Simply Voracious (20 page)

“Didn’t you think it a rather odd request, Mr. Taylor?”

“Not really, sir, not until I saw the lady’s face. I didn’t mean to worry her, sir. I really didn’t.”

“What exactly was the message?”

“He said to tell the lady that her account was overdue and that she was to rectify the oversight immediately.”

“And what is the name of the man who gave you this message?”

“Mr. Roland, sir.”

“And where exactly is your place of employment?”

“At number sixty-five Cornhill, sir.”

Paul stepped back and put his knife away. “Well, we can’t disappoint Mr. Roland, can we? Tell him my wife will meet him at the bank tomorrow at four.”

“But the lady said she would send me a note to confirm the time.”

“She doesn’t need to worry about this anymore. I’ll take care of it for her. I’ll meet you in the main office just before four o’clock.”

“Yes, sir.”

“And one more thing. You will not disclose my part in this at all. When you communicate with your customer, you will pretend that you spoke only to my wife. Is that clear?”

The man swallowed. “Absolutely, sir.”

16

A
fter Milly had undressed her and left for the night, Lucky couldn’t even contemplate hopping into bed and sleeping. The evening had turned into a complete disaster. Not only had she found out that Lieutenant Colonel Delinsky knew Paul rather well, but Jeremy had managed to find her too.

She’d naively hoped that when Jeremy heard about her marriage, he would just leave her be. But it seemed that sending him her allowance had done nothing but convince him that she was ready and willing to be blackmailed for the rest of her life. She pressed her hands to her hot cheeks and quietly groaned.

The thing was, she was still such a coward that if she had the money, she would give it to Jeremy for all eternity. But Paul was now her husband, and he controlled their joint finances. They hadn’t even discussed the subject of pin money or her monthly allowance and what it was to cover. It hadn’t seemed important.

She paused and stared at the door that connected her to Paul’s bedchamber. She couldn’t just stay here and worry. Better to have it out with Paul right away. She wrapped a long paisley shawl around herself, headed for the door, and unlocked it.

A cloud of steam momentarily blinded her as she entered the dressing room. She waved her hand in front of her face and discovered her husband was lying naked in the bathtub not five feet away from her.

“Could you close the door? I don’t want to catch a chill.”

She obediently did as he asked and then wondered if he meant her to be on the other side of it. She took another peek at him and discovered he was quite serene as he leisurely washed his chest with a cloth. His blond hair was dripping wet, as if he’d already plunged his head beneath the soapy water.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to disturb you.”

“It’s of no matter. As long as you don’t mind me finishing my bath. Jordan has left for the evening.” He waved a soapy hand in her direction. “Did you want to talk to me?”

She came across the carpet and searched for something to sit on. There was a jug of water on a stool right next to the bath. She set the jug on the hearth to keep warm and seated herself on the stool. It gave her a fine view of her husband’s naked chest. He reclined against the rear of the tub and his knees were slightly drawn up. The washcloth now rested across his groin.

Faced with such male splendor, Lucky struggled to remember what she had wanted to say.

“It’s about my allowance.”

Paul turned his head slightly toward her and regarded her carefully. “What about it?”

“My father said he had passed all the financial details over to you, and that I should ask you how you wished to proceed.”

“Is there something you particularly need to pay for right now?”

“Oh, no,” Lucky hastened to reassure him. “It just occurred to me that if I wanted to order a new gown I had no idea who the bill should be sent to.”

Paul picked up the washcloth and rubbed it over his muscled stomach. “You can send all the bills you incur to me.”

“You do not wish me to have my own allowance?”

She spoke more sharply than she had intended, and he sat up, disturbing the bathwater and making it slosh out onto the floor.

“That’s not what I meant. I haven’t had time to go through all these matters with your father’s secretary yet. He’s been rather busy writing speeches for the duke’s favorite parliamentary causes to bother with me.” He wrung out the cloth and wiped it over his face. “The duke offered me my own secretary, and I intend to meet with him for the first time this week.” He paused. “Are you worried I’ll run through your fortune?”

