Page 57 of Eight for Losing, One for Loving

Chapter 15

Dear Felix,

Oh dear. I am sorry, my friend. I swear I did not know when she asked me about you what she had in mind. Do be careful. She’s a lovely girl, but very single-minded and her father is everything you said of him and more. He rules his household with a rod of iron, but he will not crush Belinda, no matter his tyrannical ways. She defies him at every turn and delights in besting him. I do fear you may be the means of her next battle. Have your wits about you, Felix, but she’s a beautiful creature, so perhaps you will not mind so much. What a way to go.

―Excerpt of a letter from The Most Hon’ble Catherine ‘Cat’ St Just, Lady Kilbane (daughter of The Most Hon’ble Lucian and Matilda Montagu, the Marquess and Marchioness of Montagu) to Mr Felix Knight (son of Mr Gabriel and Lady Helena Knight).

25th June 1850, The Rutland Arms, Newmarket, Suffolk.

Leo gazed down at Vi, his breath sawing in and out of his lungs like he’d been running for his life. He couldn’t help it, he was strung tight with desire, every part of him vibrating with need for the woman who was returning his gaze so boldly. She was no shrinking violet, but he’d always known that. For all that she had behaved like the perfect young lady he had known, at heart, there was someone fiercer, wilder, and far more exciting beneath that prim exterior, and here she was, laid out for him like a gift from some beneficent god. He sent up a silent prayer of thanks, knowing he must have been on his last life, his last chance to win her, but he’d done it, she was his, and he would never let her regret that decision.

The taste of her still lingered on his tongue and he hungered for more.

“Move back, love,” he told her, not taking his eyes from hers as she scrambled backwards, settling herself against the pillows. Leo shed his coat, tore impatiently at his cravat and cast it aside, and then undid his waistcoat buttons with such a lack of care it was a wonder they didn’t scatter to the four corners of the room. He had no patience for the rest and climbed onto the bed, his hands sliding around her ankles as he pushed her legs wide. Vi stared at him in shock and then relaxed, settling back on the pillows once more, gazing at him placidly.

“Good girl,” he said with a grin, and held her gaze.

Never taking his eyes from hers, he leaned in and pressed a kiss against her thigh. Vi’s breath caught, the sound delighting him and heightening his own anticipation further. He trailed his tongue a little higher, teasing the crease that ran beside the little triangle of the golden thatch of curls.

His bold beloved pressed her hips towards him, wanton with desire, her eyes pleading for him to stop teasing her. Leo smiled against her skin, captivated by her. Any fears he might have harboured that Vi would be afraid and need coaxing went up in smoke in the heat that flamed between them.

He rewarded her boldness by parting those springy little curls and sweeping his tongue over the delicate flesh beneath. Vi clutched at the sheets, moaning and throwing her head back as he repeated the move. Leo was lost in her then, entirely caught, heart, body and soul. The sounds she made, the soft pleading noises, were so enticing that his own body reacted alarmingly, and he knew he could not keep this up for much longer or he would lose his mind.

Somehow, he reined in his own desires as she shattered beneath his mouth, crying out with one hand clutching at his hair. Though he wished to linger, he could not, and began stripping off his shirt, the movements so obviously frantic that he heard Vi laughing, but he did not mind that.

By the time he was naked, he was at the edge of sanity. He fell upon her, taking her mouth hungrily, as if he would die without it. His hands weren’t as gentle as he’d meant to be, but the sweet temptress beneath him didn’t seem to mind.

“Vi, Vi, oh God, you’ll kill me,” he murmured desperately as she reached for him, her hand closing around his aching shaft once more. She stroked, sending pleasure surging through him and the thought of letting her continue touching him so was tantalising, but this night was for her, for her pleasure, and he would let nothing distract him from that, not even Vi herself, not when he had fought so hard to be here. “Stop,” he told her, reluctantly drawing her hand away.

She stared at him curiously. “But you liked it.”

“I did,” he agreed with a choked laugh. “And I always will, so any other time, please go ahead. Right at this moment, however, I need to be inside you. Right now, Vi. I can’t wait any longer.”

“Oh,” she said, apparently pleased by this explanation. She settled beneath him, opening her legs in invitation and Leo groaned.

“You’re marvellous, you do know that?” he told her desperately. “Truly, truly magnificent, and—”

“You’ve already seduced me, Leo,” she said, laughing as her hands glided down his back and settled on his behind. “You’ve got your way. I’m all yours.”

“Yes,” he murmured, finding his place between her thighs. “Yes, yes, yes, thank you God, oh, God, Oh…”

He groaned, the sound deep in his chest as he pushed inside the welcoming heat of her body. Unable to hold back, he thrust deep, and then belatedly cursed himself for a brute, but Vi only sighed, clinging to him. Reassured he had not hurt her or caused her any distress, Leo moved inside her, his entire being suffused with the most encompassing pleasure he had ever experienced. Overwhelmed by his senses, he discovered all his desires set before him. The scent of her, delectable as vanilla, filled his nose, the sounds of her pleasure delighting him as the taste of her, tart and sweet at once, lingered on his tongue. His hands could not get enough of her silken skin, of the soft roundness of her lovely body, and to look into her eyes was to know that he was loved, that he would love this woman for the rest of his days. Yet she continued to surprise him, to delight him, and when she came beneath him, suddenly and with sheer abandon, he thought his heart would burst with the wonder of it, of her. As her body tightened around him, pulling him in deeper, her arms and legs holding him to her as if she would never let him go, he could not hold back. He shattered, crying out and giving her all that he was, this night, and for all the nights to come.

Leo stared down at Vi, grinning stupidly. He felt like the cat who’d got the cream and no mistake, but then Vi looked pretty pleased with herself too.

“Well,” she said, gazing up at the ceiling. “It’s a wonder anyone ever goes out.”

Leo burst out laughing, feeling so ridiculously happy he was almost giddy with it.

“It’s not like that with everyone,” he assured her, reaching out and stroking her cheek. “You and I, together we’re special, Vi. We fit. We always have, it’s just it took us a little while to recognise that.”

She turned towards him, smiling. “Yes, that’s it. You’re my missing puzzle piece.”

Leo shook his head, smirking. “No, love, you’re my missing puzzle piece.”

Vi sat up, clutching the covers to her breasts and scowling. “No, Leo, that’s wrong. You’re the missing piece because—”

Leo kissed her, pressing her back against the pillows. Once she was silent, he released her, gazing down at her curiously.