Chapter Eighteen #3
“I did, of course, and if I didn’t stop it, you would have sucked me off until I expired.
” His eyes were dark and wild as he reached for her.
“To district me, I’ll bedevil you.” Before she had time to think, he put his hands on either side of her hips, lifted her up, shuttled her across the room, and then ultimately laid her down on the nearest sofa.
“Mmm, Major, I like this forceful side of you.” Caroline’s grin felt far too satisfied as she found a comfortable position reclining against one of the plush, bolstered ends.
“Ha. I rather think you’re merely randy.”
“There is that.”
“And since you are so much younger than me, there is every possibility you truly will kill me.” As he spoke, Felix manipulated the metal buckles and leather straps that held his prosthetic leg to the stump of his left thigh.
It was the height of trust, doing that in front of her, for usually when they coupled, he left the leg attached.
Tears welled in her eyes that he’d chosen to let down the rest of his guard, that he’d chosen to show himself as vulnerable before her, that he trusted her.
In silence, she watched as he carefully leaned the false leg against the table, and when he joined her again, with his hard body covering hers, she sighed from the magnitude of this coupling.
“I love you, Felix” she whispered and encircled his shoulders with her arms. “And, in the event you wondered, you are not old.”
“I love you, Caroline, the dream of my heart.” The major claimed her lips in a kiss that held a desperate edge she understood all too much. Then because he never broke a promise, he set out to explore every inch of her skin with his tongue, fingers, lips, and teeth.
His attention to her breasts and sensitive nipples kept her gasping while the scrape of the faint evening whiskers on his chin sent her into another echelon of delight as he kissed a path down her abdomen and belly, the inside of her thighs.
She furrowed the fingers of one hand into his thick, blond hair.
“Now who is going kill whom?”
He grunted. “You brought it on yourself.” When he buried his head between her thighs and sought out the tiny little bud at her center with his mouth, she nearly bucked off the sofa as he teased and taunted.
Good heavens, she adored him! “Yet you made me stop before you could spend.” The pressure building in her belly would soon cause her to explode.
“You didn’t even try to disobey a direct order,” he joked.
“Oh, then I can’t wait until next time.”
Eventually, he left off with his mouth only to replace his tongue with his talented fingers. “Let me see you fly, Caro. Let me hear you scream.”
She was lost from everything he did to her, for he knew the secrets of her body and how to coax out those reactions.
A wave of pleasure smacked into her so strong she cried out in surprise.
It threatened to drown her in intense sensation as those feelings throbbed through her insides.
A half-stifled cry left her throat. “Goodness.”
Felix’s chuckle renewed her awareness of him all over again. “Not exactly a scream, though.” He claimed her mouth again and this time immediately deepened the kiss until she writhed beneath him.
She drew a hand down the length of his back. One thing about the major was he didn’t stop until a job was done. When she bumped her hips and jostled his rampant shaft, she giggled, and he grinned. “Is that your best showing?”
“Of course not.” His eyes darkened with the same desire flowing hotly through her veins. “Ready for the next round?”
“I refuse to beg or stroke your ego.”
“Hmm, we’ll see.” Felix encouraged her legs wider and then settled himself between them, his hot, hard length heavy at her thigh. “Make the neighbors so jealous—or concerned—that they write to your father.”
“Perish the thought.” Heat infused her cheeks. She could hardly think with his weight on top of her. It didn’t matter that he was missing a leg; he was all the man she would ever need. “But I’ll scream for you.”
“Good girl.” With a chuckle that tugged at her heart, he fit his tip to her opening, and with a quick flex of his hips, he penetrated deep into her passage, filling her to the point of making her eyes cross.
Their moans blended. Caroline wriggled beneath him.
“Oh, yes, quite satisfying.” Unable to remain parted with him, she pulled him down and kissed him.
Then he moved, slowly at first with long, leisurely thrusts that managed to hit every sensitive part of her, which sent the most wonderful shivers of pleasure through her belly.
Though he leaned a bit more heavily on his right arm to balance his weight, it didn’t affect his performance.
When she easily matched the rhythm he set, the major increased his pace.
His strokes became short and fast and so deep that her eyes crossed, and she didn’t believe she could remain cognizant for much longer.
“I need all of you.” She clutched his shoulders, wrapped her legs about his waist in an effort to be as close as she could to him.
“Somehow, I think you stole that from me months ago.” He peered into her eyes. “You will always hold my heart, and I can’t wait to marry you.”
“Oh, Felix…” Tears filled her eyes, for he was so dear. Rarely did he give her flowery praise or romantic words, but the occasions when he did, they were spectacular.
All too soon, the dam holding back the coiling, building sensations broke and Caroline shattered.
Pleasure swamped her; she threw back her head against the bolstered end of the sofa and let loose a keening cry.
While contractions shivered through her core, Felix continued to thrust. Seconds later, he found his own bliss.
With a muffled shout, he ground himself against her and collapsed on top of her body.
