A Gentleman's Wager (15 page)

A little later, Lucerne and Vaughan were both sitting in the bay window of Lauwine’s long gallery, overlooking the gardens. The two ladies were taking a stroll along the gravel walkway below the window, deep in conversation, unaware that they were being watched. Bella was dressed in cream muslin with a broad claret-coloured sash at the waist, Louisa in an open robe of pale coral-coloured wool.

‘What did you do to Louisa?’ Lucerne asked, turning to Vaughan, who was still looking slightly flushed across the cheekbones from the walk home. It was some time since the ball, but somehow he’d never found the time to discover the details of Vaughan and Frederick’s quarrel. It had been an awkward topic to raise before, while both of them were still in the house.

Vaughan turned away from the glass. ‘What did
you
do to her?’

‘Nothing.’

‘Then there’s your answer.’

‘Come on, Vaughan, Freddy wouldn’t have called you out for nothing. You must have done something to upset him that much.’

‘If you recall, I found you and Captain Wakefield at the bottom of the stairs beating the hell out of each other. Isn’t that a strange sort of nothing as well?’

Lucerne frowned. Vaughan did seem to have a point. ‘Perhaps,’ he murmured. He glanced down at Louisa. For
someone
so mild mannered and petite she caused an awful lot of discord. ‘But I know why Freddy lost his temper with me. He was sore over the joke and then he caught me kissing her goodnight.’

‘Really?’ mocked Vaughan.

‘I was drunk!’ He bit his tongue at Vaughan’s tone. There was no need to explain further. ‘So what happened in the drawing room?’

‘I gave her a drink to calm her nerves. The dear captain had upset her by pushing his tongue down Miss Hayes’ throat.’

‘And the rest.’

Vaughan gave a nonchalant shrug. ‘I offered her a little comfort.’

‘I see. A genuine interest, or were you just provoking Wakefield? I can’t believe Louisa’s much to your taste.’

‘You’d be surprised. I’ve always had a thing about blondes.’ Vaughan smiled knowingly and reached out with his bejewelled fingers to smooth Lucerne’s ruffled hair.

‘Vaughan!’ Lucerne warned, and pushed his hand away. ‘I thought Bella would be more your thing.’

‘Why, because she’s yours?’

‘I’ve never denied that.’

Lucerne noticed Vaughan’s eyes narrow as the marquis focused on Bella. He hoped the pale flicker of jealousy wouldn’t mean more trouble to come. Still, he couldn’t resist teasing. ‘Pleasing, is she not? Dare I say she was even quite taken with you at first. I could almost be jealous of the effect you had.’

Vaughan turned sharply towards Lucerne, and stared unblinkingly at him. ‘You still mean to pursue her.’

Lucerne rose from the window seat and took a few thoughtful paces. ‘I think so,’ he confessed. ‘Though I have to say I don’t generally follow where Freddy has
led
.’ He turned back to Vaughan in time to see his eyes widen in genuine surprise.

‘When was that?’

‘The night of the ball.’

Vaughan cocked an eyebrow. ‘My, my, the captain does seem to put it about. Three women in one night, and he accuses me of salacity. However, it begs the question: who jumped who?’

Two days had passed since Joshua and Frederick had left, Bella reflected as she put her book aside. Lauwine was quiet without them, especially in the evenings when the early sunset forced everyone indoors to huddle around the fire. A draft from the window made the candle at her elbow sputter. She blew it out. Louisa and Charles had both retired for the night; she might as well do the same, unless she could find Lucerne to talk to. He’d been strangely formal with her since her brother’s departure. Perhaps she could convince him to relax a bit.

Vaughan and Lucerne were playing billiards; their laughter echoed through the quiet hall. Bella paced along the edge of the hall, staying close to the wall to avoid the squeaking floorboards. It was rare to catch them unawares. She peered jealously into the billiards room, and saw them offering crude encouragement to each other as they played. A half-drained decanter of brandy stood open on the mantle, and as she watched Lucerne topped then drained his glass. He was in shirtsleeves, his coat and waistcoat lying discarded over the back of a gilt chair. He exuded an air of careless sensuality, in no way diminished by the yellowing bruises on his lower arms from where he had fallen down the stairs.

Vaughan was equally appealing, like a libertine on the way to someone else’s bed. He was lining up a shot
at
the table when his cravat got in the way and he missed the pocket.

‘Damn, foiled by my own Daventry knot,’ he cursed in good humour. Lucerne laughed, and patted him affectionately on the back.

