Dare to be Mine (34 page)

His voice serious, Daniel said,
"You know I am the only man for you, qllhi d fdarling."

Her mouth dropped open in astonishment,
although her traitorous heart quickened at the truth in his words. His lips
were
far too close to her own
. Indeed, the feel of his
arms on hers started a heated tingling deep inside her body. Wanting Daniel to
have no power over her, or to think she could so easily be manipulated, Elyssa
replied, "Perhaps in your dreams, Daniel, but we both know I could have
any man I want here tonight."

Daniel's eyes narrowed at her words and
his grip tightened about her arms. "You little whore," he rasped,
unable to suppress his astonishment. Was she merely seeking to torture him, or
had she truly become a tease since her time in Paris? Her daring words were one
thing, but to actually imagine Elyssa encouraging the intimate attentions of
other men made Daniel see red. Impulsively he grabbed her against his chest.

Elyssa struggled to escape his angry
grasp, knowing she’d gone too far in taunting a man like Daniel, but it was too
late to take the words back. Daniel bent his head to capture her lips in a
frenzied kiss. Her soft body felt so right in his arms though she clearly
wanted to be anywhere else but. Daniel's intent was to brand her his own, to
force her to see reason. He knew that somewhere deep within, Elyssa had to feel
the same savage passion they'd shared so long ago. And Elyssa slowly melted
against him, remembering too the way it had been.

In between kisses, their breathing
harsh, Elyssa managed, "Why are you doing this?"

"Believe me, it is beyond my
control.
This inexplicable need to be with you.
My
God, we should have already celebrated our first wedding anniversary, do you
realize that!"

Elyssa fought the tears back at that
thought....their anniversary. Or would she have already been dead? Elyssa
wanted answers. Needed to make him stop such nostalgic talk and sidetrack her
from the probing questions and doubts.

"I suppose you would do anything
for us to take up where we left off last year?" she asked.

Faint hope pricking his doubts, Daniel
whispered, "Just about anything."

"Including murder?" she softly
asked. Daniel set her away from him, his eyes darkening as he stared at her.
His fears resurfaced, and Daniel suspected Elyssa wasqllhi d f on the verge of
confessing Percy's murder. And Daniel suddenly found that he really didn't want
to know the answer.
Didn't want to face the fact that he'd
fallen in love with a murderess if indeed Elyssa had committed the grave sin.

"Why the bloody hell would you ask
something like that?" he demanded, his unease apparent. Elyssa could see
that Daniel wanted nothing to do with the subject. And it scared her more than
a little.

"Why don't you ask Catherine and
Will?" Elyssa snatched herself loose from Daniel and took a step backward
toward the open door.

"Will?" Daniel asked in
confusion.
"The stable hand at Greystone?"

"Yes, why don't you ask Will and
your lover about murder?"

"What are you ranting about?"
Daniel demanded, reaching out for her, but Elyssa took another step back. She
was in the doorway now and her heart was beating furiously. The wild look in
his eyes sent a shudder down Elyssa's spine.

Breathlessly, she asked, "Didn't
you know I would have signed Greystone over to you? You didn't need to murder
Percy, nor is it necessary to plot my own demise".

Ignoring Daniel's urgent demand to come
back, Elyssa fled down the corridor and downstairs until she finally reached
William. She drank a glass of brandy, its warmth blazing a welcome path down
her throat. Her fingers shook and Elyssa did her best to hide her overwrought
nervousness from William. She vaguely answered his questions of concern and
they danced a few moments later. Elyssa's eyes darted about in fear that she
might see Daniel coming after her, but thankfully he was nowhere to be found
for the remainder of the evening.

Daniel took Angela home early. He didn't
go upstairs with her as she'd sweetly begged, but rather left her with a quick
good night and a chaste peck on the cheek.

He still couldn't get past Elyssa's
confusing words. Had she truly accused him of murder?
Of
Percy's murder, and now her own?
Why would she do that, unless to
confuse him, for he'd seen the murder weapon in her things himself! Surely she
couldn't mean to frame him for the heinous crime.

He should have run after her before
she'd fled. Should have forced every answer out of her treacherous mouth but he
had been too stunned. Too disappointed at the way things had turned out once
again. Daniel finally decided he would visit Greystone the next morning and get
some answers once and for all.

CHAPTER 20

Elyssa spent the entire morning
confiding in Sophie. After breaking down in tears over breakfast, Elyssa was
unable to leave the table without her cousin insisting on hearing everything.
They went up to Elyssa's bedroom to speak in private. romantic onslaught4C found d

By the time the whole sordid story had
been told, Sophie was convinced Elyssa must contact the authorities at once and
have Daniel, Will, and Catherine taken into custody for suspicion of murder. At
Elyssa's reluctance, Sophie insisted that Elyssa might be the next victim if
she hesitated any longer, no matter that she was still in love with Daniel.

"Is it that obvious?" Elyssa
moaned.

"Painfully so," Sophie
replied. "It is in your eyes when you speak of him."

"I still can't believe that Daniel
is involved in any way. I would never have him arrested without proof."
Her voice softened as her eyes teared up. “Even if he is guilty, I don’t think
I can destroy the rest of his life.”

"But it makes no sense that
Catherine would have done this on her own,” Sophie commented. “Not without
something to gain. And she obviously has Daniel and all his worldly possessions
to gain by participating in such a plot."

During Elyssa's silent thoughtfulness,
Sophie told her not to worry, that she would take care of contacting the
constable. Elyssa barely heard her, muttering something about having to
discover the truth.

Elyssa donned her riding habit and went
outside to the stables. She checked the saddle’s leather strap before putting
it on her mount, satisfied that nothing was amiss. She turned about at the
sound of footsteps behind her. It was Will, and he appeared to be very nervous
and more than a little suspicious.

