A Gentleman's Promise (7 page)

Charlotte’s husband’s face mottled red in anger.
Mason
relished the sight, wanting to strike at him in any way he could. But never would he disclose to this bastard what Charlotte and himself had done. He had made love to her, and no man, not even the pathetic
specimen of manhood
before him would mar
his
memory.

“Touch her again and I’ll ruin you.”

Mason
laughed. “You’ll ruin me?
A
man already ruined by his vices of hard living and drink
ing
?
Should you spread such vicious lies
about London,
you
’ll
not
only hurt Lady
Remmick
,
but
yourself. Don’t be a fool.”

His lordship stood and clasped the table for support
as he swayed
. “F
ive
hundred. Not a penny short,” he said, before leaving.

Mason
met George’s worried visage and inwardly groaned.

“He knows.”

“So it would seem
,”
Mason
said, thinking
over what he could do and coming up blank
. “
He can’t prove anything
. And there is not an iota of
a chance of me paying him a penny
. I’ll not let Lord
Remmick
make Charlotte into his prostitute.”

“You’ll
have to be careful from now on,” George said. “
Lord
Remmick
will be watching her like a hawk now that he thinks he can gain funds from her nightly pursuits.
And if that fails
,
he’s likely to challenge you to a duel.
”

Mason
drank down the last of his
wine
and pushed back his chair. “
Lord
Remmick
will be lucky if I do not challenge him. And I will ensure
that
Charlotte’s reputation is safe from scandal,
” he said
,
walking back toward the ballroom.

He found Charlotte standing beside Lady Furrow, her puckered brow and pale countenance
indicative
of her
recent
encounter with
her husband. Anger thrummed through
Mason
’s
body and an urge to come across Lord
Remmick
in a darkened ally had never sounded more desirable.

He bowed as he came to stand before them and smiled at Charlotte who didn’t seem
to be
the jovial woman he’d
left
,
not a half hour before. “Would you care for a stroll, Lady
Remmick
?” He kept his gaze on Charlotte and waited for her to decide. She bit her lip and something in his gut clenched. Married or no
t
, he was attracted to this woman like his lungs were to air. The need to make her happy,
to
be with her in any way he could
,
was like a drug
to his syst
em
.
“Charlotte,” he prompted.

She cast a nervous glance at Lady Furrow
,
then nodded. “Of course.”

Mason
took her hand and placed it on his arm before moving toward the French doors leading out toward a lawn patio
,
overlooking the garden.

“Your husband arrived and sought you out
,
I see,” he said, as
t
he
y
walked toward the corner of Lord Wilson’s townhouse.

“Yes. He was here.” She paused. “He wanted to know if I enjoyed myself last night.”

Mason
shook his head at the scum’s audacity to ask such a question to his wife
,
especially
given
the way Lord
Remmick
lived his own life. Yet, a prick of guilt stabbed at
Mason
that he was being selfish wanting to continue the affair with Charlotte. But then the memory of her beaten black and blue
from her husband pushed away such
guilt. Lord
Remmick
didn’t deserve her.
And
Mason
wanted her and would have her, at any cost.

“What did you say?”

“That I did. And then Amelia, Lady Furrow
,
obviously noting my husband’s furious countenance said
we’d had a delightful time at her home playing cards.” Charlotte smiled. “James didn’t know what to say or do.
He left shortly after.
”

They slipped around the corner and the smell of London, the distant sounds of the city
,
e
choed across the sky. The yard
this side of the house encompassed a
small pavilion
covered in a rose climber
and n
eat garden beds set out in symmetrical shapes
with lawn between the beds for ease of walking.
Mason
pulled Charlotte closer to his side and walked them
toward the private pavilion. This side of the house was shadowed,
moonlight
their only means of
light.

Walking into the circular structure
Mason
noted no chairs only
the
railings
which looked out onto the
foliage a
bout
them
. Charlotte stopped and looked up at him expectantly.
He
slipped a lock of her hair behind her ear
and ran a hand down her nape, electing a shiver to course through her body. His own hardened before
he leaned forward and
kissed her.

She met his eagerness with
one that matched and
his breath
hitched in his lungs
. The feel of her tongue twining and mimicking his had him as hard as a rock within moments.

He spun her about a
nd pushed her against the
railing
,
then slowly lifted her gown from beh
ind. From here should anyone look,
they would
only
see
a couple taking in the garden around them and nothing
more.
Not a man
who was
about to take a woman up against a garden structure and enjoy e
very delicious, sensuous moment of it.

