Heart of the Diamond (28 page)

His words hit her one by one like stones aimed at the most vital, vulnerable portions of her being. He read her heart so easily. Too easily. After this afternoon at Winterhaven she had almost believed that Blake was beginning to truly care for her—that her dream of a marriage for love could come true.

Still hopeful, Nicki met the implacable facade of his icy gaze. “My expectations are not so high, my lord. Perhaps in time—”

“No! I will not allow you to hold out for more. You wanted an honest answer and I provided one.”

Lifting her chin, Nicki forced her stare to remain locked to his. “Yes, you did. I thank you for honoring our agreement.”

He cursed softly beneath his breath. If he found the prospect of hurting her so unpleasant, then he could feel more. As the dance ended, she flashed him what she hoped was her most dazzling smile.

Obviously suspicious of her sudden change of mood, Blake eyed her warily. He took her by the upper arm and led her off the ballroom floor toward the open doors leading to the balcony.

When he glanced down at her again, the rugged lines of his face softened. Her aspirations sprang anew. With a wrenching in her heart, Nicki knew she had indeed found her knight, though he might need a slight push to accept his new role.

She could very well be consigning herself to the same fate as her mother, a loveless marriage, yet she knew she could never go back now. She would have her work cut out for her in convincing the Earl of Diamond that he could love someone.

No. Convincing him that he could love
her
.

The crisp morning air rushed to envelop Nicki the moment she left the house. She wrapped her arms close against her waist in a fruitless attempt to ward off the cold. Her breath snaked out in a mist before her face when the warmth leaving her body met with the chilled air.

Raising her face to the grey sky, she paused to watch a tiny snowbird drift on the wind, then light in a tree nearby. The last vestiges of night disappeared into a glorious morning.

“Do you intend to hide here all day?”

Nicki smiled to herself before she pivoted slowly to face the owner of the voice. “Good morning, my Lord Diamond. How dashing you look.”

Blake, astride his bay stallion, leaned an elbow against one muscled thigh encased in buff breeches. “You must leave off complimenting me on my appearance before I have the chance to tell you what an exquisite gem you are.”

“I shall continue to tell you what is in my heart.”

Blake urged his horse closer to the porch; their gazes were nearly even. Nicki tossed her riding crop aside and leaned forward to rest her hands on his broad shoulders. She proudly noted he needed none of the padding so prominent in the dress of a good many of the male guests.

Their faces were so close Nicki could see black flecks frozen in the silver irises of the earl's eyes. Diamond eyes, she had overheard someone say last night.

Blake reached out to cup her jaw in his hand. “Ah, sweet Nicole . . . ”

His lips on hers were cold, yet their softness sent heat raging through her. Remembering their kiss yesterday, she turned her head slightly and opened her mouth just a bit. Blake groaned in response. His gloved hand slipped along her jaw to the back of her neck and Nicki felt herself being drawn once again into that wonderful vortex of velvet passion where Blake Dylan held complete mastery. His tongue teased, flicking across her lips, her teeth, then deeper.

Generously, she returned the favor. This man could consume her—could drag her down into the blackness of his soul—and she would not care. As long as there was this.

Nicki edged closer. She pressed herself against his warmth, tightened her hold about his neck. Where their bodies melded together scorched her through her clothing, like standing too close to a blazing fire.

With a swift movement, Blake wrapped his arms about Nicki's waist and pulled her before him on the horse. Their lips broke apart and she stared up into his face, breathless, aching for . . . something. Something only he could provide.

“Enchantress.” With a groan, he crushed her mouth beneath his, as though he too suffered the same insatiable yearning.

The horse moved nervously beneath them, but Nicki clung to Blake, pulled against his neck to have him nearer to her—so near that they could never be separated. So close that they were one and the same person.

“Good God, Diamond! Nick?”

Alarm flashed through Nicki. She broke away from Blake and leapt toward the porch. Awkwardly, Blake held on to her to keep her from falling. Feeling as though she had been doused with water from the stream, Nicki turned to face Teddy. Then it happened.

She was struck blind.

