Page 21 of The Devil’s Bargain (The Lovers’ Arch: Later in Life #2)

Devlin had just drifted off to sleep when urgent knocking jolted them both awake. Caroline’s heart raced as Devlin quickly pulled on his dressing gown and opened the door. His secretary, Jenkins, stood there, face tight with urgency.

“Telegram from the Thames Street facility, sir. Guards report lights in the windows and suspicious movement around the property.”

Devlin’s posture changed instantly, all traces of sleep vanishing. “Send word to Inspector Mills at Scotland Yard.” He turned to Caroline. “Stay here. I’ll handle this.”

“But—”

“No arguments.” He was already pulling on clothes. “This could be dangerous. Promise me you’ll stay put.”

Caroline made the promise, watching him hurry out. The moment his footsteps faded, she moved to her wardrobe where she kept the men’s attire she sometimes wore to inspect machinery. The trousers and dark coat would let her move freely in the shadows.

Fifteen minutes later, she approached London Water Works from the river side, keeping to the darkness. Several men prowled around the perimeter—not her guards, based on their furtive movements. But what really caught her attention was a subtle disturbance in the water near the main intake valve. The ripples were wrong, moving against the current in an unnatural pattern.

She stopped and stared when she realised someone was approaching underwater using a diver’s apparatus.

“Below!” she shouted, running as fast as she could manage. “They’re coming up through the intake valve!”

Devlin whirled, his expression thunderous at her presence, but there was no time for anger.

“Look!” She pointed to the water near the largest valve. Devlin turned toward where she was pointing and stiffened immediately.

She saw him run toward Inspector Mills.

“Wet guncotton,” she muttered to herself then began to run toward the control room.

“Caroline!” Devlin’s voice shouted, but there was no time to stop and discuss her plan. She kept running. But he was too fast for her. He caught her in his arms and spun her around.

"Evacuate!" Devlin commanded, already running toward the control room. "I'll shut down the water flow!"

Caroline raced after him, ignoring his orders. When she burst into the control room behind him, his expression darkened with fury.

"I told you to get out!" he thundered, already grappling with one of the valve wheels.

"You don't know the system!" Caroline moved swiftly to his side. "I designed this. Every valve, every connection point." She pointed urgently to the main control wheel. "That one first, then the secondary intake."

Devlin's jaw clenched, but he nodded sharply, recognising the logic of her presence despite his fear for her safety. Together they worked the wheels - Devlin on the main valve while Caroline handled the secondary intake. The mechanisms turned slowly at first, years of mineral buildup fighting their efforts.

"Here," Devlin said, moving to help her once he'd secured the main valve. His greater strength made quicker work of the secondary wheel.

“Is everyone clear of the water side? If the guncotton detonates, the entire water system would be compromised.”

Through the window, she could see Mills evacuating the area. The ripples in the water had stopped. Either the divers were too deep to detect now, or...

A different kind of vibration shuddered through the pipes. Caroline’s blood ran cold. “No...”

She and Devlin threw themselves at the emergency shutoff, but she already knew it was too late. The explosion ripped through the water system with devastating force, the shock wave shattering windows and throwing her backward. Strong arms caught her as Devlin covered her with his body while glass rained down around them.

For a moment, they lay tangled together as water sprayed from ruptured pipes. Then Caroline struggled up. “The secondary valves—if we can isolate the damaged section—”

“Already done.” Devlin helped her to her feet, his hands checking her for injuries. “I had men stationed at every junction point. The moment we started the shutdown, they sealed off everything downstream.”

She stared at him. “You knew what I would do.”

“Yes.” His mouth curved slightly. “I didn’t want to disappoint you.”

Without thinking, Caroline wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him down for a passionate kiss. Once she thoroughly expressed her gratitude through the kiss, she released him. “You are my hero,” she whispered.

“You’re the one who saved thousands of people just now. But I shall take all the credit since that’s what you’re used to.”

Laughing, they stood together as water sprayed from ruptured pipes. But shouts erupted from outside, followed by the sounds of struggle. Inspector Mills’ voice cut through the chaos. “We’ve got one of them!”

Caroline and Devlin rushed outside into the rain-slicked night. Two officers were wrestling a figure in a diving suit to the ground. As they struggled with the brass helmet, Caroline stepped forward, drawn by a terrible certainty that had begun to form in her gut.

The helmet came free with a metallic screech.

“No.” The word escaped her like a prayer. “No, it can’t be—”

But it was. Thomas Findlay’s face emerged from the diving suit, water streaming from his hair, his familiar features twisted with something she’d never seen before—bitterness, rage, shame.

