Ether & Elephants (28 page)

When Nell and Vidya walked into the room arm in arm, Tom dropped his glass. It landed with a dull thud on the carpet.

Vidya giggled. “Gobsmacked.”

Nell couldn’t disagree. His blank stare was remarkably flattering. She looked past him and walked to Vivek, executing the bow Vidya had taught her earlier.

“You are so lovely, my dear.” He took her arm and patted her hand. “Jagganesh, do you not think she resembles my sister Lakshmi?”

“She does, Father.” After greeting his wife and exclaiming over her new sari, Jonathan bowed to Nell. “You are beautiful, sister. Dressed as you are, no one would take you for a half-caste.”

“Half-caste—” Tom’s voice rang with indignation, but he stopped when Nell held up her hand.

“Yes. In case you weren’t aware, that is exactly what I am. There’s no point getting upset about something that can’t be changed.” She turned to her father. “Baba Vivek, Vidya fears that if word of a half-caste bastard gets out among your people, you will suffer from a loss of respect. Is this true?”

“A little, perhaps. I do not care. Much as in your country, men of power and wealth are allowed their little—” Vivek waggled his hand back and forth “—indiscretions, particularly in their youth.”

“Men. You never think with the correct organ.” Nell turned to Jonathan. “And to you? Would having me as a sister hurt your business enterprises?”

Jonathan held her gaze. “No. Not among my generation of businessmen. Were you looking for a husband, it might be a little more difficult for you to find one, but there would be no shame cast on the rest of us.”

Vidya opened her mouth and her husband squeezed her shoulder. “No, dear one. It will not hurt us in any way. If your mother disapproves, I do not care. I will not deny my sister, despite the circumstances of her birth.”

Vidya bowed her head. “Yes, husband.”

“Thank you, son.” Vivek tipped his head at Jonathan. “Now, let that be the end of this nonsense. I wish to go out tonight and introduce my beautiful daughter to all of my friends.”

Tom chuckled. “I guess that is that. So much for whatever plan you girls were hatching.”

Nell shared a look of exasperation with her sister-in-law.
Men
, she mouthed.

Vidya rolled her eyes.

Some things didn’t change the world over. Men never listened to a woman’s logic.

* * *

Later that night, Nell, in an English ball gown again, danced with her father. He wasn’t as tall or as broad as Merrick, and she would never feel exactly the same about him. It was a joy, though, to learn more about the blood of her ancestors as she listened to stories of his parents and grandparents, some of whom had possessed the same gifts as her.

Her next dance was with Professor Pritchard, who congratulated her heartily about her newfound relations.

“Would you like to ride out tomorrow and see the temple of Jagganesh? It’s not far by elephant, and your brother and father are two of my patrons.”

Odd that Vivek hadn’t mentioned that when they’d filled him in about the mission. She declined—over dinner they’d filled the day with other plans. “Perhaps the following day?”

“Perfect. In fact, why don’t I meet you there?” The professor twirled her, then pulled her in close. “I’ll speak with Jonathan—well, it’s his namesake’s temple, after all. He can take you, while I pick up one of our other financiers at the docks, then join you for a tour. The ruins appear to be about twelfth century. I’m sure you’ll find them fascinating.”

“I’m sure I shall.” Another patron was arriving at the docks? Could Pritchard be involved with the Alchemist? It seemed almost too simple a solution. She had to talk to Tom.

“It could be a trap,” Tom admitted later, while they sipped punch on the terrace. “But…I don’t think your brother means you any harm, and I’m certain your father isn’t involved in this sort of evil magick. I’ll go through some of Jonathan’s papers tonight, and discuss it with Vivek. We won’t let them take us by surprise.”

“Right.” She paid little attention to anything else at the party. Once they had returned to Vivek’s house, she bid everyone goodnight and waited in her room, confident that Tom would come to fill her in on the situation.

While she waited she thought of Tom, and her body, that treacherous flesh, tingled as she remembered his kiss. What she wouldn’t give for more of them. There had been other kisses in her life, more even than just Roger’s, but Tom was the only man she had ever truly wanted. It was he who had made her young body ache and yearn at night when she was too young to understand why, he who could make her damp and receptive with just a look.

He didn’t disappoint, arriving shortly after all the others had retired.

Dear heavens, how she wanted him.
      

