King of the South

by Calia Read

  With a soft push, I sit up and think of a quick reply. “Please come back. I … I … I need you to get me some warm tea. My throat aches.”

  There’s a long pause. I’ve never been one to lounge in my bed unless I was violently ill. “Of course,” my maid replies.

  Closing my eyes with relief, I breathe deep, and then I realize what a mess Livingston and I have made and how close we were to being caught. That’s not true. There’s still the matter of getting Livingston out of my room.

  “Oh, Lord.” I drag my hands through my hair and then down my face as I try to think of a plan. “Oh, Lord.”

  “Livingston,” I whisper-shout. When he doesn’t reply, I gently shake his shoulder. Within seconds, his eyes flash open. He goes from sound asleep to wide-awake just like that and sits up in bed.

  He briefly looks around my bedroom, at me, and then back at me. I can see the moment when last night’s events dawn on him by the way his eyes widen ever so slightly.

  All I can do is nod, a gesture that says, “Yes, we did that.”

  Livingston scratches the back of his neck as his eyes sweep across my body. His gaze lingers a heartbeat longer on my breasts.

  “What time is it?” he asks.

  “Eight. My maid just knocked on the door.”

  “Shit!” he hisses and whips the sheets off.

  I follow him and watch as he frantically rummages to find his shoes and shirt. “Why did you let me fall asleep?”

  Grabbing my robe, I put it on and hastily tie the belt. “I didn’t plan on this. I accidentally fell asleep myself!”

  Finally, Livingston spots his shoes clear across the room. He sits on my vanity chair to put his boots on and stands back up to keep searching for his shirt. I hope he never finds it; a bare-chested Livingston is a sight I could stare at all day.

  “How do I get out?” he asks as he continues to hunt for his shirt.

  “The same way you got in?”

  “Someone could see me outside,” he points out. He spots the shirt halfway hidden beneath my bed.

  “The chances are far less likely than someone seein’ you in this house.”

  Livingston quickly buttons up his shirt. I don’t tell him that it’s uneven. Everything about him is chaotic, including his disheveled hair and wrinkled pants. He’s still incredibly handsome.

  “You should go now. My maid will be back up here any time.”

  “All right, all right. I’ll go.” He grabs his jacket and gives me a quick kiss before he strides toward my window.

  “Le savauge?”

  I turn, expecting him to say he forgot something. Instead, he curls one hand around the back of my neck and gives me a firm kiss. The spontaneity of the moment causes me to smile. At that second, I’m so happy I become off-balance and grab Livingston’s arm. He pulls back seconds later, one side of his mouth curling up. “You look good in the mornin’.”

  He disappears out of the window before I have time to reply. The curtains billow into the air as Livingston begins his slow trek down the tree.

  My shoulders touch the wall. I toy with the collar of my nightgown as a secretive smile causes my lips to curl up.

  I just couldn’t seem to help myself.

  Besides, this is just an attraction between two people. There’s no love. I know what I have to do to save Momma and me from ruin.

  The two of us could walk away from my outlandish offer without either one being hurt.

  But that was the truth. If Livingston was the king of the South, I was the queen of lies. From my deceit and his charm, we could build a kingdom that would last for centuries.

  Je te veux plus que tout.

  How many women has he spoken those words to?

  My heart knew the answer to the question.

  To the wrong women? Far too many to count. But to the right one? Just once.

  And she was me.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

  Livingston

  Many forms of torture have been used throughout time. Hippolytus de Marsiliis is noted for creating a water torture method where water falls onto your forehead in intervals. While you, restrained, slowly go mad. My sister-in-law’s methods aren’t quite as barbaric. However, they are no less painful because even though I’m not restrained, and there’s no water dripping onto my scalp, I have the uncomfortable pleasure of feeling every single lady’s eye on me who’s sitting at this table. And there’s far more than I expected.

  This lunch is intended for the remaining bachelors and their families to attend. Not their family’s family, and friends of the family. I haven’t seen Belgrave this crowded since my sister’s wedding.

