His Mistress (22 page)

“Do not forget that I warned you,” Tobias rasped as he tugged her into his arms with a suppressed violence at the way she’d forced his hand.

Not waiting for her reply, he crushed her lips beneath his. Desire pounded its way through his blood as he molded her to his body. Beneath the harshness of his kiss, she froze against him, and he prepared himself for her protest. It didn’t come. Instead, she became soft and pliable in his arms. Deep inside, he shouted the need to stop this madness, but he ignored the warning.

With a sharp nip at the plump skin of her lower lip, he waited for the gasp that would part her lips. A fraction of a second later, his tongue slipped past her teeth to plunder her sweet succulent mouth. Mint and a hint of citrus made her taste cool and tangy. The flavors reminded him of her strength and the occasional mischievous side she kept hidden beneath her serene countenance.

One arm wrapped around her waist, he caressed the side of her throat with his free hand. The pads of his fingers could have been touching silk if he’d not known otherwise. Eager to taste more of her, his mouth left hers to make its way across her cheek and down the side of her neck. A low moan broke free of her lips, while her head fell backward and her breasts pressed deeper into his chest. Immediately, his hand slid downward to caress the peach-toned swells of her breasts framed by her gown’s bodice. She was lovely, and she didn’t deserve his darkness touching her in any form.

Desperately, he shoved aside the desire she’d aroused in him and prepared himself to secure the room’s key then leave her before he did something he regretted. In an adroit move, he plucked the key from between her breasts. At her small cry of surprise, he swung his gaze up to her face. Cheeks flushed with warm color, she had the look of woman ready for the intimate touch of her lover.

Subtle and feminine, her scent filled his nostrils with a hint of flowers in a summer meadow. The essence of her sank its way into him in a manner that sent alarm bells ringing in his head. Her fresh, feminine fragrance was a direct contrast to the shadows that filled his soul. Eyes closed, Tobias struggled to regain his self-control. His ability to do so was hindered by the sound of her ragged breathing, the softness of her pressing into his hard muscles, and the memory of her sweetly curved breasts.

Erotic images of suckling her nipples while cupping the lush curve of her filled his head. The thought pounded against the barrier he’d created between sanity and desire. With a violent crash, the darkness broke through his restraint and enveloped him like a raging river of fire.

The key slipped from his fingers to hit the carpet beneath their feet with a barely perceptible thud as he bent his head and probed the edge of the cleft between her breasts with his mouth. The quiet mewl of pleasure drifting out of her throat only increased the level of his desire as he allowed his tongue to imitate a more intimate act.

A shudder wracked her body as she clung to him and sighed his name with an ache he recognized. It matched the desire barreling its way through him, and in an instant his cock was hard. Urgency and need crashed through him demanding a satisfaction he knew he didn’t dare ask of her. Almost as if she could read his mind, her hand glided downward from his chest to his erection.

Nimbly, and with unexpected assuredness, she unfastened several of his trouser buttons and freed his cock. Cool air brushed his skin for the briefest of moments before the heat of her hand wrapped around him. Tobias dragged in a harsh breath of air at the touch, and she squeezed him again. Her touch was pleasurable and painful all in the same instant.

It was as if she knew the precise amount of pressure needed to bring him close to losing his seed. Her hand curled around his neck as she tugged his mouth back to hers. The moment her tongue probed his mouth, his cock jumped. Fingers still wrapped firmly around him, she slid her hand up and down in one slow stroke.

A dark growl rumbled in his chest as he pulled her tight against him and rocked his hips toward her. Her hand immediately complied with his silent demand. It didn’t escape his notice that she understood his need without a moment’s hesitation, but it was a fleeting observation. Desire crashed through his body and blinded him to any other thoughts as she pleasured him with her hand.

Lust crashed like a wave over him taking him downward into a dark mist of shadowy lust. Again she stroked his erection, and he failed to contain the desire assaulting every muscle in his body. The shadowy mist closed around him as the rising tide of lust drove coherent thought from his body. God help him, but if she kept stroking him like this, he was going to come in her hand. Suddenly, she broke their kiss and brushed her mouth across his cheek until she nipped at his ear.

