“Anna, you’re stronger than you know.” He meant it.
She met his eyes. “My husband wasn’t a nice man. I didn’t love him. I hated when he touched me. I drank to escape from him and from my life.”
“And now you’ve stopped drinking. Although I haven’t known you a long time, Anna, I know you can do anything you set out to do. You deserve to have a good life.”
She nodded. “If I don’t value myself I can’t expect others to do so. I will never hide behind alcohol again.”
He’d noticed Anna refrained from drinking any of the alcoholic refreshments at the rout that evening. He was honored she had shared her secret with him. Maybe tonight wasn’t the right time to be at Stafford House. Did she need him merely to forget her desire to drink?
“Do you feel up to discussing Franco? I can leave if you want me to.”
“Please stay. I am quite all right.” Anna motioned to a chair. “Shall we sit?”
Once they were both seated, he said, “I went looking for Michael Bradley this afternoon. The man once lived in the area of St. James’s although there is no trace of him there now and he left no forwarding address.” He frowned. “Evidently he left without paying his landlord.”
“Did you learn anything else?”
“I did inquire about him at the clubs. He isn’t a member of any of them although he has been a past guest at Boodle’s. The major-domo, for a price, agreed to notify me the next time he sees the gentleman.”
When he’d approached the doorman at Boodle’s with the name Michael Bradley and a few guineas, the man remembered seeing the swindler. Bradley was not a member of Boodle’s but had frequented the club in recent weeks. Despite more guineas offered as an incentive, the major-domo could not be convinced to reveal who sponsored Bradley when he was at the club.
“Does Michael Bradley have family in London?”
“One of his brothers is a vicar in Yorkshire; the eldest has taken up residence for the season at the family estate near Epping.” He added at her questioning look, “Michael is the third son of a baron.”
“He told me I had three days to decide whether I would pay him or not. On the fourth day he will contact me.”
“I imagine he won’t risk coming to Stafford House again. How much money did he demand?”
“Two thousand pounds.”
He whistled. “Coins would be far too heavy to carry on your person. He couldn’t imagine you would give him a bank note.”
“He wants jewelry. He specifically requested pieces of high value, but not well known.”
“It seems he has thought of everything. I wonder if he realizes you are being guarded.”
“I’m being guarded?” Anna frowned.
“Yes,” he replied off-handedly. “My valet Wiggins has kept an eye on you the last few days.”
“Wiggins is close by?”
Devlyn nodded a response and knew it was time to steer the conversation away from Wiggins. He didn’t want Anna to read too much into the fact he’d felt the need for her to have protection. He forced himself to concentrate on Franco although all he wanted to do right now was peel that blue dress off of Anna’s delectable body. She had removed her gloves. He looked at her hands and remembered how good it felt when she combed them through his hair and rubbed them along his bare skin.
He shook himself. “Are you sure Lady Pickerel doesn’t know who Franco really is?”
“As sure as I can be,” she replied. “I have recently discovered my former friend is a skilled liar. Do you think he would harm her?”
“The only threat he should be aware of is from Millicent and, if he believes she told someone his real name, me.”
The woman seated across from him looked worried. He exulted in what he hoped was a sign of her caring some little bit for him.
“All I can do is wait for Franco to contact me.”
“Or involve the authorities in the matter.”
She shook her head. “No, we need to protect Andrew from any scandal.”
After a moment she asked, “May I offer you something?”
He smiled, using all the charm at his disposal. The tell-tale flush on Anna’s neck and face assured him she would be receptive to his advances.
“Devlyn…”
“You did offer.”
As he watched, Anna stood and walked to his chair, a soft smile playing about her mouth. “You won’t disappoint me?”
He shuddered at the sexual promise in her words. His shy little mouse had turned into a tigress. He was relieved to once again smell no spirits on her breath. Her desire was based solely on her body’s need for him.
“I’ve never had a complaint.”
“What is it about you?” she asked, now a mere step away from him. “None of the men at the rout remotely interested me.”
“Drake?” he queried. He reached out to take her hands.
“Marriage material,” she replied, “but not…”
“Bedding material?” Her admission didn’t anger him. Anna looked confused by her attraction to him. It was a start.
She snorted. “Most assuredly, he is not.”
“And myself?” he asked, confident in her reply.
“I dream about your touch, your kiss.”
He pulled her onto his lap and brought his mouth to hers for a sweet caress. He wanted to show her all the gentleness he could. This woman had quickly become important to him and he could show her if he didn’t know how to tell her.
His lips wandered across her cheek and to her pink shell of an ear. He bit the lobe gently and chuckled as her body trembled. The fragrance of her hair assailed his nostrils, the light citrus scent conjuring memories of their other intimate encounter.
Devlyn decided this would be the last time he made love to her. He didn’t understand the emotions this woman wrought in him. He knew it was more than lust, more than desire. She would experience all the pleasure he could give her, and he could only hope it would be enough.
* * * * *
Anna sensed a change in Devlyn from the other time they’d made love. His touch felt gentler, almost reverent. All thoughts of Franco and Millicent were tossed aside as she gloried in the sensual net he threw over her.
