It’s Only a Scandal if You’re Caught

by Farmer, Merry

  “We must,” Bianca said, taking his glib statement seriously. “It’s a simple matter of using their own system against them and making a strong case.”

  “Oh?” He glanced to her, brow raised.

  “Absolutely. I have the whole thing mapped out in my head.” She took a breath, tugged on his arm to steer him around a corner, and went on. “Social mobility is a near impossibility in Britain, but it can be done. Heroes and celebrities are granted advancement in status, and so are men of wealth.”

  “Are you suggesting I make a fortune and buy a title, then?” Jack asked, a teasing light in his eyes. “Where are we going, by the way?”

  “You’ll see,” Bianca answered his last question first, striding on as though she owned St. John’s Wood. “And I’m not suggesting you make a fortune, though I wouldn’t mind if you did,” she said, teasing him right back. “You’re already on a path of advancement. You’ve been on that path for years. All you need to do is solve the attack on Lord O’Shea and prove Lord Denbigh was involved and both Scotland Yard and the world will be so impressed with your prowess that they’ll promote you to towering heights immediately. And it is perfectly possible to make a respectable marriage in the aristocracy when one has the fame and glory of being one of the top police investigators in London.”

  Jack laughed, shaking his head. “You do beat all, Bianca Marlowe. But I like the way your mind works.” He gazed at her with a particularly heated admiration. “I like it quite a bit.”

  “I’m glad to hear it.” Bianca smiled, veering toward the front door of a nondescript but well-kept building on the corner of a quiet road. “Because if I have anything to do with it, you’ll be stuck with my mind, and the rest of me, for quite some time.”

  Jack glanced from the building to Bianca, a spark of anticipation in his eyes. “I’m intrigued by the concept.”

  “As well you should be,” she said, sliding her hand from the crook of his arm to hold his hand and skipping up the stairs to the door.

  The front door was unlocked and the hall was empty as she led Jack through and up two flights of wide stairs. The building’s appearance was as refined and respectable as could be. Someone was practicing the violin in one of the flats they passed, and laughter rang from another. Bianca’s heart thrummed in her chest as she reached the door to her mother’s flat and fished the key from the pocket in her skirts.

  “Is this what I think it is?” Jack asked, his voice lower and richer.

  Bianca answered by biting her lip, lifting her brow, and opening the door.

  The St. John’s Wood flat was a thing of legend in Bianca’s mind. Her mother had decorated it luxuriously when it had been her rendezvous spot years ago. The layout was simple, all things considered, with a sitting room in front, a bedroom at the back, and two small rooms that were used as a dressing room and a simple kitchen with a small stove, barely big enough to boil a kettle on, and a table and chairs.

  “There’s no water,” Bianca explained as she drew Jack in, then shut the door and locked it behind her. “At least, there’s no water in the flat. I’ve had the landlord’s daughter, Jill, bring some up from downstairs, though. She was kind enough to show me how to light the fires as well. But it’s warm and cozy, and Mama says it’s all mine.”

  “Your mother gave you an entire flat?” Jack asked, glancing around the comfortable décor with a grin. He took in the tastefully salacious art on the walls of the sitting room, the deep red plush of the furnishings, and glanced through the open doorway to the large bed piled high with pillows before settling his rakish gaze on Bianca. “Has your mother forgotten who you are?”

  The excitement coursing through Bianca now that she had Jack alone and in a position to do a great many incredibly naughty things was so intense that she giggled. “I’m only to have it two nights a week, and she claims she will pop in on me unexpectedly to ensure I am not entertaining anyone I shouldn’t.” She arched one eyebrow, swaying closer to Jack. “But she and Lord Malcolm decided last-minute on a trip to Cornwall to visit Lord Dunsford and his family, since they’ve just had a new arrival, Rupert and Cece are attending a garden party all day, and Natalia would never turn spy for Mama.”

  A slow, tempting grin spread across Jack’s face and his eyes burned with desire. “Do you mean to tell me that for the first time in all the years since we met we’re actually alone and will remain undisturbed for a length of time?”

