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Page 18 of Miss Thornfield’s Daring Bargain (The Troublemakers Trilogy #1)

26 Grosvenor Square

London

B y the time Basil arrived at his residence, he was on the edge of a full-blown panic. The idea of Ada being at the mercy of a man like Trent, or worse yet, the men he was hiding from, had his skin crawling. He knew she was formidable, he knew she was intelligent, but he couldn’t bet on her against a group of thugs. He wouldn’t be able to breathe easily until he had her in his arms again. Until he had undeniable proof that no one had put fear in her eyes again.

No one but him, of course.

There was no way that he could hide something like this from her. Not without endangering her safety. She was smart enough to avoid any situations that would put her or her loved ones at risk. Provided, of course, that they hadn’t gotten to her already.

“Ada,” he called softly, peeking into his study. It was a good deal more organized than he remembered leaving it and bore a few additional pieces which he knew belonged to her. Hopefully, she hadn’t done too much damage to his system. He made his way through the house, calling out for her, checking the kitchen, the dining room, the additional sitting room at the back. The property had been built for a small family, only three rooms above stairs, two parlors, a dining room, and a kitchen. With himself as the only true occupant, Basil had focused his energy on the rooms he used: the front parlor which was, truth be told, big enough to section part of it as a study, his bedroom, and the kitchen. He imagined that Ada would be only too glad to sink her fingers into everything. She probably already had ideas to reorganize.

He walked up the stairs and heard a faint humming coming from his bedroom. So that was where she was. It was the largest room in the house, meant to be shared by the master and mistress. When he pushed open the door, he was graced with the sight of Ada in the bath. Her eyes were closed but he knew she wasn’t sleeping. Her lithe limbs were flushed with the heat and slick with her violet-scented bathwater. All that gorgeous dark hair was braided and pinned on top of her head. He needed to touch that body, feel that silken hair in his hands before his heart stopped racing.

He walked towards her, careful to stay as quiet as possible, but just as he grew close enough to touch her, those beautiful eyes opened and fixed on him with fond amusement.

“Hello, you,” she said quietly.

“Hello to you, how are you feeling?” he replied, loosening his cravat and shrugging off his jacket and waistcoat. He paused to remove his boots before crouching beside her.

“I’m fine, just relaxing really.”

“How did you spend your day?” he asked, kissing her jaw, debating if he should simply climb into the bath with her.

“I made a catalog of the things in your home that need replacing or updating.”

“No wonder you are exhausted.”

She grinned, tilting her head to grant him more access, “I was surprised at how long it became. Why did you leave half of it undone?”

“It seemed a waste of time really, it was only ever me, and I was always in the country.”

“I’d forgotten you have another estate,” she said.

“Hardly an estate,” he replied, nuzzling her shoulder as his hands moved over her slick arms.

“Well, no matter. It’s ours,” she replied, leaning back against him.

“It certainly is.”

“When do we go back there?” she asked.

“Whenever you like, dearest.”

“Is it as badly furbished as this one?”

“It’s equally functional. But feel free to do as you like.” He brushed a few errant tendrils from her alabaster neck, feathering his fingertips over her sensitive skin before cupping her soft breasts in his hands, and she arched into his touch with a sharp breath. He loved the slight weight of them, the sensitive rose-tinted nipples that were always eager for his touch.

“I want a garden,” she said on a soft sigh as his fingers danced over her soft stomach.

An image came to him of her laid out in a field of forget-me-nots, her dark eyes shining, her body warm and supple under his, “A garden sounds lovely.”

“I know what you are thinking of and it’s not flowers.”

“It’s definitely flower related.”

She laughed and shook her head, turning to wrap her arms around his neck. “You are incorrigible.”

He wrapped his arms around her, his chin resting on her shoulder as he tried to calm the anxious feeling at the base of his skull. He just needed to stay there for a moment, breathe her in and feel her against him, warm, loving, and utterly alive. “Your brother has asked to finish the renovations while I take you on a honeymoon,” he murmured.

“Did you agree?”

“I did.” He pressed a soft kiss against her damp neck. It was right there after all.

She sighed, “Good.”

He nipped lightly at her skin, and she shivered slightly, the tips of her breasts furling into hard pebbles he felt through his shirt. “Good? Are you trying to say something, Mrs. Thompson?”

“No,” she smiled lazily. “He hates owing others. What you did…” she trailed off, “What we did for him, he wouldn’t be at peace until that debt was paid. It’s how Mama was as well. She believed that a favor unpaid created a karmic debt you had to repay in your next life.”

It was something he hadn’t considered. It was true that Richard never let a favor go unreturned, but Basil had always seen it as him being kindhearted. It had never occurred to him that his brand of reciprocity was rooted in theocratic belief. “But a house? Doesn’t that seem a bit much considering what a delightful handful you are?” he asked.

She nuzzled his face softly before drawing back enough to meet his eyes. “It is not about the effort you expended, it’s about how much he values what you protected,” she replied. “I am his beloved mèimei after all.”

“You are beloved,” he replied, his hands spreading over her back, pulling her closer. He was tired of the copper barrier between them. He needed to feel all of her. “Are you done in here?” he asked.

She nodded with a sly grin, and he took her mouth with his. She turned into him fully, tangling her fingers in his hair while he slipped an arm around her back and under her knees, yanking her out of the bath. She gasped against his mouth before pulling away to see where he was heading.

“We’ll make the bed wet,” she protested weakly as he lowered her onto the silken coverlet.

“I don’t care,” he replied, shrugging off his suspenders and lowering his half-dressed body to hers. The relief of that contact, even through his clothes, sent chills through him.

“Basil,” her eyes darkened, and her beautiful hands came up to unbutton his shirt.

