Chapter 46 Derek
Derek
Derek paced the front entry of his townhome.
She was on her way here. The fool. He was going to strangle her when she arrived.
Fortunately, one of Ryker’s runners was trailing her hackney.
Another had just informed Derek of Miss Forester’s nighttime journey.
Because obviously after everything that had happened, Derek couldn’t leave something happening to her again to chance.
He’d had her watched. The only flaw was that by the time he’d been informed, she was probably nearly at his townhome.
He growled. When she arrived, they were having words.
A soft rap came from the front door. Perfect timing. He stormed over to the door and threw it open. He stared down at the veiled, cloaked waif on his front steps.
“D-Derek?” the shrouded figure stuttered.
Surprised to see him, was she? He grabbed her arm and dragged her inside.
“What were you thinking?” he hissed. He pushed off her hood and threw back her veil.
“I told you the last time. It isn’t safe.
What if—” He abruptly cut off. She was ghost-white, even in the low candlelight of his entry, her lips quivering—not just her lips, her entire body was shaking.
“Livy?” His heart scrambled around in his chest at the same rate as his frantic gaze as he searched her for injury.
“I-I know. But I h-had to see you. Needed to speak with you. I thought…” Her choppy words broke off, overtaken by her short, shallow breaths. “I thought I could make the journey.”
He cupped her face, searched those large eyes, the whites prominent as fear stared back at him. His thumb stroked softly over her cheekbone. “Easy,” he whispered. “What’s wrong? What’s happened?”
She shook her head in his hands. “Nothing,” she said on a whoosh.
Her eyes fluttered closed, and she leaned into his touch, her breath evening.
“Wanted to see you. But traveling here”—she shivered, and he tucked her to him, his chin falling to her head—“Every jolt of the carriage, every shadow… I kept thinking someone lurked there, that the hackney would be waylaid. It makes no logical sense.”
It didn’t make any sense? It made complete fucking sense. Because she’d learned in the worst way possible how dangerous this world was. And Derek shared the same exact bloody fear.
“Damn you, Livy,” he murmured. “I was so angry when I found out you’d set out alone—again. And you’re making it very hard for me to stay vexed with you.”
She pulled back, golden brows pinched. “You knew?” She cocked her head. “How on earth did you know?”
He scoffed. “You think after what happened, I didn’t have eyes on your every movement?
That night—” His voice cracked, going embarrassingly high.
He cleared his throat gruffly. “That night I aged about a decade,” he continued.
Very low. Very masculine. “Not knowing what happened to you. Then finding out. Fearing I found out too late. Seeing you afterward? What that bastard had done to you, how he’d hurt you, terrified you? Never again, Livy. Never again.”
He sucked in a breath after his tirade. And realized she was beaming at him.
He frowned. “Are you well?”
She nodded, her grin growing. “More than.”
“You are more than well… Because you scared the shite out of me…” That didn’t seem very kind. Sounded like something he’d find amusement in. But Livy wasn’t a miserable arse like he was.
“I have feelings for you too, Derek.”
His mouth immediately opened to deny her claim…and then he hesitated. What was the point? The woman standing in front of him was much too intelligent, had always seen more of him than anyone else. He clearly couldn’t hide the way he felt about her. From her. From himself.
And then her words truly registered: I have feelings for you too, Derek. Oh. Lightness filled him. It was a bit disconcerting, like something had inflated inside his chest. He wasn’t certain he liked it. It seemed his chest was destined to be uncomfortably full with Livy around.
He let out a huff through his nose. “Well, I suppose that’s good then. That we both share these…things. For one another.”
Livy chuckled. “Feeeeelings.”
“Yes, those.” He pinched his thumb and forefinger together. “Small ones.”
She nodded seriously. “So small, you hired people to watch over me.”
He glared at her. “Well, yours are so small you snuck out in the middle of the night to see me. Again.”
Her eyes danced. “Derek?”
“Yes?”
“Want to take me to bed already? I’d like to show you how small my feelings truly are.”
Fuck.
The minute his bedchamber door closed, Derek was on her.
Mouths collided, lips seeking, teeth nipping, tongues demanding.
His hands fumbled with her cloak, and she wiggled out of it.
They were a tangle of groping hands, stumbling feet, and overeager kisses as they made their way to his bed, losing items of clothing along the way.
Fabric tore, buttons pinged against the floor.
His arse hit the edge of his bed, and Livy stepped back, her eyes glinting in the light of the lone candelabra sitting on the dressing table in his chamber.
She looked dangerous in the low glow, in nothing but her chemise and stockings.
And he supposed she was. Dangerous to the organ in his chest. Also very dangerous to his prick, because the way she was looking at him? Lust sank heavy in his groin.
