“Mmm, Dev,” she moaned, twisting her hips under him and clenching around him.
He was hot and sweaty, even though it was cold outside. The fire in the hearth was blazing and Kitty burned beneath him, as hot and sweaty as he was. The bedclothes were sticking to them, damp with sweat and Kitty’s juices. He’d eaten her and fucked her until she was wetter than a spring rain.
Without a word he pulled out of her and stood, ignoring her protests. He grabbed her arm and yanked her up until he could pick her up. “Wrap your legs around my waist,” he told her gruffly. He didn’t wait until she obeyed. He took two steps over to the wall and pressed her back against it. Then he bent his knees and pushed his cock back into her.
“Oh God, yes,” she moaned, her head thumping back against the wall. He pressed harder and shifted his hips. He knew what she liked. He knew how to fuck his girl. “Right there,” she panted. “Dev, Dev, right there.” Her nails scored his shoulders and he laughed.
“Right here?” he teased, as he pulled out and then slid into her and, once seated in her, gave an extra little thrust.
Her breath stuttered as she inhaled sharply. “Yes,” she whispered brokenly. “Yes.”
“God, I love fucking you, Kitty,” he told her. He pressed her to the wall and cupped his hands under her sweet bottom, holding her in place for his cock. “You don’t make a man guess. You know what you like and you tell me.”
“What’s the point of fucking if it doesn’t feel good?” she asked breathlessly. She gave a little moan as he rewarded her with a good hard thrust.
“That’s right,” he encouraged her. “Tell me.”
“You know what I want,” she said, sliding her hand into his hair and clutching some of it in her fist. It stung and he inhaled through his clenched teeth. “Fuck me good and hard and make me come. That’s what I want.” Kitty leaned in and licked a drop of sweat from his temple. “Come on.”
Dev pulled away and looked down between them. He liked the sight of Kitty’s dark curls and his merging there where they met. He pulled out and got the same thrill from seeing his cock emerge from her as he’d gotten the first time they’d fucked fifteen years ago, when they were both still young and stupid. When he pushed back in, Kitty’s hips flexed and she met him thrust for thrust, sliding down on him as he entered. Their tempo increased and soon he had to look up. He braced one hand on the wall while he still held her rump in the other. Then he leaned in until her pretty, plump breasts were crushed against his chest and he fucked her as hard as he could.
“Ah, Dev,” she cried out. She wrapped both arms around his shoulders and bit his neck as her legs tightened on his waist. Then she was coming on his prick, strangling it with a cunt so tight it made him close his eyes and gasp. She gave a wordless shout and held him tight as she rode out her climax. As soon as she was done, Dev spun to the bed again and dropped her back on it, holding her legs around his waist. He gripped her hips and fucked into her a few times, his release hovering just out of reach. Kitty moaned again and slid her hands over her breasts and down her stomach and into her curls, pulling them, and Dev came. He loved to see her hands on herself. Loved to see her like this, wanton and abandoned and all his. He pulled out and came with a shout on the smooth, pale skin of her belly, gripping her so hard he knew she’d have bruises. He wanted them there. Wanted anyone who tried to take her to see them.
When it was over he cleaned her off and then climbed on the bed and dragged her into his arms. This was the part he liked best. Lying here holding her after. They hadn’t been allowed that luxury when they were young. Now they could. They could do it all damn day if they wanted and no one would say a thing. No one owned them. They could do as they pleased. Freedom was still a heady feeling for the both of them. Kitty snuggled up against him, slipping her leg in between his, her cheek on his shoulder. Her breath, still a little fast and ragged from their exertions, blew across the dark hair on his chest, and he shivered as it tickled him.
“Ah, Devlin,” she sighed dreamily. “You’re still the best I’ve ever had.”