  It was a mistake on my part to come to this lunch. Why did I agree? Oh, yes. Rainey laid beneath me with her nightgown half-open, petting me as though I was Adonis in human form. The moment she uttered the word “bachelors” I felt a blind fury build in my chest and spread throughout my body. I said yes without a second thought. I said yes because her body fit against mine, and so she was mine.

  And now here I am. Freshly shaven, in a new suit, and sitting across from none other than Rainey Pleasonton.

  She carries on a conversation with Serene as though we didn’t spend the night together. In fact, she has looked at me only twice, and that was only because I asked how her momma was faring, and if she was enjoying the cool weather Charleston was experiencing. Her replies were polite. Every time she looked at me, I attempted to catch her gaze for longer than a second but was unsuccessful.

  I came to only one conclusion: Rainey would make a remarkable poker player.

  Did it bother me she didn’t appear affected by last night? I don’t know. But I do know she’s the only woman I’ve ever spent the night with and not slept with, causing me to take care of my own needs in my bedroom this morning, like a fourteen-year-old boy who’s hot around the collar.

  If Pleas was alive, he would kill you for thinking about his little sister in such a way.

  Not for the first time I shift uncomfortably in my seat, clear my throat, and lean in toward Étienne. “After this lunch, your home will be a breedin’ ground for all the mommas of the South lookin’ to marry off their daughters.”

  Étienne snorts and gives me a resentful look. “Yes, and I have you to thank for that.”

  I arch a brow. “Me?”

  “If you didn’t enlist Serene’s help over the dowry dilemma, these bachelors would not be sittin’ around my table.”

  I dip my head. “Fair enough.”

  “Then does that mean you’ll be the first bachelor Serene can arrange dates for?”

  I shudder at the thought. “Absolutely not.”

  “Yet here you are. On a Thursday afternoon.”

  “I’m like most people, Étienne. I have to eat. Would you prefer I starve?”

  “I once asked if you’d be interested in attendin’ a meetin’ with Asa and our business partner, and you told me you would love to but you couldn’t because your afternoon was booked. At home. In your room. While you slept off the effects of your drunkenness.”

  “It wasn’t a lie. My afternoon was booked. Like food, I also need sleep, too.”

  I grin, but my brother is unamused. “My point for that story is these events are somethin’ you never look forward to.”

  I look away and take a sip of my drink. “Once I heard what was on the menu, I knew I had to be here,” I lie.

  “You’re a lover of fillet of sole au Vin Blanc?”

  “It’s a new passion of mine.”

  “Hmm,” Étienne’s replies.

  At that moment, Rainey laughs. I wish she hadn’t because I’d done a wonderful job of not thinking about her or looking her way. And now I do just that. The bachelor sitting beside her is the source for her laughter. I believe his name is Elijah.

  Fuck Elijah and his words.

  She hasn’t had a date with him or any time to get to know him. In her eyes, he still has a chance of being the one to give her everything.

  I
narrow my eyes. What did Cameron say to her? Rainey doesn’t laugh for nothing. She’s not that type of woman who giggles coyly and bats her eyes whenever a man looks her way. You have to earn her laugh, but when you do. Damn. The sound is unabashed and free.

  “Stop starin’.”

  I turn and find Étienne giving me a pointed look. “Pardon?”

  He takes a sip of his drink and says out of the corner of his mouth, “You’ve been starin’ at Rainey since the moment we sat down. If you don’t stop, one of her many bachelors will notice.”

  “That would require them to stop fawnin’ over her,” I mutter under my breath.

  Étienne hears me, though, and the corner of his mouth tilts upward. “Why, Livingston, you’re lookin’ rather green with envy.”

  I scoff and grab my drink. “No.”

  One of Rainey’s insufferable bachelors asks Étienne a question. He’s someone I’ve never seen before. “Who is the man you were just speakin’ with?

  “I have not the slightest idea,” Étienne truthfully answers. “Would you like a detailed guest list the next time Serene hosts a dinner party at our home?”

  I grunt in response and continue eating. Étienne chuckles. “You’re in a rather peculiar mood today. Did you have a particularly rough night?”

