by Beth Ciotta
Good intentions.
Heart and mind reeling, Willie rose up on her toes and brushed her lips across Simon’s tantalizing mouth. “As you must trust in mine.”
Suddenly she wanted nothing more than to seal the love he’d professed. To steer Simon’s thoughts beyond their disagreement, beyond their challenging future and her present deception. She could think of but one way to distract her husband beyond measure.
Determined, Willie deepened the kiss, anxious to soothe her soul and to addle Simon’s senses.
CHAPTER 31
Deceit.
As Willie leaned into Simon, as she intensified the kiss she’d initiated, he swore he tasted deceit. Absurd that her fervid affection should leave an unpleasant tang in his mouth, yet he could not dismiss the feeling that this was a calculated seduction. That she wished to distract him with sex, to turn his thoughts away from . . . what?
This was not the first time that Simon sensed Willie was keeping secrets, but it was the first time he sensed a deliberate and colossal betrayal. What he did not sense was malevolence.
Wary, curious, he disentangled her hands from his hair and eased away with a raised brow. “Should we proceed down this path, I’ll end up taking you on that Oriental rug,” he said with a nod, “or perhaps over the back of the sofa. It would seem my passion where you are concerned runs unchecked.”
“If you meant to dissuade me with that threat, you should rethink your tactics, Simon.”
“Simply warning you that at this rate I cannot promise we’ll make it to the bedroom.”
“Why delay what burns between us now?” She gripped his lapel with one hand whilst using the other to palm his arousal through his trousers. “I have heard it said in the pressroom that some of the most astonishing . . . alliances occur after a heated row.”
Stirred by her boldness, Simon nipped her earlobe and palmed her rear. “I shudder to think of all you heard from other men whilst masquerading as a man yourself.”
“Consider it an education.”
“I strive not to consider it at all,” he said whilst leaning into her brazen touch. It still chafed that she had felt compelled to deny her gender and race all those years. Nor did he enjoy contemplating the rows she’d no doubt encountered whilst incognito. A man did not dwell in London or circulate in skytowns without engaging in confrontations of some form or fashion. But of course she would have developed a fierce independent streak as a layer of protection. Even now, when she no longer needed to go it alone, the Canary persisted in flying solo. How the devil could he earn her confidence? Her unadulterated trust? Bad enough that his brother had kept him in the dark regarding intimate details of his life. By God, he would not be shut out or misled by his enigmatic wife.
As her seduction grew more bold, Simon embraced his own calculated agenda. How better to weaken her defenses than to pleasure her senseless? She thought to distract or somehow manipulate him with sex? “Fair warning, pet,” he said as she loosened the buttons of his trousers. “You’re playing with fire.”
“Warning noted and rejected.”
Simon escaped her touch and, after locking the double doors, plucked her off her feet and backed her against the massive wall of books. Their kiss was wild, their actions frenzied. There would be no foreplay this moment, no lingering or teasing caresses. Simon pushed up her skirts as she struggled with his trousers.
Her hand around his rock-hard shaft.
His hand up her silky drawers.
She wrapped her legs around his waist, and cupping her backside, Simon plunged deep. One swift stroke and then another. He made love to Willie with primal urgency, his thoughts ash as his blood burned. He felt her clenching around him, felt her body trembling as he stroked her to orgasm.
Harder.
Faster.
Novels and scientific journals tumbled about them as he nailed his beautiful and perplexing wife against the overcrowded literary shelves.
Deeper.
Slower.
One last thrust . . .
She cried out and he held still. Held back as she shuddered with a tremendous and lingering climax.
Heart pounding, Simon nuzzled her ear. He’d only just begun. He would unravel this woman. He would know her secrets. Motivated by love, driven by passion, he would strip away years of deception and cynicism and lay bare her heart and mind. “I suggest we retire to the bedchamber.”
“I have no need of a bed.”
