Lori Brighton - [The Seduction 02] (30 page)

She started toward the fireplace where the hearth was cold and empty. “The truth?”

“Of course.” He followed her, bracing his hand on the mantel and studying her profile.

She, on the other hand, studied the seascape painting that hung above the fireplace. The way she avoided his gaze told him something was desperately wrong. His dark suit felt suddenly too constrictive and heavy. He watched the way her restless hands moved from her waistline to the mantel, where she picked up a porcelain dog. Aye, she was definitely up to something.

“What is it?” he demanded, annoyed that she was once again keeping secrets.

She replaced the dog. “He’s gone to talk with Alex.”

When she merely stood there awaiting his reaction, reality slowly dawned. Gideon stiffened, outraged. “Alex? As in the Alex who worked at Lady Lavender’s?”

She nodded, watching him nervously. “He thought he might have answers.”

“Why?” Damn her, why couldn’t she leave well enough alone?

Why did she always have to push for more? He spun around and paced to the windows, feeling betrayed. He was a whore,
murderer, and no matter what the status of his birth…a bastard. What did she hope to find by contacting Alex? They both knew this would most likely end with his hanging. He didn’t want Alex involved, and he didn’t want Elizabeth more deeply embroiled in his past.

He spun around to face her, furious. “You had no right—”

“Gideon.” She rushed to his side and reached out, taking the cuff of his sleeve between her fingers. “Your father was friends with Alex’s father.”

Gideon stiffened, stunned. He’d heard the words, yet they made no sense. Was it another lie? Another ruse? Damn it all, how could he trust her when she’d kept so much from him? “How do you know that?”

She stepped back and wrung her hands nervously together. “Mr. Smith started investigating a year ago when Mr. Ashton realized he would not recover from his illness. He’s looked not only into your past, but your father’s as well, along with Lady Lavender’s.”

He braced an unsteady hand against the wall and slid down to the window seat. Slowly, piece by wretched piece, things were starting to fall into place. Gideon shook his head, bemused. He’d said it before, he didn’t believe in coincidences. The fact that he and Alex had been taken at the same time was nothing to get upset about. But the fact that his father and Alex’s had known each other brought things into a whole new light.

His anger faded, replaced with confusion. “They were friends?”

She nodded, watching him warily.

“Hell.” Gideon rested his elbows on his knees and his head in his hands. What did it mean?

There was purpose behind everything Lady Lavender did. He rubbed his chin with his knuckles. If she had allowed Alex to leave, perhaps it was because Alex knew the same secret about Lady Lavender that Elizabeth had uncovered. “Alex knows something.”

Elizabeth settled beside him. “You know that for sure?”

“I’d bet my life on it.” Gideon surged to his feet and paced to the Oriental screen of painted waterbirds that stood in the far corner. “Alex left. He built a family, a home when she swore none of us would ever leave her side. She held power over all of us, some deep dark secret. He was no different. But somehow…someway…he escaped.”

“Were you close?”

He raked back his hair, his thoughts a muddled mess. It was as if something lay just out of reach; information that might change his life, his world. “We were as close as two people could be in a brothel.” He looked out at the rolling green hills, searching the memories he’d tried so hard to forget. “I wasn’t easy to get along with.”

“Really?” Even as confused as he felt, he noted the sarcasm in her voice. “You’re not angry at us for investigating?”

Yes, he was angry. He was angry that she had gone behind his back. He was angry that Lady Lavender held so much power over him. Most of all he was angry that Alex had found a way to have that happily ever after with a wife and family while his dreams might come crumbling down at any moment.

“When do you expect him back?” Gideon asked, not bothering to answer her question.

“He took the trains,” she said softly, hesitantly. “Two or three days.”

She was back to being nervous, entwining her fingers tightly together. The old Gideon would have wanted her to suffer for going behind his back. But now…now he only wanted to calm her fears, to hold her close and savor this moment before Lady Lavender arrived. And he had no doubt the woman would come for him no matter what Elizabeth’s threats.

“It’s getting late.” She stood. “Perhaps we should head to the dining room.”

She searched his face for something he wasn’t quite sure he could give her. When he remained mute, that searching gaze darkened with disappointment. She was giving up on him. She started to turn away, but not before he noticed the sparkle of tears in her eyes. The pang of guilt was almost unbearable. He reached out, resting his hand on her arm, his fingers tightening around the silky cap sleeve of her cream gown. Damn it all, he wanted to be the man she needed…if only for a few moments.

Startled, her gaze met his. “What is it?”

He didn’t say a word, merely jerked her close. With a gasp, her hands flattened to his chest. She was his wife. They were married.
Married.
It should have been the happiest day of her life. He wished he knew the right things to say, poetry to spew. But he was just a man, needing a woman. And so he showed her the only way he could. Gideon lowered his head and pressed his lips to hers.

It was a gentle kiss, a sweet kiss. Although attraction pulsed through his body, burning so brightly he felt afire, he resisted the urge to take more. Instead, he did something he’d never done before…he let her go.

The kiss had warmed his body, but the smile she gave him warmed his soul. As she stood there, her lush body pressed to his, her eyes full of light and happiness, he knew he’d kill Lady Lavender before he’d let her hurt Elizabeth or the children.

Even if he ended up swinging from the end of a rope because of it.

Never had Gideon ever expected to be married. As a child he’d been too young to consider or care about such an adult responsibility. When he’d moved to Lady Lavender’s he’d known he was giving up everything that a normal man would expect…including marriage and a family. He’d resigned himself to a life of
debauchery and primal pleasures. A life in which he would have to worry about no one but himself.

Yet, here he was…married.

And here he was…in his bedchamber. Alone.

