The Bride of Devil's Acre

by Jennifer Kohout

  “I make it a point of knowing all of my important members.” He’d never had any trouble with Eddington. It was up for argument which vice the man engaged in more frequently, drinking or gambling, but he paid his debts and the whores never complained.

  “I’m honored you consider me worthy of such attention.”

  Jacqueline watched Marcus smile; his eyes, she noticed, held a mischievous light. She got the sense he was teasing her husband, experiencing a joke at Devil’s expense that Devil wouldn’t appreciate.

  “I was just enjoying a lovely evening with your wife.”

  “I can see that.” Eddington’s penchant for married ladies was well-known, his fondness for their husband’s less so.

  Jacqueline stepped toward Devil and reaching for his arm. Jiggling the chips in her hand, she drew her husband’s attention to her face. “It appears I can repay the house for my earlier losses.”

  Devil’s smile finally reached his eyes. “I thought you didn’t like to gamble.”

  “As you said, it’s all about fun, and Marcus and I were just having fun.”

  “Is that all it was?” Devil asked, his voice pitched low. He was surprised to find he didn’t like the idea of his wife enjoying another man’s company. Her flushed face and excited smiles should be reserved for him.

  “That’s all.” Jacqueline smiled, dropping her chips into Devil’s hand. It pleased her, this bit of possessiveness she was seeing. “Will you keep these for me, until next time?”

  Devil nodded, dropping the chips into his pocket. “I’ll see that an account is opened for you. You can come and play any time.”

  “Shall we go home, then?” she asked. Jacqueline couldn’t stop her cheeks from heating.

  Devil enjoyed his wife’s blush, the suggestion adding an attractive pink to her cheeks.

  Marcus sat sprawled in his chair, watching the newly wed couple. It was all rather charming, and perhaps a little bit romantic: the ruined young lady and the enterprising businessman. But Marcus wasn’t sure he believed in happy endings, and despite the sparks he saw arching between the two of them, they were worlds apart.

  Marcus pushed to his feet, carefully steadying himself on the table. “Congratulations.”

  “Thank you,” Devil said, automatically shaking the hand that was offered. “And thank you for looking after my wife.”

  Marcus nodded. “It was my pleasure.”

  Jacqueline rolled her eyes at Marcus’ suggestive purr. The man had a reputation as a rake, but he had been the perfect gentleman.

  “I can only hope for another such opportunity in the future.”

  Devil led Jacqueline through Purgatory. Outside, he hired a hack, helping his wife up before taking a seat next to her as the carriage lurched into motion.

  “Now, where were we?” Devil said, reaching for his wife. Wrapping his arms around her waist, he pulled her to him. His wife gasped, her hands braced on his chest but not pushing him away as he captured her mouth in a kiss.

  Power, passion…strength electrified his kiss, filling Jacqueline’s belly with heat. His mouth was punishing, demanding that she open up and surrender to him. There was no thought of fighting. She submitted to her husband and his kiss.

  She tasted of whiskey.

  He tasted of sin.

  The motion of the carriage jostled the couple, throwing them closer together. Devil was tossed back against the bench, his wife’s body forming to his frame. She was all soft, generous curves beneath his hands, her body flowing over his hard edges.

  Jacqueline tilted her head, deepening the kiss. Her husband may have started this, but she wasn’t just along for the ride. Gliding past his lips, she tasted him, saturating her senses with his unique flavor.

  Beneath her hands, his chest heaved. Everything about him was hard, from the wide expanse of his chest crushing her breast to his arousal trapped between them.

  A thrill of desire speared Jacqueline in the gut. Her belly quivered, and a rush of excitement washed over her at the obvious sign of her husband’s desire. So much power, she thought, feeling Devil pulse beneath her.

  Devil groaned, his hips lifting as his wife moved closer, putting pressure against his already straining member. She nearly undid him, surrendering to him without hesitation.

  The motion of the carriage rolling to a stop caught Devil’s attention. They were home.