At once she slid from his body and to the floor, to her knees. Sweet Christ, she took him in hand, working magic on his throbbing member. Adjusting pressure as she stroked, fingers gliding, lips . . . “Ah.” His knackers tightened and his heart stilled when he felt the warmth of her sweet, sassy mouth. At this rate, she would have the best of him in three seconds. “No.”
Simon swept her up and laid her back on the rug, shoved her skirt and petticoats to her waist, and buried his head between her legs. “This.” He ravished her with his mouth. His tongue, his teeth, his lips. He savored. He tortured. He endured as her fingers bit into his shoulders, as they clutched at his hair and pulled, as she bucked wildly beneath his erotic ministrations. When she peaked, his pulse raced and the need to possess her completely, to find his own release, burned with a vengeance. He thought to take her again here, now, sprawled on the floor or perhaps on her knees, but then it would be over much too soon. Where lovemaking was concerned, Willie had made her adventurous streak clear. Her curiosity and ravenous appetite challenged his normally versed control.
“I want you naked,” Simon said, tugging her skirts down and his trousers closed. “Now.”
Chest heaving, she blinked up at him in confusion and he wrestled with a moment of self-recrimination, knowing he was halfway to pleasuring his wife into mental and emotional submission. Believing he had her best interest at heart and prompted by bone-deep passion, Simon snuffed the flames of guilt licking at his conscience.
Sweeping Willie off the floor and into his arms, he stalked out of the library and across the hall, locking them in his master bedchamber. Setting her to her feet, he lazed against the wall with a cocky grin and a lustful gleam in his eye. She’d started this game, but he was the master. If she thought to take charge, she best think again. “Strip.”
• • •
Muted golden light seeped through a crack in Simon’s drawn curtains. Light from the newfangled electric lanterns lining the street in front of his town house.
Willie blinked into the darkened room. When they’d tumbled into this bed, it had been early evening—predusk. Their lovemaking had been shockingly intense, each vying for control. Simon’s stamina had been absurdly and wonderfully impressive. No matter her efforts to unhinge him completely, he had rallied and turned the tables, pleasuring her again and again. When she’d been too sated, too weak in the limbs and mind, to counter with her own passionate assault, only then did he surrender to his own need.
She did not remember drifting off. She knew not how long they’d been asleep. It was all she could do to remember her name.
Wilhelmina Darcy.
Her eyes burned with sudden emotion, her heart squeezed.
She had taken Simon’s name without pledging her love, and even now, even after he’d declared his affections, even now as she lay in his bed, in his arms, a dazzled and dazed recipient of his spectacular lovemaking, Willie had not spoken her heart. She had never considered herself a coward, but in this instance she could not deny her bone-deep fear. She was too unsure of the future to commit her feelings aloud. Speaking her heart would be opening her heart to possible obliteration. Staying silent afforded her a chance to live in denial, should the worst happen. As a writer she could imagine endless scenarios that would involve being ripped or thrown from Simon’s life. Her chest ached at just the thought of it.
“What’s wrong?” Simon tightened his hold and stroked a hand down her bare back.
How could he know her misery? Her head was tucked beneath his chin and although her mi
nd had raced, her body had been most still. “How long have you been awake?” she asked, without looking up.
“A while.”
“Why did you not stir?”
“Given our extreme alliance,” he said with a teasing smile in his voice, “I am not sure that I can.”
She snorted lightly against his chest. “I’m certain you have exerted similar energies in similar circumstances.”
“There have been no similar circumstances.”
That brought her head up. “Knowing what I have heard, what much of London gossips about, do you really expect me to believe you’ve led a chaste life?”
“Certainly not. But there has been no one like you. No interludes that can compare.”
Willie’s heart fluttered as she gazed upon his handsome face, into his earnest eyes. Her night vision ensured that his expression was indeed sincere. “In our long yet spotty association, you have said some wonderfully sweet things, Simon Darcy, but that is by far the most romantic.”
