Thom smiled, his chin tucked in as he looked down at her. “Do you? Well, I forgive you for sending Devlin after me.” He shuddered in mock horror. “I gave up the drink to avoid the cold bucket.”
Kitty chuckled, but then she grew pensive. “Devlin is hard, there’s no question. But he’s had to be. He can’t afford weakness. Doesn’t understand it in others. He won’t allow it.”
Thom sighed. “Sometimes we can’t help our own weaknesses. They’re out of our control.”
“That’s why Devlin has the cold bucket,” she teased. Thom laughed. “He sees it as his job to fix weaknesses.”
Thom looked at her quizzically. “You’ve said that before. That Devlin fixes things. How?”
She shrugged. “Whatever he has to do, he’ll do it. I suppose I take that for granted, and so does everyone else around him.”
“Do they?” Thom mused. “So everyone knows this about him? Isn’t that a weakness?”
“What do you mean?”
“Well,” Thom pulled her hips in closer, “if the wrong people know that about him, then they could use it against him.”
Kitty thought about that with a frisson of unease. “I suppose so. But how? I mean, everyone in London knows that about him. Well, parts of London anyway. But they also know better than to risk challenging him. Devlin’s reputation prevents it.”
“I don’t know how,” Thom said, his brow furrowed. “I’ll talk to him about it.”
Kitty snorted in genuine amusement. “You might as well talk to a brick wall. Devlin doesn’t ask for or take advice about his business. He does—”
“What he wants, when he wants,” Thom finished for her with a crooked smile.
“Ah, so you do know him,” Kitty said. She bit his earlobe teasingly and he growled.
“You do it, too,” Thom told her, tilting his head so she could kiss that delicate spot just behind his ear.
“Do what?” she asked, her voice slightly muffled with her mouth still on his skin.
“Try to fix things, and people. Like me. And that girl, Carrie.”
“I suppose so,” she said, thinking about what she was trying to do for Devlin. It wasn’t time to share that yet. She hadn’t even thought of a good plan. “I guess I picked that up from Devlin.”
“Are we going to blame him for everything?” Thom asked, obviously amused. “It will be nice to have a convenient scapegoat when I mess up.”
“Absolutely,” Kitty said. “We can think of so many delightful ways to punish him.” Beneath her hand on his chest Kitty felt Thom’s heartbeat thundering. “You like that idea?” she asked suggestively, rocking her hips against him. She couldn’t help noticing that he was enticingly hard. “Are we going to fuck here, or in the bedroom?”
Thom laughed but there was no shock or censure in his tone, just pure delight. “I thought you’d never ask,” he said. “I was thinking we could start here and then move on to the bedroom the second time.”
“Oh, a second time?” Kitty cooed. “I like the sound of that. A confident man.”
Thom sat up and wrapped his arms around Kitty where she sat atop him, riding him slowly. They’d moved into the bedroom sooner than he’d planned. The sofa was damn uncomfortable for fucking. He was going to search for a new one very soon. A bigger one that would accommodate three. He kissed Kitty’s breast and licked her nipple and the rhythmic motion of her hips stuttered.
She had the most amazing breasts. Perfect in their size and shape, like plump, gorgeous teardrops, heavy on the bottom, with large brown nipples that begged for attention. She seemed to like when he licked and sucked them. He liked it too. He wished Devlin was here to help him do it. He’d love to see Devlin’s dark hair beside him, watch Devlin’s handsome, hard mouth tenderly devour her other breast.
On the other hand, he was enjoying his time alone with Kitty, their first time alone. They’d needed this, just as they’d needed last night with Devlin. It was important that they started as they meant to go on, the three of them. But that didn’t mean there couldn’t be intimate moments between two of them, as there had been with him and Devlin yesterday, and tonight with Kitty.
Thom hugged Kitty so tightly she had to stop riding him. He just needed to sit there for a moment, to experience the feeling of being inside her, to try to grasp the idea that he could finally have this, have her, have everything he’d ever deemed impossible. “It’s too much,” he whispered. His mind conjured broken images of the dreams that haunted him, the past that wouldn’t let him alone. But they had no power here in Kitty’s arms.