“No, of course not!” Lucky tried to laugh.

“Then will you please tell me what the devil is going on?”

“I can’t.”

“I thought we agreed to be honest with each other?”

“If you wanted money, I would give it to you, no questions asked!”

He stared at her for a long moment. “I’m sure you would. Obviously I’m not as trusting as you are.”

She stood up and walked away from him, wrapping the shawl more tightly around her. “And what if I came to you and said I’d done something stupid, and that I needed money to fix the problem. Would you give it to me then?”

He sighed. “And what if I did give it to you? How long would it be before you came back and asked for more?”

“Probably in about a month.”

She tensed as she heard him get out of the bath. When she turned around, he was wrapping one of the larger drying cloths around his narrow waist. Water streamed down from his shoulders, catching the candlelight like tears.

“You wish me to stand by and allow you to be blackmailed?” He shook his head, all traces of amiability removed from his face. “If you were my friend, I might help you, but you are my
wife
.”

“And thus less capable than your
friend?
” She glared at him. “I thought we
were
friends.”

“So did I, but here you are lying to me again.” He threw the washcloth to the floor. “Why can’t you just tell me the truth?”

“Because I don’t want you to have to clean up any more of my messes. You’ve already sacrificed yourself and who you are to marry me. How do you think I feel having yet another problem to bring to you?” Lucky realized she was shouting, but she didn’t care. It was imperative that he understood. “I don’t
want
to be a burden to you; I don’t
want
you patting me on the head and making things right for me!”

He stared at her for a long moment, his chest rising and falling as though he also struggled with his temper. “You are my wife.”

She took a step toward him, and then another, until she was standing right in front of him. He smelled of lavender soap and damp linen, and she wanted to bury her face against his chest and howl. Instead she raised her hand and poked him squarely in the ribs.

“You don’t want me as a real wife, so I
am
just your friend.”

“I want you.” He caught her wrist as she went to poke him again and yanked her against him. “Don’t play this game with me, Lucky. You are the one who doubted my desire for you. Don’t turn it around to suit your own purposes.”

She tried to pull out of his grasp, but he was deceptively strong. She placed her other palm on his chest over his heart and he shuddered. “Don’t come to me in anger, Lucky. If you want me, I’m here for you.”

She raised her head and stared into his eyes, saw desire there when she had expected only fury. He lowered their joined hands until her fingers were pressed against the cloth around his waist and then lower to where his stiff shaft pushed against the linen.

“Do you want this?” He pushed against her. “Will you at least give me your truth in that?”

God, it was suddenly hard to breathe as her knees turned to water and her body quickened with excitement. Her frustration with him magically transformed into a physical need that she knew only he could ease. He lowered his head and his mouth met hers in a demanding kiss that she had no intention of refusing.

He groaned into her mouth and released her wrist, leaving her free to shape and pet his hardening shaft through the cloth. His hands roamed over her body, pulling away the shawl and untying her nightgown at the neck. He lifted her, and she wrapped her legs around him and clung to him as he took her through to his bedroom. She cried out as he tossed her on to his bed, stripped off her nightgown completely, and came down over her, his body still warm and wet from the bath, his hair damp, his cock a hard, thrusting presence that sought entry between her legs.

He held back though, his fingers searching out her secrets and her needs, until she was as slick and wet as he was, a pulse pounding through her bud, her knees drawn up to receive the heavy, thrusting weight of his body between her thighs. His mouth left hers and she cried out as he sucked on her breast, her nipple trapped between his tongue and the roof of his mouth until she writhed against him and came around his fingers.

He groaned her name as he replaced his fingers with his cock and pressed deep and held himself there until she wanted to beg him to move. Even as she framed the thought, he started to thrust, each long stroke bringing him almost out of her and then back in. He set up a strong, fast rhythm that gave her no respite, just sent her spiraling ever upward until she was screaming out her pleasure again.

