No Other Love (16 page)

Now Rose struggled in earnest, but he was too strong. Unable to break free of his grasp, she screamed for the coachman to stop. But there was no help to be found, for the carriage sped ever faster into the night.

***

Luke knocked on the door of his father's study before striding in. Jonas glanced up from his desk, a distracted look on his face.

“Have a seat, son. I want to finish this letter before I forget what I mean to say.”

Luke stuffed his hands in his pockets and paced about the room, unable to keep still. As always, knowing Rose was somewhere nearby made him restless.

Jonas sighed and dropped his pen, looking up at Luke.

"Now then, what is it?”

“I’ve been thinking that I might find lodgings in town for the remainder of my time here. I don’t mean to sound ungrateful, but I think it would suit me better to have a more private situation. I find I’m not used to having so many people around all the time.”

“I’m sorry to hear that, but considering the state of the house tonight, I can’t say that I blame you.”

"What do you mean? Has something happened?"

"Charlotte’s dismissed Rose Stratton. I don’t know all the ins and outs of it, but Charlotte seems to think she caused too much trouble. The girl left not twenty minutes ago.”

Luke froze.

"Where has she gone?"

"Well, that's even odder than the rest. Nathan offered her a position and she accepted."

"Are you telling me Rose means to work in Nathan’s house?"

"Yes, that's exactly what I'm saying," Jonas replied evenly.

"Over my dead body," Luke ground out.

Within minutes he was at the stable and tacking up Arturo. Then he was off, charging up the road at a full gallop, fury and fear coursing through his veins. What had she been thinking? Was she so desperate?

The thought of Rose at Nathan's mercy nearly unhinged him. Urging his horse on to still greater speed, he road as if his own life depended on it. Four miles down the road he saw a carriage ahead, a lantern sputtering near the driver. He was fast approaching it when he heard Rose call for help. Urging his horse to still greater speed, in less than a minute he’d gained the carriage. Riding beside the team, he spoke to the terrified coachman.

“Stop this cursed rig this instant,” he ordered, fully prepared to leap onto the carriage himself if necessary. But the driver immediately stood up and hauled on the reins, gradually slowing the team. Before they had even come to a stop Luke was off his horse and yanking open the carriage door.

Nathan crouched against the side of the cab, one arm circling Rose’s waist to keep her still.

“Take your hands off her,” Luke spit out, so enraged he could hardly see straight.

“She wanted to come,” Nathan said, pressing back against the carriage wall as if to escape him. “Ask anyone at the house.”

Luke looked at Rose. Though terribly pale and frightened, she seemed unhurt. He hated the fearful look in her eyes though, and her disordered clothes and hair were proof of an ugly struggle. He could have howled with rage, but that wouldn’t help her.

“She’s changed her mind. So help me I’ll kill you if you don’t let her go this instant.”

Nathan blanched. After a brief hesitation, he released his grip on Rose and fell panting against the seat. Rose made her way over to Luke and he swung her to the ground.

“Are you hurt?” he asked her, tamping down his anger to attend to her.

Rose shook her head but said nothing, her gaze wide with shock, her whole body trembling.

“Take Arturo, darling, and bring him to the side of the road for grass. Give him a pet or two to calm him down.”

The horse was fine, but it might help Rose to concentrate on the animal, and he needed to get her away from the carriage. Numbly she nodded and did as he suggested, looking back over her shoulder as she led the horse away.

Nathan had been trying to signal his coachman to move on, but the driver, still cowed by Luke’s threats, refused to comply. Luke reached in and yanked Nathan out, his hand on Nathan’s throat as he held him against the door.

“The only reason you’ll be able to walk away from this tonight is that my father cares for you. It won’t save you again. If you go anywhere near Rose there’ll be no more talking. Understand?”

Nearly suffocated and unable to speak, Nathan nodded. Luke released him and he slid to the ground, gasping for air. Luke looked down at him in disgust. That such a man was part of his family was beyond revolting.

Reaching into the rig he grabbed Rose’s satchel. Stepping back he signaled to the driver, who promptly climbed down from his seat, pulled Nathan to his feet and helped him into the carriage before taking the reins up again. Slowly and then with increasing speed the carriage pulled away and disappeared around the bend.