More than that, she didn’t want to die a virgin.

She wasn’t going to marry, so there would be no man to disappoint when she wasn’t intact on her wedding night. Her monthly cycle was like clockwork and she was nowhere near the dangerous phase of it. There was no reason she couldn’t have a lover, and the only lover she wanted, had ever wanted, was Tom.

Loosening the neckline of her dressing gown, she smiled and leaned back in her chair, her breasts and belly already aching with need.

Tom waited until Jonathan and Vidya retired before suggesting a nightcap with Vivek. When the older man readily agreed, Tom followed him into his study and closed the door behind them.

“Why didn’t you tell me that you help fund an archaeologist?” As soon as they each had a glass of brandy, Tom asked his questions. “You knew we were searching for a magickal relic.”

Vivek paused with his glass halfway to his lips. “Pritchard simply isn’t that good. All he’s found at Kulna are some headless statues and empty tombs. I only agreed to fund the project because Jagganesh asked me to. He’s named for the god to whom the ruined temple is dedicated, so I assumed it was merely a vanity project. It didn’t seem relevant to your mission.”

“Well, it may well be. Pritchard mentioned another benefactor, one who was arriving by ship day after tomorrow. That’s also when the
Lady Godiva
is due to dock, and that’s the ship we suspect our Alchemist is on.”

Both gray eyebrows lifted. “That does put a rather different face on things. Are you going with Pritchard to meet the ship?”

Tom shook his head. “He’s determined that Jonathan should take me and Nell out to the site earlier, by elephant.”

“I see.” Vivek drummed his fingers on the table. “Pritchard can’t possibly know that you’re chasing the Alchemist. He was aboard ship with you, with no way to make contact. Perhaps he merely wants to convince you and your sister to contribute to his funding.”

“Or he simply wants Nell.” Tom could understand that. “This could just be a way to impress her.”

Vivek grunted. “That, my boy, is a real possibility. I have one more question for you.”

“Yes, sir?” Tom paused midturn toward the door.

“What are your intentions toward my daughter?”

Tom grimaced. “As I told you the night we met, I have asked her to marry me. More than once. So far, she refuses. I hope one day to change that response.”

“And why is that? She seems to care for you greatly.” Vivek studied Tom. Vivek’s eyes were so like Nell’s it was nearly uncanny to see them on a man.

Tom dropped his gaze. After a moment of staring at the carpet, he sighed. “I hurt her very badly once. It was the stupidest thing I’ve ever done.”

“We are but men,” Vivek said. “Making mistakes is in our nature. My daughter strikes me as a forgiving person. Can you not reason with her?”

“She’s forgiven me,” Tom admitted. “She just doesn’t trust me anymore.”

“But you hope to change her mind?” The older man’s voice was kind but stern.

“I do,” Tom said. “I just have no idea how. Right now, my primary concern is keeping her safe.”

Vivek thought a moment, then held out his hand. “Very well. Between us, we shall keep her safe, yes? And you may continue to court her.”

“Yes, sir.” Tom shook Vivek’s hand out of respect, but he had no intention of waiting. Courting Nell was a full-time occupation.

He crept upstairs and slipped into her room, glad to find she hadn’t locked the door. Like many Indian houses, the quarters for single women were on one side, while those for males and couples were on the other, so by all rights, he shouldn’t even be in this wing. Eileen had been given an adjacent room, but Tom knew the maid slept like a rock, so their conversation shouldn’t wake her.

Nell waited near the open window in a cotton nightgown covered with a thin silk robe. The sheer fabrics clung to her curves like a second skin, and Tom had to swallow twice before he could speak.

She gestured him to a chair beside hers and listened silently while he related his conversation with Vivek.

“Have you rifled Jonathan’s desk yet?”

He let his shoulders droop with fatigue. “Not while Vivek was awake. I’ll go back down later for that.”

“Do you think Pritchard knows? Or is this simply an unsavory coincidence?”

He rubbed his temples with his fingertips. “I don’t know. I truly wish I did.”

“But you trust Baba Vivek?” She twirled her long braid around her fingers.

He smiled at the name she’d come up with for her natural father. “I do. Partly because of the lives he saved during the rebellion, partly because my magick tells me to, and partly on Lord Elgin’s recommendation.” Tom caught her hand. “And because I can tell he already loves you. He would do nothing to hurt you, Nelly. Of that, I’m certain.”

