Page 12 of Murder in Disguise (Mary and Bright #5)

“True.” Unable to hold back, he cupped those quivering mounds, gave them a gentle squeeze, and when a moan issued from her throat, he grinned against her mouth.

Wanting to see her in the grips of passion, knowing that he put her there, he brushed the pads of his thumbs over the hardening buds.

Each brush of his fingers pulled sounds of pleasure and encouragement from her.

As Mary’s back arched and she clutched at his shoulders, he took one of those buds into his mouth.

“More!” While he continued to torment the nipple with his lips and teeth, he teased the other with his thumb. “Send me flying.”

He wanted nothing more than to render her naked so he could kiss and explore every inch of her skin, feel the heat of her on his fingers, delve his tongue into places he hadn’t tasted in far too long, for their lives were rich and full these days. “Gladly.”

When he flicked his tongue over a straining tip, she whimpered, held him to her between her splayed knees. Urgency tingled through his hardened length; desire streaked into his stones and demanded he take her.

Mary struggled into a semi-sitting position and reached for his frontfalls. “Let me touch you.” Those talented fingers brushed over his erection to drive him nearly out of his mind. “Tease you, bring you to the brink.”

“Not here. I’ve not closed the door…” As he moved to take her other nipple into his mouth, possibly try and get her off with a hand beneath her skirting, a loud knock on that same damned door prevented further exploration.

“Who the hell is that?” More disgruntled than he should be, Gabriel pulled away from the lovely picture his wife made of a woman nearly gone in passion.

As quickly as he could, he set his cravat into a loose, sloppy knot.

Only then did he dare to rise onto his knees to peer over the high back of the low sofa.

“What is it, Collins?” If there was heavy annoyance in his voice, he couldn’t help it.

“Inspector Bright?” The butler stood in the doorway with uncertainty written upon his face. “There is a Major Kourier waiting in the parlor downstairs. He wishes to speak with you.”

“Why the devil for?” Ordinarily, he wouldn’t mind seeing his friend from Bow Street, for they’d both been busy with their respective private investigation businesses, but right in this moment, he wanted to couple with his wife.

Well-hidden by the sofa, Mary issued a soft giggle.

“I would have no idea, Inspector, but he says he’s come directly from Bow Street with news.” Collins huffed in apparent frustration. “Shall I send him away?”

Damn it all to hell. Gabriel glanced down at Mary, who encouraged him with a nod. With a sigh of his own, he looked again at the butler. “No. Tell him I’ll be down directly. There is work to do, after all.”

“Very good, Inspector.”

Once the butler departed, Gabriel untangled himself from Mary’s legs to stand away from the sofa. He tried to manipulate his cravat into some semblance of order.

“It seems we have been thwarted yet again,” he said in some annoyance.

She giggled again. “There will be other times.” Then she righted herself into a sitting position, and sadly, she tugged her bodice back into place, settling her clothing as she did so. “Go spend time with your friend.”

“We will continue this tonight.” He leaned down, kissed her forehead, then left the room, immediately thundering down the stairs to the floor below. By the time he reached the downstairs parlor, he’d worked himself into a proper bit of a temper. “What the hell do you need, Kourier?”

“And a good afternoon to you too, Bright.” The blond man turned around from examining a curio cabinet then stood his ground with his right hand curled about the silver head of a cane.

He glanced up and down at Gabriel’s person, and one of his eyebrows rose.

“You look quite harried, and a bit sloppily dressed. Is all well?”

“Of course it is. Why wouldn’t it be,” he snapped back, for damn it all, his cockstand was as prominent as it had been five minutes ago when interrupted by the butler.

Understanding dawned in the major’s expression. Amusement danced in his brown eyes. “I interrupted a bit of slap and tickle between you and your wife, have I?”

Heat crept up the back of his neck and into his cheeks. “Do shut up.”

A hoot of laughter came from the other man.

“Well, I do apologize for that, but I do come bearing possibly bad tidings.” He took an ivory envelope from a pocket of his greatcoat and handed it over to Gabriel.

“I’d been visiting Bow Street to talk with a friend, and had mentioned that I intended to pop over to call on you.

That’s when the news came in, and the man in charge sent me out with an urgent missive for you. ”

“Thank you.” He tore into the envelope, pulled out the paper within, and unfolded it.

“’Second body found in Vauxhall Gardens.

Come urgently. We can’t have the coroner take the corpse until you clear the scene.

’” Well, at least they were acknowledging his newer methods in investigating a crime scene.

“Damn.” Kourier rubbed a hand along the side of his face. “That’s not good.”