“Ada,” he replied and she rolled her eyes in amusement before tugging his shirt from his trousers and pulling it over his head, tossing it behind her. “Be a good girl and kiss me.”

She giggled as he nuzzled her jaw, shivered when his hungry mouth moved down her neck and breasts, tasting salt and smelling violets. He nipped at her skin, and she gasped, curling her hands into his hair, writhing beneath him. He knew there would be marks on her skin from his mouth, from his teeth, but he couldn’t stop. Couldn’t stop touching or tasting her long enough to clear his mind. Every gasp and whimper she let out, every tremble, told him that he wasn’t hurting her. His hands roved over her bare, damp flesh down her leg, pulling it over his hip, opening her wider for his fingers to test her readiness.

The desperate relief he felt when he found her slick and hot almost shamed him. He couldn’t wait any longer to be inside her. Half-blind with desire, he met her lustful gaze before kissing her gasping mouth and plunging himself inside her. Both their ragged cries were swallowed as her hips churned against his, her hands pulled him closer, her nails digging into his skin.

He buried his face in her shoulder as vicious pleasure clawed through his body, leaving him breathless. Her uneven desperate breaths fanned against his neck as he twined their fingers together to ground himself. As he began to move, her legs wrapped around him, and her free hand stroked down his side. The comfort that feather-light touch gave had his eyes burning as she began to climax and dragged him over the edge too soon. Wrung out, he stayed where he was in her arms as she pressed gentle kisses to his neck and shoulder, nuzzled his cheek with hers. All he wanted was this: a lifetime in her arms.

*

Something was wrong with him. Or rather, something had happened. Something that had sent him into a state of desperation. She didn’t have a problem with the results per say, but if her husband was going to come home and ravish her, she’d prefer it was owed to her own allurements rather than something else. He shifted until he was lying beside her on his stomach, his arm flung across her chest, his chin level with her shoulder.

She watched his eyes drift closed, but the small smile he usually wore after was absent. She wrapped her hands around his arm, trying to comfort him as much as she could. Even now, with the last echoes of pleasure fading from her limbs like a dying ember, she couldn’t allow herself to relax with that question on her mind. “Are you sleeping?” she whispered after some time. He hummed in response before one blue eye cracked open.

“Why, are you after another round?” he murmured with a devilish grin.

She rolled her eyes and slapped his arm, “No, you ridiculous man. I wanted to ask if you were okay.”

He kissed her neck and pressed his forehead against hers, nuzzling her nose. “Barely. I think you broke me.”

She giggled while his beautiful blue eyes glimmered with amusement. “You started it.”

He chuckled and rolled on to his back tugging her against his chest. “So I did.”

She followed, settling against his side, her hand stroking his lightly haired chest in gentle, even caresses. Did he not understand her question or was he evading? “Are you truly well? You seemed more excited than usual earlier.”

“The sight of my wife in her bath was very stimulating,” he replied, tracing his fingertips over her smooth skin.

“Mmmm,” she couldn’t help the instinctive smile those words produced.

“I missed you terribly.”

He was avoiding the question. “So did I, but that wasn’t the reason was it?”

He peered down at her, and she wondered if he would tell her the truth. His broad hand slipped up to cover her shoulder, pulling her even closer to him as if he was afraid she would disappear. What on earth had happened? Was it his father? Had he and his brother bullied him? For a moment, she was afraid he wouldn’t tell her the truth. That he would deny it or use their newly found intimacy to distract her. She didn’t know what she would do if that happened.

“No, that’s not the reason,” he replied. He took a deep, steadying breath and pulled her tighter, resting his cheek on her forehead.

“What happened?” she asked, adjusting her breathing to withstand his viselike embrace.

“Trent has escaped, and we don’t know where he is.”

Her heart faltered for a moment before it began to race in her chest. Escaped ? Was that nightmare not over as yet? Her fingers tightened on his shoulder. “That’s why you were so anxious.”

“I barely have any servants. If you were here alone when he came, I’d never know until it was too late. I thought I was going to come here and find you dead or missing.”

She nuzzled his chest and wrapped her arm around his waist. He must have been terrified. “He’s going to come for Richard again.”

“He may come for either or both of you,” he replied.

“He could come for you as well. He knows that you helped.” How much did he know? Did he know she had gotten married? He’d hurt Basil to get to her.

“He needs money, not my blood. But I don’t know what he is willing to do to get it. I thought you were safe at last, but now it seems you are in more danger than ever.”

“Yes, but we know the danger is there now. Before we were all caught off guard.”

“If I asked you to stay here until he was caught, would you do it?”

She was silent for a long moment before letting out a deep sigh, “I know we have to be careful, but we can’t just hide forever.”

“I said only until they catch him.”

“They already caught him, but he got away.” She couldn’t spend her life in terror like a cornered rabbit.

“I know.”

“He’s already taken so much, how much more must he take before we are finally free?”

“I don’t want you to stay under house arrest, but we need to take precautions. No public or private events.”

“That’s fair I suppose.”

“No errands without at least three policemen—”

“Basil, be reasonable.”

He grumbled but said nothing more for a moment. “Two footmen but they need to be armed.”

“Maybe we can stay with my brother for a while.”

“You mean seeing as he has footmen and we don’t?”

She loved how easily the ‘we’ rolled off his tongue. “Yes. And perhaps Mr. Kingston has a few acquaintances who can help stand in. That way we know they can defend themselves, and they’ll be able to take him into custody at once if he shows himself.”

He frowned down at her, as if annoyed that he hadn’t considered that first. She leaned her head back to meet his eyes and wiggled her eyebrows.

“Well? Do we have an accord?” she asked.

“Have I mentioned lately what a brilliant and beautiful woman you are, Mrs. Thompson?”

“It could bear mentioning again.”