“You like my touching you like this, don’t you, Tobias?”

The softness of her voice revealed a quiet confidence that made his eyes fly open to stare down at her face. Somewhere deep inside, he recognized the seductive curve of her lips. It was so familiar. As he struggled to remember where and when he’d seen a similar expression before, she stroked him again. The memory slipped into nothingness. Her hand continued to slide up and down his cock as she looked in his eyes.

“You haven’t answered me, Tobias.”

“Christ almighty, yes,” he rasped as he envisioned her in his bed. Tobias immediately shook his head in an attempt to clear the image from his head. He needed to regain control of his senses.

“Have I shocked you?”

Amusement echoed in her question, but the part of him that still held a slight grasp on reason heard a hint of apprehension in her voice. Fuck yes, she’d shocked him. How could she possibly know, let alone have the courage, to touch him like this? A widow he could understand, but Jane had never been married. Was it possible she wasn’t the innocent he’d assumed her to be? The thought of her with another man aroused emotions in him that he didn’t want to consider. Her finger, traced its way along the ridge of Tobias’ cock, and his body jerked at the erotic touch.

“Sweet Jesus,” he rasped as her hand tightened her grip around him.

“You haven’t answered me, Tobias.”

“Yes,” he choked out as her fingers played with him in a fashion that said she wasn’t the inexperienced woman he’d thought or even expected her to be.

“Good. I like it when I surprise you,” she whispered. Her hand pumped him a little faster, and he dragged in a deep breath of air as her mouth grazed the edge of his jaw. “Shall I surprise you again?”

Something in the way she asked the question threw Tobias out of the hazy fog that had been holding him hostage to her touch. There was a distinct note of disappointment in her question that helped him regain control of his senses. Gently, he captured her wrist and pulled her hand off of him. Despite his body’s shouts of protest, Tobias turned away to place his aching cock back in his trousers.

Tomorrow night,
Mystère
would assuage the physical relief he was craving so badly now. It would come at a high price, but it would not be a difficult penalty to pay. He would willingly pay almost any price
Mystère
demanded if it spared him the sting of Jane’s contempt. The strength of his desire to protect her from the darkness inside him twisted his gut with raw panic. Tobias crushed the sensation before it could take permanent root inside him. It would be far easier to reveal a small dark piece of himself to
Mystère
than expose Jane to the depths of his darkness.

Tobias slowly turned to face her. He barely had time to register the look of defeat flashing across her face before it vanished and a calm serenity smoothed her lovely features. Not even those dark sapphire eyes of hers reflected anything other than a cool assessment. Only one other woman had ever studied him in such a way.

The resemblance between the two women was striking—disbelief fired off a warning shot in his brain. A split second later he dismissed the possibility. To even consider the idea that Jane was
Mystère
was no different than listening to the ravings of a madman. Unfortunately, he was the madman wishing for the impossible. Still, he found it difficult to suppress the rising tide of suspicion nagging at him.

“Jane—”

“Perhaps I should have confessed my lack of innocence before we announced my engagement.”

Her voice was as serene as her expression, but it failed to disguise the pain layered beneath her statement. His muscles tightened with the need to pull her into his arms and console her. Someone had hurt her deeply, and he wanted to rake that person over hot coals. Tobias considered her question then shook his head.

“Such a confession would not have changed my mind.”

His response made her gape at him in astonishment. But he knew he’d spoken the truth. Jane’s virginity or lack of it had no bearing on his proposal of marriage. Tobias’ jaw clenched with self-disgust. His sole motivation had been an instinct for survival.

“What man would be willing to take soiled goods?” she asked in a cold voice.

“Give me the name of the bastard who said you were soiled goods.”

Tobias hadn’t meant to make his voice sound so harsh and demanding, and he winced at her reaction. In an instant, her composure vanished and she stared at him in wide-eyed surprise. When she didn’t reply, he stepped forward to take her hand.

“Other than my desire to cause injury to the man who hurt you, your past doesn’t matter to me, Jane.”

“I was the one at fault. I didn’t see Barnaby for what he was until it was too late.”

