by Merry Farmer
Excitement bubbled through Elaine’s stomach and lower. She was more than happy to be stolen away, and hoped Basil would pick up the pace. But as they reached the back of the room, they were stopped by Lady Royston.
“I’m sorry about all of this,” Lady Royston said, genuine distress in her expression. She turned to Elaine. “If I had known Lady Denbigh intended to harm you, I would have sought to nip her plot in the bud.”
“Was it she who sent the invitation?” Elaine asked, surprised at her disappointment. “Not you?”
“I’m afraid it was,” Lady Royston admitted. “But upon reflection, I wish I had invited you personally. Let me assure you that if you need a friend, if times ahead become troubled for you, I would be honored to speak on your behalf.”
“And I as well,” Lady Tavistock added as she hurried over to join the conversation. “I’ve never seen anything so romantic in my life.” She turned soft eyes to Basil.
Elaine had a hard time not laughing as Basil blushed and cleared his throat, shrinking under the praise. “Thank you, Lady Tavistock, Lady Royston.” He nodded to both women.
“I would be happy to invite you to return to Spencer House for tea sometime soon,” Lady Spencer added, though her face was still pale and her hand pressed to her stomach. “And I would be honored if you would accept the name of my seamstress.” Her eyes flickered to take in Elaine’s dress.
Elaine opened her mouth to protest that nothing would convince her to give up her artistic dresses for standard fashion, but Basil overrode her with, “You are most kind, Lady Spencer. But I believe it would be wisest for all involved if Miss Bond and I were to return to Cumbria with all due haste.”
Lady Spencer nodded to Basil as if she understood entirely and agreed. “Yes, of course.”
Basil rested Elaine’s hand in the loop of his arm and continued his effort to whisk her out of the house.
“One last thing,” Lady Royston stopped them. “I just want to assure you that Lady Denbigh will be dealt with as befits her indiscretion.”
“Meaning she’ll be out on her bony little backside,” Lady Tavistock added in a low murmur, arching one eyebrow.
“Thank you, ladies.” Basil nodded to them, then hurried Elaine along.
“I like her,” Elaine giggled. “I like Lady Royston as well.”
“Do you really?” Basil asked in surprise. They reached the front door and stepped out into the sunlight. A line of hacks was already waiting, presumably in the hopes that they could pick up business as soon as the gathering ended, and Basil waved to one driver, calling out an address.
“Yes,” Elaine said. “Mind you, I shall be insanely jealous every time I think of how you believed you loved her, but I am reassured by the fact that you had excellent taste when it comes to character.”
He let out an ironic laugh as he handed her into the carriage. “You think too much of me, my dear.”
“I couldn’t think anything but the best of you,” she replied, pulling him close as he joined her in the carriage.
She caught him off-guard in more ways than one. Not only did he slip awkwardly to one side, she circled her arms around his neck and planted a deep kiss on his lips. It was so good to hold Basil close and to taste the salt of his skin once more that she sighed with the pleasure of it. Basil kissed her back as thoroughly as he could in his awkward position, but as soon as the carriage jerked into motion, knocking him even further off-balance, he broke into a laugh.
“What am I going to do with you,” he asked as he righted himself and repositioned her across his lap.
“You’re going to marry me, like the queen ordered,” Elaine answered, her heart brimming with affection for him.
“I most certainly am,” he said, then slanted his mouth over hers.
Elaine threaded her fingers through his hair and opened to him, letting his tongue dance alongside hers. It had been weeks since the first and only magical night they’d spent together, and the single afternoon they’d been alone together at Lady Stanhope’s flat hadn’t even begun to satisfy the hunger Elaine had for him.
“I suppose this is why young women are forbidden from socializing unaccompanied with men,” she said breathlessly between kisses, fumbling for the buttons of his jacket and waistcoat.
“And why so many have such an abhorrence of your brand of artistic dress,” he answered, his hand burrowing under the loose fabric of her skirt to slide up her leg.
