he claimed her innocence, selfish in his desire to have it and her. This was how it should have been years ago, with nothing between them, not her experiences or his, their lives intermingling in a way no one could interrupt. Her fingernails dug into his back as he stroked deeper into her, wanting to bring them so close they might never be apart. In the sweet entwining of her legs with his, he could feel her pulling him into her. She wanted all of him and he would find a way to give it to her, to be the man he’d promised he would be.
With her breath fast in his ear, her whimpers vibrating through his chest, he drove them toward a release greater than their bodies until at last their pleasure crested and they cried out together.
* * *
‘Was it all you expected?’ Jasper asked as she lay beside him, her hair spilling across the pillow and over her shoulder to cover the pink tips of her breasts.
‘It was more divine than I could have imagined.’ She stretched like a cat on her back beside him, making her full breasts arch and stoking the fire which still smouldered inside him. ‘I probably shouldn’t tell you so. It’ll make you arrogant.’
He turned on his side to face her and laid a hot hand on her stomach, making small circles around her navel. ‘Good, I take pride in my skills.’
The dolphin clock chimed ten times. Each knock of the tiny hammer against the bell stilled his hand and stole some of the calm he’d experienced during their lovemaking. In her arms he’d forgotten about the hell by the Thames and all the steps that had led him to it and everything it meant.
‘What’s wrong?’ Jane asked.
‘Nothing. I’m not used to being home at night. I’m usually at the hell.’ It was a half-truth.
She rolled on her side and pressed her supple body against his, bringing her lips tantalisingly close to his. ‘I’m sure Mr Bronson can do without you for one evening.’
‘I’m sure he can.’
‘Are you certain this is where the auction is being held?’ Jasper asked as they ascended the stone stairs into the building in Somers Town.
‘The paper was quite clear on the matter.’ To Jane’s amazement, he’d been incredibly solicitous in accompanying her here, despite her having woken him from a deep sleep this morning. Over the last two weeks, Jane and Jasper’s lives had settled into a quiet routine. They spent afternoons and evenings in preparation for the opening of the club, then dined together before retiring upstairs for more intimate discussions. Afterwards, Jasper would go to the gaming room and remain there until dawn when he returned home to sleep while Jane rose.
‘From what I remember of London, this seems an odd place for a lady of, what did the advert say?’
‘Fine breeding fallen on hard times.’ Jane read from the cut-out advertisement for the auction to sell the goods of a genteel lady who’d recently died without heirs. Despite the very questionable neighbourhood, the quality things being sold to clear the deceased woman’s debts included a fine set of china Jane hoped to purchase for the club. As a married woman with her husband by her side, she was free to travel here and to bid on anything she liked. It was a welcome change from the last auction she’d attended.
From an open upstairs window, the knock of the gavel against the wood and the auctioneer’s booming voice announcing ‘Sold’ carried out over the noise of the street.
‘Hurry, before we miss the best items.’ She took Jasper’s arm and pulled him inside, eager to reach the auction and get him away from the gaudily dressed woman across the street trying to catch his attention.
‘I’m coming.’ He bounded up the stairs past her, pulling her along. At the top, he tugged hard enough to make her skip over the last tread and land with a bounce in front of him on the landing. He caught her other hand and pulled her against him and away from the drop. The rumble of his laughter rose up to meet hers, the joy they’d taken in one another over the last weeks increasing. Whatever doubts she’d entertained about Jasper before the ceremony had long been destroyed by his constant humour and the hours they’d spent together. He wanted to be with her and they were revelling in their newfound freedom.
A balding businessman in a light coat mumbled his apologies while he passed them on his way out. His presence forced Jasper and Jane to assume a more professional air before they entered the room. It was a large one in the old house, a ballroom maybe, converted like the rest into a private apartment. True to its past it was embellished with chipped wainscoting, scrolled doors, tall windows hung with thick curtains and an abundance of gilt furnishings and knick-knacks.
‘It looks like your office,’ Jane whispered as they slipped behind the gathered crowd and gawked at the massive amount of baroque mirrors.
Jasper lowered his head to hers. ‘Maybe this is who purchased all of my old things.’
‘If you recognise anything, don’t buy it back.’
‘Why not? Aren’t you eager to own a sofa with this much red brocade?’ His breath tickled her ear while he motioned to the sofa behind them. ‘Think how it would go with our bed and what we could do on it.’
‘We could be quite wicked.’ Jane slid him an enticing sideways look, almost ready to abandon the auction for home and more carnal pursuits when the auctioneer announced the next item.
‘A large lot of French china in a classical pattern.’ A man held up a plate and bowl. The china was the only thing of style and taste in the entire room.
‘The set is perfect for the club and enough to get us started in the dining room.’
‘Are you sure you want something from here?’ Jasper fingered the tag of a very strange statue on the table beside them. The bronze couple was locked in an embrace worthy of the red sofa.
‘I do.’ The auction began, and only when she’d made the opening bid did she wonder at Jasper’s question. ‘Why shouldn’t I?’
His eyes danced with mirth. ‘No reason. Continue on.’
With the auction in progress, she couldn’t pause to interrogate him. Winning the china proved easier than securing the Fleet Street property and it didn’t come with a parcel of censorious looks from the other gentlemen crowded into the apartment. Whatever had enticed the other attendees here it didn’t include a sizeable set of French porcelain. In a few bids, she’d won the lot at a price she couldn’t wait to boast about the next time she dined with Philip.
‘Congratulations, my dear. You’ve made quite an acquisition.’ Jasper raised her hand to his lips and brushed it with a kiss. It sent a tingle down her arm and into places deeper down before the tight press of a restrained smile made her cock her head at him. He knew something she didn’t and it was amusing him to no end.
‘What are you thinking?’
‘About the allure we’ll offer to our clients. They can brag to their friends about eating beef off the notorious Mrs Greenwell’s china.’
All Jane’s plans to brag to Philip about her splendid purchase vanished. ‘What?’
He pointed at
