Honor and Secrets: A Risqué Regency Romance (The Gypsy Gentlemen Book 1) Read online

  His cock was rock hard and ready, and she met it with a slight parting of her thighs along with a little moan as he slid his hands to her buttocks and clutched her even tighter against him.

  Her hands were at his neck, tugging at his hair and holding his head captive against her mouth.

  She gave him back as much as he gave her, and Viktor nearly gasped at the pleasure of it. Their lips crushed together, mouths learning, tongues exploring, and through it all she let her body speak to his.

  She was arousing him to the point of pain, and her increasingly bold pressure against him told him she was as affected as he by their embrace.

  Finally, he drew apart from her, opening his eyes and savoring her taste on his lips.

  “Who are you?” he breathed.

  Her eyelids flickered, then rose slowly as she tried to pull herself out of the sensual haze they’d created together.

  “I…I’m…nobody,” she whispered.

  She wasn’t running away, however. She wasn’t screaming or panicking, or doing anything she should have done after being kissed like that by a total stranger.

  Viktor couldn’t help but be glad.

  He smiled. “I don’t usually find myself like this…” He pressed his cock against her softness again watching her eyes widen. “From kissing nobody.”

  With a little sigh she moved from his arms and resumed her seat on the rock. “I am nobody you should know, sir.”

  The words were sad almost plaintive.

  “Suppose you let me make that decision? Oh, and you probably shouldn’t know me, either,” he added.

  A quick smile lit her face. “Perhaps we are two of a kind, in that case.”

  Viktor settled himself on another rock, wincing a little as his cock reminded him that two such hardnesses didn’t necessarily make for a comfortable seating position.

  “So what is an angel like you doing out here at this hour of the night?”

  He watched her face as she stared into the water, trying to gauge the color of her eyes. Blue perhaps? Her hair was silvery in the moonlight, so it was quite possible.

  But it was hard to tell.

  The magic of the night was casting a spell over her, turning her from flesh and blood woman into some mythical and sensual illusion. But he could still taste her on his lips. That kiss had been no illusion.

  He moved, easing the hardness of his cock once again.

  “Escaping,” she murmured.

  “From heaven?”

  She snorted. “From hell, more like.”

  Viktor raised one eyebrow in question.

  “I should not bore you, sir. Forgive me.” She moved a little as if to stand, but Viktor stopped her with a gesture.

  “You could not bore me. Ever. Boring is what I too am escaping from. Back there.” He tipped his head over his shoulder.

  “You did not enjoy Lord Eventyde’s dinner party?”

  “No.” His answer was short, but he wasn’t about to go into details. He wanted to listen to her speak, to tell him anything and everything about herself.

  “You really want to know who I am?” There was a degree of amazement in her tone.

  “Yes. I really want to know.”

  She sighed, and folded her hands together in her lap. “It’s a silly story, and one I’m sure will give you a distaste of me. The path is behind you, sir, should you wish to leave.”

  “My name is Viktor,” he said quietly. “What’s yours?”

  “Madelyne. Madelyne…Eventyde.”

  Viktor blinked. “You are my host’s daughter?”

  She nodded. “For my sins, yes.”

  “I should think it’s his sins, not yours.”

  Madelyne looked at him. “Unfortunately, it’s probably a little of both.”

  Viktor reached out and briefly caught a lacy frill from the hem of her gown with his hand. He held it tight, as if to anchor her right where she was.

  “Tell me.” It was a command for all the politeness in his tone.

  “Very well. But remember—you asked.” She smiled a little. “I am, as you said, Lord Eventyde’s daughter. His only child. And you’ve met my father, so I don’t need to go into much about him. I have no illusions about his affection for me, since he made it clear from the start that he was disappointed not to have a son.” Her smile disappeared. “I don’t think he ever forgave my mother. He never speaks of her.”

  “Where is she?” asked Viktor. The lace ran through his fingers as he played with it, not unlike the strings of his violin.