“Thomas?” Her voice broke on his name. Years of friendship, of shared discoveries and late-night discussions about engineering innovations, of trust freely given—all of it crumbled like sand between her fingers.

He met her eyes, and for a moment she saw the man she’d known—brilliant, passionate about science, the one person who’d understood her mind when Edward had dismissed it. Then his expression hardened.

“It wasn’t supposed to be like this,” he said, his voice rough. “If you’d just shared your work willingly—”

“Shared?” The word tasted like ashes. “Is that why you tried to destroy everything I’ve built?”

“What choice did you leave me?” His laugh was ugly, desperate. “Do you know what it’s like? Having pieces of your brilliance but never the whole? Watching you give it all to him?” He jerked his head toward Devlin. “A low born, while I—”

“While you what?” Caroline stepped closer, shaking off Devlin’s restraining hand. “While you pretended to be my friend? Used our past to try to steal my work?”

“I was more than your friend! I loved you!” Thomas struggled against the officers holding him. “I was your equal! We could have built something magnificent together. Instead, you chose him. A common thug!”

“He is a thousand times more the man than you could ever be! You chose Imperial’s money over our friendship. You were willing to kill innocent people, and that makes you the worst man I’ve ever known.” Her voice was steady now, though tears burned behind her eyes. “How long, Thomas? How long have you been betraying me?”

Something flickered in his eyes. “They approached me after you married Elmstone. Said they’d make me head of engineering if I could replicate your filtration system.” His mouth twisted. “But I couldn’t. Even with everything you’d shared over the years.” He shook his head. “I couldn’t make it work.”

The rain plastered her quickly donned men’s clothing to her skin, but she barely felt the cold. “Whose idea was it to destroy the pipes?”

“Imperial wanted your company in ruins.” Thomas’ eyes darted between Caroline and the damaged intake valves, a slight smile playing at his lips. “Your precious filtration system would have been beyond repair.”

“You would have poisoned half of London.” Caroline’s voice shook with fury.

“And I would have been a very wealthy man.” His smile widened.

“Take him away,” Mills ordered sharply.

Caroline stood frozen, every moment with Thomas now playing back in her mind, tainted by this new knowledge. Every time she’d shared her work, thinking she was speaking to a friend who understood her passion, she’d been handing pieces of herself to a thief.

“Caroline.” Devlin’s voice was gentle as he turned her to face him. “Sweetheart—”

“Don’t.” She pressed her face against his chest, letting his coat muffle her words. “Just... hold me. Please.”

His arms came around her, strong and sure, as her tears finally fell—for the friend she’d lost, for the trust that lay shattered at her feet, for the knowledge that she’d never again share her work so freely.

“I’ve got you,” he murmured into her hair. “I’ve got you.”

The carriage ride home was quiet, broken only by the steady clip of hooves against wet cobblestones. Caroline sat wrapped in Devlin’s coat, staring unseeing at the gas-lit streets passing by. His arm around her waist anchored her as her mind spun with memories—Thomas checking her calculations, sharing tea in his study, all those moments of supposed friendship now tainted by betrayal.

“He knew exactly where to plant the charges,” she whispered finally. “Because I’d shown him the system myself. Trusted him with everything.”

Devlin’s arm tightened. “You couldn’t have known.”

“Couldn’t I?” She turned to face him, her voice bitter. “You tried to warn me about him. I accused you of being unreasonably jealous, when all along...”

“Caroline.” His voice was rough as he caught her chin, forcing her to meet his eyes. “Listen to me. Your ability to trust, to see the best in others—it’s not a weakness. It’s one of the things I—” he broke off, something vulnerable crossing his face.

“What?”

“One of the things I love about you.” His thumb brushed away a tear she hadn’t realised had fallen. “Which makes what I did even worse. I need to apologise.”

His normally confident posture was gone, replaced by remorse. “What I did—blackmailing you into marriage—it was wrong.” His voice roughened. “I told myself it was business, that I was protecting you from men who would never take you seriously. I convinced myself the end justified the means. But I was wrong. I had no right to force you into this marriage, no matter my reasons.”

“Devlin...” Her voice wavered. “Why are you telling me this now?”

“Our three-month trial was over yesterday.” He looked down at their joined hands. “We haven’t consummated, which means we can annul our marriage, maintain our business partnership. I’ll still use whatever influence I have to ensure your genius is recognised. You can be free of me.”

The silence stretched between them while all sorts of thoughts passed through Caroline’s head. “Is that what you want? An annulment?”

His voice broke. “Of course not. I’ve fallen completely, irrevocably in love with you, Caroline. Letting you go would destroy me, but I’m willing to let you be free should you wish. Keep your patents, your position, your wealth, but you wouldn’t be bound to me personally anymore.”