He chuckled, not at all upset over the reminder of what she used to be. She’d been a whore who had risen through the ranks at a very young age after she caught the eye of an earl. Once he’d made her his mistress—and he’d paid dearly for the privilege—she’d spent the next ten years with a succession of wealthy patrons, until she had enough to buy her friend Kate’s dress shop and become a respectable woman of business. He couldn’t be more proud of her. Not many could come from where she did and end up where she was now. She’d had to work for it, fight for it, earn it. She was a damn fine woman, and he was proud as a peacock that she let him share her bed.
But he knew he shouldn’t. He was a link to a past she was trying to forget, a reminder of where she came from. She wasn’t going to keep moving forward if he held her back.
She interrupted his maudlin thoughts. “Do you remember the first time we did that?” she asked, smoothing her hand over his chest and rubbing his stomach. “Remember? You snuck into my room during the afternoon and talked me into it. You were too cheap to pay.”
“I remember,” he said with a smile. “And I wasn’t too cheap. You know I didn’t want you to fuck me for money. I wanted you to do it because you wanted to. It’s always only ever been because you wanted to.” He closed his eyes and he could still see her in the dim sunlight coming through the closed shutters, in that gaudy room wearing a silk dressing gown that showed more than it covered, biting her lip nervously and shooting anxious looks at the door as he undid the ties on her gown and pushed it off her shoulders. She’d been fifteen, or so she said. He hadn’t believed her, and rightly so. He hadn’t been much older, still scrawny and lean and trying to become a man. Kitty had a way of soothing all his aches with just a smile or a look back then, and he’d been so in love with her. “You were the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen. You still are.”
“How young we were,” Kitty whispered. She kissed his shoulder. “We promised that day we’d always be honest with one another, especially like this. None of the tricks we’d learned.”
“Never with you,” he agreed. “We never needed them.”
“I needed you so much,” she said, turning her face into his neck. She rolled on top of him and sprawled there, her face still buried in his neck. “You made me whole and real and someone who deserved more.” Her voice was muffled.
Dev ran a hand over the back of her head, and his fingers tangled in her hair. It was a mess from their fuck. He began to gently comb out the knots. “You were always those things,” he said softly. “With or without me.”
“Yes,” she agreed, tucking her head under his chin. “But you made me realize it.”
“You’re the reason I killed him,” Dev told her, though he knew she already knew it. “So we could both be free, and because he deserved it for what he did to you. You were too young when he put you on the block and everyone knew it.”
She shook her head. “What’s past is past. And you had other reasons too.”
They were quiet for a bit, Dev combing out her hair, Kitty still sprawled on top of him. He thought she might have dozed for a while. He liked it when she lay on him like that, as if she were his blanket and he her bed.
“What did you think of Thom?” she asked, finally mentioning him. He’d known it was coming.
“He’s a bloody mess,” Dev said tightly. “A drunk and mad as a hatter. I want you to stay away from him.”
“You know I won’t,” Kitty replied calmly.
“And Thom, is it?” Devlin asked, rolling over and dumping her on the bed beside him. “When did that happen? You’ve never called him that before.”
Kitty leaned up on her elbows and glared down at him. “I was comfortable.” She awkwardly pulled the blanket out from underneath her and crawled under it. “He asked me to call him that last night. Said he was tired of Doctor Peters.”
It was Dev’s turn to sit up and glare down at her. “I’ll wage
r he is,” he said, trying to keep his anger in check. “I mean it, Kitty. You do as I say.”
“You know I’ll do as I please,” Kitty responded, rolling over so her back was to him. “You don’t own me. No one owns me and no one ever will again.”
Dev sighed. Hadn’t he been thinking the same thing? “You know I didn’t mean it like that,” he offered gruffly. He hated it when she was mad at him. “I just don’t want to see you hurt.”
“I hurt seeing him like that and knowing that he’s hurting,” she said quietly with a sniff.
Dev put his hand on her shoulder and rolled her over to face him. He didn’t like the tears shimmering in her blue eyes. “Why?” he asked, truly perplexed. “Why him? I don’t understand it.”
“He’s so good, Dev,” she said fervently, sliding over and wrapping her arms around his stomach. “He’d do anything for you. For anyone. He hasn’t a cruel bone in his body. He’s gentle and kind and he…” she pulled away and looked up at him, her eyes still shining with unshed tears. “And he’s so lonely, Dev. He needs someone so much.”