“Devlyn,” she murmured. He released her arms and pulled her pliant body against him. She looked into the dark blue eyes which had become so familiar to her.
“Is the door to the corridor locked?”
“Yes, but you can’t imagine we would…” She giggled. “You want to make love in the drawing room?”
“I see a chaise that looks extremely comfortable.”
She followed his gaze to an elegant plush chaise on one side of the room. When she returned her eyes to his face, he leaned forward and kissed her. He released her arms, lifted her off his lap, and placed her feet on the floor. Taking her hand, he led her the short distance to the chaise.
“Don’t move.” He stepped behind her and began to undo the buttons down her back. He nuzzled her neck as he performed the service.
“Shouldn’t you concentrate on your task?” Her voice chided him as his warm caresses sent shivers through her body.
“I am quite adept at removing a woman’s clothes.”
“Really?” she asked him, her tone sharp. “Do tell.”
“I can’t think of any other woman when I’m near you,” he answered, a smile in his voice.
“Humph.” Her dress fell around her feet and she stepped out of it. Out of the corner of her eye she could see Devlyn carefully place her gown on a nearby chair. She felt her stays loosen and let out a breath, enjoying the freedom from the constraining garment.
Anna wanted to be annoyed with him, she really did. The man was a master of seduction and here she was a mere novice. She bit her lip to keep from asking if he’d slept with many women.
“I’ve had my share of lovers,” he said, as if he’d read her thoughts. “I have never wanted a woman as much as I want you.”
She reached behind her to quick
en his work with her stays. Devlyn gently detached her hands.
“Hold still. Would you ruin my fun?”
She shook her head and let her arms fall again to her side. When the stays were unlaced, Dev turned her to face him. he pulled the garment down her arms and tossed it on the chair which held her dress. His eyes were riveted on her form, covered only by a thin linen chemise.
* * * * *
Anna raised her arms and embraced him. Her lips moved to claim his mouth and they kissed deeply. Devlyn kissed a path to her neck as he unlaced the top of her chemise.
“I love your scent,” he whispered against her skin. She felt her pulse jump beneath his lips.
Devlyn released her and bent to remove her slippers. He stood again and drew her shift over her head. She now stood before him, naked except for her garters and stockings.
“You are a goddess.”
“I must look ridiculous.”
He went down on one knee, his hands reaching for her leg. He lifted one foot onto his knee, untied her garter and slowly rolled down her stocking, his eyes intent on her calf.
“You have lovely legs,” he said and placed kisses around the knee he held.
Devlyn replaced her naked foot on the floor and put the clothed foot on his thigh. Repeating the garter and stocking removal, he paused after he’d removed the stocking and placed her foot on the floor. His gaze moved to the cluster of curls near his face.
“Heaven.”
Dev placed a warm, wet kiss on her body.
She purred in delight. She felt scandalous. Wicked. She couldn’t think, she could only feel. “Devlyn, oh yes, please.”
“Open for me,” he said, his voice uneven.
She widened her stance and her arms moved to grasp his shoulders. Devlyn placed several more kisses on her mound before she felt the warmth of his tongue search and find her nether lips. Her eyes closed and every sense in her body became attuned to the wondrous pleasure of Devlyn’s talented tongue teasing her flesh.
She reveled in the sensations his warm mouth brought her. He stroked the pearl of her sex with his tongue and too soon she cried out from the intensity of her release.
Devlyn stayed with her until the rippling waves of pleasure subsided. He stood and enfolded her in his arms.
“I like the sounds you make when I pleasure you with my mouth,” he said against her lips.
Still a little unsteady from her recent climax, she quickly recovered when he grasped her rounded bottom and rubbed her curls against his clothed erection.
She pulled back in the circle of his arms and smiled. “Now it is my turn to undress you.”
He was still fully clothed, so intent had he been on pleasuring her. She reached for his carefully knotted cravat, untied it and waved the material with a flourish before letting it fall to the floor. She unbuttoned his coat, pulled it from his wide shoulders and placed it on the same chair where her clothing rested. His waistcoat was quickly dispensed with.
“I think I’m becoming quite skilled at undressing a man,” she said and added a cheeky grin.
She unbuttoned the single button on his white linen shirt and pulled it up and over his head, enjoying the slow reveal of his muscular chest to her hot gaze.
“I dream about making love to you.” She leaned in to place soft kisses on his warm flesh.
He groaned when she caressed first one of his nipples and then the other with her lips.
“Don’t move.”
“Are you enjoying yourself?” he asked. His voice sounded unsteady to her ears.
“Immensely.” She halted her exploration of his chest to place his shirt with the rest of their clothing on the chair. She went down on one knee to remove one of his shoes. He lifted his foot and the shoe came off easily. His stocking was another matter.
“Sit on the chaise.”
When he was seated she knelt before him. With Devlyn’s leg lifted, she attempted to pull off the stocking again. The garment came off and she landed on her backside.
He smiled at her flailing limbs and said playfully, “Very graceful.”