  Reluctantly, Devil broke the kiss, lifting his head and staring down into his wife’s face. Male satisfaction swelled his chest at her slightly dazed look. It would seem his wife was almost as affected by the kiss as he was.

  “Why’d you stop?” Jacqueline asked, her gaze dropping to her husband’s mouth. Wickedly sinful. That’s how she would describe his lips, and his kiss.

  His wife’s husky whisper was a caress across his skin. “We’re home,” he told her. It was a reminder to himself, as well. All he had to do was get them inside. Then he would take the time to enjoy his wife’s charms—every single one of them.

  Jacqueline looked around. The carriage was stopped, and the driver waited for them to disembark. Outside, the gothic beauty she now shared with her husband sat silhouetted against the blue-black sky. The street was empty but not silent. Night sounds filled the air with a unique symphony.

  Devil didn’t give his wife a chance to collect herself. Jumping down from the rented hack, he reached in and gathered her in his arms, carrying her up the walk and into the house. Kicking the door closed behind him, he didn’t stop until he reached his bedroom.

  Jacqueline wrapped her arms around her husband’s neck, watching Devil’s face as he carried her over the threshold and up to his room. He didn’t look at her, his face in profile revealing an aquiline nose and sharp jaw.

  Curious, Jacqueline tore her gaze from her husband’s face and glanced around, gaining her first look of his bedroom.

  It smelled of him, the scent reminiscent of rich brandy and leather. It permeated the air, making her think her husband spent more time here than anywhere else in the house.

  The room itself was large with a massive four-poster bed, dressing room, sitting room, and a separate room for bathing with a large, claw-footed tub set before a second fireplace.

  Devil let his wife look a moment before letting go of her legs, slowly sliding her down his front and setting her on her feet. The moment drew her eyes back to his face. She was tall for a woman, her head coming to his chin. It made it easy to tip her face up to his for another kiss.

  This kiss was sweeter, softer than the one before, but no less devastating. The hands that cradled Jacqueline’s face were gentle, and his lips begged, rather than demanded, to enter.

  Devil nipped at his wife’s bottom lip, tugging gently before licking the sting away. She opened for him, and his gut tightened. He could spend eternity drinking from her lips, he realized, exploring her mouth and becoming intoxicated.

  Jacqueline fisted her husband’s hair, rising on tiptoe to get closer. Strong hands wrapped around her waist, slowly walking her backward as the kiss turned hungry. They were headed for the bed, she realized, anticipation unfurling in her belly.

  Jacqueline tore her mouth away. “Devil, wait, I—”

  Devil kept walking, eyes locked.

  The bed loomed behind Jacqueline. “I…I…I’ve never…”

  Devil stopped, his hands still wrapped around his wife’s narrow waist. She was small, his fingers nearly touching where they spanned her back. “You’ve never made love?”

  Jacqueline shook her head. “Not willingly,” she whispered. She dropped her eyes and confirmed what only her father and Emme knew to be true.

  Devil put his finger beneath his wife’s chin, tipping her face back to look at him. “We can take it slow,” he promised, “and stop whenever you want.”

  It was a generous offer. Desire for his wife was riding him hard, and it was an offer he hoped he would be able to keep.

  Jacqueline searched her husband’s face. His features were harsh, edged with a des
ire that was as thrilling as it was terrifying. She’d never seen her attacker’s face, but she remembered the sick hunger that had seeped from him as he forced his way into her body. She tried to block the memories that were swirling up from the depths, but they came unbidden, drawn to the surface by the reality of what she was about to do.

  Devil sensed she was on the verge of calling a halt and retreating to her room. Like his offer to accompany him to Purgatory, he knew that if they stopped now, the chance might never come again —his wife forever locked in the fear of her past.

  Slowly so as not to scare her, Devil lowered his head, recapturing her mouth and sinking them into another kiss. He took her over slowly, carefully controlling their descent into passion. His body strained, but he resisted the urge to press closer, waiting for some subtle signal that his wife was ready for more.

