dieu! This is worse than I imagined, ma petite. You poor thing.”
“My stepfather is a police inspector. They believed him. Three days later, my mother told me I either did what I was told or I had to leave. I left.”
Relieved at having told someone besides Tony, having sympathetic women she trusted that she could turn to, Pippa sobbed.
“Oh, God,” Jessica moaned, rocking her back and forth. “Bloody hell, Pippa. Oh, sweetheart, I’m so sorry. That’s why you wouldn’t go out with anyone, isn’t it?”
A linen handkerchief was pressed into her hands from the other side.
“Sh, ma petite,” murmured the comtesse, who patted her shoulders. “All will be well now. You have your Tony and he will safeguard your heart and protect you always.”
Sniffling, Pippa tried to control her breathing and hiccupped.
“We’re worried about my half-sisters,” she whispered. “Rose will be sixteen on Christmas. Tony’s asked a friend to check on them, especially Rose. And to see if he can find my older brother. He left home as soon as he finished school.”
“You weren’t able to do that, were you? Finish school?” Jessica murmured. “Or sit your exams?”
“No,” Pippa croaked. She dabbed at her eyes and managed to catch her breath. “That’s why when you said I could pass the exams to be a sommelier, I thought you were daft. And why I couldn’t believe you got me the French and Italian sets.”
“But you did pass, didn’t you?” Jessica pointed out. “And are now fluent in the languages?”
Pippa sighed. “Sometimes I hate it when you’re right.”
Laughing softly, Jessica hugged her tight. “You are so much stronger than you realize, Pip.”
“I’m learning that. And Tony never lets me forget.” Something occurred to her, and she frowned as the pair returned to their seats. “Where did he go?”
“Where did who go?” Madeline wondered.
“Pierre. I saw him on TV the first day the paps were at Jessica’s flat. He was telling everyone he was her uncle.” She looked at Jessica. “Remember? We were on the phone and you looked out the window. I wondered how you were swearing in French. Very rude words if I remember correctly.”
“Jessica,” Madeline was shocked then sighed. “That’s what happens when we let you run free in the vineyards.”
“Possibly,” Jessica agreed with her grandmother, then looked at Pippa. “I don’t know what happened to him. No one paid attention to him after a while. He sounded a bit insane so they probably figured he was just putting them on.”
“He went somewhere though. And he knows the truth about his parentage,” Pippa murmured. “For that matter, where is Louis? What happened to him?”
Madeline gave a Gallic shrug and sipped her tea. “He disappeared the next day. I don’t know if his father told him to go or not. Or if he gave him any money. We’ve never heard from him again.”
“And Giscard?” Jessica wondered.
“Who is he?” Pippa wondered, deciding to make herself a cheat sheet on the Lavendal family. For Tony as well, she thought so he would know who was who.
“Grandpapa’s father’s brother illegitimate son’s grandson,” replied Jessica.
“I’m noticing some repetitions in the family,” Pippa observed.
“Each family has it’s bad vines to weed out,” Madeline told them quietly. “They each had small allowances from the estate. The bulk is kept together for the heir. The two concocted a scheme to use Jessica to get full access to the Lavendal estate.”
“Would Grandpapa know about Louis? Or where Giscard or Pierre are?”
“He might,” allowed Madeline. “I don’t know if he’ll tell you.”
“I’m his heiress, Grandmama,” Jessica replied. “He better.”
Pippa blinked at this firmness in her friend and glanced at the comtesse. “Does the comte realize how she can be?”
“Mais oui,” she replied with a nod. “She gets it from him.”
“Except in himself, he calls it strength of will whereas in me he calls it stubbornness as if it is a bad thing,” Jessica said wryly.
“Yeah, I guess it does depend on what you’re after and how you go about getting it,” Pippa replied with a smile. “At least he doesn’t have makeup you can toss in the bin.”
“That was horrible, cheap stuff anyway,” Jessica laughed, shaking her head. “Totally different.”
“I wonder,” Madeline said softly. “Do your men know how you two can be?”
“Oh, Sean’s learning,” Jessica confirmed.
“As is Tony,” agreed Pippa. “I think he likes it.”
“So does Sean, Most of the time,” Jessica murmured, winking.
Pippa blinked, then giggled as she blushed. The comtesse laughed as there was a knock at the door.
“Madame, c’est moi,” called Madame DeLuca.