“It doesn’t have to be you,” Dev told her, cupping her beautiful face in his hands. She had full cheeks and a mouth that was shaped like a little heart. He traced her red lips with his thumbs. It was the face of an angel. “I don’t want it to be you.”
“I’ll never leave you, Dev,” she said solemnly. “Never.”
“No?” he asked, slipping out of her arms and out of bed. “Then how do you plan to be with the doctor?” The doctor who was everything Dev wasn’t. Dev didn’t know how to be gentle or kind or good. He only knew how to survive. He grabbed his pants from the floor and shoved his feet into the legs, yanking them up. “You’ve been listening to your friends too much and building fairy tales in your head if you think I’m going to slide over and let the doctor slip in between us in this bed.” But he was already there, wasn’t he, a little voice whispered in his head.
“I didn’t say that,” Kitty said quietly.
Dev turned and faced her with his hands on his hips. “Then what do you want, Kitty?” he demanded.
Kitty just sat there in the middle of the bed and gave him a forlorn look.
“That’s what I thought,” Dev said in disgust. He grabbed his boots and left her there, heading down to the warehouse. He had a shipment coming in and business to take care of.
Chapter Six
Kitty peered through the dirty window into Thom’s office. There were two people waiting, a man and a woman, and a small man sat behind a desk. The last was clearly Thom’s assistant. She hadn’t been here before. It wasn’t a bad location, but somehow his office managed to look disreputable. Perhaps it was the man and the woman, who looked like they were up to no good. The man actually stood in the corner, facing the wall, his hands in his pockets.
She stood straight and shook out her skirt to get the street dust off. She’d worn a very nice dress in a shade of gray that complemented her complexion and her hair, while being entirely suitable for a woman of her age and station. Her abundant charms were not on display. She was very conscious of that sort of thing these days. Mustn’t aggravate the clientele at her dress shop by dressing better than they did, or acting superior in any way, or too lowly or loose. She was barely clinging to respectability now, as it was. Shopkeepers such as her bordered on indecent even when they weren’t. She grimaced. Gad, most of the tight-lipped ladies who frequented her shop irritated her beyond measure. She sighed and then she smoothed her hair under her bonnet, making sure it was in place. She licked her dry lips and pinched her cheeks to give them some color.
When she opened the door the gentleman in the corner turned his head down, hiding his face with the brim of his hat and hunching his shoulders. Kitty frowned at him. The woman looked quite startled and then dug a handkerchief out of her reticule and held it to her mouth, watching Kitty with wide eyes. When Kitty stared at her she turned away, her face crimson. Kitty didn’t like this one bit. She turned her frown on the little man behind the desk.
“May I help you?” he asked with an ingratiating smile.
Kitty stepped inside. When the door closed behind her it cast the room in a gray, dirty darkness and she could almost hear the sighs of relief from the other two occupants, who were now disguised by the lack of light.
“Why is it so dark in here?” she demanded.
Thom’s assistant looked taken aback by her question. “The windows should be washed, it’s true,” he said defensively, “but it’s winter, in case you hadn’t noticed. Too cold to be out there scrubbing windows.”
Kitty narrowed her eyes at him. “Then light a lamp.”
He glared right back. “Do you have an appointment?” he asked officiously.
“Tell Doctor Peters that Mrs. Kitty Markham is here to see him.” She’d had to adopt the Missus for work. Ladies seemed to find the notion of a widow working more palatable than an unmarried woman.
At that the assistant’s eyes widened. “Kitty?” he asked.
That earned him another glare. “Yes,” she answered slowly. “Is there a problem?”
“He can’t see you today,” he said in rush, coming to his feet. He sidled over and blocked the hallway. “I’ll let him know you came by.”
“Where is he?” Kitty demanded.
“Wait your turn,” the man in the corner growled, turning his head only slightly to glare at her from under his brim. “He’ll get to us all.”