  My food becomes lodged in my throat. I gasp in air, but that causes the piece of food to become further stuck. Étienne whacks his palm heavily against the middle of my back, and as painful is it feels, the food comes out.

  One of the bachelor’s mommas across the table murmurs, “Mercy me!”

  Embarrassed, I wipe my mouth with my napkin, then reassure everyone around me I’m all right and there’s no need to send for a doctor. I was just thinking about the woman who fell asleep in my arms last night.

  It’s then, at that moment, Rainey chooses to lift her head. The guard she’s had up since lunch is lowered as she looks at me with concern. My throat burns from the bile, but Rainey looks ready to leap across the table and help in whatever way possible. That’s the most confounding thing about this woman. One minute she wants nothing more than for me to leave her presence, and in the next, she looks as though she’d do anything for me. Fight any battle for me if I ask her to. Her loyalty is unmatched, and one of the many attractive qualities about her. Because there’s more than one, and I’m discovering something alluring about her every time I spend time with her.

  As I finally catch my breath, I gladly accept the water Étienne offers to me. All eyes turn in her direction, and it’s as though Rainey becomes aware of her surroundings.

  Slowly, she settles back into her seat. With her beautiful fingers, she delicately drapes her napkin across her lap and focuses her attention on the bachelor next to her.

  Serene and Étienne stare at us.

  “Do you need more water?” the guest next to me asks.

  “No, no. I’m quite all right,” I say with a friendly smile.

  The only thing I need is for my life to be set to rights. Everything is displaced, and I could direct the blame at Pleas, but he’s gone. I can’t place responsibility on Rainey’s shoulders. Climbing through her window (both times) was my own choice.

  I was losing my mind. Whether that culminated from lack of sleep or the nightmares of war, I didn’t know. I just knew I couldn’t stop. I felt helpless.

  For the first time, I was becoming dependent on a woman. Each day, I counted on Rainey’s smiles, laughter, and our conversations.

  I wondered, did Rainey even know she had me under her thumb? Did she know last night was the first time I’ve slept peacefully in months? No nightmares. No fear.

  Nothing.

  It was the best feeling in my life. I could easily see myself becoming devoted to that feeling. But it should’ve never happened and can’t happen again.

  After a moment, conversation slowly resumes around the table. Much to my relief. As for my brother, he won’t stop staring at me suspiciously. “Is there somethin’ developin’ between you and Rainey?” Étienne asks quietly.

  I keep my gaze on my plate. “If you’re askin’ if she’s less bothersome, then yes.”

  “That’s not what I’m askin’.”

  Finally, I look at him from the corner of my eye. “Then I don’t know what to tell you.”

  “Do you care for her in the way I care for Serene?”

  “You love your wife.”

  Étienne gives me a meaningful look. “Precisely.”

  I look my brother square in the eye. “I do not care for Rainey.” Yet the moment I say the words, I want to take them back.

  For several seconds, my brother doesn’t look away. His sharp gaze is speculative, trying to find any clues I might be lying. Then he nods. “Very well. I will take your word for it.”

  “Thank you, now can we change the topic of conversation?”

  “Of course.” Étienne pauses. “I had my attorney examine Pleas’s will.”

  Now this is a conversation I’m willing to have. Just not sitting at table with strangers around us. After looking around, I lean in and lower my voice. “What did he find?”

  “It is ironclad. There is no possible way to get around the dowry. And from the ledgers I’ve been searchin’ through …” Étienne’s voice fades. He gives me a meaningful look, but I don’t say a word. I want him to finish the rest of what he’s saying. “The mistakes are erroneous and too many to count.”

  “It’s been the same for me.”

  Étienne solemnly nods and looks around. “This isn’t a conversation for the table. We’ll talk about this more in depth later. But have you thought it best to leave everythin’ as it is?”

  “No,” I reply before my brother has a chance to finish his question.

  This time, Étienne glances around the table. “Serene may have unorthodox ideas at times, but this one might be her best one yet. Look around you. Better yet, look at Rainey.”

  From the corner of my eye, I do just that as Étienne continues to speak.

