Wedded in Sin (40 page)
Their mouths were still fused as he started walking. She was not a small woman, but he carried her easily.
“Samuel,” she gasped, breaking apart enough to ask her question. “What are you doing?”
“I’m not going to prison,” he said as he carried her to the stairway and started climbing.
“What?”
“No prison. My debts are paid.”
She framed his face in her hands as she searched his expression. No deception. No embarrassment. “What? How?”
“I have a job, Penny. A good job that pays me well. Or well enough this time.”
“A job?” she echoed, the idea beyond bizarre. What sort of job could he get that would pay him that much that quickly?
They were topping the stairway when his momentum seemed to stall out. He set her feet down gently on the floor, his expression tender as he looked into her eyes. “I have missed you so much. Every second I was gone, I thought about you.”
“Samuel—”
“It was arson. Just like you thought. The factories were deliberately burned down.”
She blinked, trying to sort out his words. But in the end, she gave up. She knew he would get to the point soon enough. And he did, though not in the way she thought.
“I love you, Penny. Please say you will marry me. I have a job now. I can support us, though I think you will be making much more than I. Still, I will work very hard every day to—”
She didn’t let him finish. She kissed him with everything she had, everything she was. She kissed him and she didn’t stop even when she began fumbling at his clothing. But he did. He pulled back enough to look into her eyes.
“Where, Penny? I cannot take you right here in the hall.”
He could. She was that willing. But they didn’t need to. Instead, she grabbed his hand and hauled him into her parents’ bedroom. The furniture was intact. Apparently, Cordwain’s fury hadn’t made it all the way upstairs.
“Are you sure?” he asked. “After the last time—”
She didn’t want him talking about Jobby or what had happened the last time they were here. So she just shook her head and grabbed the linens from the mattress. Within a minute, she had the bed stripped clear.
“Mrs. Appleton says I must remake this place into my home again. My parents are gone. Most of everything that was, is gone. But I can build it again, Samuel. I want to build it with you.”
So saying, she climbed onto the mattress and turned to face him. And as he watched, she began unbuttoning her gown. His eyes grew intense, and she saw his nostrils flare, but he didn’t move toward her.
“Penny, I’ll never be rich. I’m just a second son of a baron. I don’t know that either of us will ever be accepted into the
ton
.”
“I never cared about that.”
“I know,” he said as he stepped up to the bed. “But I wanted to give you so much.”
“Then give me yourself.” She stretched up to claim his mouth. And as she did, her gown fell away. He met her with an intensity that was all Samuel, and she reveled in it.
His hands started at her jaw, framing her face, steadying her. But as he began to take control of the kiss, as she began to melt into everything that was him, his hands slipped down over her shoulders and to her breasts. She gasped when he stroked her, squeezing her nipples just as she liked.
“It has been so long,” she murmured as her head dropped back.
He didn’t waste the opportunity as he shifted to rain kisses on her cheek, her jaw, and her neck. He pressed her backward into the mattress, and she was soon stretched out beneath him. He’d already shucked his coat and cravat. Now she pulled at his shirt and trousers. She wanted to touch all of him. To feel all the long, lean, wonderful length of him against her.
“Penny…” he began, but she shook her head.
“You talk too much,” she said without heat. “It’s time to undress.”
She fit action to words, stripping out of her shoes and stockings. He grinned and worked equally fast. Soon they were both undressed, both delightfully, deliciously naked. She pulled him onto the bed, feeling his heat and the hot thickness of his organ. She lifted her knees, trying to angle him where she wanted, but he pulled away.
“Condom,” he gasped.
“I don’t care,” she said.
He stilled, his gaze going especially hot. “You would risk a baby, Penny? With me?”
Yes, she realized with some shock. Not only would she risk it, she wanted it. His child. Perhaps a little boy as smart as he. Or a little girl with clever hands. “Yes,” she whispered. “I want that, too.”
“Then you’ll marry me?” he gasped.
“Of course!” she cried. “I love you!”
“I love you, too,” he whispered. She loved it when he whispered to her. He always made the words reverent like a vow. Then, while she was still softening from his words, reaching up to kiss him in her joy, she felt his organ push against her folds.