His brow furrowed. “More romantic than my declaration of love?”
“Let us not speak of love.”
“I know you care for me, Willie. I know you desire me. And I know, once upon a time, you loved me.”
“Travel down this road if you wish,” she said, pushing off his hard, warm body, “but I shall not join you.”
Simon caught her hand. “What are you afraid of?”
“Losing you,” she said honestly, then broke free and rolled out of bed. She pulled on a shift and dressing gown just as Simon flicked on an incandescent lamp. She felt even more vulnerable, knowing he could now read her expressions clearly. She felt unhinged by their lovemaking and by his emotional commitment. She felt like a despicable rat for not telling him about the portion of the Aquarian Cosmology Compendium within her possession or about her plan to surrender the memory disk to the horrible man who’d threatened her loved ones and livelihood. However, she did not trust Simon not to intercede. He would want to protect her and he would want the ACC. Meanwhile the clockwork propulsion engine would be at risk.
Surely she was right to proceed as planned. Appease Strangelove with the compendium, locate and surrender the clockwork propulsion engine to the Jubilee Science Committee. Queen Victoria would order the engine hidden away, under lock and key. Simon would claim the Triple R Tourney prize, ensuring the financial welfare of their families and restoring glory to the Darcy name. Aye, she would do well to focus on the greater good.
She realized then that Simon had pulled on loose silk trousers and a robe as well. He knotted the sash whilst stepping into a pair of slippers. Was he walking out on their argument? On her? “Where are you going?”
“I don’t know about you, but I worked up an appetite and we missed dinner. I can promise you Fletcher set something aside.” Simon moved closer and pulled her into his arms. “I say we raid the kitchen and discuss whatever you learned from Thimblethumper. The sooner we submit the engine to the science committee, the sooner we can get on with our life. The sooner you’ll realize I’m not going anywhere.”
She wanted to believe, was desperate to believe. She’d been living on her own for so long—her mother gone, her father distant, her brother estranged. She’d trusted no one with her true identity or race—no Freak, no Vic—and therefore no friends. Phin had become her friend and Simon . . . She smiled up into his eyes. “I find I am indeed most famished.”
“It’s settled, then.” He gave her waist a squeeze, guided her into the hallway . . . and straight into Fletcher.
Willie yelped and Fletcher, who balanced an oil lantern in his hands, gasped.
“For God’s sake,” Simon said to the man whilst flicking on an electric wall sconce. “Step into the new age, man, and stop skulking about like a character in a gothic novel.”
“I do not skulk,” Fletcher said. “And I do not see the need in lighting up the house like a Christmas tree when a lone lantern will illuminate my way.”
“Very practical,” Willie said in the man’s defense. She realized then that Fletcher was staring at her. Self-conscious, she smoothed a hand over her bed-mussed hair, but then realized her eyes held his attention. She’d forgone her corneatacts.
“Ah,” was all he said.
“I hope this won’t present a problem,” Willie said outright.
“No problem,” Simon said. “Right, Fletcher?”
The stiff-postured man raised one brow. “You won’t make it rain inside the house when you’re feeling melancholy, will you, ma’am?”
Willie’s lip twitched. “That would be within my brother’s power,” she said. “But not mine.”
“You’re not one of those shape-shifters I heard about, are you? I would not be keen on cleaning up the shedding fur of a wolf or some such.”
Smiling now, Willie hugged herself, feeling somewhat exposed in her morning gown. “I promise you, I do not shed, Fletcher.”
“Then I foresee no problem, Mrs. Darcy. I’ll see to your dinner now,” he said with a curt nod.
“No need,” Simon said. “We’re on our way to raid the pantry.”
“I see.”
“But you don’t approve,” Simon said with a grin. “Go back to whatever you were doing, Fletcher. I thank you, but we’re fine.”
Willie admired Simon for not taking advantage of hired help. She liked not having to hold to strict conventions. The undercurrents of true friendship between these two very different men bolstered her outlook on a more utopian state where Old Worlders and New Worlders, Vics, Freaks, and Mods could coexist equally.
