Darling Beast

  He pressed her face to his cheek and she realized it was damp. He was weeping for a woman he’d never known. Weeping for her pain.

  “There wasn’t time to call a midwife. Maude… Maude was a wonder. She got Kitty on my bed and put clothes beneath her and she scolded Edwin until he pulled himself together enough to help. He shouldn’t’ve been there, of course, but I don’t think Kitty knew at the last. She fainted and Maude said… said…”

  She covered her face with her hands then, the old, old grief and shock overcoming her. Kitty, poor Kitty. She’d been so pretty, so vivacious, and now all Lily could remember of her was a bloody, beaten face. It wasn’t fair. It simply wasn’t fair.

  “Hush, my love, my love, hush,” Apollo murmured into her hair, rocking her like a babe.

  “I’m sorry,” she said, wiping her face with the heels of her hands. Her nose was running and her eyes were red, she knew. This wasn’t what he’d come for tonight, an ugly, weeping woman.

  “Don’t,” he said sharply and she jerked and looked at him for the first time in minutes. His eyes were bloodshot. “Don’t,” he said more gently. “Don’t apologize for what that monster did and how it hurt you.”

  She nodded, catching her breath. “He was born only an hour or so after she arrived, just before dawn. So wrinkled and red and Kitty never saw him, she wasn’t breathing by the time he came into the world. I thought he wouldn’t last either, he was so small, but Maude knew what to do. She sent Edwin to find a wet nurse and bundled the baby with a hot brick on either side of him to warm him.” She smiled then, despite the painful memories, because he’d been her baby boy right from the first. “He never cried, do you know? He simply blinked and looked around with big dark-blue eyes. Of course later one eye changed to green, but when he was first born, they were both blue like the night sky, nearly black, and he had a little tuft of black curls on the top of his head, so adorable. Edwin said we should call him George, but I told him that was too common. I named him Indio.”

  She looked up at him.

  He stared back, steady and true. “Who was Kitty’s husband, Lily?”

  “Lord Ross,” she replied, as easily as telling him the time of day, though she’d never told another soul the truth. “We knew at once that if he thought the baby had lived he would hurt it, for he’d told Kitty as he’d beaten her to death that he wanted a new wife. One who would give him heirs of a proper pedigree. So I left the city for a little while, playing in smaller towns, traveling about the country with Maude and the baby and a very young wet nurse. When I came back to London I simply said Indio was my own.”

  “Ross doesn’t know.”

  “He doesn’t know,” Lily agreed. “And he must never know. He has a new wife, two small boys, one of them his heir. I shudder to think what he’d do if he knew he already had an heir—one born of an actress with no family.”

  Apollo slowly clenched his fists. “But for him to’ve beaten a woman to death—his wife—and face no punishment at all…” His face twisted. “It’s not right.”

  She scrambled to her knees to face him, for she had to make him understand. “You mustn’t go after him, Apollo, and you mustn’t tell anyone. As long as he thinks the baby died with Kitty, he’s no real danger.”

  His eyes snapped to hers, darkening. “Then why has he been watching you this entire party?”

  She shook her head. “I saw Kitty at the last. He must realize whom she went to. I know what he did to her.”

  “Then he sees you as a threat to his freedom.”

  “I’m an actress—no one of consequence in his circles.”

  “Did you not see the entire room stand to applaud you this morning?” He caught her hands, bringing them to his chest. “You might not think yourself important—and perhaps in strictly titled circles you are not—but in society as a whole? Before we knew you were a great playwright, you were lauded as a fine actress. Lily, he has good reason to fear you.”

  “Even if you’re right, I don’t…” She closed her eyes, trying to gather the words. “I don’t want you telling anyone, Apollo. Indio has to be kept safe. He has to.”

  “Hush,” he murmured, framing her face with his big hands. “I’ll not put you or Indio in any more danger, I promise.”

