Chapter Thirteen
Fuck me. Is Caroline’s brother truly involved in this murder?
Neither of them spoke until they were once more ensconced in the carriage.
By that time, the light snow had intensified enough to start sticking to the roadways.
Before Daniel closed the door, Felix said, “To the Beckham townhouse, my good man, but feel free to take the scenic route or linger through your favorite avenues.”
After all, it was a romantic sort of night… if one forgot about the attack and the interview they’d just concluded.
“Understood, Major.” Then Daniel closed the door. If he wondered why Caroline was dressed like a young man, he didn’t mention it, nor did his expression betray his interest. Seconds later, the door closed and left them in the dark interior.
Finally, Caroline stirred beside him. “Do you want to ask the question or should I?”
“I’ll do it.” Worry bubbled through his chest as he found her gaze in the darkness. “Do you believe Andrew is truly involved with Withington’s murder?”
“I don’t want to believe it.” She shook her head. “And I didn’t even know Andrew went to such places like the gaming hell, but for him to kill someone? I don’t know.”
“When emotions are involved, things can grow out of hand quickly.” Though he didn’t know much about her brother, anyone could have killed the peer if properly motivated.
Unfortunately, far too many people in London were just that.
And he couldn’t escape the fact that it would have been easy for Andrew to threaten his sister in front of their house if he was in disguise.
Would he have caused such harm to his own sibling?
There was no way to tell, but Felix’s protective instincts rose. All he wanted to do was protect Caroline from every horrible thing that might find her in life.
“Where is your brother now?” With a mind for something besides talking, Felix removed his gloves and laid them along with his top hat on the bench beside him.
When she shrugged, her shoulder brushed his. Heated awareness slammed through him. “Probably at his club since he obviously wasn’t at the gaming hell.”
Daniel rapped on the carriage roof. “Terrible traffic in Mayfair just now, Major. Slow going along with the snow.”
“Do your best. Otherwise, it’s quite fine.
” It merely afforded him more time with Caroline.
With what felt like was a wicked grin, Felix put a finger to his lips for silence, then he encouraged her onto his lap so that she straddled his hips.
“Are you in the mood for a bit of scandal with me?” he asked in a barely audible whisper.
“Mmm, what do you have in mind?” From her sultry tone, she was in agreement.
“Well, since the brick for our feet has long gone cold, I thought I could help you keep warm in an entirely different way.” Then he claimed her lips with his in a string of leisurely kisses designed to tease but also reassure her.
“I never wanted my investigations to put you in danger again. I promised that nothing like this would ever happen again yet here we are.”
Was this another way he’d failed her already?
“You can’t predict what people will do.”
“Perhaps.” He cupped her head between his hands, ran the pad of one thumb along the place on her neck where a slight bruise was forming from her attack. “God, I’m sorry you’ll carry these marks through the holiday season.”
“I’m sure we can find a way to hide the bruises, or we’ll simply tell the truth of how they came about. That I was attacked during the course of the investigation.”
“I adore how practical you are.” The roar of his pulse in his ears and the force of it thrumming through his veins spurred him to continue kissing her.
How did he come to be so fortunate to have this wonderful woman in his life, his arms, his heart?
As he traced her spine with his fingertips, his mind jogged to that attack.
Had it been her brother or someone else?
And more to the point, how did anyone know it was her in the disguise?
Which meant the shot at the carriage wasn’t a mistake. Would it happen again?
That terrified him because he’d only just become engaged to her. They’d not had a chance to plan their life together. What if she expected more from him already?
I need a distraction.
Pulling slightly away from her, he peered at her while she watched him with a glittering gaze. Caroline perplexed him in the best—and worst—ways, but he wouldn’t change a thing. “I’m glad you said yes when I asked for your hand.”
“As am I, and I can’t wait to marry you.” Her voice held a breathless quality that had supreme male contentment swelling his chest. “But for just now? I can’t wait for what sort of scandal you have on your mind.”