Vaughan loosened the knot and tossed the scarf aside before he noticed her in the doorway. ‘Well, well …’ he muttered, holding her gaze as he unfastened the neck of his starched shirt to reveal his throat. ‘Do you feel like trying your luck?’

Bella decided to brazen it out, encouraged by the amiable smile Lucerne gave her. Vaughan bowed formally and offered her his hand to cross the threshold. She wasn’t sure if she was welcome, but the overwhelming maleness in the room drew her in.

‘Your turn, Vaughan,’ said Lucerne, after missing his own shot. He held out a cue for Vaughan to take, but the marquis shook his head.

‘Miss Rushdale’s going to take it for me.’

Bella opened her mouth to protest as Lucerne thrust the cue into her hands. She’d never played billiards before, and hadn’t the faintest idea about the rules, despite Joshua’s occasional attempts to teach her.

Help!

She stared blankly at the table and tried not to frown at their ribald encouragement. ‘I don’t know how to play,’ she confessed.

‘No problem. You soon will.’ Vaughan guided her to the edge of the table.

‘I’ll make you lose.’

‘Not if you’ve the same aptitude as your brother. Take the shot.’

Bella brushed her long hair back over her shoulders then leaned over the table to reach the cue ball. His
instructions
were confusing, while Lucerne distracted her by grinning as he stared pointedly down her dress. At least she had his attention again. She tried to block them both out only to feel Vaughan’s hand on her bottom. ‘Hands off,’ she hissed, as she turned her head to meet his eyes.

He lifted his hand in surrender, a gesture that made her nervous. The win felt too easy. She returned her attention to the table and drew her elbow back to take the shot. As the cue connected with the white ball, Vaughan nudged his loins against her out-thrust bottom. The shock threw off her aim and sent the ball bouncing ineffectually against the cushion. Aroused and humiliated, she turned on him with the stick.

‘Perhaps we should try that again,’ he offered innocently in response to her threatening clasp of the cue.

‘I think not.’

‘A pity,’ he remarked in a patronisingly offhand fashion, and took back the cue.

Bella watched them resume the game, assuming a fixed smile while she attempted to hex Vaughan’s attempts. To her joy and Vaughan’s disgust, Lucerne eventually won.

‘What shall I claim as my prize?’ asked Lucerne, as the pair joined her by the fire. His blue eyes were merry and alert as they met hers, full of impish good humour. ‘A kiss?’

Bella purposefully put her glass aside. She remembered Vaughan’s warning about staying away from Lucerne and felt her pulse quicken at the chance to defy him while he watched. To her astonishment, Lucerne turned to kiss not her but Vaughan. He caught the other man completely offguard and stole a deep passionate kiss.

Bella’s mouth fell open in astonishment. She’d never
seen
two men kiss – she’d never even heard of such a thing – but a warming prickle between her legs told her she wholeheartedly approved. How far did their relationship go? she wondered, recalling the blond hair in the locket. Was it Lucerne’s? The colour matched. Was jealousy Vaughan’s motive in warning her off?

The two men parted, and Bella thought Vaughan looked riled, though he was clearly trying to disguise it. She guessed he hadn’t wanted her to witness such intimacy between them. He drank deeply for several seconds, while re-establishing his typical hauteur. The ticking of the clock grew louder. He caught her looking at him and smiled wickedly, then grasped her about the waist.

She wanted to resist him but the instant his lips touched hers she was aroused and ready for him. His mouth was soft and he seemed to breathe a kind of carnal fire into her that cranked her desire up three or four notches. The touch of Lucerne’s lips against her neck cranked it even higher.

‘I think it’s your bedtime,’ Lucerne whispered into her ear and, for a brief moment, she imagined herself a game-piece between the two men – both pressing into her, front and behind, both pleasuring her and raising her to a zenith that she’d never achieve with only one man. Lucerne had let slip that day in church that he’d shared women with Vaughan before. Then she realised that there had been no trace of innuendo in his voice just now, and that he had meant exactly what he said.

It was her bedtime. And hers alone.

Lucerne sipped his cognac slowly, aware of Vaughan observing him from beneath his long dark eyelashes. He felt uneasy now that Bella was gone, as if something profound was about to happen. There were butterflies in
his
stomach and his breathing was quick and shallow despite his attempts to slow it. When he’d given in to Vaughan’s advances two days ago, he’d not expected patience from his new lover, but patience and understanding were what he’d got. Contrary to all his expectations, Vaughan had not insisted on resuming where they’d left off, in either of their rooms that first night or the following one. If he intended to do so tonight, he seemed in no hurry.