  “That is exactly what I’m saying.” Bianca smiled, her heart fluttering.

  “God bless Lady Katya Campbell,” Jack said on a rush of breath, reaching for Bianca and dragging her into his arms.

  They’d kissed a hundred times before, but the way Jack slanted his mouth commandingly over hers sent a whole new rush of desire through Bianca. This time was different. This time wouldn’t have to end with forced separation and frustration. This time they could take what they’d wanted for so long without any fear of reprisals.

  The excitement of it all had Bianca’s hands shaking as she reached for the buttons of Jack’s coat while still trying to kiss him. He fumbled with the impossible row of tiny buttons running down the front of her bodice while attempting to keep his lips pressed to hers, but gave up with a wild laugh and leaned back to focus on the buttons.

  Once he was able to concentrate, Jack made quick work of her bodice, freeing the buttons with lightning speed and slipping it over her shoulders so that she could shake it to the floor. Bianca had barely started on the buttons of his waistcoat before he unhooked the fastenings of her skirt at the small of her back without even looking. A shiver went through her. He knew how to get a woman out of her clothes and fast. That fact should have concerned her, but there would be time to worry about it later. Experience brought far more good things with it than bad.

  “I don’t know how I’m going to pace myself,” he said in a deep, tense voice as he pushed her skirt and bustle down then lifted her out of the pile of fabric.

  Bianca wasted no time wrapping her legs around his hips and her arms over his shoulders as he kissed her again. She didn’t know how she was going to hold back either. She didn’t want to hold back. She wanted to embrace what she’d been forced to wait so long for. She kissed him passionately, slipping her tongue along his and raking her fingers up through his hair. He was strong enough to hold her full weight and continue kissing her, which drove her wild. That and the desperate, passionate sounds he made as he stepped around her discarded dress, carrying her to the bedroom.

  The bedroom was made for making love. Everything from the height and size of the bed to mirrors placed around the room was specifically designed to stir the blood. Jack stopped just short of the velvet-covered bed and let Bianca down so that he could finish the work she’d started with his clothes. Shivering inside and out, Bianca turned to push the pillows off the bed and to turn down the coverlet.

  She stopped her work with a gasp as Jack caught her around the waist from behind and pulled her back flush against his chest. It hadn’t felt like it took long to ready the bed, but in that short time, Jack had disposed of all his clothes. All of them. The hot, lean lines of his body pressed against her from her thighs to her shoulders as he kissed her neck. His hands swept around the sides of her corset and up toward her breasts. It was the distinct spear of his cock pressing into the small of her back that left Bianca breathless and dizzy.

  “I’ve wanted you for so long I can’t remember a time before,” he murmured, brushing his lips up her neck to nibble on her earlobe. He started the process of unhooking her corset as he did in a show of amazing skill. “I’ve nearly gone mad with need for you.”

  Between the sinful way he freed her from her corset and slipped his hands up her sides to sweep her chemise up over her head, Bianca was beyond speech. The parts of her that weren’t tingling were aching in ways that made her feel less like a lady and more like a ravening beast. But as he tugged at the ties of her drawers then burrowed his fingers through her curls to stroke her sex, worry
swirled up through her need.

  “I don’t want to disappoint you,” she whispered, almost too afraid to voice the thought. “We’ve waited so long.”

  He paused, then twisted her in his arms to face him. Their chests pressed together and his arms settled around her with more tenderness than passion.

  “Love,” he said, meeting her eyes with a fire that went far beyond mere lust. “You could never disappoint me. Not in a million years.”

  “Jack,” she sighed, blinking back sudden tears as emotion got the better of her. She loved him so much that it went beyond reason.

  He leaned in and captured her mouth in a kiss that started out tender and quickly built. He slid one hand down her back and under her drawers, cupping her backside and pressing her into the heat of his erection. She thought of all the times she’d teased him and tested her own boldness by handling his cock or letting him slide his hand up her skirt, but all of that seemed like child’s play now. She kissed him fervently, motivated by soul-deep affection for him as much as lust.

