“Sophie. I married you to help keep you safe. But the more time I spent with you and realized the danger you were in, the more I realized I loved you.” He touched her face lightly and spoke the simple words that held so much.
“I love you, Bash. I’m sorry it has taken this to make me say it. But I do love you.” Sophie felt his hand behind her neck as he pulled her to him, his lips touching hers tenderly.
“I will never let you go,” he said with passion.
“And Arabia?” she countered.
“I must and will return to Arabia. But my father is young and healthy. He will rule for many, many years. Still, we should return there, and soon. France is on the brink of a revolution. It will not be good for our class. The tide is turning,” he said, his tone somber.
Sophie nodded. “Yes. I have been telling my father that he should take my grandmother and journey to England for a time.”
“That is wise. I will also recommend the same for Etienne and my sister,” he replied.
“Poor Madame Necker!” she suddenly exclaimed. “She and her family should flee as well. They are so close to the power that everyone is coming to despise.”
Sebastian nodded. “In the meantime, my parents would like to host a ball in our honor before they return home. They have mentioned it several times but I think the timing is right now.”
Sophie seemed delighted. “I would welcome it.”
“And since we are no longer a marriage of convenience, I think we should use this time to celebrate our true marriage.”
“I am in agreement.”
“Are you?”
“Yes.”
“This is a first,” he said, kissing her lightly again.
He pulled her to him and she lay half leaning across his body as the kiss deepened. He moved her onto his lap and she straddled him.
“Sophie. My own love. I will always keep you safe. Never doubt it, or me. Come to me if you fear anything,” he said, his hand tangled in her hair.
“I will. I’m sorry I didn’t come to you at first. I was ashamed. Everything you said was right. He did find me.” She looked down at him and he brushed the hair back from her face.
“But no more. It is over. He can blackmail you no longer. Now it is just you and me.”
Sebastian moved his hands under Sophie’s petticoats and over her silk stockings and garters. His fingers moved past the tight curls and into her slick passage. She sighed in his ear and rested her hands on his shoulders.
He unbuttoned his breeches and pulled himself out and settled her over his thick cock.
“Go slowly. Set the pace,” he instructed her.
She didn’t understand at first but moved her body over his shaft, sliding down upon it.
“My God!” she whispered as he filled her fully and completely. It was a new sensation that she enjoyed greatly.
“That’s it.” His hands were on her hips even as she used her hands on his shoulders to move up and down.
She closed her eyes and he watched her face in the firelight. She looked so innocent and lovely. She moved faster and faster and he only wished that he could see her beautiful body underneath the clothes. She gasped and moaned in the salon and Sebastian held on to her hips tightly as he climaxed. She rested her forehead against his.
“I think I quite like being married,” she said.
Sebastian smiled. “And this is just the beginning.”
***
Alain knew someone had been inside his lodgings. He walked around the small room and looked at the books that had been replaced incorrectly on their shelves and the chair which had been moved ever so slightly.
His suspicions were confirmed when he checked the painting and discovered his treasures gone. Damn. He knew he should have kept them in his office. He placed the painting back and remembered his wife, Bridgette. She had always enjoyed the painting, even though it lacked merit and skill.
When he had discovered Bridgette in the arms of her lover, one of many, he had run the man through with his saber and strangled his wife with his bare hands. He had gotten rid of their bodies very easily. The painting had been on the wall at the time of the murders and was a reminder and witness to his crimes. He always smiled when he looked at it and thought of her.
He had no doubt that the dashing and debonair husband was responsible for this. He doubted the intelligent Sophie would risk coming to his lodgings to steal her writings, but Sebastian was such a man who would certainly steal to protect his new bride.
Alain’s passion and desire to become commissioner was stronger than ever. He would not be held back because the blackmail papers were gone. If anything, he would move forward with more vengeance. The papers stolen from Sophie’s father’s office had been helpful and had set the wheels in motion. He would soon be able to bring down a powerful man close to her father and it would help his appointment.