HisLadysKeeperfinal.wps (13 page)

“Would you bind me as well?” She asked, extending her hands toward him. He looked at her hands.

“No, indeed, I think I can keep you controlled without having to tie your hands.

As I said, I’d rather not even blindfold you, but I do recall your brother regaling me with tales of your picture perfect memory. He used to say that you only had to look at something once to remember it right down to the miniscule detail. I can’t have you watching our route to our destination, and memorizing it. You would try to escape me, and you might succeed. That is not an option.”

She swallowed. Fear etched her features. “Can’t we travel by road to our

destination?”

“I’m afraid not.” He shook his head. “You grew up on an island, in order to travel—” he paused. He looked stricken by the conclusion he’d just reached. “Have you never been away from Britain?”

She shook her head. “I do not care for the sea.”

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“Do not fret, I’ll be with you, giving you comfort, and our journey will be a somewhat short one.” She closed her eyes, suddenly looking quite fatigued.

“Short one, my arse. How long will I be stuck with you? You do know as your captive I am expected to escape you at any possible chance.”

“As my wife, you will be bound to me forever. I will never allow you to escape, and with time, you will never want to be far from my side. I don’t want us to be constantly at odds, Gemma. My quarrel is not with you. I’ve arranged for a priest to be waiting for us on the ship. Thanks to Mallory I already have a special marriage license drawn up for us. Soon, you will be my wife.”

“I will never marry a man that is half Spanish.”

“Actually, that would be my dear half brother that is half Spanish. My father was Scottish—Herrer only uses his mother’s family name because it is much revered in our part of Spain. I’d rather you keep the Spanish sleights to a minimum in the future. It’s just not nice.”

“Oh.” She looked disappointed. Now, she had no leg with which to stand on in her refusal to marry him.

“You will marry me. I intend to make you my wife in all sense of the words on our journey—I trust you’d rather legally be bound to me—then, having us living in sin.”

“You think too much of yourself, Hart. I am not going to let you seduce me.”

He smiled at her.

“You will learn to respond to me the way that I wish you to.”

“Bully for you, because my fight is with you. I will never accept you as my husband, I will never be the dutiful loving wife that you think you will find in me.”

“Pray, do not make this anymore difficult than it has to be.” He still held the red handkerchief, and she eyed it warily, realizing he would try to blindfold her at any instant.

A chill ran up her spine. She suddenly felt queasy. He reached inside of his jacket again, and pulled out an envelope.

“What’s that? A document signing my life away?” She quipped.

A sober expression enveloped his face. “Actually, yes. This is the special marriage license I applied for at Mallory’s request. Your name is on it, along with mine.

All we need is a priest. Don’t worry. I already have the rings. And the Priest will be on our ship.”

Her mind raced. “You are insane. If you make me marry you, I will never

forgive you.”

“I wouldn’t forgive myself if I didn’t make you marry me. You see, Gemma, as soon as we get to our destination I have full intentions of ruining you in the most thorough sense of the word.”

Her heart stopped. She couldn’t breathe. She placed her hand to her corset. Her cheeks burned, thoughts whirled in her head, and she couldn’t breathe. Leaning forward, she gasped for breath.

“I have smelling salts if you require them,” he offered. He was grinning with supreme satisfaction in reaction to her discomfort.

“Keep them. I shall take nothing from you.” She once again eyed the blindfold.

“Pray do put that on me, I can’t bear the sight of you at the moment.” She shuddered, when he came toward her.

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Gently, he turned her so he could wrap the blindfold around her face. Tears pooled in her eyes. They escaped their watery prison. She said a silent prayer of thanks for the blindfold, for it was the only thing hiding the humiliating evidence of her tears.

“Don’t hate me for this, Gemma,” he implored softly, emotion creeping into his voice.

“Oh, I don’t hate you for this,” She replied, envisioning his face in her minds eye.

“I hate you just for being who you are.”

Silence engulfed them. She could feel him wrapping something around her.

“This greatcoat shall keep you warm against the night air.”

“I’d rather freeze, thank you.”

“I’d rather you not freeze. I don’t want my men looking at the evidence your body will display to show that you are indeed chilled to the bone.”

