Beyond Rubies (Daughters of Sin 4)

“Shy?” he asked when she resisted the removal of the next layer. “Well, if you’ve never done this before, as I suspect, then we’ll take it more slowly.” With agonizing care, he inched his hand up her thigh, caressing her skin in slow circuits, which had the result of firing Kitty up to a ridiculous degree. But her breathing was a giveaway, and he chuckled again. “I’m taking it slowly, my angel, because it’s your first time, but oh Lord, I’m in a fever to have you.”

Kitty was in a fever to be had. She’d been warned by the girls at the theater that the first time would be painful, though she found that hard to imagine when her insides felt molten, and when her body cleaved with desire as his fingers breached the slick wetness and heat between her legs.

“Oh my, this will be delightfully easy and not at all uncomfortable for you,” he said approvingly, but when he moved aside to hastily divest himself of his breeches, and she saw the huge appendage that apparently was supposed to force itself inside her, she gasped with fear.

He winked. “It’s very large, I know, but you will gain so much more pleasure for that,” he reassured her. His eyes smoldered, and he licked his lips as he smiled lazily at her. “Take it in your hand and feel it. Get used to it first. Ah yes, that’s very good, squeeze a little harder. And now it’s time for it to find a new home. Are you ready?” With a soft murmur of endearment, he pushed her back onto the mattress and rose over her. Cupping her cheek briefly, he positioned the tip of his manhood at her entrance and half entered her.

Kitty gasped with surprise, and he smiled reassuringly. “Nothing to fear. Take a deep breath.” He pushed again, and this time Kitty felt a ripping, burning sensation and cried out with pain. But he didn’t stop to accommodate her discomfort this time; and besides, the increasing rhythm of his plunging in and out soon caught her up in her own pleasure. The escalation of desire that had been put on hold by the pain was soon all that occupied her mind as she clung onto it like a drowning woman. Until finally the dam burst and she was gripped by contractions of pleasure, which seemed to launch Lord Nash into his own journey of satisfaction.

Breathing heavily, clutched in his arms, Kitty laughed. “Oh my, that was mighty good,” she gasped, and he laughed, joining in her delight.

“I’m sure you’re the first deflowered virgin who’s ever put it in those terms,” he said, holding her tightly. “And you’re all mine. The toast of Covent Garden. You are pure heaven, Miss La Bijou. I shall treat you as you deserve to be treated...like a princess.”

What magic words. She’d followed her heart, and it had not let her down. Kitty felt the world a wondrous place as she drifted off to sleep beside her valiant viscount. The kindest, handsomest, most exciting man in the world. And when he woke her in the early hours of the night to repeat the exercise, she was more than ready. She felt she could never get enough of him, a feeling she truly believed was mutual, and one backed up by his devotion the following morning when he helped her to dress, took her to a mantua maker for some articles to augment her wardrobe, and then escorted her to the theater for rehearsal. Kitty didn’t mind that Jennie passed them on the stairs, turning to look over her shoulder and to raise an eyebrow that said so much that didn’t need to be put into words.

Well, Jennie was going to have to eat her words. Lord Nash was going to break her heart, was he? No, he was going to make Kitty the happiest young woman in the entire world.

Chapter Seven

Kitty felt like purring as she opened her eyes to the morning light streaming through the window. She curled against Nash, who put his arms around her and kissed the top of her head.

For two weeks, they’d been inseparable. Finally, he was talking about securing her own accommodation though she’d much rather he talked about mak

ing her his wife. The gypsy had intimated their love would be like a brilliant, brightly burning star that would obliterate all society’s obstacles. Well, that’s what Kitty had taken away from the palm-reading, and what she felt in her heart. Gallantly, Nash escorted her to the theater each night, waiting for her after her performance with a lavish bouquet of flowers.