  The kiss went on, and on, and on, Devil apparently satisfied with kissing her senseless next to the bed. His hands were hot around her waist, but he made no move toward the bed. Fear quickly turned into frustration as her body grew restless, and he just kept kissing her. Unsure what else to do, Jacqueline eased closer to her husband.

  Devil shuddered as his wife wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling herself up onto her toes and crushing her breasts between them. This time, she made no move to stop him as he walked her back toward the bed, shedding his coat and tugging his cravat loose along the way.

  Jacqueline helped him, hands shaking as she slipped the buttons of his shirt free, parting the halves and tentatively running her palms across his chest. Meanwhile, his hands were in her hair, scattering pins and letting it fall down her back. When finally her husband broke the kiss, Jacqueline got her first look at him.

  Devil felt his wife’s eyes on him, a caress that spanned the width of his shoulders and followed the line of his ribs.

  “You’re beautiful,” Jacqueline whispered, in awe. Wide shoulders, smooth chest, and a light dusting of dark hair that started at his navel and disappeared into the waistband of his trousers. Following the trail of hair with her eyes, Jacqueline had the sudden desire to see where the trail ended.

  Devil hardened under his wife’s heated gaze. Her eyes wandered lower, growing wide as they landed on the front of his trousers. His arousal was obvious, and he decided to leave his trousers on, for now.

  “My turn,” Devil murmured, reaching for his wife.

  Jacqueline allowed herself to be undressed, each piece of clothing removed in due time and with surprising deliberateness. Her husband’s face was a mask of concentration, even as the man went down onto his knees, his hands slipping under her chemise to remove her stockings.

  “What are you thinking?” Jacqueline asked, crossing her arms over her breasts.

  Devil looked up at his wife. The room around them was dark, the only light from the moon glowing through an open window. She reminded him of a goddess with her ample curves and hair flowing free. She had covered her breasts with her arms, not knowing that she succeeded only in accenting the generous mounds. “That undressing you is like unwrapping a birthday present with a surprise waiting inside.”

  Jacqueline’s lips formed a silent oh. She had no idea her husband could be so poetic.

  “May I see the rest?”

  Jacqueline nodded, her cheeks heating as she unfolded her arms.

  Devil gathered the delicate material of her chemise in his hands, slowly drawing it up her thighs and pulling it over her head.

  Jacqueline crossed her arms again, blushing furiously.

  Enchanted, Devil watched his wife’s blush spread across her chest, turning the tops of her breasts pink. He was still on his knees, her breasts and belly nearly at eye level.

  Devil frowned when he saw the small square bandage taped to the flat of her stomach. Reaching for her, he was surprised when she jerked away.

  “Don’t.” Jacqueline didn’t want him to see the scars. No longer concerned with covering her breasts, she pressed her hands to the bandage, securing it in place.

  Devil flashed back to the cellar, Jacqueline sprawled on her back with blood seeping down her sides. He hadn’t given it much thought at the time, chalking it up to the loss of her innocence. “What happened?”

  Jacqueline shivered at the cold edge of violence she heard in her husband’s whispered question. “It doesn’t matter.”

  “It does to me. I want to know what the bastard did to you.”

  “Why? What are you going to do? He’s dead.” Jacqueline muttered the words without emotion.

  “I’d like to find him and kill him again.” Devil remembered the feel of slicing Carver’s throat. At the time, it had seemed like the expedient thing to do, a quick solution to an obvious problem. Now, he wanted to go back and take the time to make the man suffer.

  Jacqueline frowned down at her husband as he glared at the bandage covering her stomach. “Could you do that? If he were still alive, could you find out who he was?”

  Devil’s eyes shot to his wife’s face. Too late. He realized the danger in going down this road. “Would you want me to?”

  Jacqueline was silent for a long moment. “No. I want to put the past behind me and get on with my life.”

  Hiding his relief, Devil reached for his wife, wrapping his hands around her waist and turning her back to face him. “I won’t have anything between us,” he said, ruthlessly ignoring his own secrets. Maybe someday he would tell her…

  Jacqueline strained against letting him see, struggling to hold on even as he forced her hands aside and pulled off the bandage.