Kitty marched right up to Thom’s assistant and stood nose to nose with him. “You had best move,” she said quietly, “or I’ll not be held responsible for the resulting damage as I make you move.”
He tried to stare her down for about a minute before he cast his eyes down. Kitty smiled in triumph. “Just let me tell him you’re here,” he said. “He’s with a patient.”
“All right,” Kitty said. She folded her arms, not moving an inch.
He hesitated and then turned and headed down the hallway. He stopped at one of the two doors there and knocked. He leaned in close to the door. “Doctor,” he whispered. There was no response. “Doctor,” he said louder. “There’s someone here to see you.”
“See here,” the man from the corner said. He’d turned all the way around. “I’m first. She gets hers after I get mine.”
Kitty spun around slowly. “Get your what?” she asked, her anger barely held in check. Something was going on here, and she didn’t like it one bit.
“You know what,” the man growled. “The same thing we’re all here for.”
The woman sitting there made a sound of distress and stood quickly. She hadn’t moved the handkerchief from her face. She glanced between them and then silently rushed out of the office. Kitty saw her hurrying down the sidewalk through the grubby window.
“And what might that be?” Kitty asked the man, advancing on him with her hands on her hips. “Just what do you think you’re going to get?”
“Don’t be so high and mighty, missus,” he drawled. “I know you’re here to lift those skirts for him. You’ll just wait your turn. He’s got more than one good fuck in him.”
Kitty gasped. She turned around to stare at his assistant in shock. The little man stood there in the hallway looking guilty as sin. Kitty looked around frantically and spied a broom leaning against the wall by the desk. She marched over and grabbed it and brandished it at the man in the corner. “Get out or I will thrash you,” she said between clenched teeth. “And don’t come back.”
He looked alarmed for a second then he smirked at her. “Nonsense. Surely you didn’t think you were the only one he was giving it to. It’s his main treatment.”
He laughed at his own joke and it was the final straw. Kitty flew across the room and poked him hard with the broom.
“Get out,” she yelled. She smacked him twice more, knocking his hat off. She vaguely recognized him. “I know you,” she lied.
He panicked and, grabbing his hat from the floor, fled the office. Kitty turned on his assistant.
“You’re next.”
“Don’t you dare,” he had the audacity to say. “I’m no more happy about these developments than you are. But he won’t listen to me. Are you really Kitty?”
“Yes,” she said, throwing the broom away. “Why?”
“He talks about you. When he’s drunk. ‘Kitty’,” he said, clearly imitating Thom. “’Pretty Kitty. Lovely Kitty.’ That sort of thing. It’s actually a relief to find out who you are. I thought he had an unnatural affinity for cats.”
Kitty snorted. “Well now I’m Mad-As-Hell Kitty. Has he got one in there?”
He nodded, biting his lip. Kitty motioned him aside with a wave of her hand. “Move.”
She knocked loudly on the door. “Thom?” she called out. “Let me in.”
There was a crash inside and cursing. It wasn’t Thom’s voice. “Damn it, move,” a man’s voice hissed.
“Kitty?” Thom called out. She could hear the disbelief in his voice. “Kitty, you’re here?” He sounded shocked. He also sounded drunk.
“Yes,” she said. “I’m here.”
“You came to see me?” He sounded positively flabbergasted. Kitty realized what he meant.
“Not like that,” she said impatiently. “I came to see you, Thom, not Doctor Peters.”
The door suddenly opened and a man shoved his way past Kitty, knocking her into the opposite wall. She saw Thom standing there, disheveled, half dressed and looking horrified. He suddenly leaped for the door and slammed it in her face. “Go away,” he said through the door. “Can’t see you now.”
She stood and rubbed her shoulder where she’d hit the wall. “Just because you can’t see me doesn’t mean I’m gone,” she told him. “Now open up.”
“No.” She could tell he was right on the other side of the door. She tried to turn the knob, but he’d locked it.
“Thom,” she pleaded, placing her hand on the door. “Please.”
FightforLove Page 4
