The Fighter and the Fallen Woman (23 page)

He lowered himself, gently coming to rest against her, and Lady opened her legs. She could feel his cock against the swollen lips of her pussy and shifted her hips to roll against it. With a low hiss, he dropped his head onto her chest, and Lady wrapped her arms around his shoulders and closed her legs around his flank. He was hers now. His mind was hers, his soul was hers and now his body was hers.

He started to kiss her breast and Lady relaxed her grip enough so he could move. She enjoyed the feeling of his mouth creating a moist path, each kiss closer to the crest, causing her to breathe a little bit faster.

Suddenly, he lowered his mouth over her nipple, causing her to cry out as he suckled on it. With each pull of his mouth, she arched her hips and rocked against him.

He made a sound deep in his throat and braced himself on his arms, then angled his hips until the tip of his cock was parting her folds.

“Lady,” he said, his voice a hoarse promise of everything yet to come. She raised her eyes and met his, then reached up and grabbed the back of his neck, needing to touch him as they fell.

With a flex of his hips, he surged into her. Suddenly there was no more emptiness, no more being alone. Lady could feel the shock and amazement on her face, knew the tears pooling in her eyes would soon start to fall, but she held King’s gaze, watching his face reflect the same emotions she was feeling.

He pulled out and thrust in again, and Lady had to force herself not to throw back her head and cry out to the heavens, but to keep looking at this amazing man making love to her. The third time he pushed into her, he lowered himself to cover her, his elbows braced beside her head. He started to kiss her, plundering her mouth in syncopation with the driving thrusts of his cock. Lady became frantic, wrapping her legs around his hips and running her hands down his side, sliding them up to grasp the swell of his ass. She returned his kiss with equal frenzy, nipping and sucking at his lips and tongue, wanting as much of him in her as she could get.

Soon, Lady started to get a heady sensation where King was pumping into her, different from last time but no less wonderful. It felt like her already pulsing flesh had started a new rhythm, one that rippled up through her body. She wrapped her arms up under King’s and around his back so she was clasping his shoulders. The next time he rocked into her, the sensation made her grip him harder, bowing her back and arching her hips. The next stroke touched a new spot and Lady felt her world start to fly apart. She grabbed King harder and another stroke made the pieces of her burst like bubbles in champagne, and Lady felt like that same wine was pouring up through her throat and cascading down her body.

She cried out as her body clenched, and after a few more strokes that kept her body pulsing in beat with her heart, King gave a hoarse shout and stiffened. He collapsed on her, his head nestled in the curve of her neck, and she could feel his heartbeat racing against her chest.

As her breathing calmed and her own pulse slowed, Lady idly ran her hands up and down his arms. Even with him pressed against her from head to foot, she still wanted to touch more of him. He was warm and sweaty and she had never been so sheltered.

With a groan, King separated from her and rolled to his back. Lady felt the familiar absence of being left after sex, but then King burrowed his arm under her shoulders and roughly pulled her against him, wrapping both arms around her after pulling a blanket over both of them. It wasn’t familiar, but it certainly wasn’t unwelcome.

He kissed her lightly on the forehead. “Thank you.”

“It was my pleasure.”

“I noticed.” He chuckled, and she laughed too. “Now we just keep you away from Mr. Adams until the tournament is over, and we’ll be in fine shape.”

Chapter Twenty-Six

“I don’t know that it’ll work to have you stay here. You certainly could, but this is probably one of the first places Mr. Adams will check. I’m thinking it might be better to put you in some rooms somewhere, safe and hidden away. That way I can come visit you as I need to.” King smiled at the thought. It wasn’t something he’d been planning on, but when it jumped into his head, it felt good. Lady would be protected, he’d be able to be with her and it’d only be for a few days at most. Sure, there’d be a few details to work out, but they could do it. It would solve the problem of keeping her away from Mr. Adams after the final fight, so it was just Nessie and how to run. They were practically there.

She pulled out of his arms and sat up, holding the blanket to her chest. He was grinning like a fool, but the world had just been handed to him on a platter. How could he not smile?

“What do you mean, keep me away from Mr. Adams?” she asked, and he searched her face to see if he was imagining her apprehensive tone or if there was truly something wrong. Her eyes were wary and direct and her lips were no longer swollen and rosy, but tight and drained of color. He’d been around women enough to know there was a storm brewing, but he’d never be around them enough to know what could bring the clouds in.

“Exactly that. We’ve got to figure out how to keep you away from him now that...you know,” King waved his hand across the bed, words suddenly failing him as the tension grew. “This.”

“This? This?” Her voice rose and her brow furrowed with each word. “What does
this
have to do with today, when
this
happened before and you never said anything? And what exactly do you mean by
this
? Since we’ve had sex? Since I’ve been with you? Since you fucked me?”

“Since I fell in love with you,” King shouted and all of the crackling tension became even more charged by the silence. He could only bear the look of shock on her face for a second before scrambling off the bed, the sheet tangling around his legs. He kicked it away and had to take three short steps to regain his balance, which only made him angrier. He whirled to face her, determined to fight for her, but her expression hadn’t changed, nor had she said anything in return, and he felt all of his anger disappear.

