Sinful Possession (3 page)

And yet not so much. She’d
been awkward once. Her brain liked to jump from place to place too. But she had
worked hard to become graceful and to focus on whatever the eligible gentleman
in front of her had to say. Lila had become an expert on being the perfect
debutante—all from her own bedroom. Those hours of practice and pretending were
paying off.

She suppressed a yawn. It
had been more tiring and less exciting than she’d thought it would be.

“You should get some rest,”
Ash told her.

“Some of the guests are not
yet gone.”

“And you have just witnessed
a murder. I am sure they will understand. Bloody hell, you’re a stubborn mule, are
you not?”

Lila fluttered her lashes in
surprise. She hadn’t meant to rile the man. Really, she was most grateful to
him, but whatever she said came out wrong. Ash Cynfell was an eligible
bachelor. Why could she not use her charms on him?

Too tired, that was it. She
needed some rest and tomorrow she would offer him her heartiest and most
charming thanks.

A gentleman approached, and
Ash stiffened. Lila remembered dancing with him but couldn’t recall his name.
As he came closer, the familiar scent of too much cologne also reminded her how
she’d had to breathe through her mouth lest she pass out from the overpowering
smell.

“Miss Radley.” He dipped
low. “Thank you for a charming evening. I am so sorry it ended like this. I
hope you will not object to me calling upon you in the near future.”

Lila glanced over the reedy
man with his hair covered in so much pomade it looked as though one could ice
skate upon it. What was his name? He was an earl, perhaps. Or maybe even a
duke.

“I-I thank you, my lord.”
She almost whispered the last part for fear of getting it wrong, but he
accepted it. He couldn’t be a duke then. Thank goodness.

He reached for her hand and
she was going to let him take it, but Ash stepped in and slapped his hand away.
Before she had quite registered what had happened, Ash had the man pinned
against the railings outside of the house. The lord’s face grew purple.

“My lord, what are you
doing? Release him.” She grabbed his arm and tried to pull him away but never
in her life had she felt so powerless.

“The blood on your shirt.
Where did it come from?” Ash ground out.

Never before had Lila seen
so much fury and restrained strength. Yes, the earl or the duke or whatever he happened
to be was not in the best of positions, but she had no doubt if Ash wanted to
kill the man, he could with ease. It was a little thrilling for some strange
reason.

“What blood?” Lord Pomade
gargled.

“On your shirt. Where did it
come from?”

“A-a nose bleed.” The man’s
voice came out a strangled whisper. “I am prone to them.”

Ash held him there long
enough that Lila feared the man’s head might simply pop off. Slowly, he
released him, and the Earl of Pomade readjusted his necktie and drew in several
ragged breaths. It was only then that Lila noted the blood spots in the man’s
shirt. Ash had thought him the killer.

Oh my. Her stomach swooped a
little at the idea of him running to her defence once more. It was much easier
to appreciate when she was not in real danger.

“Miss Radley.” Duke Pomade
offered a stiff bow and retreated quickly with a wary glance at Ash.

“Good night, Lord Pom—” She
clapped a hand over her mouth and eased it away. “Good night, my lord.”

The lord swung a look
between them both and clearly concluded they were the maddest people he had
ever encountered. Before she could scold Ash for his awful manners, a gentleman
approached. One of the policemen, she realised. He wasn’t wearing a bobby’s
uniform, but she’d heard someone call him Chief Superintendent.

The shadows from the street
and his tall hat hid most of his face, but he was at least as old as Lord
Pomade and a hint of grey hair revealed itself when he turned his head to her.

“Miss Radley, may I have a
word?”        

She nodded, glancing back at
Ash to see his fierce scowl. Lila held up a palm as though trying to assuage
the beast. He gave a resigned dip of his head and backed away.

“How can I help?” she said
to the officer.

“If you will just come with
me, Miss Radley.”

The officer took her arm.
She released a tiny startled sound. She’d been manhandled plenty this night,
but she hardly expected an officer of the law to touch her inappropriately.
Tugging her arm from his, she turned. “Why do you need me, officer?”

Her heart stilled when
lamplight flooded his face. It had been dark before and all she had really
focused on was the knife. But she saw it now. The killer. Her knees nearly gave
way, but the man grabbed her.

