A Gentleman's Wager (8 page)

‘Ooof! Hey!’

She couldn’t take it any more. If she couldn’t have
Lucerne
she had to have someone, and Wakefield would do. She straddled him and pushed his back to the ground, ignoring his protest. ‘If you really want to know how I feel, let me show you.’

She shimmied back a few inches and brought herself down to straddle him.

‘Jesus!’

Bella rocked against him and felt him stiffen. She leaned forwards and snarled through a kiss. Their tongues jousted, the touches making her vulva tingle. His penis was straining against the fabric, eager for release, and she guessed from his reaction that he had his own demons to exorcise. As she moved to unbutton him, he pre-empted her and pushed the flap of his breeches away. Annabella gazed down at his proudly rearing cock. The head was purple, the shaft pale. He slid on her wetness and dipped inside with a satisfied groan.

‘You’re eager for this,’ muttered Frederick.

‘Shut up and fuck me!’

‘As you say.’

Almost immediately, Bella felt herself climbing. Sensation built between her legs and spread out in waves across her thighs and stomach, making her nipples stiffen so they were visible through her dress. She rode him hard, throwing back her head. Her lower body felt as if it was on fire. All she wanted was him deeper, harder, faster. Whether he was enjoying it was incidental – although he appeared to be, from his eager thrusts.

‘Oh, God!’

His body shook as he tried to maintain the pace. Bella knew he was going to come very quickly but the realisation didn’t slow her down. She wanted quick satisfaction, and if he couldn’t give it to her, she’d find someone else who could. There were plenty of men at the party, and she wasn’t feeling fussy.

He gasped wordlessly, as his head whipped back and his orgasm swept through his body. She held herself still until his breathing calmed then began to lift herself from him, but he clamped his hands over her thighs.

‘Where are you going?’

‘You’ve finished.’

Wakefield’s smile reached his dilated eyes. ‘Not properly.’ He clenched his muscles and his penis twitched inside her. It was already losing its hardness, but Bella groaned at the stimulation all the same.

‘Don’t be so eager to run off,’ he said.

‘I’m not normally encouraged to stay.’

Delving beneath her skirts, he sought out the point where their bodies joined. He circled the base of his prick with one hand and massaged her sensitive nub with the other. Bella felt her whole body leap at his touch as he delivered what Lucerne had only teased her with the promise of. Sensations pure and raw in their intensity flooded her excited body. She flexed her inner muscles around him and ground against his circling thumb, climbing then soaring as her thoughts slipped away. It wasn’t until she came back down and the afterglow had washed itself out of her cheeks that she wondered what Louisa would think. Millicent kissing him had already upset her friend, and that was nothing next to what she had just done. It was best Louisa didn’t know, she decided immediately, and from the guilty look Captain Wakefield was giving her, she guessed he felt the same way.

THE REMOTE NORMAN
church stood in a hollow, halfway between Lauwine and the source of the copper-tainted stream that flowed down from Hill End, past the Rushdale mine. At first glance the ancient building appeared to be sinking into the earth, for the graveyard that had once been at the same level as the church now came to the sills of the stained-glass windows, and only a narrow channel separated the two.

They had come out to view the tiny building and get some air, amid complaints, mostly from Charles, about having spent several days indoors following the party. Louisa was walking with Captain Wakefield, quite recovered and oblivious to anybody else while Joshua and Vaughan were equally deep in discussion, much to Bella’s surprise, with Charles Aubury trailing behind them. Lucerne was admiring the detailed patterns and rich colours of the stained glass. He was immaculately turned out in white breeches and a black coat, square-cut across the front and with a high M-cut collar.

Bella watched the captain cautiously. He hadn’t ignored her, but he was definitely keeping his distance. Well, hang it, if he wasn’t feeling guilty then she certainly wouldn’t, and Louisa’s blissful expression made it clear that she hadn’t found out. She drifted closer to her brother’s party, who were muttering furtively.

‘I know a girl who’s game for a guinea,’ said Joshua.

‘I know a lass who’s game for a shilling,’ grumbled Charles.

‘Yes,’ retorted Vaughan in a mocking tone, ‘but will she pass for a lady? We’re after a peach, not Granny Smith.’ He glanced sidelong at Louisa, giving Bella the distinct impression that they were plotting something.