He didn’t move for a few seconds, then slowly leaned over and grabbed his pants. He dressed, then sat down in the leather chair off to the side and rubbed his hands over his face and head. Christ, what had just happened?

He heard Lady rustling, could see movement out of the corner of his eye, but he didn’t look up. He didn’t think he could stand seeing that look on her face again. He simply sat there, looking at the floor and feeling the jagged edge of her stare rip through his guts like knives.

“King?” Her voice was soft, but not weak. This was it, then. This was when she told him thanks for a nice evening but bugger off. He closed his eyes and let his head drop into his cupped hands.

“King, please look at me.”

He jumped out of his chair and headed straight for the back door. “I’ll get you a hansom, one of the fellows I know. He’ll take you straight to your place or answer to me.” He reached into the corner of his cupboard for his stash of coins. He had to push aside some crockery and didn’t hear her come up behind him. She laid her hand on his shoulder and he flinched. She pulled her hand away and suddenly King was cold.

“King, you’re acting all nickey, and if you don’t stop, I’m going to hit you worse than Shade ever could. Now be the fighter I fell in love with and turn around.”

Lady’s words, though spat at him like a fishwife’s curse, did two things. First, a rush of warmth reached into every cold and cobwebbed corner of his body. The second, and more likely to ruin him as a bruiser, was that his knees went weak.

“Fine, act like I’m nothing and throw it all away,” Lady said, her voice sharp enough to spill blood. As he leaned on the counter, feeling his body acclimate to the joy his heart was pumping through his veins, King could hear her stride back into the other room. He knew she was gathering her things to leave, and short of their working environment, she was planning never to see him again.

Quicker than a jab to the face, King found strength he’d never had before, and was able to dash into the other room and grab Lady from behind. He wrapped her and the sheet she was wearing into his arms and started spinning her in circles. He was laughing and yelling and, if one tear escaping could be called anything, crying.

“King, put me down. Put me down!” He felt her struggle and immediately put her feet back on the ground, but as quickly, spun her around to face him and grabbed her in a fierce hug.

“Say it again,” he demanded, breathing her in, feeling the shape of her in his arms. “Say it again.”

With an exasperated snort, she pulled out of his arms and flung the sheet off much the same way he thought he must have looked earlier. He also wondered if he had looked that angry. Then, with a deep breath, she stilled and looked him straight in the eye. Stark naked, her hair a glorious mass of curls and tangles, a small, secretive smile on her face, she looked like a warrior goddess from a Greek myth, and King’s knees went weak again.

“King, Henry, whoever you decide to be,” she said gently and reached up to hold his face in her hands. “I love you. I think I have since you first kept me from falling, but certainly since that first kiss when I tasted the life I was missing with you.”

“Oh, God, Lady, I love you too. I don’t care what you’ve done or where you’ve been because it’s made you this.” He laid his hands over hers. “I love you now,” he said and turned his head to lay a kiss in the palm of her hand. “I love you then,” he said and turned his head to kiss the other palm. “And I love you always.” He slid his hands up her arms to her shoulders and pulled her close, kissing her lips as tenderly as he knew how.

“You had me so scared,” he said against her lips. “When I said I loved you, you were looking at me like you were going to laugh at me, walk away or both.”

Lady laughed lightly and pulled back far enough to look King in the eye. “I was in shock. I didn’t think we could find something like this, not ever. I had developed feelings for you, but I never even imagined they’d be returned.”

“When?” He felt like he had when he’d won his first fight, honestly earned his first coin. “When did you first know you loved me?”

“Absolute certainty? The day you came over to my house and gave me the bird.”

King smiled and pulled her into his arms, resting his cheek on the top of her head. “I knew there was a reason I rescued that little bird,” he said, as much to himself as to her.

“The little bird is glad you did,” Lady said. “So when did you know?”

“When I knew bone-deep?” he asked and she nodded against him. “Tonight.”

She pulled away only enough to look at him, the furrow to her brows making her smile a question. “I knew I cared for you, I knew I wanted something better for you, I knew it was killing me to watch what you endured and not do anything, but I had no idea what love was until you came to me tonight and showed me.”

“Oh, King,” she whispered and kissed him, then nestled into the curve of his neck and held him tight. They stood there for a moment, holding each other, and King could have stayed like that forever.

“King?”

“Mmm?” He could tell what she wanted to say wasn’t going to be good. He rocked her gently and prayed the outside could stay there for a little while longer.

She stepped back, then led him by the hand over to the bed and indicated for him to sit. He did and watched as she dressed quickly, then sat beside him. “I don’t think it’s a good idea to hide me away right now. You said yourself that when I run—when we run,” she added when he held up his hand, “we need to be prepared for Mr. Adams to chase us with everything he’s got. I’m ready for that, but I still don’t know what’s going to happen with Nessie. I’m still trying to get her to come with, but there’s a good chance she won’t, and if she chooses to stay, I need to make sure she’s safe and taken care of before I can leave. I can’t do that if we’re hiding.”