Chapter Seventeen
Two months later
Stomping around the house to the back entry, Pippa hooked the heels of her boots on the stand one-by-one and pulled them off. Hanging up her jacket and scarf, she put her hat and gloves in her basket and saw Tony’s coat on its hook. He was back from his Paris meeting with the comte and Mattheu. Grinning, she opened the back door, locked it behind her, and walked into the kitchen. She paused a moment to stir the chicken stew she’d started that morning, turned the heat down, and smiled at the wine bottle on the counter.
Shaking her head, she went to the main hall and heard the soft classical music. For a moment, she just stood in the doorway to what they’d decided to call the study. With all the books they’d accumulated, it made sense, even if Tony had put his computer at the desk and did most of his work from it. A study was just more in line with what they wanted in a home.
Pippa glanced down at the glint of gold on her left hand. The engagement ring Tony had given her that first week after they’d returned to London was too big to fit under the gloves she wore for work, but she refused to remove the wedding band. Across the room, a similar gleam came on Tony’s hand. It was more precious to them both than anything.
She smiled. And about to slip to number two. Clearing her throat, she stepped into the room. Tony’s head came up, a smile curving his lips.
“Hi, Venus. Good day for the grapes?”
“Very good day,” she replied, taking his hand and letting him pull her onto his lap. “What are you working on?”
“We settled on the designs and the contracts for what we need. Mattheu and the comte want to finalize plans for the quadrennial. I’m just working out a timeline for everything.”
“Well, add this,” she told him. “Antoine thinks the new blend will be ready in three years. Not a vintage, granted, but it will be aged long enough.”
“Fantastic,” he enthused, kissing her mouth hard.
She grinned, touching their foreheads. “There’s something else to add to your timeline.”
“Antoine has a backup blend? Two would work.”
“He didn’t have anything to do with this blend. It’s a blend of Sheldon and Livingston.”
Tony drew in a sharp breath and his hands caught her face. “You’re pregnant? You’re sure?”
“Doctor DeSwann just confirmed it. I’m ten weeks. Can you believe it? I thought I’d only missed one month, because of the spotting at New Year’s. But I’m nearly finished with the first trimester.”
“Oh, my god,” he breathed. “Oh, Venus.”
“You’re pleased?”
“Pleased? Venus, pleased doesn’t come close to describing how I feel. Try over the flipping moon. Or, oh, God,” he held her tight. “Pregnant. My sweet Venus. Are you all right? Everything’s okay with you and the baby?”
Cradled in his arms, she touched his face. “We’re both fine,” she assured him.
“A baby,” he breathed. “Why didn’t you say something? I would have gone to the doctor with you. Pippa, this is one of those moments for both of us.”
“The marriage proposal is the man’s moment,” she answered. “But something like this? Telling the man she loves that she’s going to have his child? That’s a woman’s moment.”
“You’re going to get a lot more of those than I will,” Tony pointed out.
She laughed, hugging him tight. “I hope so. But every single one of our children will know how you proposed, how you have always shielded me and ours from danger.” She kissed him tenderly. “How you’ve always wanted me to be strong and fly.”
“Well, there is flying and then there is ‘flying’,” he murmured, hand on her lower abdomen.
“Mm, and you are so good at making me ‘fly’,” she sighed and smiled up at him. Seeing the flicker in his eyes, she frowned. “What is it, Tony?”
“I stopped in at Ben Hancock’s Paris office,” he started slowly. “They think they have a lead on your older brother, Aidan. It looks like he’s in the military and should be back from a deployment in a month.”
“Really? That’s fantastic,” she enthused, getting all excited. Until she realized there was more from his quiet expression. “What else?”
“Rose hasn’t been seen in four weeks. The rest of the family goes about their business. He goes to work and the children go to school. Even your mother is seen every couple days. Iain talked to a cousin of his who lives in Wales. The cousin went to the village. Your mother and stepfather are saying Rose ran away just after her birthday. They’re blaming you.”
“Me?” Pippa stared at him in shock. “But how? Why?”
“They’re saying you tempted her to leave home in a letter, telling her about how glamorous and exciting France was.”
“I only wish I’d thought of that,” moaned Pippa, burying her face against his shoulder. His arms were strong and sure around her. “Now what?”
“Easy, sweetheart,” he murmured, cradling her close. “I told them that next time the house is empty to check for her.”
“You told them to break in? Tony…”
“They won’t get caught,” he assured her. “Surrounded by trees, at the end of the lane?” He stroked her cheek. “We’ll get her out of there and bring her here if we have to. The Welsh cousin said if she’s not there, he’ll start a search. I told him to let me know if my coming would help. Rose probably saw us together at one of Sean’s events and she might contact me while avoiding everyone else.”
She stared at him. “You’d do that? For me?”