‘Ahem!’ Joshua coughed loudly, and the other two noticed Bella eavesdropping. ‘Bella, why don’t you show Lucerne around?’

Bella was about to protest, but Lucerne had heard his name mentioned and nodded to signal his pleasure at the idea. They’d had no time alone together since the ball, with the exception of a few odd moments when they passed in the corridors or on the stairs. Very well, she would be bought off this time, but she still wondered what their game was. Lucerne waved to the group, but the only response was a scowl from Vaughan.

‘You’re rather solemn,’ he remarked, turning his attention to her.

Bella inclined her head in acknowledgement. ‘The church holds no interest for me. I’ve seen it a hundred times before.’ She surprised herself with her own jaded tone.

‘Of course you have. Please accept my apology for inflicting it upon you again.’ He smiled winningly as he aped her delivery, and offered her his arm to take. ‘Will you indulge me for a hundred and first? I should like to see the inside if it’s open.’

‘If you like. But there’s little enough to see,’ she replied, and accepted his arm.

At least it was a chance to be alone with him.

He led her down the broad steps and opened the door to dimness and cool air. Bella pulled her wrap tight around her shoulders as they stepped inside. It was much colder within than out in the bright sun. She wrinkled her nose at the dank earthy smell, then perched on the end of a stone pew to watch Lucerne, who was peering
up
at the seraphim on the vaulted ceiling. The church always made her think of mouldering corpses and decay, and today was no exception. The gloomy interior made her hunger for the light open spaces beyond the oppressive walls, and the wild hilltops. Lucerne seemed to her more divine than the rapturous painted angels, for all their golden halos and beatific smiles. She hoped he didn’t take much longer; the stone pew was beginning to chill her behind.

‘Is the church really sinking?’ he asked, and his voice echoed slightly off the stone walls.

‘I don’t think so. Too many corpses in the graveyard, is what I’ve heard. Joshua used to tell me that the ground would get so waterlogged that they’d float to the top whenever it rained heavily, and that the channel around the outside is to stop them coming into church for the service. He was always trying to frighten me.’

‘Truly?’ Lucerne responded with a smile. ‘That’s a pretty horrible story.’

Bella shrugged her shoulders, dislodging her wrap. ‘I’ve read worse,’ she admitted as she pulled it tight again.

‘You’ve read
Mysteries of Udolpho
? What about
The Monk
?

‘Uh-huh.’ She nodded. ‘That too.’

‘Scandalous! I had no idea you were fond of such things.’ Lucerne shook his head, then crossed to her side and offered her a hand up. The sensation of his soft leather gloves against her skin felt strange. They seemed to lend an air of deception to their wearer, as though the leather were a thick skin he could use to disguise his true nature.

‘Shouldn’t we rejoin the others?’ she asked.

‘Why? Are you afraid of me?’

He pulled her close to his chest and slid his hands
down
the curve of her back to her bottom, which he unashamedly started to massage. She could feel his gloves even through her dress. They rasped against the satin: determined, sensual and forceful.

‘Certainly not.’

‘Perhaps you should be.’ He swayed his hips against her. The sudden forwardness was surprising, but she wasn’t about to discourage him. There was a firm bulge in the front of his breeches, which sent showers of sparks flickering between her pubis and her breasts. Her nipples leaped to attention and stood like two cherries waiting to be plucked. She wanted to feel his lips around them, sucking and playfully nipping. Instead, he kissed the crown of her head and began to tease out the pins holding her hazel locks in place. ‘You smell nice, like roses,’ he said.

‘Lord Marlinscar … Lucerne.’

‘Yes.’

‘Are you trying to seduce me?’

‘No.’ He brushed his covered fingers across her lips. ‘I’m flirting, and so are you. Believe me, if I was attempting a seduction I’d choose somewhere a little warmer, with less company and more wine.’

Bella sucked the end of one of his fingers tantalisingly, tickling the soft leather with the tip of her tongue in the way she hoped to flick it over a rather more sensitive organ. The leather itself tasted a little musky, and she wondered what he’d been doing in those gloves to make them taste that way. Had he touched himself while wearing them? The thought turned her on. She’d enjoyed watching him masturbate.

‘Freddy seems keen to avoid you.’