“I won’t move,” Kitty said breathlessly. “What’s wrong?”
Thom shook his head. “Nothing. It’s all…perfect. It’s too much.”
Kitty ran her hands through his hair. “It is perfect. If you let me move I can make it more perfect.”
Thom laughed and loosened his hold on her a bit. “There’s no such thing as more perfect,” he chastised her. “By its nature, perfection is the ultimate state of being.”
“I have no idea what you just said,” Kitty murmured. She licked his shoulder and hummed happily and she undulated on top of him, making them both moan.
Thom rolled them over so that Kitty was beneath him. It was a bit awkward, but once he was settled between her legs, he drove back inside her with a hard thrust that made a throaty purr come out of her and he felt like a god.
“Kitty, Kitty,” he said a groan, loving the sound of her name. “You feel so precious, so alive. Hot and wet and mine. Tell me you love me, again.”
“I love you,” she said, and it was almost a shout as she arched her back and neck, driving her hips up to meet Thom’s next thrust.
Thom hadn’t realized how much he needed to hear that from her until she’d told him tonight. Oh, he’d known it on some level, of course. Kitty hadn’t tried very hard to hide her feelings over the years. Thom had been the one hiding, behind a bottle and his own façade of indifference. He was done with that now. “I love you, too,” he told her, his desperation and arousal and love nearly choking the words in his throat. He meant them, every one. This was love, this all-consuming passion and tenderness and rightness of being. This shared communion of bodies and souls and emotions.
Kitty wrapped her arms and legs around him and buried her head in his shoulder. “Oh, Thom,” she sighed. There was a little break in her voice, but it wasn’t tears. It was desire as her movements drove Thom deeper inside her and changed the angle of his penetration. He’d felt it too, a lightning bolt of pure pleasure that went straight to his stones and made him ache for release.
He slid his hands under her shoulders and gripped them tightly and fucked her with all his might. He knew she could take it. He’d seen Devlin give her far more. He wanted to be as deep inside her as possible, wanted to touch the heart of her and leave an imprint next to Devlin.
Kitty gasped and clutched him, her fingernails digging into his back. His back muscles shivered in response. His skin became so sensitive he could feel the air currents in the room. It all hit him at once, the feel of Kitty’s soft skin against his, the damp of sweat between them, her heat in contrast to the cool air on his back, the wet, tight, heat of her squeezing his prick until he thought the top of his head would explode.
“Kitty, damn it,” he growled. “Come. Come now.”
“Yes, yes,” she panted and he felt a primitive pride that he’d made her this way, this desperate, shivering mass of aroused woman writhing beneath him and fucking him with such abandon.
He reached down and forced his hand between them until he found her clitoris and rubbed one finger along the side of it. He searched until he found the spot that made her catch her breath and then mewl helplessly. Then he stayed there, driving his finger against her with each thrust.
Kitty came apart wildly. She shouted and moaned and shivered and her sweet cunt squeezed him so hard he gasped for air as his climax hit him with the force of a punch, driving the air from his lungs and the thoughts from his
head until all there was left of his world was Kitty and him and this amazing thing they’d done together.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Devlin never came home. Thom could see the worry in Kitty’s eyes when they awoke in the morning. He tried to take her mind off it. “I’m going in to my office today,” he told her as she stood in the kitchen sipping tea and staring out the window.
Kitty spun around to face him and spilled her tea on the floor. “Oh damn,” she muttered.
Thom just grabbed the kitchen towel and began to sop it up. “I’ll get it,” he said. He loved when Kitty forgot she was supposed to be a lady; when she cursed, or when she moaned and sighed and demanded when she was fucking.
Kitty crouched down beside him and put her hand on his arm. He looked up and she stared into his eyes. “I’m glad you’re going back.” He could see her relief and knew he’d made the right decision.
“It’s time,” was all he said. “I hope Clarence is there. I should have sent him a note yesterday.”
