Vow of Seduction (26 page)

“Aye, but I am fine otherwise.”

Recalling Stan’s vile hands on her breasts, she shuddered.

As though he read her mind his eyes dropped to her torn bodice, his eyes furious. “My God, Kat.” He pulled her into his arms and held her tight. “Are you sure you’re all right? If he harmed you, in any way, I shall hunt him down and kill him.”

“Nay, I am unharmed,” she said, her voice muffled against his chest. “Just shaken.”

“If aught had happened to you…I would never forgive myself.” His voice shook.

Kat pulled out of his arms. “Don’t blame yourself, Luc. ’Tis naught you could have done to prevent it. I should not have ridden out unattended.”

He shook his head about to reply, but she suddenly thought of something, her brows drawn down in confusion. “Luc, what are you doing here? How did you find me?”

His eyes darted away from her probing gaze. “I knew you rode out this way and I followed you. When I saw the downed cart and discovered signs of a recent ambush, I followed the trail into the woods.”

“I’m glad you did. I don’t know what would have happened if you did not arrive when you did,” Kat said, though she had had matters well in hand.

“Prithee, Kat, I beg you. I do not deserve your praise. Verily, just the opposite.” He looked up at last with a shame-filled gaze.

Kat frowned, confused once more. “What in the world are you talking about, Luc?”

“Tell me what happened. What did that man want?”

Puzzled at the switch in topics, Kat told Luc of her attack. How she had escaped. That the other outlaw still remained tied up in the trees and unconscious.

“Luc. It was Alex. They said he hired them to kill me.” No matter how hard she tried to deny it, pain and anguish seeped out in her voice.

Luc shook his golden head and turned his back to her. “And you believed them?”

“Not at first. But the leader described who hired him in vivid detail. He described Alex exactly. And what would the man have to gain by lying? So, aye, I believe Alex hired those men to get rid of me.” Embittered, disillusioned, her shoulders slumped.

When Luc turned back to her his mouth was drawn down, deep lines bracketing his mouth. He appeared remorseful, despondent. “I have a confession, Kat. I have not been completely truthful with you.”

Kat immediately became alert. Then Lightning neighed and approached her. “Come. I want to leave this place. We can talk as we ride. Someone will need to send the sheriff to retrieve the outlaws.” Her hip aching, she needed Luc’s assistance to mount her horse.

Once on his bay, Luc sidled up beside her. “Kat, I must speak. I cannot wait a moment longer. The guilt and shame are tearing me apart.”

She laid her hand gently on his arm. “Luc. What nonsense is this? I can’t believe you could ever do aught to be ashamed of.”

He shook his head and spoke quickly, as if afraid he would not be able to get it all out. “Nay, your trust in me is misplaced. I’m a fraud. My desire to marry you has been a ruse from the very beginning. When she came to me with the plan over a year ago, I loved her so much I would have done anything for her. I did it for her, you see.” His eyes begged her to understand.

Kat recoiled and stared at him in mute shock, even as everything began to make terrible sense. A woman scorned, revenge upon those she blamed for her disappointment, a woman who used and manipulated people. Men especially.

Although she knew of whom he spoke, Kat asked anyway. “Who put you up to such a cruel and deceitful thing?”

“Lady Lydia.”

“What was her plan? And what did she hope to gain?”

“She promised if I married you, it would prove to her that I love her, and she and I would be together at last. She felt hurt and betrayed when Alex asked her to marry him, took her virginity, then spurned her. And she blamed you as well.”

“That’s a lie. Alex would never do such a thing. He is an honorable man. He would never have asked Lydia to marry him. He was as good as betrothed to me when they met.” Even as she uttered the words, she realized the truth. That Alex was an honorable man and would never stoop to murder.

Bitterness etched Luc’s forehead and turned down lips. “This I believe. Now. But I loved Lydia. I believed her lies for so long.” He continued. “I’m ashamed to say my collusion did not end when Alex returned from captivity. I knew Lydia would not be satisfied until your marriage was destroyed utterly for all time and I have been working to cause dissention between you and Alex ever since. Then after her arrival at court, Lydia sent me a message telling me to proceed as we had planned.”

“And if her plan had succeeded?”

Luc could no longer look her in the eyes and dropped his gaze. “Her revenge would be complete. She would have succeeded in destroying your marriage to Alex and humiliating you in the process.”

“Why did you do it? I thought you were estranged from Lydia?”