"Lady Fredrickson, what are you
doing?" he asked, stepping closer toward her.

Nervously, Elyssa replied, "Going
for a ride. I saddled her up myself."

"May I accompany you?
To ensure your safety."

"I am as fine a rider as anyone
else. You know that, Will. Now please get out of my way."

Elyssa tried walking forward, guiding
her horse by the reins, but Will refused to budge from her path. "Milady,
I must insist I follow you. There have been reports of rash robberies in the
area lately."

Exhaling a sound of disbelief, Elyssa
said, "I have heard nothing about robberies. Talk of murder I have heard,
but nothing about robberies." She cursed her foolishness the second the
words were out of her mouth. Prayed Will didn’t comprehend what she meant.

The look in her eyes, the set of her
jaw, and Will realized that somehow she knew. Elyssa knew that he and Catherine
were involved in something so dark, so sinister, that he wanted nothing more
than to flee Greystone and never come back. But of course that had to be just
his overactive imagination assuming she knew anything. He must find out or
Catherine would have his head. Forcing a smile, Will asked, "And what
exactly have you heard about murder, Lady Fredrickson?"

Pointless to deny anything now, Elyssa
forced herself to confront Will. She was tired of the uncertainty, weary of
wondering when they would put their plan into motion. "Does Daniel know
about you and Catherine, and the diabolical acts you are involved in?"

Will was momentarily stunned at Elyssa's
bluntness. She seemed utterly calm, though if she really did overhear their
recent conversation about her murder, she should be anything but. He didn't
like this. Not one bit.
Had never even wanted to be a part of
it.

But that wicked little Catherine Edmonton
had seduced him into helping her. Had promised him all sorts of delicious
rewards did
he
but aid in her quest to ultimately
become mistress of Greystone. He'd been such a bloody fool! But by the time he
realized just how serious Catherine was in her mad scheme, he was already in
too deep. She had threatened to turn him into the authorities herself and blame
the entire thing on him.

And now this.
Elyssa, the next object of Catherine's vindictiveness, seemed to know about it.
She was obviously taunting him. Like Catherine, she was threatening his manhood
and everything noble he'd ever been.

It all boiled over in that moment. The
fact that not only would his employment end at the only decent job he'd ever
had, but that he would most likely die by hanging, if not within the prison
walls first. Fear gave way to anger and desperation. Will slapped the reins
from Elyssa's hand and forced her back against the wall. romantic onslaughtdanger second

It was over. And if he was going to
prison, so was Catherine. And since Elyssa had mentioned doubts about Daniel,
he would use Fredrickson's name to perhaps work in his favor. Did Catherine
implicate him in her foiled plan to murder Elyssa,
Will could
tell the authorities that Daniel and Catherine had planned the entire thing
themselves, and he'd been threatened into helping. Thus, he finally replied to
Elyssa's query about Daniel's knowledge.

"Lord Fredrickson knows about
everything, milady," he lied, preventing Elyssa from escaping his hold.
"He and Lady Edmonton needed the elder lord and you out of the way to get
Greystone and the money, and finally be free to marry one another."

Elyssa cried out at his wounding words,
tears springing to her eyes. She wanted to tell Will to shut up, didn't want to
hear one more word. Her soul was dying inside. "You are lying," she
protested, a tear trailing a path down her cheek.

Will could see that Elyssa was still in
love with the young Lord Fredrickson, even after all this time and after
everything he’d put her through. It was important to make her believe Daniel was
guilty, to have Elyssa on his side did the need arise. And one way to ensure
that was through female jealousy. Surely her devotion to Daniel would fade
instantly if she thought Daniel was in love with Catherine.

"They've been lovers for a very
long time, milady. I thought you knew that. Fredrickson and Catherine planned
his father's murder when they were still in Paris. After they found out
everything had been willed to you, the plan had to be changed to include your
death."

Shaking her head in denial, Elyssa felt
weak-kneed. It was true. Daniel was planning to murder her. And she had let him
make love to her. Had returned his traitorous kisses and dared believe he
wanted to reunite with her.

"Please don't cry," Will
coaxed, feeling more than a little guilty. He detested lying to Elyssa, for
she'd always been so kind to him. Unlike Catherine Edmonton, that conniving
bitch
. Striving to calm her, Will placed his hand loosely
over Elyssa's mouth. She struggled even more to escape him, but was no match
for Will's strength. “Hush, milady,” he whispered, unwittingly tightening his
grip on her as her eyes widened in panic, her hands clawing at his arm in
effort to be freed.

There was concern in his eyes, and pity.
He uttered soothing words to Elyssa but she was nearly hysterical by that ti escaped her lips aemhime.
Panicking, he tightened his hand over her mouth and Elyssa was hard pressed to
draw her next breath.
He is going to murder me!
Elyssa thought in terror
as white spots appeared before her eyes, blackness threatening to overcome her.
There was
a madness
in his eyes, and Elyssa wondered
how she’d never noticed the danger in Will before.

Suddenly, his hand was gone from her
mouth and Elyssa sucked in a great gulp of air. She was shocked to see her
unlikely rescuer. Daniel had yanked Will off Elyssa and drove a staggering
punch into his mouth. Blood spewed from Will's lips and he fell to the floor in
a dazed heap. Daniel jerked Will up halfway and landed another vicious punch to
his face.

Elyssa nearly fell as she staggered
toward the stable door to escape. She was shaking all over in fright. Elyssa
shrieked as Daniel managed to reach her, pulling her snugly against his chest.
Her cries only grew as Elyssa realized she was in the arms of another man who
wanted her dead.