“He’s there,” Kitty told him briskly, taking the wet towel and hanging it over the washbasin. “I had him go back after I no longer needed him at the shop. He said he’d take care of things and…” She turned and winked at him, “’refer certain patients to other doctors’. His exact words.”
A burst of laughter surprised Thom and he turned around to see Devlin leaning against the doorframe, his coat thrown over his shoulder, the way he always did. Thom’s heart constricted in his chest and a flood of relief filled him. He hadn’t realized how worried he’d been.
“No one will come around looking for a fuck,” Devlin said confidently. “They know he’s mine now.”
“Devlin!” Kitty cried. She ran over and jumped in his arms, hugging him tightly.
A kick of arousal made Thom lean weakly on the table. “I am? Yours?”
“Of course,” Devlin said, setting Kitty down and patting her on the rump as he walked past her. He tossed his coat on the table. “They all know I came and took you. You’re under my protection now.” He calmly poured himself a cup of tea. “No one will lay a finger on you unless they have my permission. Just like all my people.”
Thom tried to ignore the crushing disappointment he felt at being lumped in with all Devlin’s people. “Of course. Thank you.”
“You don’t want to fuck all day again, do you?” Devlin asked with a hard stare. He set his teacup down on the counter and crossed his arms. Thom got the impression he was spoiling for a fight.
“No. Just you and Kitty,” he replied, just to see how Devlin would react.
Devlin laughed. “Kitty would make a saint think about fucking all day.”
So would you, Thom thought. Devlin looked about as disreputable as Thom had ever seen him. His clothes were wrinkled, he had a dark shadow of beard covering his cheeks and jaw, his hair was a mess, as if he’d been running his hands through it all day. Thom wanted to lick him all over and see what it was like to suck a man’s cock. But he tamped those feelings down. Devlin appeared to be putting up a very clear wall between them, and he’d respect that. But it worried him. Where did that leave him and Kitty?
“I just need a change of clothes, Kitten,” Devlin told Kitty, kissing her on the cheek. “Then I’m off. Your place was closer than mine.”
Kitty crossed her arms and glared at him. “That’s it? No explanation for where you were last night? We were worried sick.”
Devlin glowered at her. “I don’t have to explain myself to you, woman. Business, and leave it at that. I shouldn’t have come by this morning, either, if this is the greeting I get.”
“I guess not,” Kitty said. She walked stiffly out of the kitchen and grabbed her shawl and bonnet on her way to the door. “You don’t have to come by this evening, either. This isn’t a posting inn, where you can stop for a change of clothes and some tea.”
She walked out and slammed the door behind her.
Devlin spun around to confront Thom. “Have you got something to say, too?”
“What’s going on, Devlin?” he asked with a weary sigh. He pulled out a chair and sat down.
“None of your business,” Devlin growled. “You stay out of it, you hear? It’s best you not know.”
“Don’t be ridiculous,” Thom said, though Devlin’s words hurt more than he wanted to admit. “I’m not Kitty. She really doesn’t want to know. But I do. I’m not a woman. Tell me so that I know and I can prepare for it, whatever it is.”
“Did you and Kitty fuck last night?” Devlin asked suddenly.
“Yes. Don’t change the subject. What’s going on?”
Devlin frowned harder and Thom refused to be cowed. “Regardless of what you might think of me, I am not a coward,” he said. “On the contrary, there is very little you can throw at me that will surprise or shock me.”
Devlin laughed harshly. “I suppose not,” he agreed. “But I’m trying to keep you and Kitty out of my business. It’s safer that way.”
“Everyone around here knows that Kitty keeps company with you, Devlin, and I’ll wager they know I’m here now too. It’s too late to keep us out of your business. So you may as well tell me. I might be able to help. Stranger things have happened.”
“I’ve got a rotten bastard trying to move on my territory. Things are getting nasty. I’ve got to rein it in.” Devlin looked reluctant and belligerent even as he told Thom the truth.
“I see,” Thom said, trying to appear calm, though his heart was beating fast. He didn’t need to ask what the last step was in order to take over Devlin’s territory. He wasn’t a simpleton. Devlin would have to be dead before he’d let someone do that. “How?”