  “I love you,” he murmured, resting his forehead against hers for a moment. “More than I’ve ever loved anyone.”

  “I love you,” she whispered in return, tracing her hands up his sides and over the firm muscles of his chest to his shoulders. “Take my virginity.”

  It was a silly thing to say, but it was as if she’d poured kerosene on a fire. Jack hummed deep in his throat in submission and circled his arms around her. He kissed her again, molding his mouth to hers and exploring her. She returned his passion with her own, touching him as much as she could, pressing her fingertips into his back, then drawing her hands lower to cup his backside. His body was familiar to her and yet, without clothes, entirely new.

  She was trembling with need when he stepped into her, lifting her enough to lay her across the bed. When he moved back to reach for her feet and remove her boots and stockings, the rush of cool air left her prickling with gooseflesh. It also gave her a full view of his naked body, which left her trembling harder. He was gorgeous in every way. He was fit with a trim waist and defined muscles. But it was the dark hair forming a trail down his lower abdomen and his thick penis standing straight up from it that sent her blood boiling in her veins.

  As awkward as it was to remove her boots, Bianca thanked God for every lace and tie. It gave her what felt like an eternity to drink in the sight of him. And when he tossed the boots aside, peeled off her stockings and drawers, and straightened, he caught her staring.

  A wicked grin lit his expression, sparkling in his eyes. “Like what you see?” he asked, standing straight for a moment to give her the full show. His smug grin shifted to frank appreciation as he took in the sight of her. He caught his breath. “I know I do.”

  Bianca sat up enough to scoot all the way back onto the bed. It was magical to be naked with him and to have him looking at her with pure lust, but she didn’t know if she should open her legs to give him an even sultrier picture or if she should feign coyness.

  Her hesitation was all he needed to crawl onto the bed with her, nudging one knee between hers and fitting his body over hers with such precision that every nerve within her sang at the contact between them.

  “I always knew you’d be beautiful,” he murmured, leaning close to her ear and nibbling on her earlobe. “I always knew you’d feel this silky too.” He brushed a hand up her side, cradling her breast.

  “You don’t feel so bad yourself,” she said, inching her legs farther apart and circling her hands around his backside. A moment later, she laughed.

  “What?” he asked, propping himself above her, laughter in his voice as well.

  “I sound so stupid,” she said with a sigh, letting her arms fall to her sides. “I want to be dazzling and sultry, since I know you’re so experienced, but I don’t know the first thing about what I’m doing.”

  “You’re doing just fine,” he said, brushing his fingertips along her side and stomach in a way that made her feel as though liquid fire filled her.

  “I want to be the best lover you’ve ever had,” she confessed, feeling both bold and silly at the same time.

  “You are, love,” he assured her, kissing her lips lightly, then beginning a trail of kisses down her neck and across her shoulder. “You are the best of everything I’ve ever had.”

  He stroked a hand up her side to cradle her breast, holding it just right so that his line of kisses ended with him drawing the tight point of her nipple into his mouth. He’d fondled her breasts a few times before, when they could steal secret moments, but he’d never kissed one or teased her to distraction with his teeth and tongue the way he did just then. Bianca couldn’t contain the sounds of satisfaction such wonderful attention pulled from her.

  “This is so good,” she sighed, reaching her arms over her head and arching into him. “But shouldn’t I be doing something to you?”

  “You’re doing a great many things to me, love,” he told her, heat and need in his voice. To prove it, he shifted his body against hers, nudging her legs open enough to fit himself between them.

  The sensation was so delicious that Bianca sucked in a breath and wriggled against him, drawing her thighs up against his hips.

  Jack laughed deep in his throat. “Eager, aren’t we?” he rumbled, meeting her restless movements with ones of his own.

  “I want you inside of me,” she said, surprised at how undone she sounded.