She took a shaky breath. He was right. He was only trying to protect her

modesty. Then, why was it whenever they were alone together he stripped her of most of her defenses and made her feel naked to his eyes even if she was fully clothed? She despaired at the thoughts coursing through her head. She allowed him to slip her arms into the greatcoat and waited while he buttoned it up.

“There. You are all set. No one will see your ripped dress, or anything else they needn’t see.” Was that the sound of possession she heard in his voice? Whatever happened, she knew he wanted her, and he wouldn’t allow anyone else to take her from him. Mallory was up against a force he would be hard pressed to fight. He was up against a man in love.

“Thank you,” she whispered the words. She could almost feel him smiling at her.

Warmth permeated off of him, she’d never felt such sensations emanating from a man before, why oh why did he have to turn out to be such a foul creature?

She could hear him moving to the carriage doors. Then, she heard him stop. She shivered when she felt him close in on her again. His two hands cupped her face. She tried to wrench her face out of his hands.

“Is this what you always planned? To take me while my guard is down, and I am without sight? Go ahead, do as you like, I can’t fight you, if I do, your men will probably bloody well slit Charles’s throat.” She heard him grunt. He still didn’t like it when she accused him of being that hateful of a monster. She could feel his breath on her cheeks.

She held her breath. And, then she felt it. She felt his mouth gently brush against hers.

He’d kissed her before, but she’d responded then. This time, she did nothing. She kept her mouth closed, and he didn’t attempt to force it open. Gradually, he drew away from her.

“I will make you see reason, Gemma. I will make you see the light.”

“Oh, that’s no concern. I already see the light, even with this blasted blindfold on.”

He rapped the top of the carriage. The carriage doors flew open. She could hear him stepping out onto the road. He murmured something to his men so low that she couldn’t quite make out what he said. She strained her hearing to its limit hoping to catch onto a word or a phrase, but it was lost on the night wind.

She felt him reach back inside of the carriage, his large hand gripped hers. She let him guide her forward. Then, his hands encircled her waist, and before she could take in her next breath, she found herself ensconced in his arms. His warmth bled through the HIS LADY’S KEEPER Marly Mathews 63

greatcoat.

“On second thought, I think I will carry you onto the ship. I wouldn’t want you to trip and hurt yourself.”

“You are too kind, Hart.” She put a sneer in her voice.

“I regret having to hurt you in any way.”

“And yet, you still wound me,” she countered.

“Your lordship, we have secured the boy and the dog on the ship. The boy is asleep, Maeve gave him a sleeping tonic in his hot chocolate.”

“Who’s Maeve?”

“A friend. I have entrusted her with the boy. When you see her, you will say nothing about her handicap, do you understand? She doesn’t like it when people notice it. Many have hurt her terribly by attacking that weakness.”

“What is her handicap?”

“You shall see in due course. Apparently, Charles didn’t even start at the sight of it, he was completely accepting. Most children should be like that, but unfortunately they are not.”

“Charles is unique, I’ll admit that.”

“You should sleep as well, you are worn out.”

“When shall you sleep?” she asked.

He laughed. “Once we are well underway, I shall retire to my cabin for a few hours.”

“Good. That way, I’ll have some peace from you.”

“Oh, you misunderstand. My cabin is
your
cabin.”

“You are a rat.”

He chuckled. “It brings me comfort to hear your spunkiness returning.”

She clamped her mouth shut. She couldn’t say anything else. It only fed into his desires. It was almost as if she titillated him whenever she got her back up. Well, from now on, she would try to be as demure and as quiet as possible. It would be a challenge in character for her. Yet, she would try to withstand it until she met her objective.

She shivered.

“We will be aboard the ship at any moment now.” She could feel the rhythm of his gait change as he walked up what was probably the gangplank to the ship. She hated sailing. Abhorred it with the very fiber of her being. Despite her better intentions, she felt sluggish. Exhaustion seeped into her pores. She yawned. Why was it that he managed to relax her despite what she knew and thought of him? Why couldn’t she just hate him all of the time? Her body betrayed her, and her mind just wanted the time to rest and rejuvenate. She had to be able to endure the rest of the tests that would come her way.

