Chapter Nine
Later that night
Portman Square
Marylebone, London
Mary was perfectly content walking around Portman Square with her husband at her side and her hand resting in the crook of his elbow.
They’d had a lovely dinner, and tonight the children, as well as Miss Alexander, had joined them.
Henry had regaled them all with stories from university, and some of them had been heavily edited so they were fit for tender ears.
Then it was Miss Alexander’s turn to share, which she did about her time growing up all over the world, for her father was an archeologist. In fact, her parents were currently preparing to winter in Egypt on a dig.
The children had been absolutely enthralled by everything, and if it helped them look at their governess in a different light, Mary was all for it.
Now, after Cassandra and Charlie had been tucked into bed with stories, hugs, and kisses, she and Bright were having time alone.
The sharp chill in the autumn air held scents of wood fires and leaves.
Miraculously, it wasn’t raining, but she knew such fair weather wouldn’t hold, for London in October was usually damp and dreary.
And the warmth of his solid body next to hers was quite intoxicating.
“You have no idea how much I needed this evening with you,” she said as they strolled through the darkness. “It has been quite enjoyable thus far.”
Golden light illuminated random windows in the townhouses they passed, and that softness lent mystery and secrets to the nighttime world around them.
“Felix impressed upon me earlier today that I needed to keep what is truly important in front of me, and that everything else pales to that.” He peered down at her.
Even in the inky shadows, his grin had the power to turn her bones to cooked porridge.
“You are that to me, Mary, and I couldn’t love anyone more.
” Slowly, he drew them to a stop and turned to her.
“I hope I show you or tell you that each day.”
A tremble moved through her lower belly, for though he was often affectionate, he rarely displayed it in public. She rested a palm on his chest as the breeze flirted with the hem of his greatcoat and her skirting. “You do, and I’m well aware. I pray that I do the same for you.”
“Always.” He lowered his head, but before their lips met, something hard slammed into Mary’s back.
With a cry of surprise and pain, she was thrust against Bright’s chest, and they both toppled to the ground in a tangle of limbs.
As she tried to right herself, a hand gripped her shoulder and tossed her backward and off his body.
From that position, she peered upward into the masked face of a man clad all in black with a ceramic theater mask covering his face and a top hat on his head.
“Stop poking about in this current case or else the next body will be yours. Mr. Corbett is no one of consequence.” A growl went through the low tones, and in the darkness, it was quite disconcerting.
“Who the hell are you?” Bright had scrambled to his feet and launched himself at the man who’d accosted her.
“Someone who wants the attention to fade from this case. It has nothing to do with you.”
They scuffled for a few moments, with each man throwing punches.
Bright caught a fist to the chin, which landed him on his arse not far from Mary’s location.
Seconds later, the attacker fled, but her husband was quick on his feet and gave pursuit, all in the span of time that it took for her to struggle into a standing position.
“Gabriel?” Her call went unheeded, and there was no one else on the street. After glancing around the immediate area, she began walking in the direction of her town townhouse.
Midway through the journey, Bright rushed over the pavement then bundled her into his strong arms, holding her close and tight. “Mary, are you unharmed?”
Being safe and protected was worth its weight in gold. “I’ll have some bruises on the morrow, no doubt, but other than that, I’m well enough. You?”
“I’ll have a proper bruise on my chin, and I might have been grazed with a knife on my left thigh, but it’s nothing I can’t work through.” He pulled away to peer into her face beneath the bonnet brim. “Let’s go home. The evening stroll has rather lost its charm.”
“I quite agree.” Though she didn’t say so, that encounter left her more rattled than she cared to admit. “Were you able to catch up with the assailant?”
“I nearly did, but then he ducked into an alley, entered a rear garden, and by the time I caught him up, he’d exited the garden to run through the next. The trail was lost, but I followed as best I could before abandoning the search.”
She nodded. “Do you feel he’ll try again to threaten us?”
“Perhaps, but we shall make certain we’re ready. However, this tells us one thing.”
“What?”