‘Dreaming of your next religious experience with Bella?’

Lucerne was suddenly reminded of Vaughan disturbing them in the little church, and how he’d mocked them. At the time he’d put Vaughan’s scathing remark down to his desire to appear witty. Of course, now he knew better.

‘What if I was?’

‘Oh, nothing. I just thought your radiant glow that day was a result of your sanctity, not your sins.’

‘And I suppose your little diversion in the drawing room was a lesson in country manners, not just an excuse to grope Frederick.’

Vaughan smiled pleasantly. ‘Well, there must be a reason for your close association, and it clearly isn’t his wit or his wealth.’

Lucerne bit down the urge to defend his friend. He knew Vaughan was just goading him. ‘Speaking of wealth,’ he began, ‘I’ve heard you left a lot of yours behind in Italy. Did you work your passage, or did you let the sailors do that for you?’

The corners of Vaughan’s mouth twitched at the comeback. He put his glass aside. ‘You heard wrong. The voyage was tedious in the extreme, which is why I intend to make up for it now.’ He pounced at Lucerne, who had luckily already noticed him tensing, ready to
spring
, and had kicked into motion himself, so that Vaughan’s fingers closed on air.

Vaughan pouted.

Lucerne laughed, and then ran from the room. He sprinted into the corridor, aware of Vaughan’s footsteps giving chase behind him, and slid on the polish, but somehow managed to right himself before Vaughan got close enough to catch him. He had several options when he reached the other end of the passage: either he could double back and return to the billiards room from across the bottom landing, take the chase upstairs, or head into the dingy east wing. The dark emptiness of the latter appealed most. By the time he reached it through the old morning room, the game had developed into cat and mouse.

Lucerne dived through a set of double doors. Inside, the furniture was shrouded and shapeless beneath the white dustsheets. A huge tattered cobweb hung from a stack of paintings, and the smell of old linen filled the air. He slipped behind a tall draped object to the left of the door, and waited.

A moment later, Vaughan stepped into the room. He pulled the doors to behind him and Lucerne watched him cast his eye carefully over the furniture for places to hide. Lucerne held his breath. However, Vaughan stepped forwards and tore the cloth from the object he was standing behind, to reveal an ancient giltwood harp. They stared at each other through the strings, then Lucerne feinted left and stepped right, straight into Vaughan, his move perfectly predicted.

They wrestled briefly, Lucerne trying to escape as Vaughan snaked his arms about him, trying to pull him into an embrace. Lucerne’s heart was beating wildly against his ribs, and the closeness of the other man washed desire across his loins. Unsurprisingly, when he
stopped
struggling and their lips and hips met, they were both erect.

They swayed and staggered backwards through the inner chamber door. The moon shone pale through the bare windows, painting the room in shades of blue. Vaughan steered Lucerne across the bare floorboards and pushed him between the silk drapes, onto the high canopied bed. Lucerne relaxed into the mattress. He caught a glimpse of himself in the half-covered dressing table mirror, as Vaughan’s fingers worked open the tiny pearl buttons of his waistcoat. His eyes were flecked with sapphire and wide as a china doll’s.

‘Is this private enough for you?’ Vaughan asked as he reached the last button. Lucerne swallowed and nodded. He stared apprehensively at the man who was undressing him: now unfastening the neck of his shirt, now pulling the fabric away from his skin to run his agile fingers down the centre of Lucerne’s torso to his waistband. Lucerne felt trepidation tighten in his stomach as Vaughan’s fingertips brushed lightly over his erection. Then urgency overcame him, and he allowed his member to be uncaged.

He wriggled out of his breeches and helped Vaughan do the same. Lucerne hid his face in the dark ringlets, which smelled of a rich herbal perfume. Vaughan’s fingers moved down Lucerne’s stomach and tangled themselves in his golden thatch of pubic hair, as his erection pulsed and reared eagerly towards Vaughan’s hand. Lucerne kissed his neck, tasting salt and scent. He gazed dreamily at the canopy then closed his eyes. Vaughan’s lips brushed at his inner thighs. His cock was throbbing with need. He felt light-headed. Vaughan closed his lips over the head of his cock before releasing him, only to swallow him again to the root. Lucerne stroked his hands
through
Vaughan’s dark curls and wondered if any woman had ever been so skilful.