“Mason
, what are you doing?” she asked, gasping when he slipped his finger to run around her stockinged thigh.

“Seducing you. I want you,” he said feathering kisses across the back of her neck. Charlotte didn’t say anything, just pushed against his straining cock and
Mason
had his answer.
He strained against his breeches and closed his eyes when her hand came behind and clasped him through the material.

Untying the frontfalls quickly
,
he lifted her skirt and stepped further between her legs. His cock strained for release yet the urge to tease Charlotte, make her want him as much as he did
,
made
him rein in his baser needs
.

He slipped a finger into her hot, wet passage and fought for control when she tightened about him. “You’re so sweet, Charlotte,” he said, kissing her neck while he kneaded her breast with his free hand. “I’m going to make you come.”

“Yes.” Charlotte rode his finger and undulated in his arms like a woman beyond thought.
Mason
removed
his finger
and stroked
his
phallus against her sex
. She gasped and
lifted her arms to clasp him about
his nape.

“Please,
”
she whispered, hardly audible.

“What, darling,” he said, slipping a little inside of her before rubbing once more against her sex. “Tell me what you want.”

“You.” She tried to move and impale herself on his shaft
and
Mason
bit down on a groan
before continuing to
tease them
both
senseless.

“I want you. All of you.”

Unable to
hold off
any longer,
Mason
leaned Charlotte a little over t
he railing
and slipp
ed
inside. Her hot core clasped tight
about him
and he felt a slight tremble course through her sex. “You’re so close,” he gasped, sheathing himself fully within her.

He held still for a moment and took a steadying breath less he spill himself before he’d brought her to orgasm. And the
n Charlotte
shifted a little
and started to
ride him.

Mason
’s axis tiled. Never had
he known a
lady
to
act i
n such an erotic wa
y before.
He clasped her hips and guided her as she rode him from in front. His balls
ached;
in
fact,
his whole body ached for release. It was a heady experience indeed
,
being fucked by a woman in such a way. Yet not any woman, but Charlotte.

She made
soft mewing sounds before her tempo changed, slowing down and riding his
whole length. “You make me feel…”

“Let go, darling.”
Mason
let her ride him and felt as the first contractions tighten
ed
about his shaft. She moaned into
the
cool night air and unable to stand the relentless torture of her orgasm that pulled at him, he joined her.

Lights blazed behind his eye
lids as he emptied himself deep into her womb. “Charlotte,
”
he said, gasping.
“You’re everything to me.”

She let go of the railing and
turned a little in his arms to look up at him. Her eyes shone bright in the moonlight and
Mason
hoped she could see from his own features just what she made him feel, what she
was coming to mean to him.

“Am I?”

He lightly kissed her and pulled her hard against his chest. “Yes.”

Her tentative smile warmed his blood. “I’m glad for I’d hate to be the only one here who feels this way.”

Mason
nodded. He knew exactly how she was feeling. Like a life was blossoming before them
,
li
ke the roses climbing the pavilion
in which
they now stood. He would give her time to realize she had no future with Lord
Remmick
and then he would be there for her. But it
would have to be her choice. Charlotte would face
social ruin and
–
although an
easy decision for him –
Mason
knew
not
so
for a
woman
of class. B
ut she
would
eventually leave the bastard.
And when she di
d he’d be there to protect her. Marry her.

He kissed her again and let the embrace deepen into a firestorm of desire. In the
interim,
he’d ensure Lord
Remmick
and himself w
ould have a little tête-à-tête.

Face to face
.

In private.

Mason didn’t have to wait long for his chance to talk to Lord
Remmick
. He stood in Drury Lane and watched as the bastard rutted like an animal
with
a whore from the streets. Her gasps of what sounded like pain making his lordship moan with pleasure.

The bastard was sick.

Mason waited for him to be finished then walked toward him, the whore walking quickly
away and
tying her gown as she did so.

“I hope I didn’t make you rush, Lord
Remmick
.”

His lordship started and looked up from tying his frontfalls. “You didn’t rush me, as the night is only young and I’ve plenty more of those whores
yet
to fuck.” Lord
Remmick
took a sniff of snuff. “What do you want, Helsing? Permission to screw my wife?” Like I said earlier tonight, pay me the money tomorrow and I’ll gladly give you her cunt.”