“We are getting close to solving the case if someone is so ruffled that we’re even poking around.
And I say let them come. I am not afraid of things that go bump in the night.
” He kept a tight hold on her hand as they walked.
“Let me anticipate your next question. Do I think it was the duke? No, the man was too tall and not quite as old. No way to identify him with that damned mask.”
“Should we worry?”
“Not more than usual on a case.”
Thirty minutes later, they had both retired to their suite in various stages of undress. Worry and anxiety played havoc with Mary’s insides while Bright seemed more tense than he had earlier in the evening.
“Do you want to talk to me about what happened tonight,” she asked as she removed her stays and then tossed them to one of the chairs in the dressing room. Shortly after they’d entered the suite, Bright had dismissed both the valet and her maid, which was his wont.
His gaze dropped to her bosom, staring as her nipples tightened from the ambient coolness in the air as well as his regard.
“I don’t wish to talk.” He crossed his arms over his chest and stood there, stubborn like the man he was, unable to separate the inspector from the husband; he was always like that when frustrated by a case.
And oh, how he made her mouth water, especially as he was only clad in his loose-fitting lawn shirt, which came down low enough to hide his shaft, but only just.
Awareness for him raced over her skin; need throbbed through her core.
If he wanted to be obstinate, she could too.
“Fine by me. There are other ways to communicate.” Once she closed the distance between them, Mary dropped to her knees before him from where he stood in the middle of the dressing room.
“You are far too tense, Inspector. I can help with that. For both of our benefits.” Before he could protest, she began to tease and caress her fingers along his shaft to encourage that organ to grow into an erection beneath the hem of the shirt.
What was it about this man that made her throw caution to the wind and forget all common sense when she should have been a respectable woman of the ton?
But then, she was scandalously in love with her husband.
“Do stop. I am not of a mind for a distraction.” When he reached for her, she batted his hand away.
“Such a bammer you’ve just told. You are always ready for carnal play or a coupling.
” She tsked her tongue. “So I am urging you into relaxation in the hopes you’ll release tension and then talk to me about the case.
” With a grin, she continued to manipulate his length.
Slowly, that appendage hardened and elongated, and nothing pleased her more than knowing she still affected him thusly.
A grunt sailed from his throat. “When did you become so wicked, Mary sweet Mary?” The use of his endearment for her confirmed the fact that he would let her tease him.
“Perhaps it’s the company I keep.” She kept her concentration on his growing member, delighted when it thickened in her palm. No matter how many times they’d shared intimacy, every new coupling excited her.
“Ha, perhaps it is.” A chuckle left his throat. As his aroused shaft grew, he widened his stance so she would have more room to work. “Are you sure you wish to do this? I don’t have any qualms about throwing you on the bed in the other room and sending you to the heavens.”
A shiver twisted down her spine at the imagery.
“There is plenty of time for that.” With him, she could speak her mind without fear of irritation or abuse, which was what she’d had from her previous marriage.
Daring much, Mary caressed her fingers up and down the inside of his splayed thighs.
She adored how he felt, much more solidly built than she was.
The rasp of the crisp hairs covering his skin sent tendrils of need through her lower belly.
The race of her heartbeat behind her ribs and the tingles of excitement at the base of her spine urged her onward, even more so when he let loose a faint moan.
“Right now, give yourself over to your wife, and let me soothe you back to a better frame of mind.”
“Do I have a choice?” The inquiry was a bit breathless, for she’d begun to caress the underside of his shaft.
“You do not. Besides, I did warn you there would be payback for what you did to me in the carriage.” She winked before she settled into her task of seeing how quickly—and how hard—she could make him find release. Or at least send him close enough to the edge that he’d break and claim her body.
Bright gazed down at her with a bemused expression. “There is no one like you, I think.”
“Thank goodness for that.” The more she handled his impressive equipage, the tighter and longer that thick, hot length grew.
Touching him in this way was so erotic, and she loved the power of it.
She and Bright didn’t indulge in oral pleasures much, but when they did, the results were usually explosive.