Luke walked toward Rose on the empty stretch of road. She was looking at him, wide-eyed and perfectly still. Then she shivered, whether from the cool night air or reaction, he couldn’t tell.

Taking off his coat, he slid it over her shoulders and pulled her close, wrapping his arms around her. Gradually her trembling eased, and still he held her.

They were less than a mile from town. Trees interspersed with fields stretched away on both sides of the narrow road. His horse grazed among the short roadside grass looking for tender blades, a darker shape in the night. An owl hooted nearby and then flew over them on silent wings.

Luke looked down at the woman in his arms and knew he couldn’t lose her again. His hands came up to cup her face.

“Marry me, Rose.”

The words came of their own volition, but as soon as he said them he knew he didn’t want to take them back. Rose's mouth fell open in shock.

“You can’t mean that. You don’t want to marry me.”

“I can’t lose you again. Be my wife and let me take care of you.”

“But you said….”

“Never mind what I said. I know how I feel about you, how I’ve felt these last weeks without you.”

She only shook her head in bewilderment.

He had no other words to express what she meant to him, the terror he felt at the thought of losing her. Instead he kissed her, pouring everything he felt into it, his lips demanding but patient, hungry but unhurried.

She opened to him, her sweet mouth like honey, her lush breasts pressed to his chest in innocent abandon. He kissed her eyes, the sweet curve of her cheek and the hollow beneath. He wanted all of her, without limit. Sweet little moans sounded in her throat and her hands roamed over his shoulders, scorching him though the cloth, her movements restless and demanding. Breaking the kiss, her lips skimmed over his jaw before moving to his neck, nearly bringing him to his knees.

At last they stopped and looked at each other in wonder and fear, the power of their mutual need overwhelming them, as new to Luke in all his experience as it was to Rose in all her innocence.

Luke pulled her to his chest in a fierce embrace, one hand buried in the raw silk of her hair, his forehead resting against the top of her head in surrender.

“God in heaven, Rose, say you'll marry me.”

For a moment, there was no sound but the beating of his heart. Then she spoke.

“Yes. Yes, I'll marry you.”

He slipped his hands around her tiny waist and picked her up, swinging her around in a celebratory whirl before crushing his mouth to hers once more. They were both breathless by the time he put her down.

“Does this mean you won’t want to move away again?” she asked.

“Wherever you are, that’s where I’ll be,” he said, smiling down at her. “Right now I think we need to be inside. We can’t stand on the side of the road all night.”

“Yes, I ought to go to Vivian’s house. I can stay there until…” She stopped and looked up at him uncertainly.

“Until we’re married,” he finished for her. He tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “Whom should I ask for your hand?”

“You may ask Vivian’s father, Edward March. Though I hardly know what he’ll think,” she said doubtfully. “I’ve scarcely said two words about you.”

Luke laughed ruefully. “It has been a most unusual courtship. But I can be very persuasive when I want to be,” he whispered, covering her mouth with a kiss.

They stood together catching their breath, and though it was time to be going, he couldn’t bring himself to let her go. Even knowing he would have her forever didn’t diminish his need.

Just then she started in his arms.

“Luke, what will you tell your family? They’ll be totally against this. Good lord, I was turned out by your stepmother just hours ago, not to mention accosted by her son. It’s too much.”

“I don’t live my life worrying about my family’s approval, or anyone else’s for that matter.”

“Very well, but I’ll be sorry if this makes things difficult for you,” Rose replied, sounding doubtful.

“The only thing I can’t handle is living without you,” he said, pressing a reassuring kiss to her forehead.

Pulling his reluctant horse away from the grass, Luke led him over to Rose and then helped her mount. Her skirts rose above her ankles just as they had the last time she’d ridden astride, though she tried mightily to cover them.

Good God. The woman wasn’t wearing stockings.

He stared at those few inches of smooth skin, unable to move or breathe. As if of its own volition, his hand slid under the hem of her dress and petticoats. He heard her gasp at the same moment his blood began to pound in his ears.