  Devil forced himself not to react to the three symbols carved into his wife’s skin. Time had passed, and they were healing, the skin pink and healthy. Devil bent his head and pressed a kiss to each one.

  “Devil,” Jacqueline whispered, tears thickening her throat.

  “These are nothing,” Devil whispered fiercely.

  “They’re ugly.”

  “We all have ugly things in our past,” he told her, moving to press a kiss on the unmarred side of her stomach. Her flesh quivered, the muscles twitching beneath his lips.

  Jacqueline twisted her wrists free, but instead of pushing him away, she slid her fingers in her husband’s hair and pulled him closer. “Thank you,” she whispered, his unconditional acceptance a balm to her wounds.

  Devil pressed a last kiss to his wife’s belly. Gaining his feet, he swept her into his arms and carried her to the bed. Still wearing his trousers, he stretched out beside her, satisfied when she turned into his arms.

  This time it was Jacqueline who led them in the kiss, her hands sweeping over her husband’s chest as she sought to know the contours of him. Their lips met and parted, tongues tasting each other before sliding away to taste newly exposed skin.

  The room grew warm as their bodies pressed close together, and Devil finally slipped out of his trousers. Free from all restraint, his arousal stood hard and erect, throbbing in time to his heartbeat. Rolling Jacqueline onto her back, Devil kneed her legs apart and settled himself between her thighs.

  Jacqueline gasped, her head going back at the hard press of her husband against her core. A spike of fear threatened to clear the haze of desire, but she ruthlessly pushed it away. Devil’s mouth was hot against her neck, his lips nibbling down the line of her throat to her collarbone. He slipped from her arms, lowering his head and nuzzling her breast.

  His wife’s skin was soft and sweet against his lips, the delicate curve of her breast drawing the attention of his mouth. The flesh here was softer, and the underside of her breast salty with the tinge of sweat.

  He took his time licking his way up to her nipple and was pleased to see the tender nub already hard and throbbing. Circling it with his tongue, he drew her gently into his mouth and sucked.

  Jacqueline moaned in a low and husky voice that was completely foreign to her, as was the sensation emanating in her breast and radiating down into her center. Heat pooled in her belly, and each draw of her husband’s mouth tugged
at something lower and started it throbbing.

  Devil shifted, rolling his hips and sliding his shaft along the outside of his wife’s core. A groan escaped him, and he shuddered.

  Thank God, was his first thought at finding her hot and wet, her nether-lips already parted in preparation for his entry. He worried about hurting her, and he wanted to make it good for her. He could never erase the memory of what Carver had done, but perhaps he could replace it with new memories of pleasure.

  Slipping his hand between them, Devil parted his wife’s folds, finding the nub of her desire and stroking her with long fingers.

  Jacqueline gasped, her body shuddering and going taut. A spike of pleasure speared her core, and spread out to infuse her limbs. She’d never felt anything like it, had never been touched or caressed in such an intimate manner.

  Jacqueline was on the verge of something, something more, but she didn’t know what. “Devil. Devil, please,” she begged, her world spiraling down to the space between her legs.

  Devil released his wife’s nipple, lifting his head and watching her face. Her head was back, eyes closed, and her lips were parted. Her chest heaved, her breasts rising and falling in a tantalizing rhythm as he stroked her. He was tempted to take her ripe nipple in his mouth again, but he wanted to watch her face as she came for the first time.

  “Let go,” he urged, sliding a finger inside of her. Sweat broke out on his forehead. “So tight.”

  Jacqueline didn’t hear him, the pleasure building as he invaded her body, pressing the heel of his hand to her and stroking her passage.

  Devil worked another finger inside, curling them both and cupping her gently. Her body bucked, and her back arched beneath him.

  She was close.

  He could feel his wife starting to tighten, her body growing taut, and urged her on with steady touches and softly whispered words.

  Jacqueline’s body contracted, her knees drawing together and squeezing her husband’s hips as the pleasure continued to build. Just when she thought she couldn’t take anymore, the release came, ripping from her core and radiating outward in ripples of pleasure.