Hold Your Breath 01 - Stone Devil Duke (12 page)

“The two. They were not found,” Devin stated simply. “Not today.”

Aggie closed her eyes, fighting the lump in her throat. She hadn’t wanted to ask. If she avoided it, she could hide from reality just a little longer. Keep hope alive for a few extra minutes. But there it was.

Choice dissolved once more. After what they did to Tommy, this had to end tonight. No more would be injured on her account.

Aggie
fought the fatigue making her brain swim. Now was not the time to buckle. She had to wake up and steel herself. Latch onto those last few tattered shreds of courage.

Sudden lips on hers made her jump, for she hadn’t seen
Devin move down on her. His arms went around her, pulling her body away from the thorns and into him.

His lips, hard, yet gentle, parted, and he teased her mouth open, deep
ening the kiss. His tongue slipped into her, sending a shot down her spine and waking up something deep in her core.

In her gut she knew exactly what he was doing.
Making her forget. Taking her pain and her worry. Creating belief that she would be beyond threats. She leaned into him, wanting all of that, and more, if only for a few seconds.

He pulled up slightly, lips still wisp
y on hers. “They will be found tonight, Aggie. All three of them. I guarantee it.”

Her eyes slivered open, and her
breath caught at the raw conviction she saw in Devin’s hard features. His hand at the small of her back pressed, contouring her body even harder into his. The other hand moved up to her neck, tilting her head slightly as he closed the air between them again.

She wanted this. She wanted to believe him. Wanted him to take care of everything.
She opened her mouth wider to his onslaught, taking him. Her tongue flickered with his as a hot flood rushed through her body.

But
her mind didn’t stop.

I
t wasn’t enough.

As much as she wanted to, she couldn’t avoid her own responsibility. She couldn’t trust him. Even as she reveled in the fire running up and down her body from his kiss,
his body encapsulating hers, her mind started to churn again.

She had been weak. And then what had she done? She had entrusted a total stranger to do what
she should have finished.

Ye
s, they would be found tonight.