With a cry of panic, Nicki reached up to her eyes to discover that her hat had slipped down to obliterate her vision. Her hands trembled as she manipulated the delicate velvet cap back into place and bent to retrieve her abandoned riding crop.

“Bartholomew. Have you nothing with which to occupy yourself? I find these interruptions damnably inconvenient.” Blake's voice broke the heavy silence—so calm he might have been discussing the weather.

Though he stood several yards away, Nicki could see Teddy's topaz eyes spark with anger. “Nicki's father asked me to find out what was keeping her. I had no idea it was you detaining her, or I should have come much sooner.”

Nicki finished pinning the hat more securely, but noted the single fetching peacock feather drooped limply over her shoulder. The fragile stem must have broken in the process of repinning. Or had it been crushed while she languished in Blake's passionate embrace? Whatever the case, Nicki thanked heaven Angelica would not be joining the hunt.

Her appearance repaired to the best of her ability, Nicki faced the combatants with what she hoped was stern control. “Teddy, I am coming. You need not bedevil the earl for delaying me, for I am as much to blame as he.”

Teddy's lips thinned and the words seemed propelled from his mouth with great effort. “Then I apologize. Shall I tell your father you'll join us shortly?”

When Nicki caught Blake's smirk from the corner of her eye, warmth rose in her cheeks. She chose to ignore him and kept her attention on Teddy. “No . . . I . . . we are quite finished.”

As she moved down the steps to the walk, Blake urged his horse between her and Teddy. He leaned down, his breath tickling her ear. “We are far from finished, my dear, but I believe I have proved I am a patient man.”

She glared up at him. “Would you please join the others, Blake, before that great beast steps on one of us!”

With a chuckle, he pressed his boot heels into the horse's sides. As horse and rider disappeared around the side of the house, Nicki risked a quick look at Teddy.

He stared at the shining toes of his boots, the picture of utter despondence. “He has captivated you, Nick. Why can you not see him for what he is?”

“And what is he, Teddy? Do you truly know him so well?”

“I know him well enough to see he's using you.”

Nicki winced at the words, but stubbornly refused to believe the earl had the capacity for such inhuman cruelty. Still, she was not so naive that she did not realize passion could be feigned, and a niggling doubt wormed its way to prominence in her thoughts.

“Do you mean to say he could not possibly have feelings for me? Am I so unlovable?”

Teddy grabbed her arm, pulled her to a stop and turned her so they faced each other. Furious color splotched the fairness of his face.

“You know that isn't what I meant. You stubbornly refuse to really see him!”

“He is the man I am to marry, Teddy,” Nicki angrily tugged against his hold until he released her, “for better or for worse. I can only hope for the better.”

“I could make you happy. You have only to say the word and we can be gone. He'll not come after you, I guarantee it.”

Nicki shook her head vehemently. Only a few short days ago she might have considered Teddy's offer, but now she knew her feelings for Teddy were merely those of a friend.

“Somehow, I think he might come after me. But it does not matter. I will not betray him.”

“Listen to yourself!” Teddy gripped her shoulders with force. He held her even more firmly when she would have pulled away. “He doesn't deserve your loyalty! You would put him before me, whom you have known for years—before your own father!”

“Bartholomew, I believe it is now you who are detaining my fiancée.”

Released abruptly, Nicki stumbled backward, and was awkward at regaining her balance. She had heard no sound to warn her of Blake's return. “We were just coming, my lord.”

Though the horse moved restlessly beneath him, Blake's silver gaze impaled Teddy with a fury more frightening because of the deadly stillness of his body. “I hope you were not badgering Nicole over a subject that is none of your affair.”

“Nicki and I have been friends for a long time.” The pink in Teddy's cheeks darkened, but he merely tugged down the sleeves of his emerald riding jacket. “I'll not remain silent when I fear for her well being.”

“I do not care how long you claim acquaintanceship with her, she is now my concern and you will stay away from her!”

“I will not!”

“Then perhaps we will have to settle this once and for all.”

Nicki gaped from Teddy's splotched face to Blake's features chiseled in stone-like rage. Though he sat his horse casually, a tenseness emanated from him. She hurried to stand between the two.

