HisLadysKeeperfinal.wps (16 page)

“You could … I’ll take you up on deck soon.”

“I’m glad to see you are none the worse for wear, your ladyship. I’ll have your breakfast up to you soon.”

“Thank you.”

Maeve nodded her head and turned toward the door. “You’ll heed my words,

your lordship. If you do anything to hurt Lady Gemma—”

“I would never hurt her.”

“I think I can believe that. You are right, your mother will be enchanted by Gemma.” With that, Maeve left the cabin.

“Now, you and I can get better acquainted.”

“I don’t think so.” She rolled over in bed, turning away from him—hopefully he would get the message loud and clear.

“I will be back in a few minutes … please, do not miss me while I am gone.”

“In your dreams.” Closing her eyes, she fell back into a fretful slumber plagued with images of him.

HIS LADY’S KEEPER Marly Mathews 75

“When we get into port .…”

“Aye. I’ll take the child to your mother.”

“Thank you, Maeve.”

“Where do you intend upon taking her ladyship? She is such a frail looking thing—I wouldn’t want you to cause her to fall ill.”

Hart sighed. “I will be having a talk with Lady Gemma. I can’t risk her saying too much to my mother—if she knows that I married Gemma under duress—she might not like it. Already, I have gone too far.”

“You know that your mother only wanted you to put the fear of God into

Mallory—she never wanted you to actually abscond with one of the sisters. To her they are innocent parties!”

“I know.”

“You were only to show Mallory that you could touch him if you ever wanted to.

She wanted you to show Mallory that you could take Elizabeth and Susan away from him in an instant—your mother never would have wanted you to go through with any of your threats. You were supposed to return them as soon as you’d proven your point. That at least was my understanding of the plan.”

“I know, Maeve. Everything will turn out fine. I just need Gemma to play the part of the willing participant.”

“And Charles?”

“He will keep his mouth shut about being kidnapped—he is wise enough to know that if he does tell my mother that he was taken by force, he will be punished.”

“My Lord!”

“Do not look at me that way, Maeve. I would not truly hurt the child, but he doesn’t know that.”

“I don’t know why you are even doing this. Take Lady Gemma home—this

marriage will be the end of you, my lord.”

“I’m so thankful that you have such faith in me, Maeve.”

“I will always have faith in you. Do not misunderstand me. I only have concern that you are getting in too deep. Lady Gemma’s brother is terribly powerful.”

“So am I. I think we are evenly matched … I might even have more resources than him. I’m certainly far wealthier.”

“Aye, you are. But money isn’t everything. You have taken something that he treasures—he will not give a damn what he has to do to get her back. I saw Mallory on the night when we attacked him. He looked like an avenging angel, he will root you out, and he will kill you.”

“Not if I kill him first.”

“Will that death bring Lord Joseph back?”

“No … but it will ease my own guilt.”

Hart looked away from her. “I think you should go and attend to Charles. Just HIS LADY’S KEEPER Marly Mathews 76

make sure that he is not left alone … not even if he’s with my mother.”

“You can trust me.”

“I trust you with my life, Maeve. Now trust me and put your faith in what I am doing. Everything will turn out the way I want it to. I’m charmed, remember?”

“Charming—aye, you are. Charmed, though? I don’t know about that. That

good streak of luck you seem to be blessed with just might run out—you’ve taken on a greater foe than you’ve ever fought before.”

“I do not view the St. Martin as my greater foe.”

“Oh, I’m not referring to the Duke. I’m referring to his sister. She seems ready to give you a world full of grief. And as your wife—she is the woman to do it. I’ll only say one thing—you asked for it.” She chortled, taking supreme satisfaction out of his discomfort.

Shaking his head, he headed back for his cabin. Opening the door slowly, he took a moment to commit the sight before him to memory. She looked like an angel from heaven. Her breathing was regulated. She had fallen back into a deep slumber. He couldn’t blame her—she was used to a soft lifestyle—she was used to being pampered.