She was soft and silken, warm to the touch. For a few beats of his pulse he simply let the curve of her calf rest in the palm of his hand. But it wasn’t enough. He wanted more. Her skirts rustled as he pushed them up, revealing her inch by inch, her skin as luminous as pearls in the moonlight.

Her knee was bared, then her thigh. She didn’t stop him. Her hand was on his shoulder, fisted in the fabric, her breath ragged.

The horse snorted and stomped his foot, startling Luke out of his lust-induced trance. With trembling hands he pulled her skirts back down and silently led the horse forward.

“Is something wrong?” Rose asked, and he could hear the nerves and confusion in her voice. Still in an agony of desire, he nevertheless managed to smile wryly up at her.

“Yes, but it’s my own fault. I can’t touch you without driving myself mad, but I’ll be just fine in a few minutes.”

The tension in her eased and her lush mouth curved in a private smile of pleasure.

“I don’t mind if you ride with me, now that we’re to be married,” she said after several moments of silence.

“That’s a very fine offer, my sweet Rose, and one I’ll take you up on as soon as I trust myself. In the meantime why don’t you tell me what happened tonight. Why did Charlotte turn you out?”

With stops and starts Rose recounted how Nathan had accosted her while Luke was away, and how Charlotte had come upon them and subsequently threatened Rose with dismissal. Rage surged in him again and his hands clenched into fists at the thought of what she’d endured. If only he could strangle Nathan all over again.

But he was angry at himself as well, for it was clear that his own reaction at the dinner party had sealed Rose’s fate. He’d utterly failed in protecting her. But Rose was smiling now as she told of her last words with Charlotte.

“I could not believe the things I said. Mrs. Fletcher looked ready to strike me when I spoke to her in Latin. It was quite thrilling,” she said, sounding surprised and pleased with herself.

“I imagine it was, after everything you had to swallow working there,” Luke said, smiling at the thought of Rose finally standing up to Charlotte.

“Of course, it’s slightly less thrilling now that she’ll be my mother-in-law. I can’t quite wrap my mind around that. But things have turned out much better tonight than I thought they would. I must have lost my head to get in a carriage with Mr. Byrne. If it weren’t for you…”

Luke stopped the horse and looked up at Rose, his stomach clenching at all the time he’d wasted, how close he’d come to losing her. To hell with his arousal, he needed to put his arms around her. Swinging up on the horse he settled behind her, her sweet bottom nestled close enough that he was immediately hard again. It was an agony he was happy to endure. Wrapping one arm around her, he held the reins in his other hand and they moved as one toward their future.

Chapter Nine

Rose knocked on the door at 35 West Street, rehearsing what she would say and hoping she could explain things so they wouldn’t sound shocking. Then the door was opened and Sally was looking out at her with surprise. Hastily she stepped back and beckoned Rose to enter.

“Who is it Sally?” Edward called, emerging from the parlor.

“It’s Rose, Mr. March.”

Instantly Edward was beside her.

“Rose, whatever is the matter?” he asked, looking her over as if to assess any damage. “Do come in and have a seat. You look exhausted.”

Rose smiled wearily at him, relieved to finally be somewhere both restful and predictable.

“I’m well enough, Edward, though it’s been a strange sort of night.”

Rose and Edward sat down in the parlor and Edward leaned forward in his seat, clearly anxious to hear what had brought her there at such an hour.

Looking at his kind face, Rose was suddenly nervous. She needed him to accept something that was still new and shocking even to her. She didn’t know how or where to begin, so she started with the end of the story.

“Luke Fletcher intends to ask you for my hand tomorrow afternoon.”

Edward stared at her in surprise. Finally he found his voice.

“I’m not sure what to say. Perhaps you could explain how such a thing came to be.”

Perched on the edge of her chair, Rose told him about Luke in as much detail as she could. Which was very little, considering their forbidden kisses and the secret she carried. Instead, somewhat guiltily, she painted a picture of innocent courtship, emphasizing the kindness Luke had shown her.

“Tell me, child, do you love him? And does he love you?”

Rose bowed her head and looked at her clasped hands. With this question Edward hit on the aspect of her engagement to Luke that caused her real pain. For of course he had said nothing of love. But she loved him, enough to leave behind everything she knew, brave his family, and keep a secret that could someday tear them apart.