  “I don’t know. Paris perhaps. She travels a lot nowadays. Sometimes she’ll write, but not often.”

  “She left you alone?”

  “Not while I was growing up, of course. She was only eighteen when I was born, and I remember the good times we had together. Alone. Here in the country while my father was in London. But once I got old enough to manage on my own, well, she drifted away. And…then she left. Permanently. Just before…” Madelyne stopped.

  “Before what, sweet Madelyne?”

  Her eyes closed. “Before I ruined myself and my family.”

  There. It was out.

  Madelyne couldn’t believe she’d actually spoken those terrible words to someone, and a man at that.

  It must be something about the moonlight and the magic of his music. Or perhaps the warmth she felt radiating from this wildly good-looking man who had appeared from the darkness and swept her into his spell.

  “You don’t look very ruined to me,” he said quietly.

  She swallowed past a lump in her throat. “Appearances can be deceiving, sir.”

  He moved closer, almost too close, sliding his hips onto the rock next to her. She swore she could feel the heat of his flesh as he closed the distance between them.

  “I am not easily deceived, Madelyne, and my name is Viktor. It would give me pleasure to hear you use it as you tell me your story.”

  Dear God—the man was appealing.

  How she’d love to lay her head down on that shoulder and let go of all her pain. Just for a minute or two.

  But once he’d heard her story, she knew he’d leave. No one she’d known had been able to understand.

  She hardened her resolution and prepared herself for his departure.

  “Very well…Viktor. I shall tell you, then you can go. Three years ago, I fell in love with a young man who lived near my home. He was a second son, from a respected local family, although not possessing anything near the wealth of my father. I wanted to marry Daniel. To spend my life with him, bear his children, and make a home for us all. Just the normal things any girl in love would want.”

  She took a deep breath.

  “Go on,” encouraged Viktor softly.

  “We were so young. So in love.” Madelyne swallowed. “And of course, my father found out about us. He was furious.”

  “He had other plans for you, I suppose?”

  “I don’t know. He’d never spoken to me of such matters. I just knew that when he found out about Daniel and myself he went mad. Threatened me with the strap, and Daniel with all kinds of dreadful things if we ever saw each other again.”

  “Did he beat you?”

  “Not then. He probably thought the threats would be enough. But to be on the safe side, he went to London, and the next thing we knew Daniel had been ‘recruited’ into a regiment bound for France. He’d expressed an interest in joining the military before, but had never pursued it since I’d…we’d started making plans for the future.”

  “I understand. Go on.” The gentle kindness in Viktor’s voice encouraged Madelyne.

  “It was the night before Daniel was supposed to leave for his regiment. We had arranged a meeting in the stables to say goodbye. And we were both…distraught, heartbroken, in love…” Her voice faltered and she stopped as memories flooded back.

  Memories she’d held successfully at bay for so long.

  “Let me guess,” said Viktor smoothly. “Things went farther than they should h
ave, and your father caught you both.”

  Madelyne barely repressed a shudder. “Quite correct, sir. He caught us at the worst possible moment.”

  “‘T’is not an unusual story, Madelyne. And surely your father must have demanded Daniel wed you?”

  Madelyne bit back a sob. “On the contrary, Viktor. My father tore me out of Daniel’s embrace. He gave me to his groom and told him to hold me.”

  Oh God, this was so hard. “I was…I was naked at the time.”

  Viktor’s hand moved and covered Madelyne’s, offering a supporting grasp and warmth, and giving her the courage to continue.

  “Then…then he proceeded to beat Daniel to within an inch of his life. My father has always been a strong man, and Daniel had no chance. There was so much blood…”

  The tears fell then, and she realized she was in Viktor’s arms, being held tight against his chest.

  “Tell me all of it, sweetheart,” he urged. “Let it all out.”