“Oh, sweet Venus,” he smiled, cradling her head with his hands. “I’d do anything for you. We’ll find Rose, get Aidan here and go from there.” Tony kissed her breathless, then held her close. “Now, is everything all right with you and the baby? Tell me everything he said. Do you need to stay in bed? What about alcohol? It is your job. And what can you eat or not eat? See, if you had told me, I could have made a list and picked up books in Paris and…” He scowled at her. “Stop laughing.”
Pippa was laughing so hard her ribs hurt. “Doctor DeSwann actually said all my walking around the vineyards is good for me. I’ll need to not swallow any wine, of course, when I’m tasting, but I never did more than once or twice anyway. He gave me a bottle of vitamins and lists of what I should eat and what I shouldn’t.”
“I’m still getting books,” Tony insisted.
“He gave me a list.”
“Excellent. We’ll order those tonight.”
“And he said it’s perfectly natural for a mother-to-be’s libido to go into overdrive. Maybe not so much the first trimester, although I haven’t had any sickness. But by the last trimester,” she wriggled her bottom on his thigh, “I could be a sex demon.”
Tony chuckled and kissed her, covering a breast with his palm. “I have trouble keeping up with you as it is.”
“Complaining now, are you?”
“Never, Venus,” he assured her.
“Good,” she replied. “Because I need my Hephaestus. Now.”
“Just who is the Master here?”
She smiled and slid from his lap to kneel between his thighs.
“Master, may I suck your cock?”
“Yes.”
Her eager fingers worked his belt and pants. His cock was pulled free and her fingers wrapped around the semi-erect length. Her fingernails raked lightly along his sacks and he groaned.
“Oh, Venus,” he breathed, shifting his hips to the edge of the chair.
Pippa smiled. If he didn’t move, that meant she just gave him a blowjob, usually because it was the middle of the day and she’d slipped away from the vineyard to have lunch with him. But on the edge of the chair meant he wanted to be able to stand and bend her over the desk quickly.
And she loved it when he moved quickly and took her by surprise. A thrill would zip through her, an exultation that he’d decided he’d had enough of her teasing.
Now, rising up from her heels, she leaned forward and explored the cock that was all hers. Her tongue traced the bulging veins, while a hand gently held the sacks just below. Leaning forward, she licked the slit, pulling a moan from his throat. By her third lick, his hands were on her head, combing through her hair for a good grip.
“Just a couple strokes, Venus,” he rasped, his voice already thick with lust. “Then I’m fucking you as soon as I can.”
Pippa hummed and sucked in her cheeks. Hearing his moan, she felt her pussy clench and tighten. One more, maybe two. Her tongue licked the pre-cum and she sucked in again. His cock swelled in her mouth and then his hands pulled her head back.
“God, you’ve gotten good at that,” he groaned.
“Master,” she whispered.
Tony pulled her up, holding her close as his mouth ravished hers. Their hands pulled at each other’s clothing, trying to reach skin. Tugging her sweater off, he unhooked her bra and dropped both to the floor. Turning her around, he bent her over the desk as her tweed slacks were sent slithering to the floor, effectively trapping her feet.
Closing her eyes, Pippa waited, the anticipation making her even more aroused. His hands went to her hips and then she felt his erection between her thighs. Her eager hand helped guide him to her folds and then, a long drawn-out moan vibrated her throat as he filled her pussy.
“Oh, yes.”
“Oh, yes,” he agreed, staying motionless for a moment.
Then he couldn’t wait any longer and began his rhythm. In and out, in and out, his pace quickened, his strokes went deeper and Pippa braced herself on the desk. Harder, faster. Their grunts and groans countered the Mozart playing. The musk scent of their sex blended with the pine wood burning in the fireplace. Deeper, stronger, harder, faster.
The fire was inside Pippa now, gathered in her belly, desperate to release. “Master,” she pleaded.
“Not yet,” he panted, pounding faster into her.
Head bowed, she waited, feeling the heat burn, and knew what would happen when he finally gave permission.
“Come, Venus,” he whispered.
Pippa arched up off the desk. Eyes closed, she saw the stars dancing, then collapsed. Her breaths shallow and quick, she felt his release and his heavy chest came briefly to rest on top of her, a wonderful weight that surrounded her. Then Tony was gathering her to him, sitting back on the chair, their bodies still joined. Her head fell back on his shoulder.
His hands roamed the front of her body. His left played with her breasts while the right teased her clit.
“Master?” she wondered.
“Come.”
And at her master’s command, Pippa came, collapsing in his arms.
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