And then Stephen had drawn her away. How many nights had she touched herself imagining what might have happened next?
Too many to count. But now when she pictured that, she thought of the two men across from her in the carriage. Dark and light, cool and heat. Touching her.
She jolted at the thought and choked out, “It never amounted to anything.”
“And the women?” Marcus pressed. “Could we be dealing with jealous husbands? Jealous lovers? Angry families?”
“I believe Stephen only chose courtesans,” she said, dropping her chin to stare at the floor. “As I said, he didn’t think those kinds of activities were meant for a lady to participate in.”
“Idiot,” Everett muttered under his breath.
Marcus elbowed him and kept his gaze on Naomi. “Thank you for that,” he said.
“For what?” she asked with a humorless laugh. “If I had no lovers to be jealous and his lovers were paid and unaffiliated, then I’ve given you nothing to go on,” she said.
Marcus shook his head. “Eliminating a theory is just as good as proving one in this case. We’ll look into it further, but right now we don’t have to focus attention on something that will likely be a dead end.”
She nodded and kept her eyes down. Right now she felt very crowded in. Uncertain. She didn’t want to reveal that fact in this situation which felt so confusing and painful and…fraught.
The carriage slowed and then stopped, and she lifted her gaze as Everett reached out to open the door. “I’ll make the arrangements,” he said, then left her alone with Marcus as he got out and shut the door behind himself.
She looked across at him and he smiled at her gently. “I realize this is difficult,” he said. “I promise you it will get better. But I must tell you something.”
She cocked her head. “That is an ominous tone.”
Marcus sighed. “I suppose it is. This afternoon we drove around London, trying to be certain that no one was following us. And we’ll stay at this inn tonight, on the outskirts of the city. But we cannot be sure that we weren’t followed, so Everett will be getting you a room as if you are husband and wife.”
Her lips parted on the shock of that statement. “We’ll stay in the room together?”
He nodded. “And I will be acting as servant. Man of affairs to his lordship. Once you are settled, I will join you.”
“All three of us,” she clarified. “In one room.”
“We must to protect you,” he said. “If you were in your own room, then we couldn’t reach you in time if you were attacked. And if it were only one of us there, he could fall asleep and also be unaware of danger. So we’ll stay with you and sleep in shifts to keep an eye on you.”
She stared at him, taking in every inch of that body that had been made for sin—and had probably taken part in a good deal of it. And there was a reaction throughout her entire being that was as wicked as could be. She wasn’t horrified by the idea of sharing a room with these men.
She was thrilled. Down to her toes. Down to the places that throbbed until she touched herself and found release.
“Do you have no argument? No questions?” he pressed gently.
She met his stare and shook her head. “No, Captain. I understand what you’re saying. I have no argument to staying with you both…for my protection.”
Chapter 4
The room was very small. Everett sighed as he watched Naomi pace around it, looking at the single chair by the window and the narrow bed that would only just fit two. And fit two fairly snugly at that.
He knew she had been told of the plan. Marcus had murmured that to him as Everett took her hand to escort his “wife” into the inn. Meanwhile, Marcus had played his role by seeing to the arrangements for the carriage, the horses and other preparations for tomorrow.
Which left him alone with Naomi for the first time. She wouldn’t look at him. She looked at Marcus, but not at him. He supposed he deserved that. After all, he knew he could sometimes be detached. Cool. Marcus was better at easing the minds of others. He’d had to be—it had helped him make his way in the world, pull himself up in rank in the military.
They’d always been opposites that way. It was one thing Everett loved about their connection.
And yet now he felt lacking as Naomi sat down on the chair with a huff of breath.
“It isn’t the finest of accommodations,” he said, sitting on the edge of the bed. “But a smaller room is better, in some ways. Fewer points of entry.”
She looked at him at last. Over him, actually. Head to toe. Appraising and, he could see, interested. His cock jolted at the thought.
