“Stop this instant! You have no right! Stop! Stop!”
Carin recognized Shelia McCoy’s voice. She also recognized the moment her cries of pain turned into cries of need. She imagined the young widow over Buxton’s knee, her skirts above her head, his hand coming down over and over.
“You’ve been a bad girl, Mrs. McCoy,” Lord Buxton’s voice rang out. “Someone needs to teach you a lesson. You will keep the information about Lady Ellington to yourself, do you understand?”
The spanking continued and Carin giggled.
“I understand, I won’t say anything,” Shelia said moments later. “Please stop. It hurts. Please.”
Buxton’s hand continued to find its mark. Murmured words were exchanged and then Shelia’s cries of pleasure filled the area.
“I think Buxton’s found himself a new friend, don’t you?” Tristan kissed her and then led her toward the house. Thirty minutes later Buxton came back in, a beaming Shelia McCoy on his arm. Her cheeks were rosy and there was a large smile plastered on her face.
Buxton made his way toward the Ellingtons and stopped, giving Shelia a look.
“Do you have something you wish to say to Lady Ellington?”
Shelia leaned over and lightly kissed Carin’s cheek. “Congratulations, milady.” Her words were soft. “I’m sorry for any trouble I’ve caused.”
Buxton laughed. “Very good, my dear. Now, if you’ll excuse us, we’re leaving early. Shelia and I have things to discuss.”
Tristan laughed as they walked off. “Let’s hope it’s not a double initiation ceremony.”
Carin looked at him in confusion. “Initiation ceremony?”
“Your initiation into The Club, of course. I don’t want Shelia horning in on it.” And he wiggled his eyebrows.
Weeks had changed into months and Carin had settled into her new life. Parties, plays and dinners filled her days and evenings. After those things were over, her nights were filled with Tristan.
Authorities had not been able to find a trace of Lord Simon and Carin smiled as she thought of him on the run, always looking over his shoulder.
Tristan had taken her to a meeting of The Rakes Club, where she watched various
ladies of society perform erotic scenes with their lovers, or husbands.
She’d been amazed at the high-ranking members of society who were involved in the activity. Tristan had told her she would be shocked but she hadn’t believed him. And all the ladies were laughing, enjoying the club meeting.
He hadn’t talked about bringing her into The Club, but she knew it was coming at some point.
“I think I slept through the entire second act,” Tristan said as the carriage pulled up in front of their house.
“It was rather boring, wasn’t it?” She kissed her husband on the chin. “Except for that time when you’d let your hands roam where they shouldn’t.”
“We’ll see where those hands should go next,” he said as he helped her get out of the carriage. Carin looked at the front door of the townhouse and gasped.
“Something’s wrong,” she said. No lamps had been lit in the windows and the front door was ajar.
Ellington bounded up the stairs, and Carin ran after him. Temple lay near the front door, his arms bound behind his back.
Tristan knelt down next to him and Carin ran for the back of the house. “Mrs. Walker, are you all right? Mrs. Walker!”
The older woman was in the kitchen, bound to a chair.
“They took everything,” she said. “Jewelry, silver. Everything.”
Tristan and Temple entered and Carin stared at him.
“What does this mean?”
“It means,” Ellington said, hands on his hips, “that Simon is still in town. And he knows I’m the one responsible for his downfall.”
“So, what do we do?” Carin’s voice was shaky.
“We don’t do anything,” Tristan replied. “We’re just lucky the other servants had the night off, and that no one was seriously injured.”
“But you can’t let him get away with this!”
Tristan shook his head. “I won’t. Don’t forget that I said you needed to trust me.”
“And you must trust me,” Carin replied. “I have an idea that might work.”
“I’m not sure I want to hear your idea,” Tristan said.
“It will work,” she said. “You say he wants to come after you, but I assure you he wants revenge against me. I think he blames me. Please, send a message to Kelley and we’ll discuss it. I promise, it will work.”
He sighed heavily. “Why do I think I’m going to regret this?”
“I’ll make it up to you,” she said. “I promise.”
“I’ll hold you to that promise,” he said right before he walked away.
Carin hoped he was going to write a letter to Kelley so they could discuss her plan.