Bella let his finger fall from her lips.

‘As if somehow he fears you might embarrass him.’

She stiffened against him and turned her head away, blushing furiously. Although she felt no guilt about what had happened, she felt some regret for Louisa. The captain was the man her best friend loved; she should have restrained herself. Apprehensively, Lucerne’s other hand left her bottom and veered upwards to her cheek. He forced her to turn, to meet his eyes again and reveal her secrets.

‘Ah! I did wonder.’ Lucerne released her, allowing her to turn away. ‘Well, I am glad that you enjoyed the party.’

‘I’ll leave now, shall I?’

He laid a gentle hand on her shoulder. ‘Why? Only if you want to.’

Bella’s heart fluttered. She didn’t know whether it was with promise or grief, but his calm acceptance of the truth was unnerving. She felt like crying. If he’d shouted at her or called her a harlot, she’d have found it easier. At least then she’d have had something to react against.

‘Life is too short to fill it with regrets, Bella. I’m not the jealous type, if that’s what you’re worried about. I’m not interested in your guilt, but Frederick is probably keen on your discretion. I know he won’t breathe a word to anyone, and I trust you won’t either. Funny, I’ve shared girls with Vaughan but never with Freddy.’

She considered this, and Lucerne suddenly seemed to realise that he’d been ungallant.

‘I mean, I still want you. If you’re interested.’

He circled her waist and pulled her back against his warm body. The hard bulge in his breeches was still there, a little softer perhaps, but still warm and urgent. He kissed her by the ear, and then on the cheek. Bella arched against him, lifting her chin so he could reach her. lips. He paused an inch from her mouth and a breath
passed
between them, mingling the potency of their desire, before he descended to kiss her with an aggressive, demanding ferocity.

‘You talk too much,’ she hissed into his mouth, before their tongues met with equal ardour.

The church door opened with a loud groan.

‘How quaint, and in church as well.’ Vaughan mocked them from the doorway, bringing their brief moment of passion to an abrupt end. ‘Really, Lucerne, I thought you had more finesse.’

Oh, hateful man, thought Bella, as the carriage jogged slowly homewards. Why did he have to spoil everything? Why, when she finally had Lucerne where she wanted him, did Pennerley have to interrupt? And why did he have to look so bloody smug about it? At least she didn’t have to tolerate his jibes for the rest of the day, since Joshua had insisted they return to the Grange for the night, so that he could ride off into Richmond on business before sundown.

Joshua sent a note to supper saying he was staying the night in town, and would return tomorrow to take them back to Lauwine in the afternoon. As Louisa didn’t appear for supper either, Bella ate in silence, then retired to her bedroom immediately afterwards to read Mrs Radcliffe’s new novel:
The Italian
, a romance of the Inquisition. It had arrived from London while they’d been away.

The prose soon filled her head with images of monks in long dark cassocks, who hid their perfectly formed male bodies beneath amorphous robes, until she expected to see them peering around the curtains at the bottom of her bed. Somehow, as her eyelids grew heavy and she began to doze, the story blended with her memories of the visit to the little church earlier that day.

The sinister Schedoni stepped into the aisle of the small church, his black robe swirling around him in the chilling night breeze. Frozen to the spot, Bella watched him approach; he paused just a few feet away and raised a hand to pull back his hood. Her heart lurched into her throat as the visage of Marquis Pennerley was revealed. He offered her a terse smile, before turning his head to draw her attention to a bundle at the far end of the aisle.

Bella crept forwards. The bundle moved. Closer still, and she recognised her lover Vivaldi-Lord Marlinscar. He was bound around the wrists and ankles, and large bruises covered his ribs and upper arms where the inquisitors had tortured secrets from him. She tried to reach him, to comfort him with her body and the light from her candle, but Vaughan-Schedoni held her back, and made the other inquisitors bear Lucerne away. She struggled in his grasp, and somehow managed to shake free though, as she ran through the old dank monastery, she wondered if he had not simply just let her go.

Lucerne was lying slumped over a pew. She touched his pale skin and he drew her into his arms. ‘Bella, Bella,’ he whispered against her hair, as he sought the welcome of her lips. His kiss was hot and sweet. Like honeyed wine, it made her feel warm inside and eager for more, but there was danger all around them.