Caroline pushed him away gently. Her face had gone very still. “What if I wish to be bound to you? Personally, professionally, in every way.”

“Caroline, do you mean it?” His eyes widened as hope brightened his countenance.

“Wholeheartedly.”

He lifted her hand to his lips. “Caroline…”

“I choose you, Devlin Elmstone. I choose your schemes and your passion and your devastating honesty. I choose my brilliant and surprisingly kind husband.”

He pulled her into his embrace, his heart thundering against her ear. “Are you certain? Because once I truly have you, I’ll never let you go.”

“Good.” She traced his jaw with trembling fingers. “Because I have no intention of going anywhere.”

When he kissed her, it felt like their first real kiss—no schemes, no manipulation, just pure love and promise.

“Take me home,” Caroline whispered against his mouth. “I believe we have a marriage to consummate.”

Devlin laughed, joy bubbling up like champagne in his chest. “As my wife commands.”

Caroline sat pressed against Devlin’s side, his arm around her waist, neither speaking but both acutely aware of what was to come. When his fingers traced idle patterns on her hip, she shivered despite the warmth of the carriage.

Inside their home, Devlin dismissed the servants for the night. Caroline led the way up the stairs, her heart thundering with each step. At her chamber door, she turned to find him watching her with an intensity that heated her core.

In answer, she caught his cravat and pulled him down for a kiss. He groaned against her mouth, one hand tangling in her hair while the other fumbled with the door handle. They stumbled inside, barely breaking apart long enough to breathe.

“Help me with these buttons,” she whispered, starting with a button at the collar. His fingers trembled slightly as he worked other ones free, pressing kisses to each inch of skin he exposed.

“Do you have any idea,” he murmured between kisses, “how long I’ve dreamed of this? Of finally being able to worship you properly?”

The shirt and trousers pooled at her feet, leaving her bare to his starving gaze.

“My beautiful wife.” His voice was rough as he traced the curve of her neck. “Tell me what you want.”

“You,” she said simply. “All of you.”

His kiss was fierce, possessive, yet still somehow reverent. Caroline worked at his cravat, his coat, needing to feel his skin against hers. When her fingers brushed his bare chest, he shuddered.

“Slow down, love,” he breathed. “We have all night.” He lifted her into his arms, carrying her to the bed. “And you are finally, truly mine.”

“As you are mine.” She pulled him down beside her, loving how his larger frame blanketed her body.

His mouth traced a path down her throat as his hands explored her body with devoted attention. Every touch was calculated to bring her pleasure, every caress designed to make her arch into his hands.

He slid his hand underneath the chemise and cupped her mound, kneading greedily with a moan. Then, impatiently, he pulled the chemise over her head, immediately drawing her coiled nubs into his mouth. He licked and sucked, caressing them so tenderly she gasped from the pleasure pooling in her groin. He was nipping and biting them next moment, making her moan from the sheer wickedness of it.

“I thought I was the blackguard,” he rasped over her creamy breast. “You’re the truly wicked one for withholding these beauties from me…” Without another word, he squeezed her flesh, cupping as much as he could in his hand. He drew her rosy nipple into his mouth, grazing it with his teeth then soothing it with his tongue.

“Devlin, I’m going to—”

“Don’t you dare, Caroline. You shan’t climax without my cock inside you.”

“Then when?”

“When I say so, sweetheart. It’s my turn to punish you.”

“Devlin, you—”

“Selfish prick. I know. You’ve said as much.”

With a chuckle, he took her mouth with his, his finger drawing circles on her skin, tickling her from her stomach down to her bud. When he began to rub the swollen pearl, she released a long sigh. Finally, he was easing her ache. But just as she was getting close, he stopped again.

“Devlin, don’t be so cruel,” she breathed.

“I’m not trying to be,” he said, “but if I don’t stop, I’m going to spend on your belly without getting anywhere near you.” He lay beside her, his body propped up on one elbow while he was careful not to touch her. His heated gaze burned her skin. “I want you to climax, pulse around my cock while I’m inside your pussy. Can you do that?”

“Yes,” she moaned at the thought, temperature rising in her body more than she thought possible.

He quirked a brow. “You sound rather confident for our first time.”

“I do feel rather confident. Will it hurt? You are quite a bit… you know.”

“Perhaps. It has caused discomfort in some.”

Caroline stilled, jealousy and irritation rising in her chest.

“This will be my first time without the French letter,” he said softly.

Her eyes snapped up to meet his as he pushed up on his elbows to look at her. “Truly? You’ve always…”

“Yes. I swore the first time I experience a naked cunny would be with my wife.”

Caroline felt a rush of relief and affection come over her. It soothed her concern that bedding her may not be special enough for a man of his experience.