The smell of flowers wafted in through the open French doors, carried by the night breeze. This was the third time they’d tried her plan. Tristan told her this was the last one. He’d made a big show of leaving after dinner, and then had snuck back in, along with Kelley, through the back door.
She’d left the doors open as an invitation, as she’d done the other two evenings. She prayed it worked tonight.
Carin ran a brush through her hair, wondering what joy her husband would have for her tonight, if the plan didn’t work. Husband. Her husband. She’d never thought to have another husband, but she was thankful for fate bringing Tristan into her life. She was happier than she’d ever been in her life.
“Your father would be pleased. Of course, he taught you everything he knew, didn’t he? Was stealing your way into society included in your education?”
Carin turned toward the voice. She was so shocked she didn’t know what to say. Lord Simon stood in the middle of the bedroom. His dark hair had been cut severely and he was wearing dirty clothing. No one would recognize him as a member of society.
“You ruined everything you little bitch! No one cared that your father died. No one. They didn’t even investigate his death. He wasn’t worth anything. Just a thief, nothing more.”
Carin held back the tears that threatened to fall down her face. “He meant something to me, no matter what you say. Did you kill him yourself? Or didn’t you have the guts?”
Simon sat down in a chair, his dark eyes burning with anger. “And why would I have dirtied my hands? Besides, you should know that it was his fault. He was greedy, wanting more money. He threatened to turn me over to the Yard if I didn’t give him at least half of each take. As if I couldn’t find another thief to take his place, which I did as you know. It took me a little bit of time to find another one with such skill but he’s done me proud. But that time cost me money, money I couldn’t afford to lose. People who run gambling hells aren’t very giving when it comes to repaying loans. And I’m way overdue on a few of mine.”
“Do you expect sympathy from me? You won’t get it, you know.” Carin’s eyes were blazing with anger. “And you didn’t kill my father because of money.” She was taking a chance here, because they’d never found out the truth about the keys, or the letters. “You killed him because he knew about what happened between you and your friends all those years ago. You killed someone, didn’t you?
Simon laughed. “Me? No, your father was the first death I was involved in. But I did help Rafferty cover up his little slip. All of us did. He killed his mistress one night. But she was like you, just a little whore. No one really noticed she was gone.”
“Little slip? A life is more than a slip,” Carin said. “And those letters? What did they prove? Nothing. Why did you have my father steal them?”
“Because they showed my involvement. I have the original letter, that I made Rafferty sign.”
“That you’re using to blackmail him,” Carin said.
“He never should have signed it,” Simon said. “You know, you’ve become awfully snooty in the last few weeks. Let’s see if we can�
�t take you down a few notches. Parker! Come and tie the lady up. Then we can take her down the back way so no one sees us. Having stairs off the balcony comes in very handy. But as a thief, you would know that. Parker!”
A silence fell in the room and Simon began to look nervous. Then he laughed. “Good help is hard to find. I hate to admit your father was good help. But it had to be done. Parker! Get in here, now!”
When no one entered the room Simon stood and walked toward the door. “Parker! Did you hear me?”
The door slammed open and Ellington tackled Simon, sending him reeling across the floor.
“You owe my wife an apology,” Tristan said, his fist slamming into Simon’s nose. “And make it quick.”
“Go to hell!” Simon said. Blood was spurting from his nostrils and he tried to dislodge the large man who was sitting on top of him.
Ellington drew back his fist to hit Simon again but Carin’s voice stopped him.
“Tristan, he’s not worth it.”
“She’s right, Lord Ellington,” Kelley said as he stepped into the room. “We have a place for Lord Simon all picked out. There is no room for his servants, however, so he’ll have to fend for himself. But I’m sure that a few of the residents at Newgate will be glad to help him become accustomed to his new surroundings.”
The Inspector motioned for his constables to take Simon into custody.
“You’ll regret this! All of you will.” Carin couldn’t help but laugh at Simon’s words.
Kelley nodded and Ellington took Carin into his arms.
“I must admit, Lady Ellington, that I had some trepidation about leaving you here as bait, especially after the first few failures,” Kelley said. “You’re a brave woman. He could have harmed you.”
