A Dangerous Man (44 page)

"You must be tired of holding him, dear. Why don't you let
me take him for you?"

Leah grinned as she gently shifted Eric into her aunt's outstretched arms. "Do be careful of his head"

"Not to worry, dear. I know how precious he is." Emma
kissed the baby's brow. A faint sigh escaped her lips.

She wiped her cheek against the sleeve of her dress, a soft
cotton of forest green that made her appear so young, so
pretty, or perhaps it was her love for the man she had married.
"I am so sorry I was not here when you needed me ""

Leah slipped her hand through the crook of her aunt's arm.
She knew her aunt blamed herself for all Leah had suffered
at Rachel's hands, as if Emma would have been able to stop
her. "Please, do not"

"No, I must. I love you as if you were my own daughter. If
only I had known you were in danger."

"How could you have known?"

Her aunt gave a sad shake of her head. Wisps of gray hair
fluttered about her face. Her lips trembled.

"Truly, Emma, I love you. You are more than a mother to
me. You are my dearest friend." Leah blew out her breath to
relieve the ache growing in her throat. "Look at us. Two watering pots on such a fine day."

Emma brushed her hand over her eyes. "I know you are
right, dear, but whenever I think of the danger you were in, I
feel faint. And Matthew who would have ever thought we
would have Catherine's child here with us. If only our dear
Catherine ..." She crushed her shaking fist to her lips.

"I know," Leah said, wrapping her arm around her aunt's
shoulder. Her gaze drifted to the children, hiding amongst the
azaleas, their childish laughter carrying on the breeze as they
waited for their fathers to seek them out.

Matthew darted from behind the hedges, a swift blur amidst
the pink blooms, only to be scooped up by Pierce. Joyous
shrieks escaped the boy as Pierce swung him around, hands
clutched beneath his shoulders. Leah turned her gaze to the
distant ocean. The sun glinting off the water stung her eyes.

"Matthew seems happy here," Emma said, "and Alison
fairly dotes on him. She is such a lovely child. Has it been
very hard for her?"

Alison had snuck up on Pierce and shoved her shoulders
into his legs to help Matthew escape. The two children joined
hands as they ran toward the fountains, their shrieks frightening the sparrows and starlings from the shrubbery.

"She is sad, of course," Leah said, a chill sweeping down her
arms. She tried never to think of that night on the bluff, when
Rachel had fallen, her body crushed on the rocks. "Rachel was
not much of a mother, but Alison loved her."

"She is lucky to have you and the duke to care for her, not
to mention this big brute. I vow he has gained five pounds
just today."

Leah smoothed her knuckles over her son's silky cheek. His mouth twitched into a smile before parting in a soft exhalation. Whenever she thought of how close she came to
losing him, she shuddered, as if a violent wind whipped over
her skin. Never could she have imagined the depth of love she
would feel for this child. "He looks so much like his father."

"Do you think so? I should think he looks more like you"

Leah laughed. "With that black hair and those dark eyes?"

"Well, he is rather handsome, is he not?"

"Sinfully so," Leah said, thinking of his father with his
wicked smile and his dark, good looks. His brooding eyes and
his hard chiseled cheeks, his slanted jaw and his lips and his
tongue and his hands, his wicked, wicked hands that knew
just where to touch her ... Good Lord, a burning flush spread
over her cheeks.

Her gaze sought him out. He and Pierce were huddled together, their arms wrapped around the children, as if a serious conversation, or a conspiracy, were under way.

He looked up and caught her staring. From this distance
she could not make out his expression, but she imagined his
eyes went dark and sultry, and his gaze made a leisurely scan
of her face, leaving her aching and tingling, as if he'd swept
his fingers over her skin.

She could see his teeth gleaming in the sunlight, and she
knew he was smiling, as if he had read her mind.

"Leah, your cheeks are crimson. Do you feel feverish?"

"Not at all," she said, unable to meet her aunt's tooknowing gaze.

"Well, you look tired, dear. Why don't you lie down?"

Leah smiled reassuringly. "Honestly, I feel fine."

"I insist. Go. Get some rest. There is no shame in admitting
you're tired."

Leah narrowed her eyes on her aunt's face. "If I did not know
you better, I would think you were trying to be rid of me ""

"Nonsense! I am worried for your health. We all are. Espe cially that husband of yours. He bid me to make certain you rest
today. He thinks you are doing far too much"

Leah started to protest. She was weary of being treated as if
she were as fragile as old bones, easily broken. The wounded
look on her aunt's face shamed her. "You are right," she conceded. "I think I shall lie down for an hour or two"

"And so you should," Emma said, her lips quirking into an
I-don't-believe-you-for-a-moment grin. "Now, run along,
dear. And do not worry about this precious angel. I will give
him to his nurse when he awakens"

As she walked to her chambers, a heavy weight settled on
Leah's chest. Not that she was unhappy. She wasn't. She
thanked God every day for sparing her life and that of her
child's, but she had a difficult decision to make.