“I’m going to have to kill him before he kills me,” Devlin said, his voice cool. He raised that imperious eyebrow of his. “Are you going to preach to me now and tell me there has to be another way?”
“Why would I do that?” Thom asked in genuine bemusement. “If a man wants to kill you, then I fully support you killing him first. Just do it quickly and get this business over with.”
Devlin looked surprised. “What with your nightmares and war experiences, I assumed you’d be against more death.”
“Some people deserve to die,” Thom said flatly. “Others do not. I mourn those who did not.”
They stared at one another for a minute or two. Thom’s breathing was fast, his heart racing. Devlin had that effect on him. Devlin, on the other hand, looked as cool as could be, completely unaffected by him or their conversation.
“I have to go,” Devlin said at last, his voice rough, impatient. But he didn’t look away.
“As do I,” Thom said.
Devlin spun away with a curse. “I don’t know what to do with you,” he said.
“Neither do I,” Thom said, amused. “Which is why I’m going back to work.” He stood. “I’ll just grab my jacket and hat and be out of your way.”
“Take my scarf,” Devlin said gruffly, still not looking at him. “It’s cold.”
Thom stopped in the door, an arm’s length away from Devlin. “I will,” he said softly to Devlin’s back. “Thank you.”
“I should get you a coat,” Devlin said, barely looking over his shoulder.
“Perhaps I shall endeavor to get myself a coat,” Thom said with a thoughtful look. “Wouldn’t that be interesting? Thom taking care of himself?”
“It would,” Devlin said, and the way he said it made awareness skitter up his spine, as if he found the idea of an independent Thom very interesting indeed.
Oh Kitty, my girl, she thought to herself, this is a bad, bad idea. She avoided sitting on the bench outside the offices of Messrs. Sanguine and Bleecker. Sanguine was dead, or so they said. There were some who believed he’d never existed at all. But Kitty believed the dead story. Bleecker seemed like the type to do away with his business partner. The office was in a warehouse in Holborn. The building next door had burned to the ground recently. Kitty was sure it was “business” of the Devlin variety.
This morning had convinced her she needed to come up with a plan to get Devlin out of that business as soon as possible. Sir Barnabas James had told her it was imperative they find someone to take Devlin’s place before he could disappear into the legions of respectable Englishmen. So Kitty was going to start sniffing around and see who might fit the bill. Bleecker was at the top of her list. He’d been trying to move up in the world for the last couple of years, but Devlin and Kruger had made it almost impossible. He’d jump at the chance to buy Devlin out.
She glanced at the seat again, but the dark stains were still there. She shuddered. Despite her less than stellar past, she really wasn’t cut out for this sort of thing.
“What the devil do you think you’re doing?”
Kitty spun around to see a well-dressed gentleman staring at her in exasperation. His black clothes matched his black hair and his dark eyes. “I beg your pardon?” she asked. She’d never seen him before.
He took off his hat and slapped it against his thigh. “I couldn’t believe you actually meant to come here,” he said, a look of wonder on his face. “And then damn me if you didn’t just waltz right in.”
Kitty put her fist on her hip. “And just who might you be?” she asked impatiently. “Were you following me?”
“Indeed I was, madam, and you ought to be glad of it,” he said. “Come on.” He reached for her arm but Kitty yanked it out of his reach.
“Sir,” she said haughtily, “I don’t know who you are and I am most certainly not going anywhere with you.” Her heart was tripping around in her chest. Lord, this had been a bad idea. Her worst ever.
The door to the office opened with a bang and Kitty jumped.
“What’s going on out here?” It was Bleecker. He looked as disreputable as she’d imagined—small, wiry, disheveled, a stain on his waistcoat and his hair a greasy pile on his head. “Who are you?” he demanded of the stranger. “I was told just a woman.”
“Neither of us will be meeting with you today. Good afternoon,” the dark gentleman said, grasping Kitty’s elbow in a tight grip and tugging.
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