He met her gaze once more, his golden eyes infinitely sad and defeated. “I have always loved her. Since the day she arrived to marry my father. I was mad with jealousy thinking of her with him. Until she confessed she loved me, too. After that we became lovers. Then one night my father discovered Lydia and me in bed together. To protect her, I made it appear Lydia was unwilling. That’s the real reason why my father disowned me. And I have kept up the pretense ever since.”

“You said you did it so you and Lydia could be together. But that would be rather difficult as she was married to your father.”

“Aye, but my father was old, and as he was ailing these last two years, I knew he was not long for this earth.”

Kat could surmise the rest. No doubt Lydia had planned, once Kat married Sir Luc, to be Sir Luc’s mistress. The Church would never have given the lovers a dispensation to marry because they were related via marriage through a direct descendant’s line. Besides, Lydia need not marry the man, Luc was besotted with her and would have done anything she wished. And Lydia would have reveled in humiliating Kat by bedding her husband, and flaunting her sorcery over Sir Luc. But obviously something had changed.

Lightning shifted nervously beneath Kat. She clutched her reins tighter. “Why are you telling me this now, Luc?”

“Because I have come to care for you as a friend. And I realize now Lydia never loved me. I suspect she craftily arranged for my father to discover her and me in bed together, then manipulated my love for her to gain revenge. I know it does not absolve me of my guilt, but I never intended it to go so far. Believe it or not, I used to be an honorable man before I met Lydia,” he said, his lips twisted in a bitter expression. “But there is more, I need to tell you the rest. Lydia—”

A familiar whooshing sound hummed in the air a moment before Luc’s confession abruptly ended. He shouted and clutched his side. His eyes wide from shock, he stared down at the arrow protruding from his stomach, while blood trickled through his fingers. Then he slowly slumped over his horse.

Held immobile by surprise, Kat jerked her gaze up. The cold, calculating perusal of the man across from her caused a shiver to race down her spine. Not to mention the arrow pointed directly at her.

Alex rode through the palace gate, slid off Zeus and tossed the reins to his squire, Jon. His shoulder throbbed, but he ignored it and strode purposely to the nearest palace entrance. He desperately wished to see Kat. He needed to tell her of Scarface, of his failed attempt to discover the man responsible for his captivity. Long had he wanted to confide in her, knowing she would understand his need for vengeance. But fear had kept him silent.

Now it might be too late. He could not forget the look on her face this afternoon when she beseeched him to tell her the truth, or her devastation when he turned away. Having kept his suspicions secret, it was as if he had betrayed her all over again. He should have trusted her from the beginning, but he had taken a vow to protect her, and duty had been ingrained into his blood and bone and sinew. Still, he should have found a way to be honest and protect her at the same time.

Upon entering the palace’s darkened structure, he searched the ground floor first, checking the dining hall and chapels. Next he glanced into their chambers upstairs. Seeing no sign of her, he headed for the queen’s solar where the ladies often entertained at court.

Fear had also kept him silent in regard to his true feelings for his wife. He had wanted to be sure she loved him before he confessed he had fallen in love with her. But he had wounded Kat deeply when he deserted her after their wedding, so he knew the next step was up to him. He must risk his own heart if he was ever to find the happiness he sought.

His thoughts were interrupted when he rounded the corner to the solar and collided with another. A soft, feminine gasp alerted him to the woman’s identity. Alex groaned inwardly. Light from a sconce shone on her golden hair like a halo, though her eyes remained in shadow.

“I beg your pardon, Lady Lydia. If you will excuse me?” He made to step around her but she reached out and clutched his sleeve.

She smiled, a stingy lift of her lips. “Are you looking for your lady wife, perchance?”

Alex stiffened. It was difficult to interpret her tone but he got the feeling she was gloating, a spider stringing him along her web into a deadly trap. How could he ever have been fooled by her coy, innocent act? “I am. So if you will excuse me?”

“I know where you can find her, Sir Alex.”

Though he was unwilling to ask aught of her, he was curious. “And how come you to know my wife’s whereabouts?” he asked suspiciously.

“I was in the garden this morning when I accidentally overheard a very illicit, private conversation. Can you imagine my dismay?”

Alex glared down at her. “Nay, I cannot. Nor can I imagine what that has to do with my wife?”

She gazed at him pityingly. “I’m so sorry, Alex. But it appears the woman you are so besotted with is not worthy of your love.”

His jaw clenched. “Lydia,” he growled, “explain yourself.”