He pulled out, and she grabbed for him, but he only turned her on to her hands and knees and started again. His hot breath against her neck, his hands plucking at her breasts and teasing her bud until she was almost crying with the pleasure of it, with the need, with
his
need.

His thumb settled on her sex, and he rubbed a fast, wet circle around her clit and down to where his cock thrust deep inside her. She whimpered as his slick thumb slipped lower and rimmed her arse, bringing a whole new set of sensations that had her arching her back and demanding more.

He bit her earlobe. “I want you there, too, one day, my cock filling your arse.” He pressed his thumb a little way inside her and she felt doubly filled. “Do you remember what we saw at the pleasure house?”

Lucky climaxed at the very thought, and Paul groaned her name and came with her, his hot seed pumping deep inside her. She was flattened against the mattress and then he rolled off her, leaving her feeling cold.

She heard him sigh and felt his hand smooth a path down between her shoulder blades to the base of her spine.

“If you want money, Lucky, go and ask your father’s secretary. I will tell him to give you whatever you want.”

She turned her head toward him, but he wasn’t even looking at her. He was staring up at the ceiling.

Paul waited until Lucky’s breathing evened out and then turned on his side to study her. In some strange way he understood her need to do things for herself, her fear that everyone thought she was incapable and that she would make mistakes. He’d suffered from that sense of inadequacy his whole life and allowed others to make decisions for him far too often. But it was also frustrating that Lucky didn’t seem to want to trust
him,
as if by marrying her he’d somehow made her position worse than if he’d left well enough alone. But she was his wife, and that did change things whether they liked it or not.

He should have told her about his plans for the morrow, but he feared her response. Perhaps there was a way to make her still feel she had won after all.... He shifted restlessly against the sheets. So much for honesty between them. Had seeing Constantine shaken him so badly that he’d taken solace in his wife’s arms? That was an ugly thing to contemplate, and he wasn’t even sure if he knew the answer. Seeing Con had made him realize how much he missed being touched, how much he liked simply sleeping next to another warm body. Gabriel had never understood that, had shaken Paul off after a fuck like a dog scratching an annoying flea.

Lucky went to sleep beside him without a care in the world, and he liked that. At least she trusted him at some level. He liked the scent of their lovemaking on his skin, her soft breathing, and the way she turned to him in the night. He stroked her tangled hair as a sense of certainty swept over him. No, this wasn’t just about Con. This was about Lucky, too.

It was about wanting to be
loved
.

And if he wanted to be loved, he had to try and be honest. Lucky needed to know about his past feelings for Con, and he would have to be the one to tell her before someone else did it with crueler intent.

The next morning, Paul didn’t see Lucky because he was closeted with his new man of business. Mr. Walker very patiently explained the financial responsibilities of Paul’s new position as a married man who had earned the right to spend his wife’s considerable income. The sums of money being casually tossed about were incredible, and Paul felt terribly guilty.

It didn’t seem right that just because she was a woman Lucky had to give up everything. Paul spent a fair bit of time insisting that most of her money was placed in trust either for her or for their potential offspring. As his new secretary was a longtime employee of the duke’s, his actions were met with considerable surprise and increasing respect.

They worked on through luncheon and eventually Paul signed the last of the papers Mr. Walker offered him. He sat back with a relieved sigh. “Are we finally done?”

Mr. Walker smiled. “Indeed we are, Lieutenant. It has been a pleasure to discover that you are a man of great common sense and even greater understanding.”

Paul groaned. “You flatter me.”

“No, sir, I do not. I must admit to some qualms when I heard that Lady Lucinda was to be married. But you have removed all my doubts. You definitely have her best interests at heart.”

“I should damn well hope so, seeing as she and her family are the source of everything I now apparently control.”

“I’m glad you saw reason and went with my suggested amount for your allowance, sir, although it is still quite modest by most men’s standards.” Mr. Walker pressed the seal from Paul’s signet ring into the still-warm wax on the bottom of the letter. “We have also discussed Lady Lucinda’s requirements.”