“Agreed.” Already, Gabriel headed toward the door. “Accompany me, Kourier. Mary has other commitments on her schedule this afternoon.”

Vauxhall Gardens

Gabriel kneeled at the side of the second dead young woman in as many days.

He’d been advised by the constable from the area that she was known as Miss Lattery, the daughter of Lord Carson, who was a peer.

Apparently, someone in the gathered onlookers recognized her from an event they’d both attended last week.

And what was more, she’d been the last girl taken, only days before.

“At least it’s not raining.” If that was the best he could do in the way of conversation, he was already failing.

“And I thought I was the grump.” The major stood nearby looking down at the corpse that had been propped up against a tree off to one side of a walking path.

Her ankles had been crossed and her marigold-colored skirting artistically arranged about her legs while her hands were folded demurely in her lap.

“At least that is what Miss Ives always tells me.”

“Your budding romance aside, I’m feeling completely ineffectual in this.” With a frown, he began a cursory examination of the body. “It’s already better than the one in Hyde Park, for the constable here has kept the crowds some distance away.”

This young woman was around Adelaide’s age, just like the first one.

However, where the first woman had been dressed in everyday clothing, this one was garbed in a gown with an ostrich feather in her upswept black hair, though both were more than a bit bedraggled and smudged with dirt and grime.

No doubt from her being kidnapped. The dark arcs of her lashes were a stark contrast against the paleness of her cheeks.

Women from different rungs of society. The only things they had in common were their ages and the fact they were dead.

“Do me a favor, Kourier. Check the back of her head and see if there is a bit of blood—no matter how tiny—at the base of her skull.”

“Of course.”

While his friend gingerly moved the body to do that, Gabriel gently inspected the young woman’s gloved hands. A folded fan dangled from a ribbon at one of her wrists, but a scrap of paper protruded from within the spines and fabric of the frippery.

“Damn.” Was this another cryptic note like the last?

“What is it?” the major asked as he bent to his work.

“A note, left by the killer.” Gabriel frowned as he pulled the paper from the fan and then smoothed its multiple folds.

“’You aren’t as clever as I am, because now there are two, stabbed through and through in a manner of speaking.

Can you guess who I am, or am I still in disguise?

When every woman is a darling of society, then no one can be, don’t you think? Until the next time… Inspector.’”

“Shit, Gabriel. The killer is playing a game with you.” Major Kourier stared at him with round eyes. “Now it’s gone personal.”

“Perhaps not yet, but I have a feeling if I can’t solve this, it soon will be.” Hot anger stirred in his chest. “I’m tired of being helpless. I won’t stop until this person is brought to justice.” He pushed to his feet. “What did you find?”

“A trace of blood at the nape. Is that significant?”

“I believe so.” Quickly, he told his friend about the first body and the tiny puncture wound. “Who the devil is behind this and why?” He needed to discuss the implications with Mary. Tomorrow, they would need to concentrate on the case and nothing else, if that was even possible.

“Someone who thinks nothing of snuffing out another’s life, clearly. Someone who is growing bolder each day. Someone who thinks this is joke and is making a mockery of society?”

“I don’t know, but I’ll find out if it’s the last thing I do.”

“Don’t say that, my friend. It might be tempting fate.”

Gabriel gave a sharp nod. “I’d ask you to consult, but I have a feeling you have a case of your own if you dropped into Bow Street today.”

The major grinned. “I do, and it’s a good excuse to call on Miss Ives. She adores trying to solve cases. Her mind is quite fascinating.”

That struck him as funny, but it felt inappropriate to laugh at such a scene. He gestured at a knot of men, one of which was the coroner, since he was done with the body for now. “I’ll wager that’s not the only reason you wish to spend time in her company.”

“It’s not.”

“Men like us are different, Major. Bonding over murder scenes? I’d think it odd or in poor taste, but women with strength and fortitude like ours?

Well, they are worth holding onto.” Then he frowned as they walked away from the site.

“You’ve known her for over five months. Why do you drag your feet in asking for her hand? ”

A long-suffering sigh came from Felix. “I don’t know. Over thinking, perhaps. Or fear, most likely. What if I’m not the marrying kind after all? What if I’ve been alone for too long?”

“Only you can decide that, but if you continue to trifle with Miss Ives’ heart, you’ll lose her.” He clasped a hand on the major’s shoulder. “Let this case be a lesson. Life is short, my friend. Make the leap. Think about it later.”

“And if it’s a mistake?”

“She’ll let you know that, too, but the ones that dress us down and push us to be better? Those are the ones that will be fiercely loyal and make our lives worth living. Trust me on that.”