Elaine giggled, excitement of all sorts sizzling through her. “Be glad that I don’t care a wit for the rules of society and propriety.” She slipped a hand under his unbuttoned waistcoat to rest atop his shirt and his pounding heart.
He kissed her again, so thoroughly that it left her head spinning and her sex aching, but abruptly stopped and cleared his throat. “We are not making love in a hired cab,” he said, as though trying to convince himself.
“Heaven only knows who was in here before us, or who will be here after us,” Elaine agreed on a giggle.
“There will never be anyone after you,” Basil told her with a sudden burst of emotion that went straight to her core. “I have not always been careful of my reputation, but I will treasure yours beyond diamonds. I will never want anyone other than you.”
Elaine’s throat squeezed tight, and she had to blink away the stinging in her eyes. “Don’t they always say it is better to be the last love of an experienced man than the first love of a man who has yet to sew his wild oats?”
“Do they?” Basil asked, brushing her tangled hair back from her face. “What a beautiful and forgiving thing to say.”
He kissed her again, slowly and with a smoldering intensity. Elaine could tell that he was holding himself back, measuring out his passion so that it didn’t get the better of him and land them in an awkward position. Chances were that they would find themselves in more than their fair share of awkward positions in the future, but for now, they were safe in their own world.
The journey to Waltham House was faster than Elaine expected. The stately, Georgian home was set right in the center of the stylish part of town, just off Grosvenor Square. As soon as the carriage stopped and the driver let them know they’d arrived, Basil hopped down from the carriage, paid the man, then whisked Elaine straight into his arms. He didn’t seem to care who of the strolling passersby saw them or what they might think as he carried her up the front steps of his home, knocking on the door with his foot.
“Stand back, Murray,” he said the moment the butler opened the door. “We’re late for a very important rendezvous.”
The butler reeled back as Basil rushed past, into a stately hall decorated with noble splendor, and up a sparkling, marble staircase.
“What rendezvous are we late for?” Elaine managed to ask through her giggles as Basil took the stairs two at a time, then headed down a long hallway.
“We’re nearly three weeks late for the moment when I take you to bed a second time and prove to you that you mean the world to me.”
Elaine laughed outright. “I should think that if our encounter with Her Majesty didn’t already prove that, then nothing will.”
Basil pushed open a door near the end of the hall with his shoulder, then set Elaine on her feet a few steps inside of the cozy, comfortable bedroom. “Are you saying that you don’t want me to ravish you to within an inch of your life in a flagrant flaunting of every social convention and rule of propriety right this very minute?” His eyes shone with fire and he raised an eyebrow.
Elaine’s knees went weak at his ravenous look, and an expectant shiver swirled through her belly. “That’s not what I’m saying at all,” she replied, meeting his lustful look with one of her own.
“Good,” he said, stepping back to the door, shutting it, and turning the lock. “Glad we got that matter sorted.”
He shrugged out of his jacket and tossed his unbuttoned waistcoat aside as he stalked his way back to her. Elaine caught her breath, so ready for everything she knew would come next that she didn
’t know whether to reach for the fastenings of her belt or just lift her skirts up and dispense with undressing entirely.
Basil had his own ideas. He tugged his shirt off over his head and threw it aside, then circled his arms around her, pulling her flat against his bare chest. Elaine spread her palms against his hot flesh, then gave in to him entirely as he closed his mouth over hers in a kiss that left her senseless.
“I never should have left you,” he said as his fingers worked her belt loose. “I should have insisted that you come with me to London from the very beginning. I would have introduced you to this mad spectacle as mine right from the start.”
Her belt slithered over her hips, dropping to the floor, and her gown billowed in loose waves of fabric around her. “Oh, let’s not think about the past,” she said, sliding her hands up over his chest to cradle his face. “We don’t live there, after all. Let’s simply move forward.”
