The Lady Plays Her Ace (The Langley Sisters) (22 page)

"There is no need. You have made your decision, and therefore I would ask you again to leave my room, Mr. Dillinger." Thea had managed to regain a small measure of composure. "I am tired and wish to sleep at least one night in my marriage bed, even if I am to do so alone."

She saw him move out of the corner of her eye, and sit in the chair to her right. He was now just a few feet from her. If she chose to reach out and touch him she could, but she would not give him the chance to turn away from her again. It hurt too much.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

"After my sister's death I was angry and most of my days were spent on the streets, taunting people into fighting me. I cursed my parents, yelling at them to stop producing children that they could not care for, and my siblings fared little better. Finally, I left home at twelve years old because I could live there no longer. My family was struggling to feed and clothe us all, and as I was the eldest, it was my responsibility to help in some way, and I believed to do that I had to leave."

Thea could not imagine what it would have been like to be on her own at twelve but she kept those thoughts to herself.

"My parents would never have let me go, so I waited till the house was empty, took the few pennies I’d saved, and left for London. When I got there I found work on the docks."

There was a lot more to that story, there had to be—you didn’t just arrive in London and get a job. What of the journey? Where did he find food or shelter? Thea didn’t want to feel sad for the little boy who had left his family but she did.

"I worked there for two years and then a man asked me if I’d ever used my fists to make money before. I said no, but had been in enough fights in my time, so that was when I started fighting."

Dear God, he started fighting at fourteen.

"I was big, but slow. It took me a while and a few good beatings to understand the way of things, but eventually I was ready to start fighting for money—and I was good, really good," he added. "Soon I was winning enough to send some home to my family and that continued for a few years. Then it all changed."

Thea wanted to see his face so badly that her toes curled into the rug she sat on to stop her from moving.

"My last fight was against a man called John Blackheath. He was Jacob Blackheath’s brother. Jacob was an unscrupulous, vicious man who had gangs of men working for him, stealing and doing whatever else he wanted them to do. I had stayed away from him, refusing to box any of his men, and while I did that his brother had gained a reputation as the hardest man in London.

Thea gave up the struggle and turned to look up at him. His eyes found hers and she saw the memories in them, the pain of what he was about to tell her. She braced herself to not care, yet knew that would be an impossible task.

"Jacob was crowing to anyone who would listen that his brother was the best bare-knuckle fighter in England, and Jiggs, the man I boxed for, told me that I needed to shut him up by beating his brother, or people would start calling me a coward."

"So you did," Thea said.

"So I did," he nodded. "And the fight was a hard one, one of the toughest I had. I threw a punch and John Blackheath fell, and I thought I had knocked him out, but in fact I had killed him."

Ace waited for the look of revulsion from Thea, but instead, her beautiful, gray eyes filled with sadness. There was no judgment there, no anger, just pity.

"That must have been horrible for you," she said, now on her knees before him. One of her hands reached out and he took it, even though he knew he should not. That she wanted to touch him when just minutes ago she had refused to look at him humbled Ace. He had wronged her in so many ways, yet because he had told her of his past, she wanted to offer him comfort. Her actions only reinforced his belief that he was no good for her.

"I killed a man, Thea. Do you understand what I’m telling you?"

The light from the fire seemed to make her dark hair come to life, and her skin was glowing. Dressed in a sheer peach robe, he could see she wore only a thin nightdress beneath, and her breasts were outlined by the material. He wanted to lay her down and take her, devour her, but he couldn’t; she was worthy of more.

But she’s your wife.

"But you did not set out to do so, Oliver, and he could just as easily have killed you first."

He couldn’t believe she was saying this. She should be horrified.

"Tell me the rest of your story, Oliver, as I know there is more," she said gently, moving closer so she sat now between his knees on the floor.

Slipping her fingers through his, Ace looked at her delicate hand nestled inside his ugly one. More differences.

"I stopped fighting then, refused all offers and walked away from Jiggs and the others. I had enough money to rent a room until I had decided what I should do. Part of me had decided to return home to my family, as I missed them."

"But you did not," Thea said softly, her hand gripping his tighter.

"I was walking home one evening, and four men jumped me. One of them was Jacob Blackheath. He told me he was going to kill me for taking his brother from him, and for a while, I thought he’d win. But the alley they had dragged me into backed onto a brothel, and a few of the women had heard the noise and come out to see what was happening. Blackheath and his boys ran, and I was left bleeding from a stab wound he’d given me, and was beaten all over."

Ace remembered the pain of those days; every move and breath had been torture. He’d had his fair share of pain, but nothing like that.

"Angelique was the madam there. Angel, they called her, and she was certainly that for me. They took me in, nursed me and when I was well she asked me to look after her girls, be their body guard, and I agreed."

"Did it take you a long time to heal, Oliver?"

He wasn’t going to lie to her. "Yes, but one of the girls had a mother who was a healer, and she tended me because Angelique said that any doctor that would come into a brothel wasn’t worth calling."

"She sounds like a sensible woman," Thea said.

He couldn’t stop the hand that reached for her, touching a curl that hung like a satin rope around her face. It was soft and he wanted to lift it to his cheek and feel the texture.

"She was and it was through her that I learnt about business. I invested any money I had with her guidance and was lucky enough to have the knack of making it grow, and that is how my wealth started."

She was silent for a while after he’d finished talking, her eyes on his face, and he wanted to know what she was thinking.

"Does she still live?"

"Yes."

"She sounds a wise and kind woman. Will you take me to meet her?"