“Aw hell, I think you’re set to wear me out during our first year of marriage.” No wonder his friend Gabriel Bright was so enamored of his own wife if she was even half the woman that Caroline was.
“Isn’t that what that honeymoon year is for?” The hand resting on his chest trembled slightly. With lingering fear from the attack or eagerness from the impending intimacy?
“God, I hope so, because I haven’t had nearly enough of you.”
The carriage lurched into slow motion again, no doubt because traffic was finally moving.
It jostled her against his chest. Caroline grasped his shoulder with one hand.
A tiny intake of breath betrayed her need.
“I rather like seeing this side of you,” she whispered and trailed her other hand along the folds of his cravat, loosening the knot, and when she pressed her heated lips to the skin she’d just uncovered, it was his turn to gasp.
“You should be daring more often. It tempers your grouchy side.”
He snorted. “How can I not when presented with the perfect picture of you, with pleading in your eyes? Besides, doing wicked things to you distracts me from how horrible being an investigator is at times.”
“I’m not talking about deductive work.” She wriggled on his lap.
Need streaked through his primed member.
Never taking her gaze from his, she rid herself of the gloves and then threw them to the bench where his rested.
Then she removed her slouch-style cap. It tumbled to the bench, bounced off, and then rolled to the floorboards.
“I meant you, Felix. Defying my father by asking me to marry you without his permission is thrilling and bold.” She leaned forward.
His arousal throbbed with urgency. Into his ear, she whispered, “How far do you wish to go tonight?” She licked at his lobe and gave it a quick nip.
His hold on sanity slipped. “Why don’t we decide together?
” He claimed her lips again with more determination and possession than he had before.
When she held his head between her hands and made love to his mouth, kissing him as if she had something to prove to him, he slipped his hands beneath her waistcoat and linen shirt until he was able to cup her breasts.
“So gorgeous,” he murmured against her lips.
“We haven’t done this nearly enough.” She moved on from his mouth to lay a line of nips and nibbles beneath his jaw. When he groaned as she found a particularly sensitive point, she spent leisurely seconds at the spot, teasing it with her lips and tongue.
The vanilla scent of her perfume, the softness of her skin, the heat of her that seeped into him all worked at his undoing.
Over and over, he kissed her as he sought to learn every secret her mouth held.
And when he was finished with that, he explored the slender column of her neck, glanced his lips along her throat after he’d wrenched her cravat free.
Each labored breath she took, every time she stirred against him captivated him.
The dark arcs of her lashes were stark against her pale cheeks as her eyes fluttered closed when he teased her nipples into pebbled peaks.
It had always bothered him that he wasn’t able to romance her with words. Instead, he worshipped her body, because that was where his talent at communication lay. Then, because he needed far more of her than this, he shoved up the shirt, buried his face between her soft breasts.
“Felix…”
“I know.” The moment he took one of those hardened nipples into his mouth and a shuddering sigh escaped her, there was no turning back.
His control of being a gentleman broke while he teased that bud with his lips and tongue.
Caroline’s head lolled to her shoulder, and she arched her back, which put both luscious breasts more firmly into his care.
Like a man presented with his favorite foods at Christmas, he devoured her offerings, stroked, squeezed, pleasured them until she squirmed upon his lap.
For long seconds, he tormented a tip with his tongue and at the same time, he plucked at the waist of the breeches she wore.
“Damned clothing,” he managed to whisper, and it broke his concentration.
She giggled. The low sound went straight to his stones.
“Let me help.” Instead of manipulating the front falls, Caroline balanced on her knees, then watching him the whole time, she shimmied the breeches down her hips.
When the fabric pooled on his lap, she smiled.
“Surely you can figure out the logistics from here.”
“Minx.” But he had to admit, this was easier.
“Rogue.” Her breathing hitched when he found the swollen bud at her center. “I can’t wait until you make me fly.” The jostling of the carriage as it lurched into movement once more put her more fully into his hold.