No, this wasn’t a man. He
was a monster. In the depth of those ice-grey eyes, she saw the truth. Here was
a killer, a man who thirsted for blood. An understanding ran between them. She’d
been in the wrong place at the wrong time and now she’d pay for it. Now he
wanted her blood.

Her skin grew hot and
prickly. The need to act flooded her veins. She twisted, but he grabbed her by
her hair and clamped a hand over her mouth. She screamed against a clammy palm
and stomped her foot down hard but her slippers had little effect. He was
easily over six feet tall. She had no chance against him.

This wasn’t how it was
supposed to be. Her debut was going to be an endless parade of parties and
flirtations. Now she would likely suffer the same as that poor man. Torn apart
by a blade. The images of blood and flesh tearing filled her mind and the thud
in her head began to deafen. Her vision grew blurry, but she pushed down hard
with her feet again and wriggled against his hold. Lila tried to open her mouth
to bite on his hand. However, he had her mouth clamped painfully shut.

 A cry tore from her,
muffled by the damp palm. Whether it was her imagination going wild nor not,
she could have sworn the metallic scent of blood clung to the chief. Her
stomach gave a little lurch, and she cried out again as he dragged her farther
into the shadows—away from everyone. Away from her rescuer.

The gloom of the alleyway
swallowed them. Water from deep puddles soaked her shoes and splashed up her
stockings while she continued to struggle. With his fingers clamped tight to
her mouth and his arm banded around her waist, there would be bruises all over
her by the time he was finished with her.

If she survived her ordeal.

No, damn it, she would. She
hadn’t waited all this time for her debut to be ruined. Lila thrust back a foot
and it connected briefly between his legs. Though she suspected she’d only
caught him lightly, he gave a grunt and the hold on her waist loosened just
enough for her to wriggle and turn. She punched him, letting loose a scream
that even had her ears rattling. He gripped her wrist, undeterred, his eyes
glittering in the thin ribbons of moonlight.

The man used his free hand
to reach for something, and Lila wrenched her arm from him, feeling the burn of
his hold on her wrist and shoulder. She swung at him, then clawed. Then jabbed
a finger in his eye. He cursed and released her. She turned and smacked into
someone’s chest.

“Run for help.”

Ash Cynfell thrust her back.
She eyed his wide shoulders and a shudder wracked her. Her feet seemed glued to
the ground. The glint of the knife blade made her vision narrow until it became
nothing but a small dot.

Ash approached the man, his
arms spread wide, ready to fight with his fists against a knife. Air seemed to
evade her. Each breath felt hot and the dot narrowed further.

“I’ll kill her,” the chief
told him. “Then you’ll take the blame. I’ll make sure of it.”

Lila vaguely realised the ground
was coming up to greet her as she tried to suck in a breath, but she never felt
the impact. The darkness of the alley closed in around her.

“What were you thinking?”

Ash narrowed his gaze at
Harris. “There’s a serial killer out there. A powerful and dangerous one.”

His brother paced in front
of him while Ash sat on a chair too small for his build outside of the bedroom.

The bedroom that held a
currently enraged Lila. The crashes of furniture had stopped only a short while
ago. It seemed no one had noticed that Lila had gone. Her family, according to
Harris, had assumed she’d retreated to bed. They were, as his brother said, a
little scatter-brained.

He couldn’t deny he had come
to that conclusion from his short acquaintance with them, but Harris spent more
time in society so his opinion was likely correct.

So that at least gave him
time to decide what to with Miss Lila Radley.

Pin her to the bed and kiss
away her fury?

He smirked to himself. No.
Tempting as that was, he suspected that would only increase her ire. Since she’d
awoken from her faint, she’d been full of fire. He wouldn’t tell her that he
had enjoyed picking up her soggy form and carrying her to his brother’s
carriage far more than he should have done. He also certainly wouldn’t mention
how she’d curled a hand around his neck and burrowed herself against him.

He released a sigh. If it
wasn’t enough he’d already near fallen for her on sight, she was now appealing
to his need to protect. There was nothing quite like being needed by the
opposite sex. And when she’d tucked her face into his neck, he’d been lost.

“We need to return her home,
but no one can see you. I do not even know how we’ll sneak her in.”

“She’s not staying in
London. She’ll be dead within a week. And the chief will have me pegged as the
killer.”

Harris stopped his pacing
and folded his arms. “He fled when I found you. Surely he’s not fool enough to
remain in London now three of us know of his identity.”