He could get used to having her in his bed sleeping in late—

She murmured something else inaudible in her sleep. Her breathing became

labored. Her peaceful dream had slowly turned into a nightmare.

Walking gingerly toward the bed, he sat down and reached for her. She fell into his arms easily—and her nightmare was affecting her so deeply, that she placed her arms around him and squeezed him tightly.

“What?” Gemma awoke with a start. Her eyes flared with anger, and then, as if she was still haunted by her nightmare she relaxed.

“You were having a bad dream,” he murmured.

“I know.” She shivered. “I don’t remember it—but I don’t think I want to

remember anyway.” Shuddering again, she pressed herself closer to him.

He could only marvel at how nicely she fit into his arms. He didn’t want to let her go—but they would be pulling into port soon, and he couldn’t keep her on the ship forever. Already, she was starting to look a little ill from the short sea voyage. It was a blessing that he’d had Maeve along to give her tonics in her food to combat any true sign of nausea.

“No … I don’t think any of us want to remember our nightmares, real or

imaginary,” he reflected, staring off distantly, as his own memories washed over him.

She sighed. The sound of it was music to his ears.

“You seem so civil right now—why don’t you just take me home? All will be

forgiven, I promise.”

“No. There’s no turning back now. I had Maeve already give me a lecture—you can talk until you are blue in the face—I will not budge.”

“Why? You profess to care for me—you even forced me into a marriage I did not want .…” her voice trailed off. Obviously she didn’t even believe what she’d just said.

“You wanted this marriage, the tone of your voice just gave you away.”

“Don’t read things into what I didn’t say … maybe, if you’d courted me under the normal circumstances, then, yes, I would have considered breaking off my engagement to Kilworth.”

“Ah, there you said it.”

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“I only said that I might have considered it. Now, it is definitely out of the question.”

“That’s because you are married to me. We’ve definitely foregone on the

courtship bit.”

“Because you ruined everything. You dashed my sterling illusion of Kilworth against the rocks, anyway. If you do let me go, I can tell you I won’t be going back to him.” She looked up at Hart. She still hadn’t drawn away from him—but she was furious with him. “You have set our families against each other. Mallory will never bury the hatchet—he will gun for you until you are dead!”

“Not if I get him first.”

“You won’t. I’m asking you to not kill him … please. If you did, any chance you ever had with me would be shattered once and for all. I won’t ever forgive you.”

He gave consideration to what she’d said. Her determination knew no bounds. If he did ever serve Mallory a deathblow, she would hate him with a passion. He couldn’t do that—he couldn’t risk that. Because no matter how tightly controlled he sometimes seemed to people, he had met his match in Gemma. She might be a spoiled little brat, but she was his brat, and he loved her with all of his heart and soul. Never had he expected to be hit so soundly and completely by the love bug.

“I won’t kill Mallory,” he relented after due reflection. “As long as he doesn’t try to spill my guts, I’ll keep him wholly intact, never you worry.”

She searched his face and his eyes for any trace of a lie.

“I believe you.”

“There is however, a condition.”

“You are too highhanded for your own good, Hart. I will not enter into any pacts with you. I’ve already allowed you to force me to the altar—what more could you possibly do to me to punish me?”

He grunted, and tightened his hold on her. She suddenly became as frisky as a cat in his arms.

“What are you doing?”

“I’m just shifting my weight.” He had her pressed right against him, so she would be able to feel every single one of his muscles, and in turn, he could feel every single one of her curves. He could feel her nipples puckering beneath the sheer fabric of her nightdress. He grinned. “Your passions are getting riled, my love.”

She tried to push away from him. Her breathing became labored with her actions.

“Do let me go, this instant!”

“No.” His reply was simple and gave her no leeway to respond. Instead, she gaped at him. With her blond hair falling forward, framing her pale face, his groin tightened. How easy it would be to just make love to her right here and now. “Now,” his voice was but a husky whisper, he cupped her face with his free arm. “Smile for me, Gemma, and show me those gorgeous dimples of yours.”