“I’m afraid I shall climax as soon as you breach me.”

“Damnation, Caroline, I didn’t need to know that. I shall need to fuck you three, four, five times tonight.”

“Stop teasing me with your promises.”

With a chuckle, he kissed her again. Then, moving over her body, his marble-like cock dragging over her thigh, he settled between her legs. Devlin rested his forehead against hers, creating an intimate space between them.

“Are you ready for me?”

“Yes.”

Gripping his shaft, Devlin nudged his cockhead against her entrance. With a grunt, he pushed inside her, causing both to gasp at the perfection of it.

“Fuck, I can’t hold it. You feel too good.”

Taking her mouth with his once more, he drove into her all the way as Caroline cried out in pain.

“I’m sorry,” he muttered against her mouth. “My God, you feel incredible.”

He withdrew all the way then plunged into her again with a groan bordering on a scream. He fucked her furiously, her moans slowly joining his as the pain from his thickness subsided and only the pleasure of the act remained. Then he slipped a hand underneath her bottom, angling her hips and plunging into her with deep and powerful strokes.

“Devlin!” she screamed as the orgasm began to crest inside her, building and building with each thrust. He increased the speed, driving in and out of her at a frantic pace, pushing her higher into euphoria until they both gasped and stilled. Their bodies were stiff against each other, though her inner muscles began pulsing against his hard rod as his cock began to throb against her flesh. Their orgasms broke against the naked flesh of each other, and Caroline cried out his name over and over, her nails digging into his thick biceps. Devlin lurched forward, taking her with him with the force of his orgasm, gasping for breaths as if he had been drowning.

When he finally stilled, his body becoming heavier over hers, he released one last groan.

“Caroline,” he breathed against her mouth. “My heart. I had no idea how spectacular it could be with a woman I love.”

Warmth and shyness overwhelmed her, surprising her. “Are you certain it’s not the lack of the French letter inducing such sentiment?”

He studied her face pensively. “I beg your pardon. You’re right, of course.”

She slapped his shoulder playfully, eliciting a laugh.

“I don’t think we’ll ever have a dull moment between us,” he said.

“Because we’re both rascals?”

“Aye. You more so than me, believe it or not. You are much more devious than I’d anticipated.”

“Regardless, I believe we’ve benefited equally in this transaction,” she said slyly.

“What transaction do you refer to, wife?”

“Business venture, life partnership… love?”

His expression sobered suddenly. As he stroked her hair tenderly, he muttered, “I do love you, you know. I hope you believe me.”

Caroline pulled him down for a kiss, revealing her heart. As their passionate kiss stiffened his length, she wrapped her legs around him. “Show me,” she whispered. “Show me how much you love me.”

“I shall take you from behind.” With that, he flipped her onto her stomach and pulled her hips toward him.

Caroline waited on her hands and knees while her nerves buzzed with anticipation.

With a groan, he buried himself in her silken flesh once more, and he showed her with every thrust, every kiss, every whispered endearment. She met his eyes over her shoulder as he gripped her hips and plunged inside her.

“Mine,” he rasped, his eyes dark and his expression strained as he struggled to control his urge to spend.

His possessive tone and his taking of her in such primal position catapulted her arousal. With a scream, she pulsed around his cock, her climax peaking over and over again as tears streamed down her face.

Collapsing over her backside, he followed soon after, his face buried in her neck as his release claimed him, one hand on the bed and the other gripping her hip to ensure he didn’t push her too hard forward. For several long moments, they remained joined, their breathing gradually slowing in tandem, hearts beating together in a rhythm uniquely their own.

When they finally separated, Devlin gathered her into his arms and pulled her against his chest. They lay in contented silence, limbs intertwined and bodies cooling in the night air. Caroline felt a profound sense of peace wash over her as she traced idle patterns on his chest with her fingertips. “Why did we wait so long?”

“Because you hadn’t realised how magnificent of a lover I was.” He caught her hand, pressing a kiss to her palm. “Though, in fairness, you’re rather irresistible.”

She laughed softly. “Says the man who seduced half of London.”

“Never like this.” He rolled to face her, his expression suddenly serious. “What I feel for you... it’s beyond anything I’ve ever known. You’ve undone me completely, Mrs Elmstone.”

“Good.” She kissed him softly. “Because you’ve thoroughly ruined me for anyone else, Mr Elmstone.”

His smile was pure sin. “Shall I ruin you again?”

“Please do.”

Later, as moonlight spilled across their tangled forms, Caroline reflected that some bargains with the devil turned out to be blessings in disguise. Especially when that devil turned out to be the perfect match for one’s heart and mind alike.

The End

Thank you for reading my story.