“I believe I just heard Papa calling. You two must leave off this bickering or I shall not speak to either of you!”

Without waiting for a reply, she stalked past them. At that moment she did not care if they followed or broke out into fisticuffs. Teddy had ever been hotheaded, but she had truly believed Blake possessed more self-control.

Her father had not called, but Nicki could think of no better diffuser for the situation. She was unused to breaking up arguments between grown men who should have had better sense.

Her boots soundly impacted the cobblestones of the walkway, testimony to her frustration. As Nicki rounded the corner of the house, she looked up from the ground to see her father motioning to her from the midst of the stable yard teeming with horses and riders. Quickly, she took note of the few women present and sighed in relief when she realized she was dressed appropriately—thanks to Angelica.

Smiling greetings over the growling, baying hounds, Nicki passed through mounted riders on the way to her father, who stood near the front entrance to the stables. He held the reins of his favorite bay gelding as well as a big black stallion.

Nicki looked from the horse to her father. “Papa, are you riding Zeus?”

“No, girl, you are.”

She glanced at Andrew holding the lead chain for the stallion. “I instructed Hera to be saddled, not Zeus.”

The trainer slunk back between the two horses. “Uh—er . . . ”

“I told him you wouldn't be taking Hera,” her father interceded. “It's my mistake, girl.”

“One that is easily remedied. It will only take a moment to ready Hera. You surprise me, Papa. I would have a difficult time controlling Zeus amidst all these mares.”

Her father ran a finger under his collar and Nicki noted that though the morning was cool he sweated profusely. “I'll not have you defying me in front of all these folks, Nick. Ride the stallion or return to the house at once.”

A chill encompassed Nicki. Papa would never speak so to her unless . . .  “Something has happened. What are the two of you keeping from me?”

“Nick—”

“No. I will hear this from Andrew, Papa. Well? What half-hearted excuse will you provide me now? Or perhaps you will have the decency to tell me the truth.”

Andrew's panicked gaze flicked to her father, then dropped to stare at the ground. His shoulders sagged. “It's ‘era, milady, she's bad sick.”

Nicki tensed. “Sick? She was fine yesterday.”

The trainer kicked at the ground for a moment, his mouth working. When he looked at Nicki, tears misted his eyes. “We lost four o’ the youngsters so far. ‘era must've bullied ‘er way into their ‘ay and . . . ”

The smooth wood of the riding crop in her hands reminded Nicki that she had not worn her gloves. She clenched the crop tighter, and then, as though from a great distance, she heard the wood snap. “We fed them bad hay? How is that possible?”

Andrew stared at her hands, all color leaving his craggy face. “Milady—ye’ve ‘urt yerself—”

“I will have an answer! How did our horses get bad hay?”

Her father tugged the remaining pieces of the riding crop from Nicki's hands and took her arm. “Let's return to the house. Perhaps Blake will lead the hunt.”

Nicki jerked free. “These are my horses as much as they are yours. I have a right to know the reason they are dying!”

“Bad ‘ay, milady, mixed in w’ the fodder,” blurted Andrew.

Disbelief overwhelmed her. “There is someone around this stable at all times. No one could have had access . . . ”

She cut off her words as the trainer's eyes moved to a point beyond Nicki's left shoulder. When she followed his gaze, she found the earl seated astride his dark bay. “Th’ only stranger about was a man sent by his lordship, th’ Earl o’ Diamond, to look fer a watch the earl lost.”

Nicki stared at Blake as the words echoed through her mind. Not Blake—not this. She waited for his face to register something—guilt, pity—perhaps even remorse. There was nothing. She inhaled deeply; the brisk air flooded her lungs. Her eyes began to tear.

“Blake, do you have anything to say?”

The earl shrugged and shook his head. Nicki could feel the pain working its way through the protective shell encasing her heart. He had betrayed her. She had allowed him to become part of her world—trusted him with the passion and love she had for these beautiful animals, only to have that trust repaid by using her to once again strike out at her father. But he had not used her directly; he had chosen her precious horses as the weapon.

She turned to Andrew, who still watched the earl, as though pleading for him to speak. “Take me to Hera. You have made certain she is separated from the other animals?”