Chapter Eighteen
Maeve gasped as shock rippled through her. Hearing the man’s name was enough to make her blood run cold. “Justin knew of him?”
“Yes, he, Derek and Simon all felt the name was familiar the first time they heard it, but they couldn’t place it.
Justin was lining up his cue when he stood upright and said ‘I’ve got it.
I remember where I’ve heard of Farthington before.
’ It seems he was arrested in London several years ago for beating up a prostitute and leaving her nearly dead. ”
Maeve gasped.
“He was brought up on charges but managed to escape from custody before he could be tried. Once Justin mentioned this, Simon recalled hearing that the man is wanted in England and his company’s ships were banned from British ports of entry.”
“I can’t believe this!”
“It’s a pattern, Maeve. When he couldn’t perform, he took his frustrations out on the woman. It wasn’t just you.”
She broke down into sobs that came from her very soul, the relief so profound it left her drained in the aftermath of the emotional outburst.
“There, there,” he said softly. “Get it all out. You’ve been so strong and courageous. I’m so proud of how strong you’ve been.”
“I haven’t been strong. I’m terrified all the time that they are going to find me and take me home to hang.”
He pushed the hair back from her face and kissed away her tears. “That’s not going to happen.”
“How can you be so certain?”
“Because we have the truth on our side—and a very well-regarded duke who has made quiet inquiries on your behalf.”
“He has?”
“Yes, and he’s got contacts in the highest corners of the Irish government. They’ve promised to do anything they can to assist his friend, the former Mrs. Farthington.”
“I can’t believe it, Aubrey. That he would do such a thing for me.”
“My sisters aren’t the only ones who find you delightful.
My friends do as well, and Derek has no patience for bullies or men who would beat up a woman to make up for their own failings.
Catherine was attacked by the man she was supposed to marry, and she too ran away to avoid her fate.
The two of you have much more in common than you might think. ”
“I had no idea that she too had endured an attack.”
“She would tell you that the attack led her to flee, which led her to Derek. I would say that Farthington’s attack led you to flee, which led you to me. Happy endings in both cases.”
“Well, in one case anyway. We don’t know yet what will happen to me.”
“We do know. You were attacked and defended yourself.”
“It would be my word against his, and since he is not here to offer his input, I’ll be seen as a heartless killer.”
“I would be right there by your side to attest to the injuries you still had when I met you.” He kissed the palm of her hand where the new pink skin was still tender. “I don’t want you to worry about anything. Whatever transpires, we will face it together.”
“You make me believe that anything is possible. How do you do that?”
“The same way you make me believe in fairy tales and happily ever after.”
“I do that?”
“Mmm-hmm.” His lips brushed against hers, persuasive and seductive, and like every time he kissed her, she felt the impact of him from her scalp to the soles of her feet and everywhere in between. How did he do that with one soft kiss? “Close your eyes. Relax. Let me love you.”
His use of the word “love” made her heart skip a beat. But before she could spend too much time thinking about whether he might actually love her, he was cupping her sensitive breasts, running his thumbs back and forth over the tips.
“So very lovely and all mine,” he whispered as he drew her left nipple into his mouth while pinching the right one in a light squeeze.
The combination had her hips lifting off the mattress, seeking him.
After weeks in his bed, she’d become accustomed to many of the things they did together, but she still flushed from head to toe when he kissed his way down her body, put her legs on his shoulders and opened her to his tongue.
She would never get used to the nearly obscene way he used his lips, tongue and fingers to drive her mad.
He sucked on the tight nub of nerves that set her off every time he touched her there, making her cry out from the shocking pleasure that overtook her.
Maeve came down from the incredible high to find him watching her in that intense way of his.
When he smiled at her his entire face lit up. “Hello there.”
“You seem rather pleased with yourself, Mr. Nelson.”
He nuzzled her neck, taking a nibbling bite of her skin. “I’m incredibly pleased with myself—and yourself, Mrs. Nelson.”
When he shifted to enter her, she stopped him with a hand to his chest. “Could I do to you what you did to me?”
He froze, his expression unusually blank.
Did he think her brazen for suggesting such a thing? “Never mind,” she said, looking away. “I didn’t mean to shock you.”
“You didn’t shock me. You aroused me so completely that all the blood in my body seems to be located in one place, leaving nothing to power my brain.”
She glanced down to find his cock harder and larger than it had ever been, and how was that possible? How could it get bigger?