  She swallowed harshly. “After he’d finished with Daniel, he made him watch while his groom…his groom…”

  “Ssshh…it’s all right.” Viktor stroked her arms and soothed her.

  “My father said…” The words still rang clearly in her ears, and Madelyne shuddered. “He said that seeing as I was ruined anyway, Daniel might just as well see the sort of woman he’d turned me into. He told his groom to finish what Daniel had started.”

  Viktor’s arms tightened roughly around her, but she relished the comfort they offered.

  She finished her tale with her face tucked beneath his chin. “He let his groom take me there on a bale of hay, while Daniel was forced to watch.”

  There was silence after she’d finished, but Viktor showed no signs of disengaging from their embrace.

  A few moments passed, and Madelyne struggled to brush the tears away.

  “What happened to Daniel?”

  She sighed. “He was killed in his first engagement. All my father’s fury was for naught. We’d never have married. A French bullet saw to that.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  Madelyne felt a soft kiss drop onto her hair, and strangely, her pain eased. “Thank you. It was a long time ago, and although I shall never forget Daniel, he’s now a memory. A wonderful one, but still just a memory. I’m only sorry that I was responsible for causing such dreadful things to happen to him. He was a good man, Viktor.”

  “He must have been, for you to love him. And you do realize, of course, that you weren’t responsible. Your father was.”

  Madelyne thought about that. “I suppose so. But if I hadn’t…if we hadn’t…”

  Viktor’s chest moved slightly beneath her head as he breathed in a quick lungful of air. “Madelyne, if you hadn’t then, you would have sooner or later. It’s a natural thing to want to give everything you have to the one you love.”

  “Is it?” She couldn’t help turning and looking into the darkness of his eyes. His words were the first ones of comfort she’d heard in so long.

  “Indeed it is,” he answered. “Our bodies are made that way.” His lips dropped to her forehead and dropped little kisses there.

  She closed her eyes. “Oh that feels nice.”

  “I’m glad. It feels nice to me too.”

  “Are you sure you don’t mind being here with me? After all, I’m a ruined woman now. My father made that clear to everybody.”

  Viktor paused. “I would have thought he’d try to keep everything quiet.”

  “Not him. It was his temper and his pride. He made it plain that I was not a virgin, and that he wouldn’t now consider marrying me to any of the matches he’d apparently had in mind before this happened. He was furious. Unbelievably furious. He’d lost his chance to secure more land, and possibly a title for me. He’d let his temper drive him into a rather unwise course of action, I’d say, and when he realized it, I had to bear the brunt of his displeasure.”

  She pursed her mouth into an expression of distaste. “He made it clear that I was to consider myself a social outcast. No man would want me for myself. When the time was right, he told me he’d procure me a husband, but until then…I was sent to the Dower House and I’ve stayed there ever since. I’ve seen hardly anyone, and certainly not met any young men…until…”

  “Until me?”

  Viktor’s lips were back, tracing her eyebrows with feather light touches, and smoothing away the traces of her tears.

  “Until you. Until your music flew through the night and touched me…” Her hand rose to her heart.

  Viktor’s followed, covering hers and pressing their combined warmth into her breast.

  She felt her nipple rise as a surprising pleasure flooded her body.

  “Viktor,” she breathed.

  His lips found hers again, and once more she welcomed them. This time, she opened readily for him, and let his tongue plunder where it would, straining to meet it with her own.

  It was a joyous kiss, the first she’d given freely in years, the first to be shared with someone who knew. Someone who knew her darkest secrets, and apparently didn’t care.

  She snuggled closer, sighing a little as his hand cupped her breast and kneaded it gently through the light fabric of her gown.

  She ached.

  “Viktor,” she said again.

  “Mmm?”

  “Help me.”

  He pulled back slightly. “How, Madelyne?”

  “By…by touching me. By doing what you’re doing. Stay for a while, please?”

  “Do you know what you’re asking?” His voice was rough, but his hands gentle.