But
Devin wasn’t guaranteeing it. She was.

~~~

“Augustine Christopherson.”

The shrill words cut through the night air, making
Devin inwardly jump.

Outwardly, he
calmly pulled up from Aggie, noting that the words hadn’t broken through the haze she was in. Eyes closed, cheeks flushed, lips cherry raw and plump from the deluge he had just put them through.

He tried to delicately slide the right strap of her dress back into place, covering her exposed breast. He didn’t think Aggie even knew where his hand had been, she was so engrossed.

He hid his smile before removing his arm from her waist, and stepped out of the arbor. She swayed slightly at the loss of support, then caught herself, eyes flying open, realizing what had just happened.

Aggie’s aunt and uncle both heaved, rage blustering. Her aunt whipped out a hand, stomping the few steps into the arbor, and yanked Aggie f
rom the alcove. Protective mama bear, she shoved Aggie behind her and her husband.

Both aunt and uncle had their hands on their hips as they squared off against
Devin.

“I will not have my niece ruined by the likes of you, your grace. What exactly are
your intentions, here?” Her uncle’s face was beet red, anger only allowing halting words to make it out.

Devin
raised an eyebrow. “Intentions?”

He knew damn well what the uncle insinuated, the ruin that could become of his niece, and under his watch. But
Devin also didn’t like being cornered over a wandering hand and one entirely too lusty a kiss.

Taller than
her aunt, Aggie’s eyes went wide above the feathers from the cap in the plump woman’s hair. Aggie shook her head, silently mouthing the word “no” with vigor. Telling him to somehow get them both out of this situation.

She looked petrified. She didn’t want him. Wasn’t looking to be trapped.

The aunt poked her husband.

“Dunway. This is unacceptable. My niece is above reproach, and you have just tattered her possibilities for a suitable husband.”

Aggie’s eyes flittered over her shoulder at the main house, then back to Devin. Still petrified. Why was she looking at him like that? A thousand chits in her place would be glorying in the success of the trap just concocted. Scandal attached to him or not, his station allowed a wide berth in what a cunning social climber would overlook.

Unless this wasn’t a trap. Unles
s she actually didn’t want anything to do with him.

Devin
’s gut gave the slightest cringe. She probably didn’t even know what she just did, but after the carnal kiss they had just shared, it was clear. A woman like Aggie needed to be in a man’s bed. His bed. It was sacrilege for her not to be.

T
oo beautiful, too passionate, and too spirited not to be enjoyed as the good lord clearly intended. She was created for wanton pleasure, whether she knew it or not. She was created for a man that knew what to with her body. One that would not shy away from the challenge of manipulating her skin, her limbs, her senses, and make her scream in pleasure. A man like him.

Her uncle
railed at him, really working himself into it. Devin didn’t hear a word of it. He was too busy trying to calm his throbbing member and staring at the girl still shaking her head no.

In all of their encounters, in all of the times he should have seen fear on her face, it lacked. Yet there she stood, attempting to shrink into nothingness behind her relatives, even though
at average height, she was a head taller than her uncle, two heads over her aunt.

She looked terrified
at the very thought of becoming bound in any real way to him. It rankled Devin’s pride, and he knew, at that moment, he should just walk away. Just like she had asked over and over.

Walk away
and be done with this girl, her blustering uncle, and the mess she was embroiled in. He could do that. His title, his money, allowed it of him.

But his feet refused to move.

Her uncle continued his rant, but Devin’s eyes remained firmly on the trapped rabbit behind him, her eyes darting about, looking for some other escape as she slowly realized he wasn’t going to help her get out of this. He wasn’t going to smooth this over.

Devin watched her fear escalate
and hid the sudden smile that attempted to line his lips. This wasn’t simple. Not simple at all.

But for the first time i
n his life, simple didn’t hold quite the allure it usually did. There was something about complicated that suddenly seemed fitting.

Killian was right when he had said it was time
for Devin to produce an heir. And Devin would have a blasted fine time producing one with Aggie.

He adjusted his stance.

Even if she came with complications. Even if she was currently desperate to erase him from her sight.

Her uncle trailed off, having spewed the last of the imaginable threats he could conjure.
Devin smiled first at Aggie’s aunt, then her uncle.

“Let me assure you, my intentions
to your niece are honorable. I apologize for my momentary loss of control.” He looked pointedly at her uncle. “I am sure you can remember a time when you met your lovely bride, that you were also overwhelmed?” Devin hoped he remembered right from the reports that theirs was a love match and not a marriage of convenience.

“Yes, well, that may be.
” He sputtered, looking at his wife. “But those were different times.”

“Not so different.”
Devin interrupted him, not wanting him to launch into another rant. “I will call on your residence tomorrow to begin the official courtship, assuming Lady Augustine is available and that it is acceptable? We will be properly chaperoned there? It will be best to maintain proper sequence.”

If it was possible, Aggie’s eyes grew even wider.

“What? Yes, fine. It is,” Aggie’s uncle said, his reinvigorated tirade unexpectedly halted.

“What? No.” A
ggie’s head shook. “You cannot truly mean to—”

“Hush, Augustine
.” Aggie’s aunt looked sharply over her shoulder at her niece. “You will be silent, and let your uncle handle this matter. He is trying to save your reputation, my dear.”

Aggie’s jaw remained askew at the reprimand.

Devin had to hide another smile.

“Yes, well then,
tomorrow.” Aggie’s uncle turned to the women. “Let us get back to the party. Your grace.”

Devin
tilted his head at the group.

He
waited an appropriate minute before trailing after the three back into the party. By the time they had reached the French doors in front of him, Aggie’s jaw had reattached itself, and he had to admire her graceful poise under such circumstance as she glided back into the crush.

Devin
