Thomas highly doubted it was the investigation she was worried about exposing. But he wasn’t going to argue. The evening would progress much more pleasantly without Sir Robin’s piercing, ‘Bastard!’
‘Please, sit. We should discuss the case before—’ Clio seemed to have walked herself up to a verbal cliff.
‘Before I tie you to that bed over there?’ The gothic headboard was helpfully adorned with carved filigrees and swirls, providing ample choices to anchor someone.
Clio swallowed. ‘You really are committed to that second rule.’
‘In this kind of situation, honesty is best. It leaves no room for misunderstanding.’
‘Ah.’ She narrowed her gaze. ‘Yet you still hide the truth from me, don’t you, Thomas?’
He clenched the straps, letting the bite of leather centre him. Because it would be so easy to tell her everything. His deepest shame. And then she would leave. And he would never have another chance to taste her. To feel her supple skin beneath his hands. To hear his name ripping from her throat. And he wasn’t ready to let her go. Not yet.
Not ever.
But that was impossible.
‘Do you still wish me to take command of our bed sport, Clio?’
She pressed her lips together, inhaled a deep breath, and nodded.
‘Then stop asking me questions, or I won’t tie you to that bed tonight. I won’t strip you bare. Suck those pretty nipples until you burn. I certainly won’t spread your beautiful legs and finally taste what I’ve been craving. Do you understand?’
Her chest rose and fell in a ragged rhythm. Every word he spokeincreased the flush covering her neck and cheeks. Her skin began to glow, her power pulsing from her sternum. His body hardened in response.
‘Yes.’ She threw the word at him like a dagger. He knew she wanted to uncover his secrets. But it seemed she wanted the pleasure he could bring even more.
‘Thank the bloody saints for that.’
She thrust out her chin, obviously unwilling to give him the upper hand just yet. Not when he had refused her something she wanted. ‘Don’t thank them just yet. Before we do all that,’ she flapped her hand at the bed, ‘we must discuss the case.’
Keeping his need chained, he sucked air through clenched teeth. ‘Yes. The blasted case. How could I forget?’ With a Herculean effort, he walked to one of the wingback chairs next to the hearth and carefully sat, mindful of the raging erection pressing painfully against his falls.
Clio took the opposite chair and pulled her legs up, wrapping her arms around her knees.
‘I’ve thought over what Anna told us, and I have reached several conclusions.’
She spent the next few minutes detailing her thoughts. With each new explanation, Thomas found himself increasingly more impressed with her quick mind.
‘So, you believe Anna is seeing both of her parents because they are both dead?’
Clio nodded, her black hair spilling over her shoulder. ‘I think I should try to reach out to them, together. If I can get into the nursery when Anna isn’t there, I might be able to convince them to speak to me. They both want to protect their daughter. Maybe I can use that as leverage to get them to trust me.’
Thomas shook his head. ‘The last time you spoke to theviscount, he strangled you. I saw the bruises, Clio, no matter what kind of magic you used to heal them.’
Clio shook her head. ‘He didn’t mean to do that. He wasn’t seeing me. He was seeing the murderer.’
‘I don’t care what he was seeing. I won’t have you putting yourself in danger. Not with the current Viscount Beachley, and certainly not with the deceased one. I can’t protect you against a spirit.’
She narrowed her gaze. ‘You don’t need to protect me. I can protect myself.’
The truth of her statement rubbed salt into old wounds. Because it meant he wasn’t necessary.
Thomas tried a different tactic. ‘I don’t doubt your skills in self-preservation. But what if you scare them away? You said that could happen, and then what? We must speak with Mrs Coggins again. She knows why Berty was there. Your suspicions of her are entirely supported by Anna’s testimony.’ No one was immune to flattery. He hoped. ‘And unlike your ghostly friends, if she attacks you, I can help beat her back.’
‘Trust me, if she so much as tried, I would have her hair smouldering to cinders.’
He shook his head. ‘Wicked witch. Attacking a woman’s hair.’