“Careful, minx. Your small feelings are showing.”
She nodded toward where his cock was tenting his breeches. “Yours too, my lord.”
He grinned. Touche. He started popping buttons free.
He’d lost his shirt along the way, but he was still in his stockings and breeches.
“Would you like a closer look at my feelings, love?” He shoved his breeches and smalls down below his arse, his cock springing free.
A stilted breath left her. He was already an aching, leaking mess.
He gathered some in his palm and stroked himself in a slick, slow glide.
He let out a choppy breath, both at the pleasure stirring to life and at how her gaze tracked the movement, at how her teeth skated over her bottom lip.
Then those eyes met his, chin tilting up. A warrior. With one finger, she pushed a chemise strap off her shoulder. His gut tightened. Thin, delicate fingers skimmed across her chest to the opposite shoulder.
He leaned forward. Clearly, they were partaking in some sort of seduction warfare.
Her finger lightly caressed the strap.
Push.
Whoosh.
His pulse took off. He couldn’t say he minded this kind of combat.
Christ, she was glorious. Regal. Elegant shoulders rolled back, breasts thrust forward.
Perfectly aware of the power she wielded, allowing him the privilege of her naked skin.
And those legs. They’d been the death of him from the moment they met.
He wanted those legs wrapped around him. Desperately.
He shoved off his breeches and stockings and then straightened. He wouldn’t ever be anything but a worthy adversary.
She let out a slow, controlled breath. Like if she didn’t, she wouldn’t be able to hold herself back.
His signature roguish half-smile slid into place.
Then he flexed his stomach muscles. Her stare shot to the movement.
Then to his cock. Exactly what he’d been hoping for.
And in three, two, one—there it was. The ripple of a swallow down that elegant throat.
“Hungry, minx? Want a taste of my feelings?”
Her gaze flicked up to his. There was something in those irises, something dark, something that had him stilling. She stepped forward, and his muscles tensed, jerked as he forced himself to remain in place. To not retreat.
Memories of when they met flashed through his mind. How he’d prowled toward her. He a lion, she his prey. Oh, how wrong he’d been.
Her long, elegant fingers trailed featherlight over the underside of his cock, and he sucked in a breath as a pang of bliss streaked through him.
Those midnight eyes never left his. She swirled her thumb over the tip.
His pulse spiked. Then she lifted that thumb and popped it into her mouth, cheeks hollowing as she sucked it clean.
An extremely unmanly sound fled him. Oh God. Had he just whimpered?
Her triumphant grin was a very good indication he had. “Your feelings don’t taste very small.” Her voice was a beautiful blend of cheeky huskiness. She was playful yet utterly tempting. Not for the first time, a thought crossed his mind: He’d never met a woman like her.
She was quite simply the definition of perfection.
Flawless.
Her smile faded, her eyes searching his.
Whatever she saw had her stepping up to him, and he pulled her flush against his body, her slight form settling between his legs.
They stared at each other, no words, just breath mingling with breath, naked skin against naked skin.
All urgency faded away; the frantic edge softened.
The world slowed to nothing—just him, just her, just them.
Derek coasted his hands over her sides, up her back, then back down, fingers mapping every inch of skin.
“What do you want, clever girl?” He cupped her face, tilting her up to him, locking on those eyes he loved, their blue barely visible in the shadows.
She held the cards. He couldn’t deny that after their last encounter he was nervous he’d make a wrong move.
He wanted tonight to be perfect for her. “Whatever you want, it’s yours.”
Her palm settled on his chest, over his erratically beating heart. Her fingers flexed, and his breath caught. Because that felt very much like she was asking for the damaged organ beneath her fingers.
“I want all of you.” Her fingers lightly trailed down his chest to his stomach. She stepped back, gaze never leaving his. Those long, thin fingers curled around him. One lazy stroke. “I want you to be mine.”
Gooseflesh swept over his skin in a wave. Hers.
Derek nodded slowly. Then he spun them, so she was resting against his bed—and dropped to his knees. Stared straight up at her. His queen. “Yours.”
He nuzzled into her thigh, pushing her legs apart as he brushed a kiss to the sensitive skin. “Yours,” he whispered against her skin, and she shivered.
He lifted one of her legs and swung it over his shoulder, pressing another kiss even closer to the heart of her. He met her gaze again. “I’m yours.”
Derek leaned forward, ready to finally lose himself between those thighs, but a tug on his hair held him hostage. Another meaningful tug. He leaned back and arched a brow.
“Based on what happened the last time we did this,” she said breathlessly. “I thought I should warn you. This will be ending with you in me, Derek. So, control yourself.”
Derek grinned. “As my lady commands.”
He’d control himself. But he was going to do everything in his power to make sure she lost control.