An Inconvenient Arrangement (Inconvenient Matches Book #2)

A Brother's Blessing

1812

Her hands traveled over his bare torso as she slowly lowered herself to her knees in front of him. She looked up at him with a question in her eyes, one brown and the other green, her face flushed. Her hands were paused over the fall of his trousers, awaiting instruction.

Christ, it shouldn't be allowed for a woman to be this lovely.

"Yes," he rasped out as she pulled him out of his trousers and gave him an experimental squeeze. "Fuck, Sylvie. That's good. That's really good."

"Rafe. I want to take you in my mouth," she whispered as she squeezed him again. He barely managed a nod before she opened her lovely, lush mouth and then his cock was enveloped in glorious, wet heat.

"Oh, good God," he moaned, unable to help but fist his hand in her dark blonde hair, making shallow thrusts with his hips. "Sylvie. Oh, Sylvie. That's so fucking good."

He was already so close.

He felt her flatten her tongue against-

Raphael's eyes snapped open as his body shuddered with release. He fell back onto the mattress, taking large breaths, his chest heaving with exertion. He closed his eyes in irritation and disgust and then got up with a grunt to clean himself.

This behavior was getting out of hand. He had been in residence with the Heartwoods for three nights, two of which he'd spent dreaming the most depraved scenarios with the woman he'd known since he was too young to even know what a man might get up to with a woman he fancied.

He should go out to an event, flirt with a widow, and find himself a warm bed with a welcoming woman to slake his lust. As it turned out, espionage didn't really leave one with much time for carnal pursuits and now that he was back on English soil, at least for a week, he could indulge himself. Instead, what had he done? He had promised to take Sylvie to a museum exhibit.

It wasn't his fault really, she had looked at him with such excitement in her adorable, exquisite, utterly unique eyes, and how the devil was he not supposed to offer her company? And she looked so beautiful in her pink gown and matching bonnet, he hadn't even minded how she had chattered all the way through the exhibit telling him one fact or the other. God, he adored her intelligence, the way she hoarded facts and tidbits of knowledge like some kind of squirrel that collected information instead of nuts.

See, that was the problem. He had to stop waxing lyrical about her bloody eyes.

He padded down to the kitchen in his father's London townhouse to fetch some coffee, only to find a man pacing the foyer.

"Thomas?" Raphael called in a confused greeting. Thomas was really the last person he wanted to see when he was still reeling from his dream about the man's sister. "It's bloody five in the morning, what are you doing awake?"

"Ha!" Thomas said, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "Awake would imply I ever slept."

"Wedding jitters? It's not too late to run away."

"That's precisely what's keeping me awake," Thomas grunted in irritation as Raphael led him to a sitting room and called for some coffee. "What if she realizes that? What if she realizes that she's not all too interested in marrying a lowly soldier who will likely spend the foreseeable future at war?"

"She agreed to marry you, sight unseen, my friend," Raphael patted his shoulder repeatedly. "I do not think you need to worry on that score. And you are not a common soldier."

Two years ago, Thomas had accidentally received a letter from a woman who had been writing her brother. On a whim, Thomas had written her back. It was easy to forget that people were living their normal lives just an ocean away when you were entirely surrounded by war and death. Her letter had been like a breath of fresh air to Thomas and he could not help but want to hear more. They had struck up a correspondence and fallen in love through their letters and now that Thomas was on leave, they were getting married. It was a happy coincidence that Raphael was back in England with coded documents for the War Office, thus allowing him to stand as best man.

"I must thank you again for your generosity in lending us the use of your townhouse," Thomas accepted his cup of coffee and took a sip.

"It's no trouble, this place is empty most of the year, anyway." Raphael shrugged and took in Thomas' visage. "Are you sure you want to get married to her?"

Thomas tilted his head in confusion so Rafe elaborated; "The higher-ups aren't happy about this."

"And you've been rubbing shoulders with the higher-ups as of late, isn't that right?" Thomas raised an eyebrow. It was true, Raphael's mathematically inclined mind was not just good for breaking codes on intercepted correspondence, he had a shockingly good ability to play out elaborate strategies and plans in his head allowing him to determine the best course of action. His position within The Collective had significantly been boosted these last few years. "I was the one who endorsed your recruitment and here we are, just a few years later and you already outrank me. Let's face it, Raphael, I'm not exactly an irreplaceable member of our organization. I do not even know what most of the senior members look like. Aside from The Viper, and that is only because I report to him."

"Still. The life we live isn't conducive to a wife," Raphael pointed out. "Even if Napoleon is defeated tomorrow, do you think England has any shortage of enemies? Do you think that work with The Collective will ever stop? You can't be a good operative and a good husband. You're killing any hope of promotion or advancement for a woman you've known only through some words on a page."

"Which is why I am going to retire whenever we beat these French bastards. I've had enough of it. All of it. The death, the destruction, always living with one foot in the afterlife, I find no pride or honor in it any longer," Thomas shook his head and let out a large exhale, his eyes coming in to focus on Raphael. "Are you really not going to marry her?"

"Who?" Raphael's brows creased in confusion. "I'm not courting anyone, nor am I on England on leave."

"I see," Thomas looked....disappointed? "And no one has ever tempted you to renege on your vow?"

"Why are you looking at me like that? You know I've never had any wish to marry, even if I did, there is no place in my life for a woman so long as I work for The Collective," Raphael did not know why he felt so defensive.

"No it's nothing, I just always thought that you..... Or rather I hoped that you would...... Never mind me," Thomas smiled ruefully. "If you ever do get your head out of your arse, just know that you have my blessing."

"I don't know why you are talking in riddles, Thomas. There is no one I'm even remotely interested in marrying."

"Like I said, pay me no heed."