Page 71 of To Dare the Devil

Dear Monsieur,

Thank you so much for the lovely outing yesterday. I had a wonderful time and the picnic by the Serpentine was quite delicious, though I wished Miss Knight had been with us. It’s always so lovely when she can come too, for she is such fun and she always makes you laugh so. Please do not scold me for impertinence, though I know it is impertinent of me to say it, but I wish you would marry her. She is the only person who truly makes you happy, and I think you should ask her at once before someone else does. I don’t want her to marry this Muir, or some other Scottish fellow who will take her away from us, somewhere we will never see her. She ought to be with you, and you must make that happen.

The good news is that you will have your chance. I received a letter from her this morning. She bids me to tell you she is coming home in time for her birthday on the 15th of July and will be at Lady Grasmere’s ball. I wrote this letter at once, for I know how much you have missed her too. How wonderful it will be to see her again after so long.

Please consider what I have said. I know you think me only a child, but I am not so silly that I cannot see what is in front of me.

―Excerpt of a letter from Miss Agatha Smith to her guardian, Louis Cesar de Montluc, Comte de Villen.

10th July 1842, between Bond Street and Church Street, Isleworth, London.

Kathy sighed, closing her eyes as Max nuzzled the tender spot beneath her ear that always made her shiver.

“Max,” she murmured, wishing they’d gone home once they’d finished their shopping instead of asking the coachman to take them to her parents’ house.

They had been in Warwickshire for the last ten days, and Kathy had fallen hopelessly in love with the house there. This was where they would make their home, once the school project no longer needed their attention. They had not planned to call on her parents today, for Mama had invited them for dinner tomorrow, but Kathy was full of plans for their new home, and wanted to tell her family all about it, so she’d decided on a surprise visit.

“Mmm?” He nipped at her ear, his warm hand gathering her skirts up and slipping beneath.

“Max!” she giggled, scandalised. “We mustn’t.”

“I want to touch you,” he whispered against her mouth, kissing her as his hand skated higher. “I always want to touch you.”

“Yes, but not right before I have to face Mama and Papa,” she said, gasping as his hand glided up the inside of her thigh to stroke the little nest of curls between her legs.

“Shall I stop, then?” he asked, raising his head to look at her.

Kathy stared at him, seeing the echo of the man he’d been, wickedness glinting in his eyes, but tempered now with love and understanding, and a generous heart.

“No,” she sighed, giving herself over to him, even though it seemed dreadfully outrageous to let him touch her so with the coachman and half the world outside the thin curtains.

Kathy held her breath as his clever hand worked between her legs, caressing and toying with her until she was writhing with pleasure, and he slid two long fingers inside her. He nuzzled his face against her hair and moaned.

“God, you feel so good. I shall never have enough of you.”

Kathy grasped his arm, holding him still as the climax took her, swift and fierce, rolling through her with pulses of pure joy, leaving her sated, pliant and sleepy. She rested her head on his chest and let out a shuddering sigh.

“Good?” he asked her, a touch of smug satisfaction lingering in the words as he stroked her inner thigh, reluctant as always to stop touching her.

Kathy snorted and glanced up at him. “Marvellous,” she said dreamily. “Though I am afraid we are almost there, unless you want to ask the driver to go around the block a few times,” she added with a saucy grin.

Max grinned and bent his head to kiss her. “No. I can wait. There’s always the drive home, after all.”

She buried her face in his coat and smothered a shocked laugh. “I can’t wait,” she mumbled, blushing as Max lifted her head, his eyes dancing with laughter.

“So wicked you are, Lady Vane. I am the luckiest husband that ever lived.”

“Indeed, you are,” she said, putting up her chin and attempting to look haughty, an effect he ruined by tickling the curls between her thighs and making her squeal and giggle.

“Stop it,” she ordered him, trying to restore some order to them as they turned onto Church Street. “Behave, you dreadful man, or I shall be too flustered to talk to them.”

Max did as she asked, making use of his handkerchief and helping her to restore her clothing to its proper place and put her bonnet on. His expression grew serious as the carriage halted.

“You are happy, love?”

Kathy stared at him, so astonished by the question, she gave a startled laugh. “You can’t doubt it, surely?”

Max shrugged, looking apologetic. “I hadn’t, but we’re seeing your parents, your brother, for the first time since we married and… I’m nervous,” he admitted.