“I believe you.” She didn’t pull her hand away, but laced her fingers through his. “You will be careful when you meet with the shipping investors tomorrow, won’t you?”

“As long as you promise the same, when you tour all the monuments with Vidya and Jonathan.” He leaned forward and kissed her soft lips. “Whatever the future holds, Nell, I can cope, as long as you are in it.”

“I feel the same.” She gave a ragged sigh. “But I won’t marry you.”

“I live in hope that someday you’ll change your mind. Hope is enough to live for, sometimes.” A bird sang outside the window and Lark responded, adding to the enchantment of the moment.

Nell bit her lip. “I lived without it for a long time, Tom. Hope crushed is far worse than hope never experienced. I won’t take that risk again. There’s so much more to life than just marriage.”

He kissed her again, this time drawing her close and feeling her soft and pliant in his arms. The scent of her jasmine perfume and feminine arousal muddled his senses. Despite her protests, Nell wanted him. His own desire was a constant, driving ache.

When she leaned into him and wound her arms around his neck, he groaned and pulled her into his lap. She was small, but even her slight weight pressing down on his groin was enough to make him moan and intensify the kiss. His tongue delved deep into her mouth, exploring and tasting as much of her as he could.

Finally, his chest heaving with the effort to breathe, he pulled his face from hers and leaned it on her forehead. “I have to go.”

“Now?” She dug her hands into his shoulders. And snuggled tightly against him. “Not yet.”

He kissed her again, trying to let her know how much he wanted her. He lifted his hips, grinding his erection into her bottom so it would be unmistakable. “Now, dearest. Or I won’t be able to.” Even now he wasn’t sure he wouldn’t have to crawl back to his room instead of walk.

“Then don’t.”

Tom blinked at the clear intent in her tone.

She took his face in both hands. “Stay. Let us have this one night. I need to know, just this once, what it would have been like to have you.”

He squeezed her in a hug that probably bruised her ribs. “Here? In your father’s house?” Gods, how he wished he was a stronger man, because he was so close to dishonoring her right here and now. How would he ever look either of her fathers in the face again?

“Here.” She kissed his lips. “Now.” She kissed him again. “Love me, Tom. Just for tonight.” She shifted on his lap until she straddled his thighs. With a quick shimmy, she slithered out of her dressing gown, leaving herself in nothing but a sleeveless shift of the thinnest, most translucent cotton he’d ever seen.

When she lifted his hands to her dainty breasts, he was lost.

“Yes.” Her soft sigh echoed down into his soul and he gave her more, shaping and kneading the firm flesh. His lips devoured hers, the kiss no longer soft and gentle, but hungry, demanding and hard.

“Stay,” she whimpered against his mouth as he strummed one taut nipple with his thumb.

“Yes.” He couldn’t have left if the house had caught fire.

His mouth plundering hers and being plundered in return he stood, lifting her easily in his arms, her legs wrapped around his waist, bringing her center up against his aching cock. He lay her down on the silken sheets and stepped back, admiring her in the golden gaslight.

Her hair was loose, tumbling across the pillows and down to her waist in a river of dark, silky waves. Her skin was flushed with desire, her lips full and red, her lids heavy. Without a corset she was all slender curves, her high breasts peaked with her nipples straining against the cotton of her nightdress, their dark color visible through the thin fabric and making his mouth water. From there, a narrow waist curved into wide, womanly hips, with the dark triangle between her legs also noticeable through her nightgown. He stripped off his coat, waistcoat, shirt and trousers, then realized he should have taken off his boots first.

He couldn’t resist leaning down to taste one of those swollen buds. He sucked her nipple into his mouth and drew on it, right through the cotton.

Nell arched her back and moaned. “More.”

Tom finished stripping and eased her back to a sitting position so he could pull her nightgown over her head. “You are the most beautiful thing I have ever seen.”

“Don’t be silly.” She traced a line down his chest with one finger. “You’re so much more beautiful than I am. Even with those scars.”

“I hope they don’t offend you.” He knelt beside her on the bed.

“No. They just make me sad.” She touched a knife wound on his hip and a gunshot on his shoulder. “I worry about you so much, but I’d never ask you to give up being a Knight. Make sure the woman you marry feels the same. Love shouldn’t be about forcing someone to change.”