Never Run From Love (Kellington Book Four) (16 page)

When Parker and Anne entered the room, Hal drew
their attention to a painting on the wall, hoping to give Melanie extra time to
finish primping.  When she joined them a moment later, she looked much as she
did before their interlude, although he was pleased to see that her color was
still heightened.  He was so pleased that it was everything he could do not to
pick her up and carry her off to a bedchamber where they could continue their
explorations.

Anne glanced at Melanie more than once, but Parker
was completely engrossed with the dreadful painting Hal had remarked upon. 
After studying it far longer than was warranted, they made plans for the rest
of the day.

Anne would oversee dinner, while Melanie and Parker
said they would go over plans for the future, as well as continue to catch up
on mutual friends and acquaintances.  It quickly became obvious there would be
no room for Hal in that discussion.  Not that he particularly wanted to hear
about the well-being of various people he’d never met, but he did want to have
at least a few moments alone with Melanie after what they’d shared earlier.  If
nothing else, he’d like to calm any skittishness she might have.  Although she
certainly didn’t seem very skittish.  She and the Quaker – Hal didn’t care if
the man wasn’t technically of that faith – seemed perfectly at ease.

Almost too comfortable with each other.

“Someone needs to escort Miss Sutton home,” said
Hal. 

“Well, I’m certainly not ready to go now.”

“I shall call back at a later time and pick you up,”
he said. Was she willfully misinterpreting his desire to spend a few moments
alone with her?

“I assure you there is no need,” said Melanie.

“Indeed,” said Parker, “I would be delighted to
perform the honors myself, as well as finally make the acquaintance of the earl
and countess.”

“Why would you need to call on the earl?” asked Hal,
vexed in spite of himself.  If the American do-gooder was intending to ask for
her hand in marriage, then Melanie should have told him before their
interlude.  It was most insulting to think she would use him to gain experience
before heading off to a life of religious servitude and ghastly night rails and
weekly conjugal visits from her husband.  Although he didn’t look like the type
to constrain his husbandly duties to once a week.

The blasted man should head back to America – with
or without benefit of a ship.

Hal realized he was being unreasonable.  So after
several minutes of hearing the most recent news from what must be the most
boring city on two continents, he took his leave.  “Miss Sutton, will you
please see me to the door?”

Miss Sutton looked most insultingly unhappy at the
prospect, but after a moment she accompanied him to the front door.

“Before you return to your Mr. Parker,” said Hal,
interrupting her from fleeing back to safety, “I must tell you I enjoyed our
afternoon.”

“I am glad you and Mr. Parker had the chance to
meet.”

“That is not the portion of the afternoon to which I
refer, as you well know.”

“I can hardly claim any expertise with your
thoughts, my lord.”

“It’s Hal.  And while you claim no expertise with my
thoughts, you do have at least a passing familiarity with my body.”  He was
gratified to see that her reserve broke enough to allow a blush.  “A
familiarity I hope to further explore.  Only name the time and I shall find a
place, my lovely Melanie.”  He leaned in as if to kiss her.

She ducked.

Most decidedly not the reaction he was hoping for.

“I believe, Lord Henry, that it would be most unwise
to continue our liaison.  But thank you just the same.  I had a lovely time.”

A lovely time.  As if she’d been to tea. 
This
was outside of enough
, thought Hal.  He would have understood if she’d been
embarrassed, confused or even angry.  But the chit seemed to be rejecting him
for no reason he could readily discern.  Unless… “Are you and your Mr. Parker
going to be married?  Is that why you’re rushing me out the door?”

“I am hardly rushing you anywhere, my lord,
especially when you stand there no more movable than stone.  And my
relationship with Mr. Parker is none of your concern.  However, I should
apologize for my behavior in the parlor.  I had never experienced any of that and
I thank you for taking me through it.”

“I was not a St. Bernard pulling you to safety,”
said Hal, barely keeping his voice below a roar.

“Thank you for the clarification.  I had never done
any of that with a man before, although I, uh, have done some exploration on my
own.”  Here, her face flooded with color.  “I am most appreciative of your
efforts.”

Exploration on her own.
 
Hal had never, even in the height of his considerable debauchery, been as hard
as he was at that very moment.  He’d never wanted anyone so much.  He’d never
been aching with so much need.  He had no words with which to answer her.  He
was almost certain his jaw was hanging open.

“But that is neither here nor there,” she said
quickly.  “What happened earlier can never happen again.  Thank you for
bringing us back to the boarding house and your assistance of the past several days. 
But now that Mr. Parker has come to town, I shan’t need your help any longer. 
Thank you, Lord Henry and good day to you.”  She smiled, curtsied and shut the
door.

And Hal was at a complete loss of what to do next.

*                    *                    *

Leaning against the door, Mel was hardly able to
breathe.  She could not believe the events of the afternoon, starting with
Richard’s unexpected visit.  She wasn’t sure what he was about in coming to
London, but she had a feeling there was more to his visit than he was letting
on.  And then Hal.

Hal.

It hadn’t escaped her that his odd behavior at the
docks might have been jealousy.  It pleased her in a way she didn’t want to be
pleased.  Lord Henry Kellington was simply not a man to fall in love with. 
That wasn’t exactly true.  She had a feeling just about every woman who fell
into his path thought herself in love with him.  But he certainly was not
husband material.

He was a rake.  One who’d slept with countless
prostitutes and matrons of the
ton
.  And if she wasn’t much more
careful, he was likely to make another conquest in her.  How awful that would
be.

How wonderful it would feel.