Aubrey released a tortured-sounding groan that alarmed her. “Please,” he said softly but urgently. “Please do to me whatever you wish.” He ran his fingers through her hair. “Nothing you do would ever be wrong.”
Emboldened by his words and the tender way he touched her, Maeve gave his chest a gentle push to encourage him to lie on his back. He eyed her warily as he settled into the position, his hands grasping handfuls of sheet, as if he needed to hold on to something.
She sat up to study his chest and abdomen, trying to decide where she wanted to kiss first. His hard cock stretched nearly to his navel, and she watched with fascination as fluid appeared at the tip, pooling onto his stomach.
“Maeve,” he said through gritted teeth, “are you going to just look, or do you plan to put me out of my misery?”
“Tell me what you like. I’ll do whatever you want.”
His sharp intake of breath had her glancing at his face, which was tight with tension. “I’m about to spend from merely thinking about your lips on my—”
She bent over him, wrapped her hand around the thick base the way he’d taught her to do, and took the tip into her mouth, sucking gently but insistently.
His fingers tangled into her hair, his hips came off the bed and he made sounds she’d never heard him make before. Emboldened, she took more of him into her mouth and lashed the tip with her tongue.
He moaned, and his fingers tightened in her hair nearly to the point of pain.
Maeve released him slowly, the tip leaving her mouth with a loud pop.
“Don’t stop,” he said, sounding desperate.
“I’ve no plans to stop.” She moved so she was between his spread legs and bent over him again, this time cupping the soft pouch under his scrotum as she took his shaft into her mouth once again.
“Dear God,” he muttered, his legs trembling violently as she sucked and licked with wild enthusiasm. “Maeve. Sweetheart, stop. That’s enough.” He tugged on her hair, trying to get her attention.
But she wouldn’t be deterred from giving him the same pleasure he’d given her.
“Fuck.”
She’d never heard that word from him before, and knowing she’d driven him to vulgarity fueled her desire to give him everything. She squeezed, sucked and licked the soft skin until he exploded down her throat in a hot, scalding blast that she swallowed frantically.
“Holy Christ,” he said as his body continued to seize and tremble until he finally sagged into the mattress, seeming completely spent.
Maeve released his cock slowly, continuing to stroke him through the aftershocks that followed his release. When she finally looked up at him, she found him watching her with a nearly feral look in his eyes. “Did I do it correctly?”
He grunted out a laugh. “If you did it any more correctly, you might’ve stopped my heart.” Reaching for her, he encouraged her to lie on top of him, and brushed the hair back from her face. “You’re magnificent, and I want nothing more than to kiss your cock-swollen lips.”
The things he said! Predictably, she felt the flush creep into her face as he kissed her senseless.
“How can you blush like that after sucking my cock until I exploded?”
“Do you have to be so vulgar?”
“It’s not vulgar to speak to one’s own wife about the things that transpire in the marriage bed. Now answer my question. How can you still be embarrassed after all the things we have done?”
“I’m not embarrassed, so much as shocked at my own behavior.”
“Your behavior is quite shocking.”
She poked him in the belly, making him startle and then laugh.
“But I wouldn’t have you any other way. You’re absolutely perfect.”
“I’m glad you think so.”
He held her close to him, running his hands over her back and down to cup her bottom. Between them, his cock hardened and throbbed against her belly.
“You have recovered rather quickly.”
“That’s all your fault. You’re so soft and sweet, and I want you all the time.” He gave her bottom a squeeze. “Sit up.”
Aubrey helped her up, until she sat on top of him, her legs positioned on either side of his hips. She wasn’t so far gone that she didn’t immediately note the impropriety of the position. She would’ve moved to bring her legs together, but he stopped her. “Like this.”
“Aubrey . . . You can’t possibly think . . .”
“Shhhh. Trust me. Lift up a little.”
“No . . . What . . . Oh my goodness.”
With his hands on her hips, he brought her down on his hard cock, pushing so far into her she could feel him in her belly. “That’s it,” he said tightly. “Just like that.”
“This isn’t decent.”
“It’s so decent.” He raised his hips and surged deeper into her body, the base of his cock stroking the tender nub at the top of her sex, making her tremble.
“Aubrey . . .”
“Yes, love?”
“We can’t . . .”
“We can.” He held her hips and surged into her again. “We are. Ride me like a horse.”