“Very well.” She sighed. “The conversation I overheard was between Lady Katherine and Sir Luc. They were making plans to meet at some hunting lodge for an assignation. Then shortly after you left the palace, I saw her ride out, Sir Luc fast behind her. If I were you I would check the lodge. Do you know of it?”

He grabbed her shoulders in a tight grip. “You are lying, Lady Lydia. My wife is no whore.”

She squirmed to be free and he released her. Then she shrugged as though unconcerned. “I guess there is only one way for you to find out. But I can understand why you would not want to learn the truth. Good day, Sir Alex.”

Lydia left him staring at the gray stone walls in disbelief. Swiftly, memories of the last few days assaulted him one after another like fiery missiles slung from a trebuchet. Beginning with the day he had awakened from delirium and had discovered his wife on top of him, her hot center open and vulnerable to invasion. Kat had wanted him as much as he wanted her. But he was in no condition to make love to her.

Later, when she had returned from the kitchens with nourishment, she had tended to his needs most attentively. Then everything changed that evening after Rand had visited him. She became distant and cold. And no persuasion on his part could get her to tell him what was troubling her.

Now Kat, if he were to believe Lydia, had cuckolded him with the man she nearly married. The man Alex loathed for no other reason than jealousy. Nay, he would not believe Kat capable of such duplicity. But a niggling doubt festered and grew, compelling him to seek out the truth no matter the cost.

Alex rushed back to his chamber, dug the Beaumont dagger out of the chest, and tucked it inside his wide leather belt. When he exited the palace, he dashed across the courtyard and into the stable. Kat’s mare was not in its stall. Neither was Luc’s bay gelding. But there could be some other reason for Luc to have taken his horse. So Alex sought out the lad he had paid to keep an eye on Kat.

Alex found Tim replenishing the hay in one of the stalls’ mangers, and pulled the boy aside so none could overhear. “Did you see my wife ride out today after I left the palace?”

The lad’s eyes widened with fear. “I, um, I don’t know, Sir Alex.”

“What do you mean…?” Alex’s voice grew louder. He paused, constricted the rage growing inside him and lowered his voice. “What do you mean you don’t know? I paid you to get word to me or my friend if my wife left the castle grounds on horse.”

Tim gulped and shuffled to his other foot. “Aye, sir, you did. But the head groom sent me on an errand to the tanner. I did not see your lady leave.”

Alex cursed.

Fear lit the boy’s eyes. “Did I do wrong, milord?”

“Nay. ’Tis not your fault. But mayhap you can still help me. Can you tell me who has ridden out since your return?”

The lad took off his cap wringing it in his hands. “Not many, Sir Alex. A small party of ladies traveled to London town. And Sir Randall, Sir Connaught and Lord Calvert rode out to the hunt.”

Alex reached out and clutched Tim’s shoulder. “Can you remember aught else?”

The boy dropped his gaze. “I wish I could help you, milord, but…” he broke off, then his wide-eyed gaze shot up again, “Oh…wait, I just remembered something.”

Alex nearly shook him. “Go on.”

“When I returned from the tanner, one of the lads was complaining because Sir Luc boxed his ears for being too slow saddling his mount. His lordship was in a mighty hurry and finished saddling his gelding himself. He’s not returned yet.”

His last hope that Lydia had lied shattered at the mention of that one name. Alex slammed his fist into the wall. “Get my saddle.” Then he turned on his spurs and went to the stall holding Zeus.

He opened the door, pulled a lead rope over the black’s head and led him out into the yard. Sensing Alex’s anger, Zeus sidled away from him. Alex relaxed, breathing deeply, and ran his hand down the stallion’s neck. “Easy boy. I know you’ve earned a rest. But I need you for one more mission.”

Impatient, Alex watched as the lad saddled his horse. He would have tacked his mount himself, but the range of his injured arm was limited. Alex paced back and forth, restless, feeling caged. The demons he worked long and hard to bury clamored and clawed to dig their way free. Their claws scraped beneath his skin, undermining his iron control, while a tic at his temple pulsed with each rapid beat of his heart.

He was going to kill Sir Luc. But first he was going to sever his cock and shove it down his throat. And his darling wife….

Jon jogged into the courtyard from the direction of the household barracks. “Is aught amiss, my lord?”

Alex mounted his horse, groaning beneath his breath from the pain. “Nay. Naught I cannot handle on my own.”

The squire’s eyes widened when he saw the Beaumont dagger at Alex’s waist. “My lord, wait—”

But Alex rode away without a backward glance.

Kat tried to rouse from the murky shadows, but total awareness was beyond her reach. Her skull reverberated with a pounding ache and a heavy weight upon her eyelids prevented her from opening them. Her battered and bruised body throbbed painfully.