On one occasion, she’d seen Lord Silverton passing by in the street, a well-dressed young lady on his arm. She’d just issued out from the theater with Lord Nash, as it happened, and the two men had doffed their hats, Lord Silverton offering her a warm smile. She’d wished she could talk to him for he had been such pleasant company, but he was with a lady who must have been some relative or respectably married, for he did not stop. Kitty felt a stab of disappointment. One day, she would be deemed respectable company enough for Lord Silverton to have introduced her to his escort. She would not be like her mama, always the subject of whispers and never able to appear in public with Kitty’s father. Nor would Kitty keep producing infants to bear the shame of illegitimacy, Kitty had made sure of that, thanks to the advice of the girls from the theater which had led to her asking Mrs. Mobbs who, it transpired, regularly dispensed vials containing the seeds of the Queen Anne’s Lace plant, supposed to prevent conception if taken immediately after the act.

Now Lord Nash put the tip of his tongue into her ear, chuckling as the action caused her to shiver with anticipation. “Alas, I have work to do today and you must take your leave, but when you have your own abode, I can visit you anytime I want to, and we’ll not be forced apart like this.”

“Newlyweds are forgiven for wanting to be together all the time, are they not?”

“Indeed they are, but we are not newlyweds. Now Kitty, out or you’ll be late for rehearsal.”

She liked his commanding tone, while the fact she was working for London’s busiest theater made her glow with pride. She was, however, slightly disappointed by his dismissal of her reference to newlyweds. Still, she had the knowledge to cling to that her destiny was carved in stone. So much of what had been foretold had come true. As for achieving the rest—the joyous legal union— she just had to be patient.

When she was dressed and ready to leave, she wondered how she had not died of boredom in her little country village. She tried to feel guilt over leaving Mama, then considered that her mother had willingly chosen to live in sin and break her parents’ hearts, so how could her mama condemn the life Kitty had chosen.

“Go forth and thrill the audience with another of your heart-stopping performances, my sweet.” Darling Nash kissed her full on the lips as he prepared to leave her just inside the theater door that led off the side lane. Several actresses halfway up the stairs craned their necks, and Kitty felt a thrill at the spectacle they must make. Here she was, her dreams almost fulfilled. She was doing something with her life that made it extraordinary, and she was being rewarded with everything for which she could have hoped.

“And you’ll be waiting for me?”

“Of course, my love.”

Jennie swept in from the street, enveloped in a black cloak. She pushed back the hood and sent Lord Nash a coquettish smile as she bent and ostentatiously began to adjust her garter on the top step, saying over her shoulder, “You’re looking tired, my Lord. I ‘ope you will relax long enough to see tonight’s performance. It’s never the same twice.”

“Indeed, it’s not, but tonight I have other business. I shall return to fetch Kitty at the usual time.”

“Ah, Kitty, whom we all adore.” Jennie rose and put an arm about Kitty’s shoulders, saying with false camaraderie. “The audience loves ’er, everyone backstage loves ’er, and your love is the crowning glory, Lord Nash. I speak from experience.”

Kitty stepped away at the look of false tragedy upon the other woman’s face, adding when Lord Nash had left, “He’s no longer yours, Jennie, and I’m sorry you feel dejected but life moves on and so must we.”

“Aren’t you the wellspring of all wisdom? Speaking from such experience, too. Just you wait, Miss La Bijou. One is never ’appiest than just before a fall.”

They were in the busy changing rooms now amid the bustle of costume changes, urgent requests for assistance in the hair and corsetry departments, and general frenzy. Kitty sent Jennie a cold stare. “I’m sorry you resent me, but I didn’t chase Lord Nash and force him to shower me with his attentions.”

Jennie returned the stony stare. Then she shrugged and smiled brightly. “I don’t resent you. Not too much, at any rate. I feel sorry for you with your eager innocence. You think ’e’s in love with you, don’t you?”

“He is in love with me,” Kitty returned hotly. She lowered her voice. “Tomorrow I move into a townhouse he has secured for me.”