Authors: Kate Pearce
Benedict jabbed his shoulder and then regretted it. “She shot me and chained me to her bed!”
“What an enterprising woman. I can’t wait to meet her.” His gaze strayed to the bedroom door. “I assume she is the reason you are in such a state?”
“I am not in a state. And even if I was, you would be partially responsible for it.”
“I apologize if I am
de trop
.” Adam smiled sweetly. “If I interrupted you, please go back and attend to your wife. I’ll wait.” He stretched out his legs and crossed them at the ankles.
“I am not—” Benedict paused and cupped the still-urgent swell of his cock. “She—”
“She is what?”
“She’s sleeping.”
“And you don’t wish to wake her with your inconvenient desire?” Adam shook his head. “What a considerate lover you are.”
Behind him, Benedict heard the faintest of sounds and the
click
of the bedroom door latch. Perhaps Malinda needed to understand that she wasn’t the only one who could play games.
He advanced toward Adam and unbuttoned his breeches to reveal the thrust of his cock. His friend’s gaze fixed on his arousal and Adam purred like a cat.
Malinda climaxed with a delicious shudder, let out her breath, and stretched luxuriously. It was amusing teasing Benedict. She hadn’t anticipated having any fun with him at all. But his relentless need to know everything had to be controlled and checked before he uncovered all her secrets. His ability to focus on what he wanted was legendary and, in this instance, worked in her favor because he wanted her. But that lust was combined with a ruthless intellect that secretly intimidated her. Even as a young man of eighteen he’d shown signs of it. The fact that he’d organized their marriage and made everything legal should have warned her that, when he wanted to achieve something, he would do anything to accomplish his goal.
One thing was becoming clear. He wasn’t as involved with his father as she’d originally believed. She was beginning to doubt that he had any idea what the Marquis of Alford had done to her father, or why she’d had to return to England. Could she trust him with the full sum of her story? It would be difficult for her to accept that anyone who bore the name Keyes was less than the devil incarnate. But it was tempting....
She stilled as she thought she heard voices. Was young Jason back in the apartment, or was it someone else? She crept toward the door and eased the latch free. Benedict was standing near the fireplace talking to a man she’d never seen before. There was nothing remarkable about his face, or his form, but his smile was quite lovely.
“Put your mouth on me.”
Melinda gasped and took an instinctive step into the room. Benedict didn’t turn around. “Ah, my dear, your supper is on the table. I’ll join you when I’m done.”
She stormed over to him, her hands on her hips, hair streaming down her back. Her corset was now almost falling off.
“What on earth are you doing?”
Adam grinned and leaned forward to lick a drop of pre-cum from Benedict’s crown. “I understood that you were asleep, my lady. I’d be more than happy to relinquish my place to you.”
She gathered herself and gave him her most charming smile. “Oh no, please go ahead! Ben told me that he never brought women to this place. I should’ve realized he only had his
men
here.”
“Malinda—”
She ignored him and held out her hand. “I assume you must be Adam Fisher.”
“I am.” He kissed her proffered hand. “It is a pleasure to finally meet you, my lady, although I am slightly embarrassed at being found about to suck your husband’s cock.”
“Be my guest,” Malinda said. “As long as you don’t mind if I watch, of course?”
“I’d be honored.”
She studied Benedict’s cock. “He is rather tempting, isn’t he?”
“He is, indeed.” Adam took a long, slow, salacious lick around the head of the crown. “Mmm . . .”
Benedict stirred. “There is no need to talk about me as if I wasn’t here.”
Malinda caught Adam’s eye. “Please go ahead. I’ve never seen two men together before. It will be
quite
educational.”
“I don’t think this is the time, or—” Benedict groaned as Adam took him deep, his lips tightening around his shaft, one hand wrapped around the base. He sucked hard, his cheeks hollowing with every pull of his mouth.
Malinda watched closely. “It appears that your friend can suck you quite a lot harder than I can. Do you like it?”
Benedict didn’t reply, his gaze lowered to Adam’s head, his hands clenched into fists at his side.
“I wish I could suck you like that.”