“There is nothing I want more than that,” he said, the tenderness in his eyes so potent that it nearly brought tears to hers. Until it shifted to something sultry. “No, that’s not right. There is something I want more than that.”
He bunched his hands in her dress, gathering it until he could sweep the whole thing up over her head in one fluid movement. As soon as the mass of material was tossed aside, he raked her with a gaze…that was somewhat disappointed.
“What?” she asked, glancing down at her stays, stockings, and drawers.
His lips twitched to a grin. “This whole time, I’ve been imagining you wearing nothing at all under your dress.”
Elaine shook her head and sent him a teasing look. “It’s impractical to wear nothing underneath. But I’ll tell you this much, old-fashioned stays are much easier to remove than elaborate modern corsets.”
He grinned, mischief flashing in his eyes. “Let’s just see about that.”
He tugged at the cord that wove the front of Elaine’s simple, cotton stays together. As soon as the knot came loose, he quickly worked the cord free from its loops. Within seconds the serviceable garment fell to the floor.
“You were right,” he said, a wolfish gleam in his eyes, then proceeded to make short work of the rest of her underthings. “No wonder so much debauchery went on in my grandmother’s day.”
She could have come up with a thousand clever replies, but as soon as he tugged off her chemise and drawers, he lifted her and carried her to the bed. Within moments, she was splayed on her back as he showered kisses across her neck and shoulders, then down to her breasts.
The sigh that escaped from her as both his hand and his mouth closed around and over her breast was sensuous enough to cause a scandal even in the most lax and disreputable houses in London. Elaine entertained the idea that she should be demure and coquettish for all of two seconds before Basil raked his tongue across her nipple and fire raged within her. She wriggled her open hips against the bulge of him that was still hidden under his trousers.
“I don’t know what I want more,” she panted as he brushed his hand down her side and over her hip to her thigh. “For this to go on and on forever or to have you inside of me immediately, doing that thing you did before.”
He lifted his head, panting, eyes hazy with need. “We’ll have a lifetime to try it in every way and at every speed you could possibly imagine.”
A shiver sailed through her that heightened every bit of pleasure she was already feeling. “Wonderful.”
He grinned as though he’d won the prize at Brynthwaite’s summer fair, then lowered to kiss her. His lips were like heaven as they teased and claimed hers. He knew how to do things with his tongue that left her aching for him to do the same things a little lower on her body. She stroked his sides and pressed her fingertips into his flesh, then lost all patience and moved to unfasten the front of his trousers.
“Have I mentioned how magnificent it is that you are so eager?” he growled.
“No, but feel free to tell me as often as you like,” she panted in return.
She had the feeling that he was deliberately holding still so as to allow her to fumble her way through his trousers. When she finally managed to get them loose and burrowed her hands inside to take hold of his member, he gasped, then let out a low, enraptured sound to let her know how much he enjoyed her touch. He even rocked his hips against her, pleasuring himself in her unskilled grasp.
“Have I mentioned how much I appreciate that you don’t hold back the full thrust of your sensuality from me?” she asked, both genuine and teasing.
“So to speak,” he answered, thrusting harder.
She dissolved into giggles, which made it difficult to continue as they were. Basil laughed as well, then rolled to the side so that he could dispose of his trousers and socks, as well as Elaine’s stockings. She pulled back the bedcovers as he did, and when they came together once more between the cool sheets, nothing separated them. He gathered her exactly where he wanted her, then buried himself deep inside of her. Elaine gasped and sighed at the delicious invasion, wriggling to meet his slow, deliberate movements.
“I love you,” he said, emotion as thick in his voice as passion. “I am exactly who I want to be when I’m with you.”
“Oh, Basil.” It was hard to think, let alone speak, with him filling and stretching her from the inside. The friction of their joining was just enough to wind her up like a top without throwing her over the edge into completion too soon. There was so much more to it than simple desire and the effort it took to bring each other to orgasm. They were together, a unit. There was no rush, no goal that needed to be reached for either of them to declare victory. They were two hearts, two bodies, joined together, alive and alight in the moment.