re-entered the house through the drawing room. Unfortunately, several matronly women immediately accosted him, hoping to make introductions between him and some eligible daughters. His reputation should have kept them all at bay, but it was amazing how much some mothers were able to overlook when it came to marrying their daughters off to rich, titled men.

But as talking to
—no, kissing—Aggie had put him into an unusually polite mood, Devin put up with their babble. One half hour passed by before he was able to excuse himself to prepare for the late supper.

It was halfway
through the first course when Devin realized Aggie was not eating like she should have been. She was, as far as he could tell, no longer even at the party. Nor were her aunt or uncle.

Damn
—where could she be?

It dawned on him in a light
ning bolt. She hadn’t taken his kiss for the mere pleasure. She had done it to throw him off course.

She had gone after the killers onc
e more.

And she had at least
an hour-and-a-half on him.

The stir that
Devin caused as he strode out of the meal mid-course was quite exciting for the guests, who were left to revel in their speculations on his abrupt, and entirely impolite, exit.

Aggie
’s teeth gnashed on her tongue, biting back the scream exploding in her throat. Arms pinned to her sides, the man crushed her from behind, her ribs jabbing painfully into her lungs. She had to save her breath if she was going to escape this man.

Damn
. The plan had been working. She had stolen a hack from an inebriated driver lying in a stupor beside his coach. She had tucked a handful of guinea coins under the man’s coat for usage of the carriage and horse, and then started her search. That had been the easy part, obtaining an unidentifiable hack to drive.

She
made it past Charing Cross, deep into the east side. Soon enough, she had come across the last two of the four as they stumbled out into the street leaving the Black Fin. It was too easy. And she should have known then.

She followed them, invisible, for about ten blo
cks. They stumbled into an alley. Using the coach to block the street-side of the alley, she stopped, her fortune too good that it was a dead-end alley. She should have known then.

It was time
to end the whole miserable affair. They were beyond drunk, and she was certain she could get one of them to talk, to tell her how to find their leader.

Pulling out two pistols, she set them
on her gloves next to her feet. She pulled two more, one for each hand, and cocked them. Aggie took several panting breaths in a fight against fear. They both had their backs to her. She had to do it now or she was not going to get another chance.

She
stood, pulling the reins tight and putting them under her boot.

“Which one of you wants to die, and which one wants to
tell me who hired you to kill my father?” A voice that sounded nothing like hers came from her mouth.

They both spun, fumbling, reaching into their clothes.

“I would stop, if I were you.”

They both froze, glaring up at her.

“I think you both know I have no problems with aim or pulling the trigger. So which one of you wants to tell me who hired you?”

The toothless lanky one sneered at her.
“You sound desperate, lass.”

Aggie evened her aim.
“I am. So I will not hesitate to put a bullet in you.”

The short bald
one on the right pulled a pistol from his jacket, arm rising at Aggie. No hesitation, she shot him through the heart, his arm dropping, along with his body, just before his pistol fired.

The horse jumped at the shots, and Aggie lost her balance. She caught herself on the bench, dropping the used pistol and switching
the live pistol to her right hand.

Standing back up, s
he took aim at the leg of the taller man just as he bungled with his own pistol. Her last chance. She had to get him to talk.

“I am going to blow your leg off if you don’t drop it right now.”

The man glanced at the body next to him, then back up to her. Slowly, his hand lifted in surrender and he bent to set the pistol on the ground.

Aggie breathed
her first breath since stopping the carriage.

Just when the
tip of the man’s pistol touched the ground, he looked up at her. His sneer was back.

She should have known then.

In the next instant, she was ripped backward, jerked off her perch, pistol falling from her hand.

A satisfied grunt echoed in her ear as an iron grip wrapped around her. A brutal hand tore the hood and cap from her head.

Another grunt. Both arms wrapped around her, strangling her air.

Aggie kicked, tried to move her arms against the clamp
—it did nothing to stop the man from dragging her around the horse and into the alley.

She twisted, trying to see her attacker, but
turning her head was impossible.

He stopped, and
hot, sticky breath went into her ear. “I will, of course, pleasure myself before your fate is executed, my lady. You do remember how I pleasure myself, do you not?”

Sh
e recognized the voice instantly. The leader. Flashes of his silver blade cutting into her flesh flooded her mind.

She squeezed her eyes shut against the memory. Against the terror.

Her toes not touching the ground, he shifted her body, crushing down even harder. It was in that moment she had to swallow her own scream.

Full panic hit Aggie. She opened her eyes to see the other thug
staggering toward her.

She was no
thing without her pistols. Even if she freed herself from the leader’s grip, she would somehow need to escape the drunk too.

But she had to try.

She twisted as violently as she could and kicked at his shins the best she could in her hampered position. Vile laughter was the only response.

“Still trying? Maybe this will kill your fight.” He shifted again, setting one hand free, and then shoved it under her cloak, g
roping. Finding her breast, he squeezed and twisted, sending Aggie into writhing pain.

The thug stumbled
closer.

Aggie froze,
overcome with the bile that shot up from her stomach. Please. Not two of them at once. A brutal hand twisted her skin. Waves of pain followed by waves of pain.

Laughter rang in her ear.
Aggie tried to suck breath into her crushed lungs, gathering the last of her energy to try to fight one last time, when she noticed out of the corner of her eye the bastard in front of her dropping soundlessly to the ground.

A dark
figure with a gleaming, blood-stained knife, stepped over the now inert body.

S
he was thrown, and the last thing she saw before her head hit the brick wall and blackness swallowed her, were familiar grey eyes.

Grey eyes rushing toward
her in a desperate effort to stop her fall.

Grey e
yes flooded with rage.