  “Rainey is happy, and as her executor and brother’s close friend, that should make you happy. She’s been through far too much in life.”

  Much of what he’s said has me nodding. I understand the words. I do. But they don’t sit well with me. “I do want her to be happy. But she’s too stubborn. Rainey … Rainey won’t be happy with these fools.”

  “Let Rainey be the judge of that.”

  I never have the chance to answer Étienne because Serene stands and announces it’s time to retire to the sitting room. Napkins find their way to the table, chairs are pushed back and voices are raised as everyone begins to move toward the foyer. I have no desire to stand around in the sitting room, watching the bachelors fawn for Rainey’s attention. I’m out for number one. I want the attention for myself.

  My eyes stay trained on Rainey as she walks ahead of me with people surrounding her. Numerous conversations are occurring. She has a friendly smile, but she looks inundated by the attention.

  When we’re all in the foyer, I weave through the bodies to expertly sidle up next to Rainey. She’s speaking to one of the bachelor’s mommas, but I know she senses me by the way her body tenses up. Once they’re done talking, I shift toward her so our shoulders are touching. Rainey freezes in place.

  “Go to the east wing,” I say against her ear. “No one will be there.” Rainey briefly nods, and I slip away before anyone has a chance to notice our brief interaction.

  Anticipation rushes through me as I walk down the hall, knowing that I’m leaving behind the voices and loud laughter and heavy perfume. I just want to breathe in Rainey’s scent and hear her voice. Everybody else can cease to exist.

  Just as I expected, the east wing is quiet. I wait for several minutes before I hear the sound of heels clicking on marble floors. Smirking, I flatten myself against the wall and wait.

  A long shadow stretches across the floor before she turns into the hall. “Livingston?” Rainey asks in a hushed whisper.

  I watch her
walk deeper into the hall as she searches for me. Once I’m sure that no one has followed her, I step away from the wall and press my body against hers so she’s flush against a side table, and my palms rest on the cool surface.

  Her eyes widen. Once she recognizes me, her shoulders sag. “My God,” she gasps. “You scared me.”

  Without a second, thought she wraps her arms around my waist and tilts her head back.

  “I’ve missed you,” I say against her lips.

  “You saw me this mornin’,” Rainey replies with a smile and kisses me back.

  I drag my tongue across her lower lip. I love how plump and smooth it feels. And when I gently bite down on it, Rainey moans.

  Her hands glide up my chest and around my neck. I keep my hands on the table, afraid that if I touch her, I won’t stop. We barely stopped last night.

  I lift my head. “Did I? Seems as though it was last night.”

  She smiles and pulls me back to her. I start to lose myself in the kiss, but then there’s the sound of servants’ voices. I rip myself away from Rainey and plaster myself to the opposite wall. Panting, Rainey and I stare at one another. Two servants walk past the east wing hall, thankfully heading toward the servant’s stairwell. They’re too busy talking to notice two figures in the shadows. Once they’re out of earshot, I go back to Rainey. Our bodies and limbs take the same positions as before.

  Possession rises in me. My tongue moves against hers urgently. Rainey is momentarily taken off guard but quickly matches my passion. She’s a quick learner, and all the time we’ve spent in her bedroom has made her so skilled in the art of kissing that she could teach me a thing or two.

  A selection of men are here for her, yet she’s with me.

  I’ve never been one to lack confidence, but at that moment, I need that reminder. I need to feel her in my arms. No one feels and fits as good against me like Rainey.

  My lips move down her neck. Sucking and nipping a small path to the curve of her shoulder. Rainey tilts her head back and holds me close.

  My hands curl around the lip of the table as Rainey’s body draws me in. I thrust my cock against her leg.

  She stops, her breath hitched in her throat, and grips the lapels of my coat. I move against her a second and third time, and the moan that comes out of her is soft and filled with desire. Her left leg wraps around my waist, and if there wasn’t the barrier of clothes, I could slide right into her. The very thought causes a strangled groan to slip from my lips. She felt amazing last night, but today … it’s as though she’s made for me.