She angled her body against his so that she could rub herself against his thigh and slid her hand beneath his balls and cupped them. His hips were moving now, pushing himself deeper into Adam’s willing mouth, forcing the pace. She stroked him between the legs and his strokes became faster until he lost his smooth rhythm and simply hammered his cock down the other man’s throat.
He climaxed with a curse, and she smiled against his coat. It had, indeed, been educational to see him with another man. Now all she had to do was work out what they meant to each other, and how she could use that to her advantage.
She waited until Adam released Benedict’s cock and sat back before crossing over to the small dining table in the bay window.
“I hope you are going to stay and share our supper with us, Mr. Fisher. I’m sure Benedict needs to unburden himself of his concerns.”
“I’d be delighted to stay.” Adam stood up and bowed. “But please, call me Adam. I imagine we will become very well acquainted in the future.”
Not if she had her way. She suspected that despite his benign exterior, he was even more dangerous than Benedict.
“We have a mutual acquaintance already, my lady.”
“Apart from Lord Keyes?” Malinda sat down and Adam joined her.
“Yes, Charlotte Delamere from the pleasure house.” He considered the contents of the tray. “That’s how I knew you were seeking news of Keyes.”
Benedict sat down too. “I told you he knew everything.”
Adam looked pained. “I didn’t know you would be shot, Keyes. I didn’t think you so crass as to invite such a response from the bosom of your family.”
“He rode up the driveway as if he owned the place.” Malinda fought a smile. “I really had no alternative.”
“But to shoot me and chain me to your bed?” Benedict demanded.
“That is all in the past. What I want to know is why Adam has been reading my private correspondence to Charlotte.”
Adam’s gaze was cool. “For the security of our great nation, I am prepared to overlook the social niceties.”
“What does my relationship with Lord Keyes have to do with that?”
“Your husband is a very important man.”
“I know, but he’s no longer my husband.”
“You are still connected to him.” He sat back and studied her. “I understand that your mother died last year.”
She inclined her head a stiff inch. “So?”
“I just wished to offer my condolences.”
“Thank you.”
Benedict reached across and took her hand. “Why didn’t you tell me? Your mother was very kind to me when we were children.”
Malinda swallowed hard. “She was very fond of you, too, until you decided to marry me.”
“I’d forgotten you met as children,” Adam commented.
She forced her gaze back to Adam, aware that she had to be careful of every word. Why had he brought up her mother? “Yes, my father was a sergeant in the regiment the marquis raised. When he traveled with us, Benedict often came too.”
“How romantic.”
“Hardly.”
“May I ask what drew you back to England if not the wish to reconcile with your husband?”
“I wanted a home for my family. I asked to see Benedict to get his permission for us to live quietly at Alford Park.”
Would Benedict correct her? She refused to allow her gaze to stray away from Adam’s. “As you might imagine, the Marquis of Alford is not very fond of me at all.”
“But you thought the man you married at seventeen, and then abandoned, might be fond enough of you to help instead?”
“Yes.” She took a deep, calming breath. “I hoped he would stand my friend.”
“So you shot him.”
“I didn’t want him to escape me again. But what does all of this have to do with you? All you have told me so far is that Benedict is an important man. He’s made that very clear to me himself.”
“Yes,” Benedict spoke up. “What relevance does my wife have to your concerns?”
“Anything that makes you appear vulnerable is a problem, you know that.”
“I am not a problem, and I am not his wife,” Malinda said strongly. “I just wish to stay at Alford Park.”
“But no one will let you do that, least of all your husband, and certainly not the Marquis of Alford.”
“Then perhaps I can persuade Benedict to give me an allowance. I’ll return to France and everyone will be happy.”
“It’s too late for that, my lady.” Adam sighed. “I’m not the only man who knows that you’ve returned to England. The marquis is well aware of it too.”
After Adam had left, Malinda returned to the bedroom and spent a few moments brushing her tangled hair. She’d had supper with two men in her undergarments and neither of them had mentioned it. Had Adam come to warn Benedict about his father’s involvement, or simply to meet and assess her? Probably both.
