flights, she didn’t let him go. Neither of them said a word.
On the second floor, she opened the door to the corridor and pulled him to her chamber. Unlike Selina, she didn’t have a lady’s maid. No one would bother them. And Selina wasn’t home.
Once he was inside, she untangled her fingers from his and closed the door firmly. Continuing the silence, she took his hat and tossed it onto a chair. Next, she removed his gloves and threw them atop the hat.
She unfastened his greatcoat and moved behind him to take it from his shoulders as he pulled his arms from the sleeves. The garment joined his accessories on the chair. She put her hands on his shoulders again, wordlessly telling him to remove the coat as well. He understood, and it went the same way as the rest of his discarded things.
Beatrix stepped around him and rested her hands on his chest, her fingers burrowing into the snowy folds of his cravat. He looked rather splendid, as if he were going out to his club. Had he meant to come here?
Coals and embers burned in the fireplace, providing a modicum of heat and light. Lanterns on either side of the bed were lit, and they provided enough illumination for her to see the anguish in his eyes.
She tugged at his cravat, unknotting it bit by bit until it was loose. “You’ll tell me to stop if you want me to?”
He didn’t respond. He just stared at her, his lips pressed together, his nostrils slightly flared. Pulling the silk from his neck, she sent it to the chair with the rest. She then plucked at the buttons of his waistcoat.
“What if it really was my fault?”
He spoke so softly that Beatrix had to strain to hear what he’d said, and it took her a moment to fully comprehend his words. “It wasn’t. I was there, Tom.”
“Not for all of it.” He sounded so broken.
She abandoned the waistcoat, though it was now unbuttoned, and put her hands on his jaw. She tilted his face down. “I was there. It wasn’t your fault. It was an accident, and Bow Street will come to the right conclusion.” How could they not?
“There are things…” He swallowed, his gaze straying from hers. “Motive, evidence, the relief we all feel that she’s gone.” He put his hand over his mouth. When he looked at her again, he radiated a stark distress that made her shiver with cold. “I wanted her out of our lives. I wanted to be free.”
“Of course you did. Anyone would have.”
“There are things you don’t know, Beatrix. There is violence in me.”
What was he trying to say? She thought of how he’d beaten the footpad, how merciless he’d been, and wondered if he would have stopped if she hadn’t been there. The coldness inside her intensified. A shiver racked her shoulders.
“There is goodness in you,” she said, gripping his face between her hands. “I see it. Regan sees it. Thea didn’t see it, and it was her loss. Her loss.”
A look of wonder mixed into his anguish. “How did you come into my life? That night of all nights?”
“I don’t know, but I’m glad I did.”
He clasped her hips and pulled her against him as he lowered his head and claimed her lips in a searing kiss. The ice in her veins melted under the onslaught of his desperate passion as his fingers bit into her, his hands moving to her backside and holding her tight to him.
She felt the hard length of his cock against her lower belly, but that wasn’t where she wanted him. It was as if he read her mind, for he lifted her slightly, fitting them together with a better precision. Sensation jolted through her core. She clutched his nape and angled her head as she slid her tongue into his mouth.
Groaning, he met her invasion with heat and hunger. Lips and fingers moved and explored. He tugged her flesh with his teeth. She licked the underside of his jaw.
He picked her up fully, holding her against him, as he moved to the bed. She thrust her fingers into his thick hair, cupping his head and kissing him deeply, claiming every part of him he was willing to give.
Despair may have driven him to her, but now she tasted desire and demand. It was a delicious bliss. He set her down, the bed at her backside, but their kisses continued. Fast and hot, gasping delirium as