Chapter 22 #2
Spirit match. She will be impossible to live with when she finds out. But he is my match in every way. Heart, body, soul.
When he came back to the bed, his emerald gaze burned into hers. ‘Lay back and let me tend to you, Clio.’
How could she refuse such a charming request? She did as he asked, leaning back against the soft pillows as he gently spread her legs. He wiped the cloth over her thighs, starting with her star birthmark, cleaning the blood away. Her blood.
‘We created magic between us. A blood oath,’ Clio mused. ‘The most powerful spell of all.’
Thomas paused in his ministrations. ‘You said blood oaths aren’t to be taken lightly.’
Clio bit her lip as he resumed cleaning her. The cloth was both cool and comforting on her heated flesh as Thomas wiped her intimate folds in gentle strokes. Echoes of the pleasure they shared rippled through her. ‘They are not.’
‘Lasting magic that once crafted, cannot be unravelled.’
‘Yes.’ She was finding it harder to speak as he pressed the linen against her with firm pressure. His gaze drifted lazily from where he worked, up her body like a caress, to finally meet hers. She’d never seen an emerald burn until now.
‘What was woven together between us tonight is forever, Clio.’
Her heart was too full. The emotions overflowed and spilled out in salty tears. ‘I am yours and you are mine. Whatever challenges we face, we face as one. Whatever burdens we bear, we carry together. And the joy we create will be ours alone.’
He gripped her hips and rolled them together, so she was on top of him. Clio’s world spun as she felt him begin to grow hard beneath her. ‘What of our pleasure? Can you take me again?’ He raised a wicked brow.
She moved her hips, testing this new position. Her clitoris rubbed in a slow, wet slide over the ridge of his cock. It was heady to control their passion. She liked it. ‘Can you take me again, Thomas Grey?’
Lifting her up, he positioned himself at her entrance and waited. ‘I will take you forever.’
Clio sank down, impaling herself and revelling in the glory.
She rocked slowly at first. His eyes locked on her breasts.
She watched with him as they swayed with her movements.
He covered them both with his large hands, kneading and pinching and increasing the sharp, sweet burn growing inside her.
Her hips moved with greater purpose as she changed the angle.
Just there. That incandescent spot that made her body sing.
She found it again. And again. Grinding her hips in a slow circle, Thomas clenched his jaw, his gaze locked onto hers, his pupils blown wide.
His hand slid from her breast to her waist, aiding her.
She tilted her hips, nearly pulled completely off, then slammed down hard, crying out his name as sparks cascaded over her body and onto his.
He held her tight against him, their worlds exploding together as he chanted her name like a spell. A love spell that would never break.
Two weeks later
Thomas tugged on his cravat. He didn’t remember his valet tying it quite so tight, and yet he could barely breathe.
He was quite certain he might swoon in Rowan’s front parlour, which would not do.
He could hardly faint in the middle of asking Clio’s aunt for permission to marry her niece.
He was a Lieutenant General in Her Majesty’s army, after all.
The second son to an earl. By all accounts, a formidable gentleman.
A formidable gentleman who was seconds away from casting up his accounts on the Aubusson rug gracing Rowan’s well-appointed front parlour.
‘Sit. You look green around the gills, Lieutenant General Grey.’
He tried for a smile but was fairly certain it came out closer to a grimace. ‘I am quite well, madame. I assure you.’
‘Well enough to ask me for my niece’s hand in marriage, I assume. For I can’t think of any other reason for you to request an audience with me.’ Rowan raised a chestnut brow at him, her grey eyes flashing ominously.
‘Give the lad a moment to breathe, Rowan.’ Lachlan sat next to the intimidating woman. The look she shot him was sharp enough to fell an Alderwood, but Lachlan only winked at her.
‘You are absolutely right. I am here to ask for your permission to marry your niece.’
Rowan leaned forward, and a potted palm in the corner shivered. ‘Do you love her?’
‘Absolutely.’ It was an easy answer.
‘Do you accept her just as she is?’
‘I accept that she is far more than I’ll ever understand. And the only woman I’ll ever want in this life.’
Rowan leaned back and the palm seemed to relax its leaves in a rustling sigh. ‘Excellent answer, Grey. I can see why she is so enamoured.’
He couldn’t stop the flush of heat across his cheek. ‘Before you give me your answer, you must know, I will always provide Clio with a home, my love, my protection—’
‘I’m quite certain she can protect herself.’ Rowan crossed her arms, tapping a long finger irritably. ‘Didn’t she prove that not two weeks ago at the house party you both attended?’
Thomas inclined his head in acknowledgement. ‘Indeed, she did. Yet, even if she does not need my protection, she shall still have it.’
‘We don’t question yer willingness to fight for the lass, Thomas.
I’ve shared a battlefield with you, and I’ve met few men as fierce and determined as yerself.
’ Lachlan raised his snifter of whisky to his friend in a toast. But Thomas couldn’t return his friend’s gesture.
Not until they understood exactly what he was offering, and what he could never provide.
‘You must understand, while I would give Clio everything I have, there are certain things I cannot.’ He held Rowan’s gaze.