Carin shook her head. “No, Inspector, I don’t think he would have. You heard him say he wouldn’t dirty his hands to kill my father. Simon is a coward at heart.”
Kelley nodded. “And let me assure you again, milady, that your secret is safe with me. Good night to you both.” He tipped his hat and left.
“It’s over,” Carin whispered to Tristan.
“Yes, it is,” he said. “Now we can get on with the fun part of our lives, like your initiation into the club, which will be tomorrow night. You’re going to love it, I promise.”
Carin’s eyes widened in shock.
“Think about it, and I’ll be back. I’m going downstairs to make sure all the police are gone and the doors are locked. Maybe you should take a bath and relax for a while. We’ll discuss the details when I get back.”
Her hands shook, but she was grateful that she wasn’t the only naked woman, or partially naked woman, in the room. She wore what Tristan loved to see her in, a corset and stockings tied around her thighs.
The ladies had all giggled and laughed and told her stories about their own initiations. Most of them involved spankings. Carin supposed hers did in a way, but it wasn’t what they were talking about. Their stories involved flesh being heated by crops, leather and other implements.
Hers was the same, she supposed, except Tristan was using a flogger, the same one he’d wanted to use the other night and she’d objected to.
An hour into the meeting, Buxton announced that the initiation would begin.
Tristan led Carin to the center of the room where a wooden pole stood, from floor to ceiling. She shivered at the idea of being on view, but relished the idea that she was doing something that Tristan wanted. How she loved him. How he had changed her life.
“Lady Ellington, do you wish to become a member of this Club?” Buxton’s voice was harsh and Carin answered that she did.
Tristan came up behind her and placed his hand on the small of her back. “Relax, little cat,” he whispered in her ear. He came around and wrapped the rope around her wrists, just like he had the other evening. She hadn’t noticed it when she’d stepped up before. She looked up to see the rope was looped through a ring at the top of the pole. He pulled on the rope and her arms lifted over her head.
“Hold the rope, but don’t let go this time,” he whispered in her ear.
Carin closed her eyes and moaned softly as Tristan started to run his hands over her body. She swayed and moaned as he continued to stroke her. He caressed her buttocks and thighs and arms. She wondered where the flogger was, and how hard he was going to hit her with it. They should have done it before, she thought as the long strands of the flogger tickled her legs.
He moved them softly, as if he were using it to caress her. The movements were slow at first, but increased in speed. But he didn’t smack her like she’d thought he would. The strikes were soft, and he moved all over her body. It went on and on, and as he moved from place to place her body heated; her nipples hardened. If Tristan put his fingers in the right place she would spend, and she would love every second of it.
When Tristan delivered the final stroke he pulled her into his arms and kissed her as Club members applauded and congratulated them both.
“I want to experience all of it,” Carin said into his ear. Her body throbbed with need. Yet, she’d never been happier in her life. “I want to please you.”
Tristan smiled back. “I will see to it, little one. And you already have pleased me, more than you know. I thank God for the night you broke into my house.”
“I thank him that you discovered me,” she said. “I love you, Tristan.”
He released her from the rope and picked her up into his arms. “Let’s go find a private room where you can show me how much you love me, Carin, and I will show you.”
When they were out of the main room he put her down and kissed her, gently at first, with the contact deepening as the kiss progressed. When he pulled her into a hug Carin knew that, inadvertently, her father had given her the best gift of her life, and she thanked him for it in her mind.
The End
Melinda Barron
Melinda Barron loves to explore Egyptian tombs and temples, discover Mayan ruins, play in castles towers, and explore new cities and countries. She generally does it all from the comfort of her home by opening a book.
Melinda loves to lose herself between the pages of a book. The only thing she loves more is creating stories from the wonderful heroes and heroines that haunt her dreams and crowd her head. She believes love is for everyone, not just those who are a size 2. Her books are full of magic, suspense and love, in all sorts of shapes and sizes.
Mel currently lives in the Texas Panhandle, with two cats, and a file stuffed with new ideas to keep her typing fingers busy, and your heart engaged.
Mel also writes as Maura McMann .
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His Disobedient Thief (Rakes of Mayfair Book 2) Page 16