Fletcher stopped midway to the servants’ stairs that led to an upper level. “I say, Mrs. Darcy, are you able to move objects with your mind?”
“Telekinesis?” She shook her head. “Definitely not.”
“Pity. It would have been a boon in helping to clean up the mess Mr. Darcy will no doubt make of my kitchen.” With that, he disappeared up the stairs in a haunting wash of flickering flames and shadows.
With the distinct impression that she’d been officially welcomed into this household and accepted by yet another Vic, Willie’s spirit soared.
“Fletcher may be mired in old ways,” Simon said as he guided Willie to the landing, “but that vexatious coot has a big heart.”
“He heard that,” Willie said with a slight smile.
“I heard that,” Fletcher echoed.
CHAPTER 32
“So what did you learn from Thimblethumper?” Simon asked as he seated Willie at a small table in the kitchen.
“My findings were quite astonishing and somewhat complex. Would you like me to help you?” she asked as he rooted through cabinets.
“You concentrate on expediting our expedition; I’ll manage dinner.” No matter his good intentions, using sex to ply Willie’s secrets had been a rather seedy affair. In the end he had not been able to take advantage of the moment. Instead of questioning her in the aftermath of their mind-bending alliance, he’d held his curiosity at bay whilst she’d drifted to sleep in his arms. At this point he was sailing on a wing and a prayer that she would come clean of her own accord. “Go on, then. Astonish me.”
Willie blew out a breath. “Let me preface this by saying most of what I learned resulted from a live interaction prompted by minimal time-tracing.”
Simon glanced over his shoulder. “In other words, your interviewing skills are as honed and beneficial as your supernatural gift. Noted and acknowledged.”
She smiled a little and his heart skipped. Christ.
“Bear with me,” she said, “whilst I try to report my findings in a succinct manner. There was much to absorb, and dare I say, I believe you will be as shocked as I was by this revelation.”
Simon couldn’t think of anything more shocking than learning his brother was some sort of bionic man, but he held his tongue and set out plates and flatware.
“I’ll start with the most surprising discovery,” Willie said. “Thimblethumper is in fact Ollie Rollins.”
Simon nearly fumbled a fork. “The missing Houdinian?”
“Indeed. If you recall, I had mentioned that I had seen Ollie Rollins in Filmore’s memories and that he looked familiar. That is because I’d met his much older self in person only a couple of weeks prior. He’s been living under the alias of Thimblethumper for the last several years.”
Simon frowned. “Why didn’t Jules tell me this straight out?”
“He did not know. Thimblethumper shared a plethora of information with the Mechanics, including names and descriptions of prominent Peace Rebels—such as Professor Maximus Merriweather—in exchange for being set up with a false Vic identity and business. He also spilled the beans regarding the existence of the Houdinians, but he never admitted to being a Houdinian. Like Filmore, he’d been utilizing aliases for years. Hence, he dangled a carrot in front of the Mechanics whilst leading them on a bit of a merry chase.”
So, Simon thought, she finally knew for certain the agency Jules worked for. If she was vexed with Simon for withholding that detail, she did not show it. Indeed, Willie seemed fully focused on her unfolding tale. He raided the icebox—chicken, cheese. “If Thimblethumper, that is, Rollins, set the Mechanics on the trails of his own people, then he must be the traitor your mother referred to in your father’s memory.”
“A logical assumption,” Willie said as she worried the edges of a linen napkin. “Except Rollins didn’t seek the protection of the Mechanics until after my mother’s death. It was then that he felt most vulnerable. Then that he saw the world as he knew it crumbling around him. Her death is what drove him into informing on other Mods—although he swore he never put another PR in harm’s way. He cooperated with the Mechanics because he was desperate to live out his remaining days in peace. The same reason he resigned his post with the Houdinians in the first place.”