  “Thank you.” She leaned forward to kiss him on the jaw, feeling the rasp of stubble beneath her lips. “Thank you.”

  “I’m sorry it ever happened to you,” he whispered, catching her chin and lifting her face to his. “No one should have to bear witness to the worst that men can do, and especially not you.”

  Her lips curved in amusement. “Especially me? Why should I be sheltered in particular?”

  “Because,” he said, pulling her into his lap, “you are my light and my laughter, and if you would let me, I would spend the rest of my life protecting you from everything that is ugly.”

  “That can’t be done,” she whispered. “To live is to see both the beauty and the ugliness of life.”

  “Perhaps not,” he said stubbornly, “but that wouldn’t stop me from trying. Every day I want to see your eyes alight with happiness.”

  “Thank you,” she said, oddly touched by something that would never—could never—happen.

  She kissed the corner of his mouth, and when he moved to more fully engage hers, she opened her lips beneath his, accepting his tongue in a long, languorous kiss.

  “Help me,” she whispered, rising on her knees above him. She unhooked her bodice as he untied the tapes of her skirt, then together they unlaced her stays until he could draw them up over her head.

  Another tug and her chemise followed.

  She knelt, straddling his thighs, in only her stockings, gartered just above her knees. She placed her palms on his shoulders, looking down at him as he ran his rough fingertips up her legs to her hips.

  “You’re lovely,” he said, his voice hoarse. “I thought that the first time I ever saw you in the garden, when you were clothed, but here, naked…” He swallowed, his eyes darkening as he watched his thumb trace a circle near her maiden hair. “You’re everything I never dared to dream of when I was in Bedlam.”

  “Apollo,” she breathed, oddly touched. She stroked his hair, unable to keep from pulling the tie from it.

  He smiled as if it were an old habit—a gesture between lovers who had known each other years instead of days.

  Tears pricked at her eyes and she bent forward to hide them from him, cradling his face to her breasts.

  He turned his head, mouthing at her nipple, and she arched her head back, trying to quell her sudden melancholy. Not now, not here. She didn’t want to ruin this by bringing the future in too soon.

  But he must’ve sensed her mood. He lifted his head, trying to see her. “Lily?”

  She scooted back, pushing him firmly against the pillows so that she might have access to his lap.

  He wouldn’t be dissuaded, though, stubborn man. “Lily?”

  “It’s nothing,” she muttered, working at the buttons on his falls. “I… I just want to forget.” She flicked her eyes to him, letting him see the mess she must’ve made of her face earlier. “Can you help me forget?”

  She should’ve felt guilt for her prevarication, but she didn’t. She had the right to this little bit of joy, even if it only lasted hours.

  So she pulled apart his breeches and reached in to untie his smallclothes. His penis rose, ruddy and proud, from a thatch of coarse hair. She stroked both hands through that hair, scratching, watching smugly as his cock bobbed in reaction.

  “Take it off,” she ordered him imperiously, tapping at his shirt.

  He lifted to do so, pulling the shirt over his head, and then he lay sprawled against the mound of pillows, all naked chest. She sat back on his legs to look her fill, and if she did so to store the image in a corner of her mind, she tried not to think about it too much. His head was cocked back, his shaggy brown hair falling in tangled waves to his shoulders and, oh, his shoulders! If she had the money, she’
d commission a sculpture of him nude and never regret the expenditure. His shoulders were mounded with muscle, wide and strong, with upper arms she doubted she could span with both hands. His dark nipples were peaked in a chest the color of sunlight, the dark hairs between making a lovely masculine contrast. Why painters never showed male hair she could not fathom. Wasn’t that part of what made a man? Hair upon the body? In any case she loved his.

  She stroked a single finger through his chest hairs and when he made to move shook her head firmly. “Don’t. I’m not finished.”

  His eyes narrowed, but he only said, “As you will.”