Ash tried not to grind his
teeth. “I know it isn’t over. I just know it, Harris. In my gut.”

His brother nodded at this.
If anyone understood gut feeling, it was his brother. They’d had a connection
neither of them could explain to anyone else since they were boys. When one of
them got hurt or sick, even if they were far from each other, they knew.

That was what Ash was
feeling now. He just knew. Something bad would happen to Lila if he didn’t
protect her.

“If she’s still missing in
the morning, her family will notice. You will terrify them.”

Ash pinched the bridge of
his nose. “I am aware of that.”

“Can we not just convince
them to hire some protection? Then go to the papers or something? Or the
police?”

“I...” The truth of it was,
he inexplicably did not want to leave her side. There was something about
her—something beneath that elegant gown and beautiful face that called to him.

Lord, but he was a fool. He
needed to sleep. The after-effects of the headache were addling his wits.

“No.” He shook his head. “We
don’t know who else could be in on this. If Newton Holdsworth, Chief
Superintendent has been killing for a while he could have people in the police
department covering for him.” Ash gave his brother a severe look. “You know,
you’re likely in danger too.”

“I didn’t see his face. I
only know what you told me.” Harris pushed a hand through his hair. “It’s
pretty hard to believe.” He held up a hand before Ash could speak. “Not that I
don’t believe you. Of course I do. But
I’m
your brother. I can’t see
others being so easily convinced. For all we know, he’ll make good on his
threat and frame you as the killer.”

“And he’s got the means to
do it.” Ash pinched the bridge of his nose, feeling the slight ache that hadn’t
left him all night grow. “I have to get her to safety. Once she’s safe, we can
figure out how to reveal this man.”

His brother gave a low chuckle.
“You know of all of us, I never would have thought you’d be the one to kidnap a
woman. Jasper, perhaps. Maybe even Pierce. But you...”

“Jasper wouldn’t need to
kidnap a woman. He only needs to look at them and their clothes fall off.”

“Come now, I do not do so
badly myself.”

Ash couldn’t help but let
out a dry chuckle. His brothers had always done well with the ladies. He was no
virgin, but his headaches often scuppered any plans of seduction and his
reputation for being late and unreliable never did him any favours. However,
Jasper could beat them all hands down, and he was convinced Harris was mightily
jealous of the fact.

“I’d wager Jasper has bedded
ten times the amount of women you have. And wasn’t there that rumour about a
French countess before he married Harriet?”

“Yes, a rumour.
I’d
wager
our brother used to make up half of that nonsense himself.”

“Jealous, Harris?”

“Not at all. Besides, if
anyone should be jealous, it should be you. If you made a little effort, you’d
do well enough with the ladies.”

“Well, perhaps I do not wish
to make the effort.”

Harris drew in an audible
breath. His family had long resigned themselves to the fact he was the way he
was. Tired, late, lazy. Better that than weak and sick as far as he was
concerned.

The door rattled behind him
and another shout sounded.

“The beast has awakened.”

Ash narrowed his gaze at his
brother.

He held up his hands and
grinned. “I won’t envy you when you have to release her.”

Considering how furious she’d
been when he’d stepped into the room and tried to assuage her before stepping
out quickly to lock the door, he didn’t envy himself either. He pinched the
bridge of his nose and released a long breath. This night had been disastrous.
Westerling dead, a serial killer on the loose and a pretty—no, beautiful—woman
locked up in his house. The Cynfell brothers were excellent at getting
themselves into trouble, but this was beyond ridiculous.

“We’ll leave before dawn.
Once she’s calm, she will realise how much danger she’s in.”

“You know, if it is
discovered you took her, they’ll likely expect you to marry her.”

Marriage. The word usually
sent a shudder through every one of them. His eldest brother had lost several
wives—one of whom betrayed him. And their parents had suffered an awful
marriage. Although four of his brothers seemed happy, he had concluded they
were just lucky. After all, what were the chances of all seven of them finding
women like his brothers’ wives?

For some odd reason, that
usual cold, dripping sensation that pooled in his stomach failed to occur.

Ridiculous. He hardly knew
the woman. Certainly she was the most attractive thing he’d ever laid eyes on.
And her spirit was to be admired. There was something innately warming about
her, as though she glowed from the inside...

Ash pinched the bridge of his
nose harder. He needed to get a grip.

The door handle rattled
again.

“You might as well get some
rest, Harris. We’re going to be in for a long night.”