A Lascivious Lady by Jillian Eaton

by her whimpering pleas.
    Without warning the bedroom door flew open and crashed into the wall, the sound of wood against plaster echoing like a gunshot. Lord Penny turned to see who it was and Josephine seized the opportunity to twist sideways and pick up the lamp she had dropped.
    Arms trembling, Josephine raised the dead weight high above her head and had the pleasure of seeing Lord Penny’s eyes flash white with alarm right before she brought the heavy lamp crashing down. It cracked against his skull and he slumped forward, dead or unconscious she did not know, nor did she care.
    Scrambling out from beneath him she fell off the side of the mattress and used one of the bedposts to pull herself up. Unable to see clearly for the tears blurring her vision, she catapulted around the edge of the bed and slammed into a solid wall of muscle.
    When she felt arms closing around her she struck out on instinct, her fists pummeling everything within reach, until through the blank, all encompassing panic she heard a soft, familiar voice repeating the same thing over and over again.
    “Josie, calm down… You are safe. Josie, my sweet Josie, I have you. I have you now. You are safe.”
    Her arms dropping to her sides like lead weights, she lifted her chin and blinked away her tears. “Traverson?” she whispered. “Is it really you?”
    “Yes,” he said simply, “it is.”
    With a little cry she threw herself at him and he encircled his arms around her trembling body, cocooning her in safety and warmth. Pressing his lips to her hair he kissed her once, twice, three times while she trembled against him and struggled to control her gasping breaths.
    “I have you now,” he repeated, caressing her spine with broad strokes of his fingertips. “I have you and I am never letting you go again.”
    Sniffling back the last of her tears, Josephine offered him a watery smile. “That is fine with me.” Reaching up, she cupped his jaw and stood on her tiptoes to draw him towards her for a sweet, lingering kiss that served to settle her nerves and her mind. With one last shudder she glanced to the bed where Lord Penny lay sprawled face down. “He forced his way in and dragged me upstairs. I was so very frightened,” she admitted, sagging back against her husband.
    “You knocked him out cold,” Traverson said proudly. “I could not have done better myself.”
    “You shot him in the leg,” Josephine recalled.
    “No less than he deserved, bastard that he is. Come downstairs with me, love. I will make you a cup of tea. Tom will take care of Lord Penny.”
    “Tom?” Josephine queried as they made their way to the living room and locked themselves in. “Your driver who used to be a boxer?”
    “One and the same,” Traverson confirmed. “He drove me straight here from Kensington.”
    Curling up in one of the couches that faced the fireplace, Josephine waited patiently as Traverson stoked the low burning embers back to life before disappearing into the kitchen to fetch a pot of tea. When he returned she motioned for him to sit beside her and he did so hesitantly, perching on the very edge of the horse hair cushion, his lanky frame doubling over as he rested his elbows on his knees.
    “Traverson,” Josephine began quietly after taking a sip of tea. “Why did you return to London?”
    “I wanted to see you,” he said.
    “Just to see me?” she said, disappointment fluttering low in her belly. She had been so certain…
    “No, not just to see you.” Taking Josephine’s hands in his and staring deep into her eyes, Traverson said simply, “To ask you to take a chance with me. I cannot promise we will be perfect together, but I know for a fact that we are broken apart. Be with me, Josephine. Be with me as a wife is with her husband. As a woman is with her man. And I shall give you every piece of me.”
    “I do not need every piece,” Josephine said, her voice catching on the emotion that swelled within her throat. “I require