It would be ruinous to become engaged in a liaison
with the man.  While she didn’t care that much about the censure of society
where she was concerned, she certainly didn’t want to ruin Mary’s chances of a
good match or embarrass the aunt and uncle who had been so kind to her. 

Marriage to Hal was simply out of the question. 
It’s not that she didn’t want to get married.  Quite the contrary.  Since the
death of her parents, she’d longed to be loved completely.  Her aunt in America
might have been fond of her, but hadn’t been a woman with a strong maternal
instinct.  She believed her aunt, uncle and cousin in London did truly love
her, but they were also caught up in their own lives – as they should be.  As
kind as they were to her, she still felt like an outsider looking in.  She
longed to have a husband who was clearly devoted to her, as she would be to
him.  And she yearned for the children that union would produce.

It was clear that Hal Kellington would never remain
faithful to her or any woman.  And she certainly would not tolerate a husband
who strayed.  There was a certain distance at which he kept himself from others,
as if the popular jester was the only side he permitted people to see.

She wanted more than that from a husband.  She
wanted a marriage where they both could share their love, their fears, their
past hurts.  She had no doubt he would be an excellent lover.  Indeed, the
extraordinary journey he’d already taken her on was but a glimpse of what he
would make her feel if she came to his bed. 

But she couldn’t do that.  Not if she wanted to keep
her heart whole.  It would be best to stop seeing Hal Kellington.  No matter
how much it hurt to do so.

CHAPTER TEN

Sonia Kinne was tired, cold and sore from the
previous night’s entertainments.  She’d told her employer Aurelia Thurmond that
she was to visit a sick relation in Seven Dials.  Madame was clearly skeptical,
but said she’d allow it as long as Sonia was back in time for the evening
business.  She also warned Sonia not to catch anything from her “sick
relation.”

Sonia had curtsied and “yes, ma’am'd” the old cow,
but then gone on her way.  She didn’t care that Madame had seen through her
excuse.  She wouldn’t have believed it, either.  She was on her way to meet a
bloke, of course.  One she’d very recently met.  He wasn’t like the normal
coves.  This one was an actual gentleman. 

The address he’d given her was a bit unusual.  It
was near the docks in an area cluttered with warehouses.  She’d done business
there before, of course.  Between the sailors and merchants in the area, she’d
seen the inside of more than a few warehouses.  Truth be told, she’d had her
back up against the door of several, as well.

But the bloke she’d met had been a toff.  Perhaps he
owned one of these warehouses.  Or maybe he was an opium eater and his den was
in the area.  Nothing would surprise her.  She’d often thought that being a
whore taught you more than anything you could learn in school.  Not that she’d
ever been, of course.  But it seemed to be the case.

When she matched the address of the warehouse in
front of her to the one the man had written on the slip of paper, she paused. 
This was the right place, but she couldn’t imagine a toff in his fine clothes
would be waiting inside a dark, crumbling warehouse that looked from the
outside at least to be home to nothing but rats and spiders.

And she hated rats and spiders.

But blunt was blunt, and the possibility of not
having to work for Aurelia Thurmond gave her the courage she needed to proceed. 
She opened the door and stepped inside.  There were no lanterns lit and the
place smelled like mold, rotting wood and animal waste.  The dust in the air
floated hazily as she took a few more steps.

“Oi!” she called out, hoping her mysterious toff hadn’t
been playing a joke by sending her on a fool’s errand.  She knew she wasn’t
early and had a feeling he wasn’t the type to be late.  She took a few more
steps into the warehouse.  Her instincts were sharp and she began to get a very
bad feeling about this place.  It was too big, too dark.  And she was very much
alone.  As bad as things got at Madame Thurmond’s, at least there were always
the burly footmen who could kick down a door if a bloke got too rough.  But
here….

No sooner had she decided to leave than she heard
the door slam behind her, enveloping her in almost complete darkness.

“Who’s there?” she asked in the direction of where
she believed the door was.  It was frightening how quickly a person could lose
their sense of direction in the dark.

No one answered her.

Sonia reached into her boot with shaky hands to pull
out the knife she always carried with her.  It had saved her on more than one
occasion and she would not hesitate to use it today if she had to.   “I’ve
waited long enough and now I have to get back to work or else Madame will send
her bully boys after you.  And you won’t like that one bit, I promise.”

She slowly began inching her way back toward the
door.  At least she hoped that was the direction in which she was moving.  She
held the knife with her right hand, while stretching her left out in front of
her.  She had to shuffle her feet to ensure she wouldn’t trip over anything. 
She could hear no sounds and had no idea where the man was who shut the door. 
If it even was a man.  For all she knew, it might have been the wind.

But she didn’t think she could be that lucky.

She took a few more steps, then stopped to once
again get her bearings.  It was then that she heard it.  Someone was walking
toward her with steady steps, as if he could see easily in the gloom.  She
couldn’t yet see anyone, but could hear he was coming straight toward her.  She
stood still, clutching the knife.

The steps continued.  Soon she would be able to see
who it was.  She readied the knife. 

The steps slowed until they stopped.  He was
standing just beyond where she could see in the darkness.

“Show yerself!” she ordered, with only a slight
tremor in her voice.

There was no response.  She tried her hardest to see
him.  Her eyes had adjusted to the dark during the past several minutes.  She
took the slightest step forward and the outline of a shadow came into focus. 
It was still too dark to distinguish the features.  But it was a man, and by
the height of him, it appeared to be the toff who’d hired her.  She could also
see the dim outline of the door behind him.  If she could only distract him,
she had a good chance of reaching it.