“My Lord, I have made your cabin ready. You will find a light meal on the table and I have laid out the lady’s nightwear. As you asked for.”

“Thank you, Maeve.”

“Oh, she is a bonny lass,” Maeve said, admiration thick in her voice.

“This bonny lass is awake.” She yawned again. Her mouth felt dry. She heard him open a door, the floorboards creaked as he moved toward whatever he was taking her to. She felt a soft mattress beneath her when he set her down. He smiled at her as he tenderly removed the blindfold.

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“Well, I should have wondered why you had that contraption on her, my lord.”

“It’s okay, Maeve, the lady required the blindfold, I didn’t want her to memorize the route of our voyage.”

The ship lurched beneath them. They were disembarking. Nausea rolled through her at the thought of a long sea voyage. She moaned.

“Ah, the lass looks a wee bit peaked. She should rest. The priest will be by here in a few minutes. I will serve as a witness.”

Gemma placed a finger to her temple trying to ease the burning pain behind her eyes. She focused her vision on the woman called Maeve. One side of her face was slightly disfigured and her back was hunched. She gave no reaction that she could tell.

If Hart thought Maeve would repulse her, he couldn’t be further off track. She wasn’t that shallow, or that narrow minded, when it came to one’s physical appearance.

Maeve smiled at her, and moved over to the table and chairs that sat on the opposite side of the cabin. “You should have a little bit to eat, lass. You look like you need the sustenance.”

At that moment, the priest entered the cabin. He kept his eyes focused on the bible he carried. “I think we should get on with this, your lordship.”

She looked up. Hart looked pleased with himself. The next few minutes went by in a blur. When she was prompted she gave her vow, which came out more as a slight croak than a steady voice. A cool ring was slipped onto her finger. When she looked down she noticed that it was a gold wedding band inlaid with Celtic Love knots. He gave her one to put on his ring finger. She looked up at him—she could just imagine the stunned expression she had on her face. He clasped her hands between his as they were pronounced man and wife. Then, he pulled her toward him and planted a gentle kiss on her lips—she still remained impassive.

A sour taste filled her mouth. She looked away, sighing.

He didn’t seem too pleased with that reaction. Pulling away from him, she

walked toward the generous sized bed, and sat down. The priest quietly left the room.

Gemma stood up, swaying when a blackout washed over her. She shook her

head, clearing her sight of the stars that swam in front of her. “Perhaps, I wouldn’t be opposed to some of that toast you have there.”

“My wife has a healthy appetite, Maeve.”

“Ah, that’s what I like to hear. You look as if you starve yourself, my lady.”

“I assure you, Maeve, she doesn’t. I saw the evidence of her healthy appetite at work.”

She could feel her cheeks blooming with heat. That’s just what she needed to do

… she probably had bloodshot eyes from the few tears she’d shed, and now she was blushing! Well, at least she hadn’t fainted. That would have taken what little she had left of her pride.

“Since I’ve found myself in this predicament, I assure you, my lord, my appetite has diminished considerably.”

His eyes flared, she could see his jaw clenching and unclenching. “You should sit, and eat,” he ordered.

“Only if you do, Hart. You look a tad bit peaky yourself.”

He gave her a weak smile. Were the events of the night finally taking a toll upon him? She hoped so. She couldn’t think of him as her husband, even though she knew HIS LADY’S KEEPER Marly Mathews 65

they were married—there was no turning back now.

Oh, how Mallory would hit the roof when he found out how well his original plan had taken off. He’d be welled with regret. She couldn’t help but smile a little. Finally, her know it all brother was being served a good dollop of ‘
I told you so
’. Initially, she hadn’t wanted anything to do with Hart, and he had bloody well shoved Hart down her throat. The galling nerve. The only problem was, not only had his plan backfired on him, it had completely blown up on her. Now, she was married to the bastard, and she knew she’d have no way of annulling him, if she remained with him much longer. She knew he’d find a way to take advantage of his conjugal rights, and the thought made her stomach twist and flutter with anticipation all at the same time.