"No. She was a prostitute, Thea, for pity’s sake!" Ace could not believe she had asked him that. "She is not fit company for the likes of you."

"One of my current family members used to steal money from carriages at gun point, Oliver. Please do not continually lecture me about whom and what are fit company for me. Furthermore, my brother has admitted to doing things that in the cold, clear light of day make him shudder, when he was in India."

"What…who was a highwayman?" Shaking his head, Ace could not quite believe her words. "You’re just saying that."

"I do not lie," she said, trying to pull her hand free, but he held fast, desperate to keep her close even though he should be pushing her away.

"Someone I met today rode down carriages and stole from them at gunpoint?"

"Actually more than one someone, but I am not telling you their names, so perhaps in light of my disclosure, it is I who am not fit for you to have as your wife."

Ace took her shoulders in his hands and pulled her toward him, so their faces were just inches apart. "I will never be worthy of you, Lady Althea, and I told you those things because they only strengthen that fact. I want only what is best for you. I hope you can understand that."

"B-but what if you are what is best for me?" she whispered, her breath brushing his lips.

Their eyes caught and held for long, drawn out seconds as Ace waged a war with himself. Her scent wrapped around him, making his body ache with need, and then he touched her neck, his fingers brushing the smooth, skin before trailing downwards, taking the edge of her robe and nightdress with it.

"God help me, but I can resist you no longer."

"Then don’t," she whispered back, holding his eyes.

Pulling her to her knees, he lowered his head and kissed her shoulder, caressing the skin until Thea moaned.

"There will be no way back from this, Thea. You will be my wife from this day forth," Ace rasped, lifting his head.

"Yes." She cupped his cheeks. "I want that, Oliver, that and so much more."

"Forgive me for hurting you, Thea. Forgive me for the harsh, cold words," he whispered against her skin. "I believed I was doing what was right for you."

"It is you that is right for me, Oliver."

Her lips touched his and Ace felt it to his soul. He would not be rational with her as his wife. He would be overbearing and protective, but so be it. She was his now, and he could not walk away from her. His need for this woman had been smoldering since he'd found her at that boxing match, and Ace feared it was only going to grow after he made her his.

"So be it," he whispered against her lips.

He pushed the robe from her shoulders, leaving her in the thin nightdress. The fabric caressed each lush curve of her breasts and he traced the path with his hand, touching the peaks of each nipple through the silk.

"Such beauty. I cannot believe you are to be mine."

"And I cannot believe you will be mine," she added, unbuttoning his shirt. "When I saw you earlier, stripped to the waist, I had not believed a man could look as you do."

"A tradesman's body." Ace dismissed her words as he moved his hand lower and slowly pulled the nightdress upwards, exposing silken, pale limbs and the gentle curve of her hips.

"It is the most beautiful body I have ever seen."

Ace looked at her. "I hope you have not seen many?"

"My brothers, and Ted once, when he was hitting a bag stuffed with straw, and I was hiding in the loft above him, watching.

"Why am I not surprised?" Ace finished his words on a hiss as she had his shirt open now, and had placed one hand flat on his stomach

"But I can see a man's body in the way his clothes sit, and yours," she leant forward, her breath brushing his skin, "is beautiful." Ace closed his eyes as she kissed his chest. The feel of her lips was bliss.

"You, Thea Dillinger, are unlike any woman I have met before."

"My brothers say that, and not in a complimentary way."

His laugh was strained as she rubbed her hand over his stomach in slow circles.

"This, what we are to do, will hurt you the first time, Thea."

"I know. Penny, Livvy, Phoebe and Bella had a talk with me last night." Her hand had reached his waistband, and one finger was tracing the edge of the material and Ace felt his body tense.

"I'm not sure if that relieves me or terrifies me," he whispered, slipping one hand under her hair to pull her towards him," but I'm done talking about it."

His kiss was soft as he pulled her onto his lap. Tracing the shape of her bottom lip, he then moved to a thigh and she sighed against him. Running a hand up the outside of her leg, Ace eased her nightdress up her body, and pulled it over her head so she sat soft and naked in his arms.

"I'm going to kiss every inch of you," he whispered against her lips. Her hands went to his hair as he deepened the kiss. Tugging the band free, she then ran her fingers through it and into his scalp.

"Can you feel how much I want you, Thea? I have thought of this, you and I, since I knew we were to marry."

"And yet you would have walked away from this?" He saw the hurt in her eyes.

"Because I believed it was for the best."

"It's not," she said, touching his chest, one finger tracing the muscles.

Ace didn't speak, just devoured her with his eyes. Her skin was soft, pale silk, her breasts full, lush curves tipped with rosy nipples. Needing to taste her, he lowered his head and kissed a smooth curve, teasing and caressing the heated skin until she urged him to take her taut nipple into his mouth. He sucked it slowly and she cried out at the sensation, so he did it again. She writhed against him as he moved to the other breast. He lifted her and resettled her so she was straddling his thighs and he could feel the heat of her need through his breeches.

"You feel so good, Thea. Your skin is so soft." Ace cupped the weight of her breasts and rubbed his thumbs over the tips.

Their lips met again and she took what he gave, tongues tangling as they ravished each other. Ace felt the leash on his restraint slip as she moved against him, the friction both pleasure and pain on his aching shaft. Moving his hand down her stomach, he traced the curls at the apex of her thighs and then moved lower to stroke the soft, damp folds. He swallowed her gasp and found the small, tight nub and circled it slowly until she wrenched her mouth free.

"Oooh." Her eyes were closed as small pants came from her rosy lips.