The look of dismay on her face made him realize she’d not meant to speak her thoughts out loud. The overwhelming need to comfort her made him pull her into his arms and press her head into his shoulder. She shuddered slightly, but didn’t attempt to leave his embrace. Tobias’ chin brushed against Jane’s dark hair as she rested her head on his shoulder. She didn’t cry, she simply stood quietly in his arms.

“We all make mistakes, Jane, and sometimes the penance we pay is well deserved. At other times, it’s someone else who should be punished,” he said quietly.

“You’re a good man, Tobias.” With her cheek pressed into his coat, her voice was muffled. He closed his eyes at the compliment he was unworthy of and prayed she would never learn the darkest truth of all. A small smile of bitterness twisted his lips.

“There you’re wrong,” he said with more than a touch of irony. “And I shall prove how terribly wrong you are if I ever meet this Barnaby. I’ll destroy him.”

“Ever the Lancelot,” she murmured.

It was a barely perceptible whisper, but he heard it just the same. Shock made his muscles knot hard like a piece of petrified wood. Only
Mystère
had ever referred to him by that name. Although his mind fought to make him believe Jane was
Mystère
, Tobias rejected the idea. It was nothing more than his desire for a wife who would find pleasure in the same way he did.

Tobias closed his eyes in an attempt to conjure up
Mystère’s
face. In the dim shadows of
La Maison des Plaisirs Sombres
, it was difficult to know if
Mystère’s
eyes were the exact same beautiful sapphire as Jane’s. The mask she wore covered half of her face, and made it difficult to be certain the two women were one and the same.

Even their voices were alike, yet different.
Mystère’s
voice was sultry and filled with confidence. The mere sound of it could make his cock hard as iron. Jane spoke quietly, and the sound of her voice often conveyed a vulnerability
Mystère
did not. If he didn’t know better, he could say Jane had a twin.

The similarities were strong, but not enough to for him to risk confronting her. If he were wrong, it would raise questions he had no intention of answering. He was too fond of Jane to expose her to his dark world and destroy the bond they were forming. They might never be lovers, but he valued her friendship. The thought made him wince.

Jane deserved better than him. She deserved to be loved, cherished, and protected. He could protect her, but that was the extent of his capabilities. Anything else would put both of them at risk. Almost as if she’d sensed his confusion, Jane retreated from his embrace. Fear swept across her face as her gaze met his, but she quickly composed her features into a cool, unreadable mask.

“Is something wrong, Tobias?” Her question made him shake his head as he struggled with his suspicions that Jane and
Mystère
were the same woman.

“It’s nothing. My ribs are protesting my adventures from earlier this evening,” he lied.

“Your ribs,” she exclaimed fiercely as she glared up at him. “Why didn’t you say something
earlier
?”

“I’ve simply bruised the muscles.” He scowled at her renewed fixation on his injuries. “If I’d mentioned it earlier, I’ve no doubt that you would have made me remove my shirt and coat to examine Dr. Wilson’s exemplary job of binding my ribs.”

“And would you have obeyed that command?” Her cheeks flushed, her sapphire eyes were dark with irritation.

“Yes.” His quiet response made her eyes widen before amusement made her full mouth curved upward.

“You may regret allowing me to rule you so easily.”

“Do not underestimate me, Jane. There are certain times when my decisions will overrule your dictates.”

“I see,” she said in a regal manner that displayed every bit of the strength inside her.

“Actually, I think we will do well together, Jane. You have all the qualities I wish for in a wife.”

“What might some of those qualities be? A wife who knows her place?”

“No. I have no use for a docile wife. The strength I see in you is something few men respect, but I find it…enticing. Your insights have already proven valuable in helping me to view a problem from a new perspective.” He watched a flush of color fill her cheeks at the compliment. “But never mistake indulgence for complete surrender to your demands.”

“A challenge,” she said with a small laugh. Again his mind struggled with the possibility that it was
Mystère
standing before him. She tipped her head to one side. “I look forward to developing this strength you see in me. But for now, you’re to go home and rest. I told you before that I expect you to take better care of yourself.”