The house was silent as Gideon stared out the windows and onto the dark, rolling land below. The only sound was the soft patter of rain against the glass. It had been hours since their celebratory dinner. A raucous event that involved the entire household eating, drinking, and even dancing country jigs. And although he’d mostly watched from the side, for a brief moment he’d actually felt a part of a family. No matter what the status of his birth, he could never belong to the
ton,
but perhaps he could belong here with these people.

But the merriment had ended and reality had invaded. He assumed Elizabeth was in her room waiting to see if he would arrive and demand her services. Perhaps he should have sent her flowers or chocolates. Some little gift that would show his devotion. Gideon rolled his eyes as he paced across the room. He’d been intimate with many, many women, so why was he so reluctant to see her tonight?

Because it meant so very much more than any other night, and he wasn’t sure if he wanted that sort of commitment. More importantly, he was worried that he would disappoint Elizabeth. That she would see the truth sooner or later and he would lose her. He was a murderer. He was a whore. Nothing more. He sure as hell wasn’t some bloody hero as she seemed to believe. But maybe, just maybe he could save them this once.

He started to turn when he noticed the folded missive upon his bedside table. He knew immediately who it was from, for he could smell the scent of spring and hope upon the paper. Without thinking, he flipped open the note.

I’m requesting your presence in the conservatory.

He closed his eyes and took in a breath through clenched teeth. It would be easy to ignore the request. A month ago he would have. This was his home now, he was in charge, and he answered to no one. Yet, even as he thought the words, he knew them to be utter rubbish. He wanted to see her. He actually wanted Elizabeth, and she could bloody well demand anything of him and he’d comply.

He was out the door before he could think twice. Elizabeth was waiting for him in the greenhouse, and there was nowhere he’d rather be. His need for control could go to hell and take Lady Lavender with it. He started down the long hall toward the servants’ steps. The house was completely still, everyone asleep but the guards who roamed the outside.

Anticipation and need hummed through his body as he moved toward the west wing. The rooms were closed and quiet, unoccupied. But he swore he could sense her presence nearby. At the end of the hall he paused outside a large, wooden door. It was just a door, but he knew deep down that by entering, his life would change. He was handing over his control.

Slowly, he opened the door. It was a fairy-tale land of glass, lamplight, and blooming flowers. He stepped inside and closed the door behind him. Mounds of grass grew indoors, covered with flowers and shrubbery from all over the world. He felt as if he’d been transported to another country. It wasn’t cool like the night air outside but humid and warm, as if he’d stepped onto an island.

He shrugged off his jacket and dropped it on an iron bench placed alongside a stone path. Mesmerized, Gideon traveled left, following the lamps that glowed softly among the shimmering plant life. He’d never, in his entire life, seen anything like it. The place was magical. Elizabeth was magical.

It smelled like perpetual spring, it smelled like her. He moved around a cropping of brilliant orange flowers and came up short. She sat on a red blanket spread across a grassy mound like some lost fairy. His chest felt tight, his breathing shallow. She hadn’t noticed him yet, and he took the moment to soak her in.

He watched the easy way in which she moved as she set a bottle of champagne upon the blanket, then reached into a basket for two glasses. She wore a silky dressing gown that flowed over her body and shimmered in the lamplight. A white flower was tucked behind her ear. She was, simply put, stunning.

She must have sensed him, for she stiffened, then slowly turned. Their gazes clashed and held. For one breathless moment everything was right in his world. “You came.”

“It is our wedding night.”

She showed no shyness but tucked her bare feet underneath her and stood. The gown shifted and shimmered across her body like water. How he wished he could draw his hands over her much like that sinful material.

She took the few steps that brought them closer and lifted her hand to his temple. “You cut your hair.” Her fingers slid into the slightly damp locks. He’d bathed since their wedding and wore only trousers and his shirtsleeves. As she massaged his scalp, the air in the greenhouse suddenly seemed too thin. Instinct told him to flinch and step back, but he refused.

She smiled, those dimples flashing. “It fits you.” When still he didn’t respond, she lowered her lashes and stepped back. He felt as if he’d somehow disappointed her and had to resist the urge to latch onto her arm, draw her near, and whisper words of undying devotion.

“A drink?” she asked over her shoulder.

But he was too busy watching the seductive sway of her hips to answer. As she settled onto the blanket, he realized that their roles had changed. She’d become the seducer. Funny enough, he didn’t bloody well give a damn. At the moment he’d follow her to the ends of the earth; he’d follow her to hell.

Gideon settled on the blanket only a few feet away, waiting for what she would do next. He didn’t miss the flirtatious way she glanced at him through her lashes as she handed him a glass, their fingers brushing. He felt her touch all the way to his core. Did she feel it? Did she desire him with her entire being?

Aye, for her gaze dropped to their hands, her cheeks flushing in a telling way. So, she wasn’t as in control as he’d assumed. That virginal miss was still there.

She brushed her hands down her silky gown, as if attempting to collect herself. “Are you hungry?” Without awaiting his response, she opened a wicker basket and pulled out a glass bowl filled with brilliant red strawberries. “Would you like one?”

“I can’t.”

She frowned. “Why?”

“I had strawberries once when I was sixteen. I ended up with a rash all over my back and chest.” He’d never told anyone of his weakness. Brought down by a berry. He’d been humiliated. It was the one time when he hadn’t been able to work for Lady Lavender. She hadn’t been pleased.

Elizabeth was silent for a moment, almost startled, her wide eyes looking at him as if she’d seen a ghost. Gideon took a drink of the champagne, the liquid bubbling across his tongue, wondering, not for the first time, what she could possibly be thinking.

“What?” he finally asked.