~~~

“Hell, Aggie.” Devin got to her just as she hit the ground.

He glanced over hi
s shoulder, only to see the cloaked figure disappear around the coach. Running footsteps echoed down the street.

On his knees
beside her, Devin gently tilted Aggie’s face toward him. Blood ran along her temple from a gash. Her eyes closed, she wasn’t moving.

Devin
put his ear to her chest. Her breathing, although raspy, was close to normal. Shaking her slightly—as gently as he could, considering the anger he just barely had control over—he attempted to prod her awake.

He looked out
past the coach into the street again.

There was nothing that would give him more s
atisfaction than to go after that damn bastard and give him a death he would beg for.

But Aggie was unconscious. And he would not leave her alone.

His only option was to hope that she would be able to describe the man when she woke. That bastard had to be the fifth one Aggie talked about. The leader.

Devin
would destroy him. Aggie would have peace. He would make certain of it.

He moved one foot for balance
and slipped his arms under her. Picking her up gently, he took care not to jostle her too much.

Bunching up
her hood under her head for support, he laid her on the floor of the hack. He didn’t want her to roll off the seat as they moved.

Closing the door, he turned and leapt to the driver’s perch
, setting the horse quickly in the only direction he could.

~~~

The pounding on the front door rudely awakened Howard and Beatrix Rutland.

Howard, disgruntled at his interrupted sleep, decided to take the pleasure
of a good tongue lashing at the intruder, away from the butler and do it himself.

“Of all the most inconsider
ate,” Howard muttered as he pulled open the front door while tying his robe. The sight that greeted him jolted him awake. “What the hell…?”

Devin
strode into the front hallway, an unconscious Aggie secure in his arms.

“Aggie! Dear
God—is she all right?”

Devin
nodded in the affirmative.

T
he two men stared at each other. Howard with a perturbed look. Devin with an expressionless face. Devin waited for Aggie’s uncle to come to his conclusions.

“You know what this means
, Dunway?” Howard asked several moments later.

“Yes, I do
.”

“Well then
, get my niece up to the spare bedroom, two doors down on the left.” Howard’s thumb gently rubbed across Aggie’s forehead, both bloody and dirty with soot. His fingers stopped at the open gash.

His voice softened. “What the hell happened? She will be fine, will she not?”

“Yes, it is just a minor cut. But I will send a doctor as soon as I leave here.”

“Do I want to know what happened?”

“No.”

Devin
turned from Aggie’s uncle and carried her up the stairs to the spare bedroom. He laid her on the bed, removed her cloak and boots, and pulled the covers of the bed around her.

Stepping back, h
e paused a moment, looking down at her soot-lined face. His eyes paused at her forehead, crinkled hard, even in sleep. Pain—physical or emotional? Either way, it didn’t disappear from her with unconsciousness. Devin’s gut hardened.

Instinct made him
lean back in, and he laid a gentle kiss on her forehead before striding back down the stairs into the foyer.

“How lo
ng will it take?” Howard’s face glowered an angry red after having several minutes to work himself up.

“One day.”

Howard nodded. “Well then, I will be expecting you tomorrow at eleven, Dunway.”

“Make it ten
,” Devin replied. Hand on the door, he stopped. “If the doctor is worried or she does not awaken today, let me know. And under no circumstance are you to let her out of this house.”

Devin
disappeared out the door into the morning’s first rays.