Clio loved him despite knowing they could never create children together.
Her willingness to accept him was like a healing balm spread over his soul, but still the scar tissue pulled.
‘You told me that you cannot fix what is broken within me. So, you may already know that I will never be able to provide Clio with a family.’ He didn’t miss Lachlan’s sharp exclamation at his revelation, but he couldn’t look at his oldest friend.
Not until this was settled. ‘If that is a problem for you, it is something you should come to terms with now. Because I won’t give her up, Rowan.
No matter how you might protest our union. ’
Rowan’s smile showed off a slightly crooked incisor.
‘I told you that I could not heal you because you were not broken. What is meant for you can never be taken, Grey. And I believe Clio is meant for you. Together, you will create a family that is also meant for you, no matter what that might look like, or how it might come about.’
As if her aunt’s words conjured her from thin air, Clio pushed open the door and breezed into the room, Sir Robin perched nimbly on her shoulder. She was closely followed by her sister and her cousin.
Clio was a vision in sea-foam green with a bold, black checkerboard pattern pressed onto her skirts.
She wore a fitted vest in black with green squares in an oppositional reflection of her skirt.
A crisp white shirt and high collar completed her ensemble.
Thomas wished for nothing more than to unbutton her and reveal the woman beneath.
But now was hardly the time for such lascivious thoughts.
‘So, it is decided? I think a summer wedding would be best, don’t you?’ She held her aunt’s gaze as she stood next to Thomas, her hand resting gently on his shoulder. Dear God, was it possible to love someone so deeply, you forgot to breathe?
‘Three months to plan a wedding?’ Rowan seemed scandalised, which was a feat Thomas never expected to witness.
Then she raised an elegant shoulder in a shrug.
‘You have decided, and that is really all that matters.’ Rowan’s sharp tone caused the palm in the corner to begin shivering once more.
‘But I suppose summer is always a lovely time for a wedding.’ Her expression softened and Thomas didn’t miss the slight flush painted over Lachlan’s high cheekbones.
‘I can’t believe you found your spirit match.
’ Ellie’s blue eyes were bright with joy for her sister.
The two women could not be more opposite, but Thomas appreciated her guilelessness.
He wasn’t just gaining Clio in this union; Ellie had welcomed him into their family, and he would forever be grateful for her easy acceptance.
‘I can’t believe you haven’t burned each other to a crisp yet.’ Helena stroked the fox who sat at her feet.
He was still working on Helena.
‘I think Sir Robin would appreciate some fresh air. Thomas, would you accompany me outside?’ Clio’s heavily lidded gaze had Thomas thinking of all the delicious ways he could use his cravat and whether or not there were any sturdy benches tucked away in hidden alcoves of Clio’s back garden.
‘I would be honoured, my lady.’
They excused themselves and as they walked down the hall, Clio pulled a letter from her pocket. ‘I received correspondence from Violet.’
Thomas tried to keep his eyes level with her own and not let them dip down to the enticing V of her open collar. ‘Are she and Anna well and readying for their trip to America?’
‘They are. Anna’s health is vastly improved, and Violet is excited to start a new life for them both in New York.’
Clio led Thomas through the house to the dining room. The French doors opened onto a small terrace that led down to the gardens. Winter still held London in its thrall, but a bright sun touched her face with fragile warmth.
Thomas allowed himself a moment to watch the woman who would soon become his bride.
Her black hair shone nearly blue, pale cheeks brightening in the cold air.
She was stunning. But more than that, she was a beacon of goodness in a world seemingly full of ugliness and evil.
Taking her arm, they walked together down the stairs and onto the garden path.
Clio stopped by a stone bench tucked behind a rather large elm tree.
Sir Robin hopped from her shoulder to a branch of the tree.
‘Imagine if the doctor Violet hired hadn’t discovered the true reason for Anna’s illness.
No wonder Arthur tried to accuse Violet of having an affair.
I’m sure he wanted the man to stay well away from poor Anna.
And if he had, the viscount’s plan would have come to fruition.
Violet would never have taken the poison and used it against her husband.
He would still be alive, and we would never have met. ’
Thomas stepped closer, backing Clio up to the tree and putting a hand on the ancient bark, leaning closer, needing to feel her heat, let it seep through his clothes and warm his heart.
‘Do you think we are evil? For letting Violet get away with murder?’ He ran his nose along her cheek, inhaling her into his lungs.
‘I think what you said was true. She held a man accountable for unspeakable crimes. There is a certain poetic justice to it all.’ Clio tilted her head, giving Thomas access to the delicate column of her throat.
Thomas pressed an open-mouth kiss to her fragrant skin, sucking hard enough to make Clio moan. ‘I think we are done discussing this case.’
‘Is that a command?’ Desire flared in Clio’s amber gaze.
He circled both of her wrists, lifting them over her head and pinning her against the smooth bark. ‘Do you wish it to be?’
‘Yes.’
One word, and he was instantly hard.
‘My wicked witch.’
‘My darling fiancé.’ Clio leaned forward, nipping his jaw as sparks crackled between them.
‘Bastard,’ Sir Robin cooed in the branches above their heads.