  She bit her bottom lip to keep from smiling and traced through the divided muscles of his belly to his navel. She circled that lightly, watching as his belly contracted in reaction. Farther down she followed the trail of dark hair that led to his groin. His penis lay slightly to the side, pulsing. His foreskin had pulled back, revealing his glistening head. She stared frankly, for if he found her lovely, she found him devastating.

  She ducked and took him into her mouth, warm and bitter, without waiting to think or ask if it was permissible. She wanted him—all of him.

  He jackknifed at her sudden movement, and she saw, out of the corners of her eyes, his hands hovering, fingers spread, on either side of her head, as if he didn’t know quite what to do.

  Well, neither did she—she’d never done this before—but she wasn’t going to let inexperience keep her from this moment.

  She sucked lightly at the head, tasting bitter salt, holding him to her mouth with both hands. She ran her tongue slowly around the silky head and then along the edge of his taut foreskin.

  He moaned above, though she doubted this was helping him much. After all, it was nothing like the motion he made inside her.

  That led to another thought and she gave him an open-mouthed kiss before looking up. “What do you do when you’re alone?”

  He blinked sleepily, eyes widening. “What?”

  He must know exactly what she meant. A corner of her mouth kicked up. Had she shocked him? “Show me, please.”

  She sat back, releasing her hold on him. She watched as he grasped himself with his right hand, pausing.

  She bent and kissed him again, the moisture at the tip slipping over her lips. She looked up into his eyes from her position and whispered, “Please?”

  His nostrils flared and he nodded, stroking his closed fist up, and then palming the head to spread the seeping moisture around. He stroked down, much faster and stronger than she would’ve done herself, and she watched in absolute fascination. How often did he do this? And what did he think about when he did?

  She looked up to see that he’d flung his arm across his eyes like a debauched faun, the muscle of his upper arm bunched, the tufts of underarm hair strangely erotic. She leaned forward, licking his chest as his fist bumped against her belly and he started.

  “Don’t stop,” she husked, scooting closer, and closer still until his hand was rubbing against her with every stroke, his knuckles brushing through her lips. She ground her pelvis down on his hand as she drew aside the arm covering his eyes and took his face in her hands, kissing him deeply.

  He placed his hand on her bottom, urging her closer as he aimed himself, and with one thrust entered her. She leaned forward so that the angle pressed the apex of her slit against his pelvic bone. Then she began to ride him, fast and hard, grinding against him with every downstroke, using him to pleasure herself. She was trembling, her body melting with the heat and desire they made between them, and she watched him as she rode his cock. He swallowed, his eyes on her, his upper lip curled.

  Until she saw stars and she had to close her own eyes. She swiveled against him, finding that spot—that perfect spot of friction and heat—and sobbed aloud as she came, her body liquid with melting desire.

  He took her hips and thrust forcefully up into her as she curled down into him, holding on as he slammed repeatedly into her, finding his own release. Finding his own point of desire.

  And afterward, as she lay exhausted against him, tracing a finger through his sweat-dampened hair, she wondered if there was a way back to her old life after this.

  Or if he’d led her into a maze in which she’d be lost forever.

  Chapter Eighteen

  The monster watched Ariadne with his beautiful eyes as she tended to him. When she was finished he made to stand, but stumbled, swaying. Impulsively she wrapped her arms about his muscled waist to steady him. He looked down at her curiously, then led her to a bower, where he offered her berries and clean water. And although he did not speak, she thought there was intelligence in his soft brown gaze…

  —From The Minotaur

  Apollo crept down the corridor toward his uncle’s study.

  Well. As much as a man his size could creep.

  It was past midnight and as far as he could tell all the guests were asleep, including Lily. He’d had to leave her sweet warmth to go investigating, and he hoped it wouldn’t take long.

  He wanted to return to her.

  The door to his uncle’s study was unlocked, thank God, and he ducked inside as quietly as he could. It wasn’t a very big room. A single bookshelf appeared to hold ledgers, with a table and chair in front of it, while a desk and chair stood at one end near a fireplace.