Then he wrapped her into his arms, held her so close the sound of his rapid heartbeat echoed in her ear, and the sense of protection—of love—wrapped around her like a comfortable cocoon.
For long minutes, they remained entwined, their limbs a tangle, very nearly sharing breath, before he rolled off her to recline upon his right side. “Damn.”
“Indeed.” A pleasant lethargy worked its way through her body, and she smiled. The longcase clock in the corridor beyond announced the eleventh hour of the night. “That was immensely satisfying.”
“Good.”
“I might want another go ‘round before my aunt comes home later.”
“Shit, just allow me an hour to regain my strength.” Felix took one of her hands and brought it to his lips. “I love you so damned much I want all of London to know you’re mine.”
“Well, if anyone was on the street just now, I’d say they know.”
He uttered a snort of laughter then tucked an escaped tendril of her hair behind her ear. “Perhaps we should marry in the spring. April or May.”
“Oh? Why? That doesn’t leave much time to plan a wedding.” Honestly, Caroline didn’t care, for she was already quite happy with how things were between them. She’d wed him tomorrow if it were her choice and if she wouldn’t anger her mother.
“I’d like to have the time to renovate my study into an office of sorts where I could consult with clients about cases. Where we can consult.” He winked. “I would also like the banns to be read, for I want you to have the privilege of being slightly smug when around your friends or acquaintances.”
“A fresh start to a new life.”
“Yes, and the spring is for renewal. It’s a time when the world around us is soft and gentle and covered with all the floral decorations a bride could ask for.” Emotion softened his voice. “You will be gorgeous amidst such a backdrop.”
“If you’re not careful, you’ll have women swooning before you.”
“The only one I want is you, though.”
“So sweet.” The tears in her eyes overflowed onto her cheeks. This man, with his hard, grouchy shell, had the heart of a romantic even if he would deny it if pressed.
“Tomorrow is Christmas, love. We’ll spend the afternoon and evening with Inspector Bright and his wife as well as their children. I rather think it will be a lovely time.”
“I’m sure it will. They are a beautiful couple, and I hope our marriage will prove as successful as theirs.”
“We will make it a point to come up to that mark, I think.” He nuzzled his nose into the crook of her shoulder. “Doesn’t matter, because our union will be unique to us.”
“Mmm.” She was content to lie in his arms. “These next months will pass quickly, for there is much to do.”
“And since my sister won’t occupy my house, you and I will have time to be alone during those months as we await our nuptial ceremony.” He kissed her forehead. “Besides, you’ll need to be over there a few times a week to supervise the redecoration and renovation of the study.”
“Ha. You really are a cheeky man.” She smiled into the curve of his shoulder. “But I love you anyway.” A squeal left her throat when he gave her buttock a light pinch. “My sister is going to be so angry that I will marry before she will.”
“As you should. Never let anyone treat you as less than.”
With a sigh, she snuggled into his embrace. “I can’t wait to be your wife.” Partners in all the ways that mattered. There were still a few things to discuss between them, but perhaps they could wait. It was enough they had each other and that their love would grow with every passing day.
Life had a way of surprising one. The key to surviving it was not to try and control it.
When fate led, it was best just to follow, for the new adventures and experiences that awaited were exactly what one needed to grow and mature.
Love wasn’t selfish, but when a compromise was needed, give it, for it might make all the difference.
Sometimes, one might stumble into their own fairytale complete with a knight in battered armor as the perfect mate. When that happened, the realization that one was never in control of their life was the biggest irony of all.
Perhaps that was the point.
Major Kourier and Miss Ives will return in an all new case in Slaying at the Seashore in March 2026, so be sure to reserve your copy in preorder .
Is it a bad omen when a dead body makes an appearance ahead of a nuptial ceremony?
On the June morning of Major Felix Kourier’s nuptial ceremony, he’s walking the shore in Brighton to calm his nerves.
After getting engaged at Christmastide the year earlier, he is finally taking the lovely, quirky Caroline to wife, yet when a corpse washes ashore not ten feet from him, he can’t help but wonder if fate is trying to intervene, for the body had clearly been stabbed.
And what was more, it was one of the guests.
Dressed in her wedding finery, as the Honorable Caroline Ives stands at the window of the cottage her parents rented, she catches sight of her handsome, grouchy groom coming back with an expression on his face that meant something wasn’t right.
The second she reaches the major’s side, and he speaks of murder, she’s wracked with dread.
She has a feeling her impending nuptials might be in jeopardy, especially since the dead man was a previous suitor. This could go horribly wrong.
Despite being tasked to investigate the peer’s murder as well as his connection to Caro, Felix insists the ceremony go ahead.
She agrees, and though the wedding is sandwiched between detecting and doubt, it’s fraught with anxiety.
But as danger creeps into the celebrations and shocking secrets become exposed that rock the newly wedded pair’s promises, the investigative couple must put personal feelings aside to solve the case before anyone else falls into peril, for murder—and the past—has no place in newlywed life. Hopefully.
And to discover how Kourier and Ives’ romance and partnership began, grab Contretemps at Cartwell Manor.