Benedict spoke from behind her. “Did you really come here to extract an allowance out of me?”
She saw his reflection in the glass. He leaned negligently against the door frame, his tall, elegant frame displayed to advantage.
“It’s definitely an idea.” She sighed. “I only wish I’d been thinking more clearly when I had you tied up. Instead of using you for sexual pleasure, I should’ve been extorting money from you.”
“I’ve always paid you an allowance.”
She put down the brush and turned to face him.
He half-smiled, but his gaze was searching. “I sent it to your mother and told her it was part of your father’s pension. She knew you’d never accept it otherwise. I wonder what happened to it after your mother’s death?”
She briefly closed her eyes. If he was telling the truth, then his money had helped keep them safe in France during the long years of the war.
“I also wonder whether it was your mother’s demise that triggered your desire to return to England.”
She raised her head. “It certainly was a factor in my decision. I assumed your father was paying the entire pension, and that on her death the money would cease. That proved to be correct. I knew we wouldn’t survive on the Continent, so I decided we stood a better chance in England.”
“Did you perhaps consider approaching my father and asking for the continuance of the allowance?”
She shuddered. “Not for an instant. If he even caught a glimpse of me, he’d—”
“He’d what?” He stood over her, his blue gaze far too piercing. “If we are divorced, and he no longer feels obliged to support you financially, why would he still hate you that much? He’d be far more likely to forget your existence and never think of you again.”
“One might think so, but the aristocracy doesn’t always behave as they ought.”
“Don’t blame this on
class
. There must be another reason.”
“Why? As far as your father is concerned, I ruined you. You said yourself that you rarely see him. He has every reason to blame that on me.”
“
I
don’t blame you.”
She met his gaze. “You should.”
“Your decision to leave me and my father’s response to it shaped the man I became. I can’t regret that.”
“A man known for his ability to destroy people’s lives and crush resistance, a cold man with the ability to play many parts.”
His gaze hardened. “For my country’s sake, yes.”
“And at what cost?” She shook her head. “You’ve allowed yourself to become as cold and unfeeling as an iceberg.”
“You of all people know that isn’t true, my love.”
“But I’m the exception, aren’t I?” She turned her back on him. “Can you untie me?”
He worked her laces free. “You’re done with this line of interrogation?”
“I’m not interrogating you. I’m just trying to understand what’s going on. I refuse to be manipulated.”
“As you were by my father?”
“He manipulates everyone and everything he touches. It is all a game to him—other people’s lives.”
“You sound bitter.” He kissed her shoulder. “Do you regret running away from me, then?”
“I regret hurting you, but I still had to go.” She crossed over to her side of the bed. Would he admit that she’d hurt him? What would she do if he did?
He stayed where he was and started to remove his clothes.
“As soon as you are decently clothed in the latest fashions, we will pay my father a visit.”
“We will not.” She tried for a lighter tone. “You, of course, may do as you like, but I see no reason to stir the flames of his resentment even further.”
He smiled at her. “Sometimes it pays to confront an aggressor. If he sees us together, he might have to rethink his strategy.”
He sat to remove his boots and took off his breeches and then his shirt. His body gleamed so enticingly in the candlelight that Malinda had to look away. He climbed into bed beside her and blew out the candle.
“Tomorrow we should look for a maid for you.”
“Are you tired of having to deal with my corset?”
“No, I can’t say that will ever become a chore.”
She stared up at the canopy above their heads. “I cannot afford a maid.”
He sighed. “Let’s not argue about this again. You sought my protection, and I need you to look respectable. Having me as your ladies’ maid will not suffice.”
“I’m perfectly capable of looking after myself.”
“I know that. But you aren’t used to London society.”
She snorted. “You’re afraid I’ll show you up.”
He moved so suddenly that she found herself underneath him. “Your inferiority complex is showing.”
“Which is why we would never have succeeded as a married couple. Society will
never
accept a peer married to a common sergeant’s daughter.”
“Good Lord, you sound just like my father.” He gave her a tiny shake. “Peers have married actresses and known whores. The entire royal family is a scandal. No one would give a damn. The only person who cares about it is you.”