“Humph,” she replied and reached for his other shoe. This time when she made to pull of his stocking she was prepared and although she nearly lost her balance, she remained upright. Devlyn reached forward to pull out the pins that held her elaborate coiffure in place.
His footwear dispensed with, her hair about her shoulders, she looked up at him.
“Lie back,” she said.
He lay back on the long couch, his tall form filling the length of it. Facing him, she sat down beside him and smoothed a hand over the warm planes of his chest. Leaning forward, she kissed a slow path from his chest to his abdomen. She smoothed a hand over the soft fabric of his breeches and felt his prominent erection jump under her hand.
Aware of his intense gaze, she unfastened his trousers and with his assistance, removed them. Devlyn resumed his reclining pose. She untied the ribbon of his knee-length drawers and pulled them off.
Anna stood and placed the remainder of Devlyn’s clothing on the chair with her dress.
“Come here,” her lover’s voice said in a hoarse rasp when she turned to him. His eyes were cloudy, his face rigid.
She posed a moment in her naked state, enjoying the way his eyes devoured her. When she regained her seat beside him she said, “I never knew a man’s body could be so beautiful.”
He chuckled. “Beautiful?”
“Strong,” she replied as she rubbed his chest and moved her hand to his abdomen again.
“Warm,” she whispered as her hand moved lower and wrapped around the hard length of him.
She concentrated on the warm flesh in her hand. She could hear his shallow breathing. She tentatively moved her hand up and down on his shaft and guttural sounds escaped from his throat. Exulting in her power over him, she bent her head and placed a kiss on the tip of his erection.
* * * * *
“Anna…” Devlyn groaned as he felt the warmth of her lips move lovingly over his flesh. “You don’t need to…”
His temptress lifted her head to bestow a sultry smile on him. “I want to.”
Never had a lady done this for him. He would never have asked her. His body throbbed with excitement as she licked his erection. When she opened her lips and tentatively took him into her mouth, he shuddered at the intense pleasure coursing through him.
“Anna, no more…” He was nearly delirious with desire. “I will come undone.”
He touched her shoulder lightly and she lifted her head. He coaxed her to lay beside him in the small space available and rolled on top of her, supporting his weight on his arms. Anna moaned when he dipped his head and pulled one erect nipple into his mouth. He repeated the treatment on her other breast, and she lifted her body to rub against him.
“Devlyn…” Hands on his buttocks, she ground his body against hers.
How had the woman ever thought she was frigid? Anna responded passionately to his every kiss and caress. Her husband had been an unfeeling brute not to care about pleasuring his wife.
Their gazes were locked as he entered her and began to move in a slow sure rhythm. Words sprang to mind, but he pushed them away. Never had he told a woman other than a relative such a thing.
“What is it?” Anna asked and tensed beneath him.
“You are perfect,” he replied, improvising. “Heavens, how I want you.”
He could feel Anna relax beneath him and she smiled at him. “You have me.”
“So, I have.” A searing kiss prevented either of them from saying anything further.
What do I do now? For the first time in his life, he was in love.
Chapter Seventeen
Anna reveled in the carnal delight of making love with Devlyn. This man played her senses as if they were instruments he knew well. Emotions inside of her crashed and rolled. She knew she had feelings for him. Her mind told her now was not the time to try and decipher those feelings.
“Devlyn, I need you,�
�� she said when he finally released her lips from his hot kisses. His face softened. He kissed her again, this time gently and oh so sweetly.
Tears pricked at the back of her eyelids. She blinked them away. This wasn’t the time to think of what couldn’t be but what was. Tomorrow she would think about the future, today she would enjoy just being with him.
“Anna, my darling girl.”
Devlyn thrust again and again. She felt her insides start to uncoil. Her release was coming. She reached for it. She came and felt him come soon after in a flurry of sighs and moans.
When their breathing had slowed and their pulses ebbed, Devlyn gave her one last lingering kiss and rose from the chaise.
“We need to talk about Franco.”
She sensed their escape from the outside world had come to an end. Gone was her gentle lover of a moment before and in his place a determined man.
“Of course,” she replied and donned her chemise. Her movements were slow and awkward. Finished with dressing himself, Devlyn moved to assist her. He laced up the back of her stays, lifted her dress over her head and buttoned up the back of the garment. She remembered his comment about being an expert at undressing women.
Slow breathing and a rigid stance helped her regain her composure. She sensed her relationship with Devlyn had taken a new path. His remoteness after their shared intimacy surprised her.
“Do sit down.” She took a seat on a chair and pulled on her satin slippers. Her garters and stockings weren’t necessary. She would show the man she could be just as cavalier about their lovemaking as he appeared to be. “Would you care for refreshment?”
The question sounded ridiculous; her lover played along.
“I don’t plan on being here much longer.”
“Oh,” she replied with a start. So much for showing the man how much their lovemaking didn’t affect her.
“My man Wiggins will keep an eye on you until this matter with Michael Bradley is resolved.”
“You trust him?”
“Wiggins has been with me for almost three years. The man is loyal to me and Franco doesn’t know who he is.”
A Lady's Addiction (Honor Prevails Book 1) Page 13