  “That’s where I want to be too, love,” he said. He kissed her nipple one last time, then shifted to give the same attention to her other breast. As he did, his fingers danced lower over her belly and between her legs. “But I have so much more to show you than that.”

  She whimpered and wriggled as he reached between her spread legs to stroke her clitoris. The fire of desire he stoked in her was ten times hotter than any sensation she’d managed to create for herself. And blast him, but he took his time. He teased every inch of her, circling her clitoris and slipping a finger along her entrance, driving her wild without bringing her release.

  She was near to madness with pleasure, aching and writhing with it but just short of exploding, when he lifted himself just enough to look down at her. The way he took in the sight of her sweating and splayed body, utterly aroused and at his mercy, only made her burn hotter.

  “I will never forget this sight,” he growled.

  Bianca would never forget the sight of him either, his body primed and perfect, his cock stiff and slick at the tip. The sight of him so virile and ready squeezed the coil of impending orgasm tight within her.

  “Dear Lord, I think I’m going to come just looking at you,” she panted, eyes wide.

  “Angel,” he purred. He must have believed her, because he swooped down on her, every move of his body precise and perfect, bringing his cock straight to her weeping sex and plunging into her.

  She should have been ready, but the thrust and the pressure and the barest moment of pain took her by surprise. She gasped, then let out a cry, gripping him with her arms and legs. He made a sound of victory so beautiful and complete that it defied words as he sank himself deep. They were one at last, completely, perfectly, and it was better than anything she could have imagined.

  And then he started moving, slowly and gently at first, as if he knew her body needed to adjust to him. Every part of him was tense with control, and his breath came in measured sighs, as though he was battling to maintain control for her sake. She arched her hips into his thrusts, squeezing him with her inner muscles to get a feel for him, and digging her fingertips into the flesh of his back.

  He made a sound that might have been an exclamation of some sort, then managed, “You were born for this.”

  That small show of approval encouraged her, and she moved more urgently against him. He answered by thrusting faster and deeper, with less control and more passion.

  “Ooh, yes,” she hummed, holding him tighter. “More.”

  He obeyed, and within moments, they crossed from the
ordinary world to one of pure pleasure. He gripped her thigh, positioning her so that he could work harder in her. She, in turn, arched into his thrusts, holding him tighter, and mewling with pleasure in time to his desperate movements.

  It was glorious. Nothing in her life could have topped the pure pleasure of being one with him. The tension that had risen to unbearable heights even before he entered her spilled over, and she cried out as her body throbbed into orgasm. The sensation was so different with him inside of her than anything she’d experienced on her own, and she wanted to live in every second of it. Her whole body was alive and her soul with it.

  Moments later, Jack tensed hard and let out a ragged cry, jerking into her. A liquid fullness filled her as her orgasm subsided. He rocked into her a few more times, then slowed and flopped to the side, still tangled in her.

  They lay there, hot, sweating, and sated for a few stunned moments. Bianca’s heart raced like mad, but she’d never felt so content or peaceful in her life.

  “Yes,” she sighed at last. “Perfect.”

  Her mind wasn’t capable of more complex thoughts, but Jack seemed to know exactly what she meant. “I was not disappointed,” he said, the humor back in his voice.

  “Good,” she said, wriggling against him and arching up to kiss him. “Then you won’t be disappointed when we do it again.”

  He chuckled, the vibrations spilling through Bianca and igniting her passion all over again. “I couldn’t be disappointed if we did it a hundred times in a row.”

  Her eyes went round. “Can we do that?” she asked, brushing her fingers through his sweat-matted hair.

  He laughed outright, the sound one of pure joy and love. “Give me a few minutes to recover and we’ll definitely go again,” he said, shifting in the bed so that they lay right way around, their heads on the pillows. “I’ll pleasure you as many times as I’m able tonight,” he said.

  “And it isn’t even really tonight yet,” Bianca sighed happily, stretching in contentment against him.

  “Believe me,” he murmured, half teasing, half intimidating. “I can wear you out long before I wear out myself.”