“Yes,” she whispered. “Finally!”
He grinned and pushed all the way home.
He filled her. Body and spirit, he brought all her pieces together. She would have said more. She would have told him she loved him again and again, but he left her no breath for words. He kissed her. He thrust inside her. And when she could barely breathe, he pulled back enough for him to stroke her right above where they were joined.
Her body tightened, her back arched, and…
He thrust.
Her body exploded into bliss.
He joined her, his body shuddering with his release.
And when the bliss began to ebb, he was right there to catch her, to hold her, and to make sure her pieces reassembled in the right order: as his wife.
“Penny?” he asked sometime later. They were resting
in each other’s arms, a blanket pulled on top of them. Bodies sated and eyes heavy, they spoke in low, slow tones.
“Mmmm?”
“Don’t you want to know what kind of man you’ll marry?”
“I already do know. You’re my mad toff.”
He chuckled. “I’m a Bow Street Runner.”
It took a moment for his words to sink in, but when they did, she thought it was brilliant. Absolutely brilliant. She lifted her head off his shoulder so that she could see him more clearly. “How?”
“I wasn’t the only investor in the factories. And it wasn’t just me, Greg, and Bingley. There were two others. Two men of some means and influence. They arrived at the site soon after I did.”
“Well?” she prompted when he fell silent. “What happened?”
“It was Greg’s idea. Or Georgette’s. It’s hard to tell. But Greg was telling them that I would solve the crime. I’d already determined that it was arson, you see.”
Of course he had.
“And so Greg said I was a Runner. I’d already been talking to him about it on the way there, but I hadn’t decided. In any event, these men offered me a great deal of money to solve the mystery.”
“And you did?”
He stiffened in mock insult. “Of course I did. How else do you think I could pay off my debts? And now as soon as a certain beautiful shoemaker pays me my winnings from our wager, I shall have enough to buy said young woman a beautiful wedding ring.”
“But wait, that was just one job. Have you become a Runner in truth?”
He smiled. “I have. I talked to Foster about it when I asked him to look after you.” Samuel’s expression abruptly sobered. “I should have been the one watching you. I’m sorry—”
“He did an excellent job. I was well protected.”
“But—”
“Ack!” she gasped as she hit him in the shoulder. “Tell me about the job!”
He chuckled even as he rubbed at his shoulder. “There is no more to tell. I am a Runner now, and one with an excellent reputation, I might add. Especially after solving the arson. It was the owner of a competing set of factories. We have seized his assets, you know. It’s all rather complicated and will take some time getting through the courts, but in the end we’ll all have our money back. Greg, Bingley, and the others, too. We’ll probably make a profit.”
“You’ll have nobs coming to you left and right,” she murmured, thinking of the possibilities.
“I already do, truth be told,” he said with a shrug. “I’ve had people coming to me for years. The difference is now I’ll charge money for it, and the mysteries will be more substantial than silly parlor games at a
ton
ball.” He tightened his hold on her. “You were right, Penny. I wasn’t my brother’s keeper, and I’m definitely not a soldier. I solve crimes.” He flushed. “I think I’m rather good at it.”
“Of course you are.”
“And I owe it all to you. Without you, I think I would still be wandering the streets of London, seeing all manner of secrets, but never doing anything with it. You have given me purpose, Penny, and I can never thank you enough for that.”
“You can love me, Samuel. You can marry me.”
He grinned. “I will. I do. Just as soon as we settle up our wager. Thirty quid, I believe.”
“Thirty quid!” she cried, belatedly remembering that she had agreed to double their wager. “But I haven’t got that kind of money right now.”
“No matter,” he said as he rolled her over and settled once again in the place she most loved him to be. “I think I can take it in trade.”
“Well,” she gasped as he easily, wonderfully seated himself. “I am a tradeswoman.”
“You are the woman I love. I will do anything for you, anything you want.”
She smiled. “You,” she whispered. “I want you.”
“Done.”
And so their bargain was sealed. And in the best possible way.
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