Unable to sleep, she dragged her volume of Lord Byron's
poetry from her dressing table. Stretched out on the window
seat, she opened the book to her favorite verse, but the words
blurred on the page. She leaned her cheek against the window,
the glass cool and soothing against her heated cheek.

Her door opened. Richard strode into the room, all tousled
black hair and smoldering eyes.

She studied her hands to shield her suddenly stinging eyes.

"Leah?" He sat beside her, pulled her into his arms, the
beat of his heart strong and steady beneath her ear. "What is
it? What is troubling you?"

She pushed herself out of his arms, rose and crossed to the
hearth. She did not want her need for this man to distract her.
"You were right about Pierce," she said, her voice scraping her
throat like a wave dragging over the sand. "He is a fine man"

"I have always thought so." Richard walked up behind her,
so close she could feel the heat of his thighs against the back
of her legs. "Leah, please, share your worries with me"

She turned to face him. She wanted to lean against his
chest, to let him take away the pain, but she forced herself to
stand tall. "He has managed to piece his life together ... I begin to see the man Catherine loved, and I think him a wonderful father to her son" She rushed through her words before
she could change her mind. "I think Matthew belongs with
him now."

He pulled her into his arms, cradled her cheek against his
chest. She slid her hands around his neck, clung to him desperately as she accepted the truth of her words.

From the moment Pierce had discovered he had a son, he
had practically lived with them. His love for the boy was obvious, as was his determination to rebuild his life. He had
struggled to conquer his obsession with the drink, much the
same as Geoffrey had, and he had succeeded. While he had a
long way to go until all of his wounds were healed, he had
made a steady start. Matthew belonged with his father. It was
the right thing to do.

"Catherine would have wanted it that way," she said, and
as soon as the words left her lips, Leah knew it was true.

"You are so wonderful," Richard murmured, kissing away
her tears, running his lips over her jaw, then down the curve
of her neck.

His scent of jasmine and amber seduced her senses, lit an
unbearable yearning, a desperate love that left her shaking
with need. She slid her fingers through his hair. A gentle tug
brought his lips a mere whisper away but he would not close
the distance between them. She pushed up on her toes, traced
the seam of his lips with her tongue, licking and tasting until
he finally opened his mouth. With a savage growl, he clung
to her, hot hands roaming her back, down over her hips, cupping her bottom, until she fairly purred against his lips.

She smiled as he scooped her into his arms, his mouth
clinging fiercely, furiously, his tongue delving inside.

When he strode past the bed and out her chamber door,
Leah gasped. "What are you doing? Put me down."

He merely laughed as he continued down the stairs, past a
line of giggling maids. His boot heels rapped on the hard wood floor with each determined step he took. "Do you know
what day this is?"

Leah started to shake her head, then she smiled. "Our anniversary."

"Yes. A year ago today, we were wed" He strode down the
steps and out the doors, his boot heels crunching the seashells
on the gravel drive. "Cloaked in secrecy and shame"

Leah closed her eyes. She did not want to be reminded of
the circumstances that had brought them together, her father's
perfidy, the pain of Richard's past. He followed a narrow path
past the conservatory and did not stop until he reached the
stone chapel, built by some long-ago Wexton. Beneath the
sun, the slate roof shimmered with a yellow glaze of lichen
and moss.

His eyes were as dark as the midnight sky and just as mysterious as he opened the chapel door. Alison stood just inside
the entry. Matthew fidgeted by her side.

Both children were dressed in formal attire as if they were
on their way to an evening soiree. Garlands strung with hothouse roses hung from the pews.

Leah's senses scattered as she scanned the expectant faces
filling the benches. Emma and Geoffrey and Lady Cunningham, Mrs. Bristoll and Tommy, and all the children of the
foundling home.

Even Alexander was there. And the vicar?

She turned to Richard. "I do not understand"

He bent on his knee before her, clasped her hand against
his lips. The love shining in his eyes burned so brightly, she
thought surely she could see into the deepest part of his soul.

"Leah, I love you and I am not ashamed to say it. I love
you, and I want to marry you, to give you myself and a lifetime of happiness."

She raised a shaking hand, wiped away the moisture gathering in her eyes. Her lips quivered as she stared at him in
helpless wonder.

He smiled tenderly, his own eyes bright with unshed tears.
"Leah ... will you marry me? Will you promise me forever,
here, now, before God and our friends?"

"Silly man," she said, smiling through her tears. She wrapped
her arms around his neck and kissed him.

They were kissing still when he swung her into his arms
and carried her down the aisle.