  Apollo crossed to the desk and set the candle he’d brought on a corner. The top of the desk held only a jar of quills and an inkpot on a blotter. He went around the desk and sat in the chair to try the middle of the three drawers that ran across the front of the desk. It was unlocked and he drew it easily open to find a thin pile of papers, a pencil, and a penknife. Nothing else.

  Frowning, he tried the left-hand drawer and found it entirely empty. Obviously his uncle wasn’t much of a man of business—which might be the reason he was so deeply in debt. The right-hand drawer, unlike the other two, was locked.

  Apollo had his head bent, examining the lock as well as he could in the dim light, when a voice interrupted.

  “What are you doing at my desk, sirrah?”

  Apollo nearly hit his head on the desk. He looked up and found his uncle frowning at him. He opened his mouth to lie… and found he was simply too tired to do so.

  He sat back in his uncle’s chair, making it squeak with his weight. “I’m looking for evidence that you murdered three men in order to steal my inheritance and title.”

  The older man’s mouth dropped open. “You… what?”

  Apollo sighed. “I’m your nephew, Apollo Greaves, Viscount Kilbourne.” He bowed mockingly. “At your service, naturally.”

  “Kilbourne…” William Greaves backed up, nearly dropping his candle. “You’re mad.”

  “No,” Apollo said patiently, if a little grimly, “I’m really not, and you of all people should know it.”

  “Why’re you here?” William asked, apparently not following the conversation at all.

  Apollo started to rise, but the other man gave a little shriek and held out both hands. “Stay where you are! Don’t come near!”

  “Uncle,” Apollo said quietly.

  “No!” The other man dashed from the room, moving quite swiftly considering his age.

  Apollo’s brows rose.

  “Help! Help! Murder!” screamed his uncle, his voice diminishing as he ran away.

  Well, that settled that.

  Apollo picked up the candle and strode out of the room. He met a single footman as he made his way to Lily’s room, but he simply nodded and kept walking. Below, he could hear the household rousing as his uncle called the alarm.

  Miraculously, she was still sleeping when he entered her bedroom.

  He sighed, taking one last look at her peacefully slumbering form, and then reached down and shook her shoulder hard. “Lily.”

  “What?” she asked sleepily. She sat up as she heard the commotion. “Apollo!”

  “Shh.” He sat on the side of the bed. “I love you.”

  Her eyes went wide. “I…”


  “There isn’t time,” he said calmly. “My uncle has discovered me and will come with all his footmen to detain me soon. I have to flee.”

  She blinked and took a deep breath. “Of course.”

  “Meet me tomorrow night,” he said, looking into her eyes to make sure she didn’t mistake him. “In the garden by the pond where you saw me bathing. Do you remember?”

  “I… yes.” Even now he was charmed by the blush that pinkened her cheeks.

  “About six of the clock, I think. If there’s any trouble, send word to Makepeace,” he said, rising. There were footsteps approaching. He turned and kissed her fast and hard. “I love you. Never forget that.”

  Then he rushed the door.

  There were two footmen plus the middle-aged butler. Apollo shoved the butler out of his way, and would’ve done the same to the footmen had not one swung at him. Apollo knocked aside the man’s blow and drove the point of his elbow into the man’s belly, doubling him over. The remaining footman backed up a step, obviously torn between duty and the desire to keep his ribs intact. Apollo feinted with his right and when the man flinched back, gave him an additional push to make him fall. Then he was running down the hall past half-dressed ladies and gentlemen who didn’t do very much to stop him.

  Wheeling around the corner, he half slid down the main staircase, past a startled Mr. Warner, obviously returning from a room not his own—most interesting—and then he was out the front doors and running.

  Running into the black night.

  He could hear the shouts behind him, and then hoofbeats gaining on him fast. He whirled at the last minute, hands up, ready to dodge the horse.

  Only to find the Duke of Montgomery pulling a great black beast to a half-rearing halt.