“You do that so well,” she cooed as his thrusts increased in intensity. “I could be with you like this all day.”
“Have mercy on my poor, old body,” he laughed.
“You’re not old,” Elaine pretended to scold him. “You’re experienced, aged, like a fine wine, seasoned. You’re—”
She caught her breath as he moved his hand between them, slipping his fingers close to where they were joined and teasing her clitoris. His thrusts slowed almost to a stop as he concentrated on stroking her, but the combination of his hard length inside of her and his tender touch exciting her was so potent that in no time at all she was gasping for breath and whimpering with pleasure as she rushed headlong toward the abyss.
She came with unexpected power, squeezing and milking him inside of her. Basil caught his breath and held still for a moment before swaying into motion. His thrusts took on a sense of urgency, and Elaine shifted her legs over his hips, urging him to ride her harder. She cried out in time to his powerful thrusts, the magic of her orgasm seeming to spread on and on until it crashed over her again. Nothing in the entire world could possibly be as wonderful as the two of them, all barriers removed, sharing something so primal and so beautiful.
At last, Basil gasped as though taken by surprise, his body tensing in the delicious way that Elaine remembered from their first night together. Warmth filled her as he slowly relaxed, splaying on top of her as if completely exhausted. She wrapped her arms and legs around him, embracing him with everything she had.
“I love you, Basil Wall,” she panted, her heart too full for any other words. “We’re going to make the queen proud, aren’t we?”
“Absolutely,” he laughed, exhausted, resigned, and happier than Elaine had ever known him to be.
Chapter 20
“To William Ewart Gladstone,” Alex Croydon said, lifting his wineglass to the throng of guests who had descended on his home to celebrate the results of the election. “The once and future Prime Minister of Great Britain.”
“To Gladstone,” Basil echoed in chorus with everyone else. With a wide smile, he downed a large gulp of wine, happier than he’d been in years.
“I can’t believe we won,” Elaine said by his side, beaming, and perhaps just a bit tipsy from the wine and excitement of the evening.
“Well, I mean, I can believe we won,” she corrected, brushing away her earlier statement with a sweep of her hand, the long, medieval sleeve of her dress flying like a banner as she did. “Our side was in the right, after all.”
“For now,” Basil told her with a wry smirk. “In my experience, what is right for the country tends to change with progress. We are in an excellent position for now.”
“We are.” She squeezed his hand, giggling and taking another sip of wine. “I’m just surprised that we won by such a landslide.”
“The largest majority the Liberal Party has seen in years,” Lord Malcolm said, striding over to join the conversation. “See,” he went on, grinning at Basil. “I told you it was a good idea for me to bring you back from your exile.”
“It was a terrible idea,” Katya countered him, marching up to his side as though she’d been waiting all evening for the opportunity to pounce. “Ripping a man away from the life he’s built for himself, a life where he’s happy?” She clicked her tongue and shook her head at Malcolm.
“Have you never heard the saying ‘all’s well that ends well’, woman?” Malcolm snapped at her.
“With you, Malcolm, there is no end,” Katya fired back.
“And fortunately for all,” Elaine interrupted, not yet having learned the fine art of leaving Malcolm and Katya alone while they had a go at each other, “we’re heading back to Brynthwaite on Wednesday.”
“So soon?” Katya asked, looking genuinely disappointed. “I had hoped to introduce you to a great many people, now that the dust of the election has settled.”
“We have a wedding to plan,” Basil answered, smiling at Elaine, his heart full to bursting.
“Hang on,” Malcolm said with a frown. “Weren’t you married last week?”
“Yes,” Elaine answered slowly, her cheeks pinking. “In a manner of speaking.”
“Her Majesty ordered us to wed as soon as possible,” Basil explained, both proud and sheepish over the memory of how it had all happened. “When I went to apply for a special license, I found one had already been made out, and the date fixed for the very next day.”