“Lady, about Mrs. Nesbitt...” King gathered his courage to tell Lady about her dearest friend, news that would probably hurt her deeply but might help make her decision. “I think she’s working more for Mr. Adams than you.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, I’ve seen her at Mr. Adams’s, have seen her sneak out of your house and get into his carriage. I think she’s spying on you for him, and if you tell her our plans, she’ll alert him.” He waited for her denial, her tears, and vowed to do whatever he could to help her through this.

Lady smiled and King felt like he’d been hit in the head. He looked at her, the questions swimming through his muddled head obviously clear on his face.

“Oh, King, she’s not. Well, she is, but she isn’t.” Lady cupped his cheek with her hand. “Mr. Adams did put Nessie in my house to spy on me, but he didn’t know we’d been friends long before. We plan what she tells Mr. Adams so he feels like he’s in control but in truth, he knows nothing.”

King thought that through, tried to remember every time he’d thought she was reporting on Lady to Mr. Adams and what had happened around those incidents.

“I suppose if she was on his side, she would have mentioned something about us to him,” he said.

Lady nodded. “We never would have made it this far if she hadn’t been protecting me the whole time.”

“Well, we can put her in hiding with you, then.” He was desperate to get Lady safe, and if it meant bringing Mrs. Nesbitt along, that was an easy price to pay. “I think you two can talk even more if we do that. It’ll keep you both safe and...away from him.”

“King,” she said and kissed him on the cheek. “My love.” She picked up his hand and kissed the back of it, then kept holding it. “The hiding right now isn’t the only thing. Don’t you think it’s foolish to come this far and not finish the tournament, not when staying a few days will help us buy that new life, a life with some security instead of always running? If we keep acting like normal, you’ll fight and win, gaining the champion’s purse, and I’ll get enough jewels to help us and Nessie both, depending on what she chooses. If I go into hiding, Mr. Adams will tear down London looking for me, and not because he cares for me, but because he doesn’t like to lose. You know that’s what he’ll do. How will you be able to concentrate on winning the final round with that happening, and that’s if he doesn’t pull you from the fight and make you look for me?”

“But what if he—”

She pressed two fingers against his lips. “He won’t. He likes the idea of what will happen after the fight too much to push me before then, especially since he’s got the girls here to service him. If he gets his blood up before then, I carry opium with me. I’ve also placed some heavy candlesticks and vases in certain places around the house if I can’t slip the drug into his drink. He will never touch me again.”

King took her hand and held it in his, setting them both in his lap and not looking away from the way they looked clasped together. He couldn’t look her in the eye when he told her his worry.

“This is Mr. Adams. He’s used force on you before, and I know he would do it again, possibly with Shade to help or just beating you so badly you won’t be able to fight back.” He looked into those beautiful blue eyes and said, “I’ve seen it happen before. I’ve cleaned up after him before.”

Lady didn’t say anything and King could see the fight going on behind her eyes as he felt it going on behind his. His gut was telling him to run, but his head was telling him they needed to see this through. When he realized she was right and that they should act normally, he wanted to rage, to curse, to cry.

“You swear you can handle him?” he asked and she slowly nodded. “Then I’ll find some way to distract him after the fight and you get home as soon as you can. We’ll meet in the alley behind your house.”

“King, if you can’t distract him...”

“I’ll do everything I can, I promise, but I also promise you this—as long as we get out with our lives, everything else can be dealt with. We’re going to do what we have to—both of us—but we will get out, Lady. I swear.”

“Happily ever after.” Even though it seemed a little forced, she smiled, and he loved her even more for it.

“Very happy.” He pressed a soft kiss to her lips. “We either take Mrs. Nesbitt with us or find her safe haven. But if I hear anything out of the ordinary before then, I’m coming in and getting you out, no matter what. Understand?”

“Yes.” She looked like a woman well pleased. “And thank you. It’s nice to have somebody caring for me.”

A loud
bang
out on the street caused both of them to start and look toward the door. King glanced at floor of the kitchen where a faint light was shining through the bottom of the door. “It’s near dawn. Time to get you home.”

He dashed out into the Red Door, and came back with a patched black cloak. “It might be a little chilly outside,” he said and swirled it around her shoulders before fastening the tie at her throat. He had trouble letting go, knowing what he would be sending her back to. She must have sensed his worry, because she clasped his hands like the two of them were exchanging vows.

“King, for the first time in years, I have felt warm and safe and alive, and it’s all because of you. I wake up in the morning happy, knowing it’s another day I get to see you, instead of feeling like the fog is going to smother me, and wanting it to. I know whatever happens, whatever we face in the days to come, we will make it. We will make it because of this,” she said and gripped his hands tightly. “He may try to end us, but he won’t. He can’t. He may think he owns my body, but you own my heart, and that, my love, makes all the difference.”

Using their clasped hands, King pulled her into his arms and held her in his embrace, kissing her with all of the fear, passion and love he felt for her, and she returned him equal measure. If they could make it a few more days, they would have it all.

King slowly ended the kiss, framing her face in his hands and leaning forward until their foreheads were touching, their eyes were locked.