“Stuff it,” she hissed, trying to free her face from his hold. Her green eyes were ablaze with anger. She looked ready to murder someone.

“Ah, yes, I almost forgot—there is a matter of great importance that we need to discuss.”

“Like how you’re going to take me against my will?”

“Do not act so defiant, my dear. You want me. I excite you—I make you quiver HIS LADY’S KEEPER Marly Mathews 78

when you see me, your heart soars, and your palms tingle—you are in love with me.”

“No, I’m not.”

“There it is again. You are lying. Do not try to pledge something even
you
don’t believe. My mother will know you are lying as well.”

“What the hell does your mother have to do with us? With this? She won’t care one fig for me.”

“Oh, that’s where you are wrong. You see, I wasn’t supposed to actually do anything. She only wanted me to threaten Mallory—I don’t think she even dreamt that I’d be reckless enough to take one of his sisters and make her marry me.”

“And, yet you did.”

“Aye. And soon, I will solidify that marriage by making you my own in every sense of the word.”

“Why are we doing this silly little dance? Just get to the point,” she huffed impatiently, rolling her eyes at him.

“The point is—I want you to make my mother think you are madly passionately in love with me. Do not let her know the truth. Tell her you are with me of your own free volition.”

“To hell with that.”

He sighed. “You really don’t like to do anything the easy way, do you?”

“Not where you are concerned, you blackguard.”

“I will ignore that insult, because I know you are under great emotional strain right now. I understand how tortured you must be. Here you are in my bed—and you want me with ever fiber of your being, and yet, you are allowing your pigheadedness to get in the way.”

“I am not.”

“You are. If you weren’t you’d be melting into my arms right now, and giving way to the feelings of attraction you have for me.”

“I do not feel that way.”

“Yes, you do.”

“There we go again, we sound like children.” Gemma sighed.

“That’s what we need to avoid in front of my mother. As we speak, I have agents placed close to Mallory and his family.”

“No. Mallory will have already gone into defensive mode.”

“I still have a few men on the inside.”

Her face became even paler. “Who are you?” Her voice came out as a shattered whisper. “Your power seems limitless.” Her eyes widened, making his groin stir. He was using all of his willpower to keep himself from making sweet love to her. If he made any advances toward her now, he might as well kiss her good impression on his mother goodbye. No, he definitely didn’t need his plans going tits up—he could wait to join his body with hers. He could.

“It is, quite. I have vast financial resources. Money does talk, my dear.”

“I am not worth it.”

“Oh, but I beg to differ. You are priceless. My bank accounts make Geoffrey Caulfield look like a penniless beggar.”

“Impossible.”

“Quite possible.”

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She seemed stunned. “You will have to tell me who you are one day.”

“Indeed. You already know enough. I am your husband, and I am the man that loves you above all else. As for my wealth, let’s just say I’m a crude businessman. Most nobles of my rank think getting into business to be below them. If they did foray into the world I myself have invested in, they wouldn’t have to worry about paying death tax, and making sure that they do not lose their family estates, the world is quickly changing, and men of my rank must learn to bend with the times. I will not kill your brother—but you must make my mother believe I am not the monster in your world.”

“You are.”

“But to her, you will make her think I am your devoted, kind and loving

husband.”

“And if I don’t you will hurt Mallory. Oh, you are a cad.”

“Yes, I will indeed, and I’ll ignore that cad remark.” He didn’t know if he would hurt Mallory—yet, making her think he would only worked in his favor.

“My mother is a lady. She is a Lennox, you know. I’m sure that name means something to you.”

“Indeed.” Her eyes lit with recognition. “She hails from royal blood.”

“Yes. You St. Martin’s might be blue-blooded nobles, but I have royal blood in my veins.”

She looked impressed. “That’s a far cry from a would be horse thief.”

“I should think so.” He kissed the tip of her nose. “I’ve never seen any woman with a such a delightfully kissable nose. And yet, I am getting off the beaten track.