  “Yes. I know. But I also know that I need something…someone to let me know I’m still alive. That two people can share pleasure and not have it end in horror. I need…new memories, Viktor.”

  Madelyne raised her hand to his cheek and touched it, smiling a little at the hint of stubble that tugged on her skin.

  “It’s too much to ask…” She sighed.

  Viktor chuckled. “It’s not too much to ask, sweet one. But I’m just a lowly gypsy. I should not even aspire to lay my hands on you.”

  “I want your hands on me. I want…I don’t know what I want.” She paused. “But something tells me that you do.”

  Chapter Three

  Viktor knew.

  He knew that the woman he held bore scars on her soul. Scars that had been put there by the one person she should have been able to trust—her father.

  He quenched his fury, knowing that now was not the time or place for such emotions. Although he promised himself that there would be a settling of accounts. Soon.

  She was so still in his arms, waiting for him to speak, watching him as best she could in the darkness of the night.

  Such a warm soul, such a loving woman, and so badly abused.

  He understood.

  He understood more than she could ever comprehend. For he too bore such scars. And he too had needed the touch of another to help heal the deeply hidden pain of betrayal.

  He picked her up in his arms and moved with his precious burden to a soft patch of grass by the river. Pushing willow branches aside, he laid her gently down and followed her, letting the leaves fall back into place and curtain them from the rest of the world.

  “Madelyne,” he breathed. “I want you.”

  “Even though you know— “

  He touched his finger to her lips. “Sshh. The past is just that. The past. We are here, now, tonight. And we’re together. Something special is happening between us.”

  “You feel it too?” Her question contained amazement, and an undercurrent of longing.

  He lowered his lips to hers in a gentle kiss. “How can I not? You entranced me with your dancing, bewitched me with your voice and trusted me with your secrets.”

  “I…I entranced you?”

  He smiled and reached for her hand, sliding it between their bodies and holding it to his cock. “I am entranced.”

  Madelyne’s fingers flexed curiously against h
is hardness, bringing a shudder to his balls.

  “This…this is entranced?”

  Viktor’s smile was somewhat painful as he let her run her hand up his rock hard length. “It certainly is.”

  Perhaps he should return the favor. And maybe distract her a little before she caused an explosion in his breeches. He lowered his head to her breasts, and nuzzled them, listening with pleasure as her breath hitched in her lungs.

  “Do you like that?” he asked.

  “Oh yes,” she breathed.

  His hand slid to the laces that secured her bodice and loosened them, easing her sleeves from her shoulders. “Then you might like this too.”

  He let his mouth tug the gown down, pulling the fabric with his teeth, and keeping her hand pressed against him so that she could feel his pleasure. His cock stirred hungrily as he freed her breasts, and her fingers tightened around it.

  He clamped down on the urge to thrust himself into her hand, and let her soft fragrance seep into his nostrils as he explored her nakedness with his tongue.

  Her breasts were full and firm, and the nipples were already peaking, just begging to be suckled and nibbled.

  He answered their call and slowly lowered his open mouth over one taut peak.

  She gasped as his tongue found the sensitive bud and played with it, arching her back and thrusting herself into his touch.

  He suckled her, relishing the way his attentions were bringing an enthusiastic response from this sweet angel beneath him.

  “Viktor,” she sighed. “Viktor. I want to touch you, too.”

  He pulled away from her nipple and quickly shrugged off his jacket and shirt, as anxious to have her hands on him as she was to get them there.

  It did mean she’d have to release his cock, but all things considered that might not be a bad idea at this moment. It would certainly still be there when the time came for her to resume her touches.

  And Viktor intended that she would resume her touches. And a whole lot more.

  With a little moan of pleasure, Madelyne welcomed his bare flesh against hers, rubbing herself like a cat over his chest.

  She wasted no time in freeing her arms from her dress and sliding her hands up his spine to rest at the back of his neck, tangled in his hair.