A tug on her skirts alerted her to the danger; cloth ripped, cold steel grazed her calf. Her heart beat wildly as panic flooded her. She tried to kick out, but her ankles were bound tightly together. Her head began to pound louder. Then someone cursed, grabbed her hands together in front of her and bound her wrists. As darkness pushed her under again, she recognized the sound of hoofbeats approaching.

The next she woke her mind was clearer, though her head ached and her swollen lip throbbed. She dared not move and alert her abductor that she was awake. After the fiend had shot Sir Luc, he had ordered her to get off her mare and to turn around. Then everything went black. He must have knocked her out, but where was she now?

Kat vaguely remembered being lifted into a cart and then her body being painfully jostled over rough terrain. She slowly cracked her eyelids open to ascertain her whereabouts. And almost gasped as her gaze landed on Sir Luc. He lay deathly pale beside her in bed, his breathing shallow and labored. The coverlet was pulled up to his bare chest. They were at the hunting lodge. She remembered the bed vividly from the time her and Alex had rendezvoused here during the rain.

Why had Sir Stephen brought them here? she wondered. If he meant to kill them why go to the bother of bringing them to the lodge? Which led her to question why he intended them ill in the first place?

Then she remembered the hoofbeats she heard earlier.

Her fear escalated and she searched deeper into the shadows. She gasped aloud this time. Alex sat slumped in a chair beside the bed, his chin resting on his chest. He was trussed to the chair, the rope looped several times around his chest, feet, and hands.

Then the significance of her and Luc in bed together finally registered. Oh God. Alex. Alex was his target. A bead of sweat popped out on Kat’s temple. All along Sir Stephen had been the traitor Alex sought. But what could the man possibly have against him? It made no sense.

A light flared, growing larger and brighter as Sir Stephen approached the bed. “Good. You are awake. We can proceed now.”

The glow of the lamp shone on Alex, revealing a trail of blood down his temple. But he was alive or he would not be tied to a chair.

“W–what have you done to Alex?”

He smiled with a satisfied leer. “Just a blow to his head. He will wake with a headache. Never fear, I shall give you one last chance to speak to him before I kill you.”

She glared up at him. “You shall not get away with this. The king knows you are responsible for Alex’s disappearance in the Holy Land. That you hired Scarface to do the job,” Kat bluffed.

His close-set weaselly eyes revealed his surprise. “You lie,” he hissed. “If that were so I would be in the Tower right now.”

“Dare you take the chance I lie?”

“I don’t believe you. But if what you say is true, then I have naught to lose by killing you, do I?”

His boots rang on the floorboards as he stomped away. He strode back to the table behind Alex and placed the lamp on it. Sweat dribbled down her neck as she tested her bonds beneath the coverlet. Her feet were tied together, as were her wrists, but she was not restricted in any other way.

Relief flooded her, for Sir Stephen had not discovered her dagger strapped to her thigh. With a little maneuvering, she could retrieve it and cut free of her bonds.

Shuffling footsteps were the only sound in the stuffy darkened lodge. Sir Stephen reached down and picked up a bucket, then threw the contents over Alex’s head.

Icy water slapped Alex in the face, bringing him around. He shook his soaked head and a jabbing pain seared his skull. He groaned. Blinded by a bright light, he blinked several times. A man’s form took shape as the light dimmed. Alex looked up at the gloating countenance of Sir Stephen. His first thought—what has the bastard done to Kat? Alex surged up, furious. The chair legs scraped the floor beneath him, but tied to the chair he was unable to get up.

He strained against the ropes, his face flushed with exertion. “By God. What have you done to Kat? If you have harmed her—”

“I am here, Alex. Unharmed, but bound same as you.”

Alex stared into the shadows, he could see little except the outline of the bed. Sir Stephen moved to the other side of the bed and lighted a hanging cresset lamp. Light shone down on Kat, her hair was disheveled and fear glazed her eyes. Alex had never been more relieved to see his wife. Or scared for her life.

“Kat. Thank God. Are you all right?”

“Aye, but Sir Luc is seriously wounded. Sir Stephen gut-shot him with an arrow.”

Alex followed her gaze and narrowed his eyes upon Sir Luc, who lay beside her in bed, his face pale and covered in the sheen of sweat.

“They look cozy do they not? Such a handsome couple,” Sir Stephen mocked. Alex’s second thought—he had discovered the traitor at last.

“Go to hell, you spineless bastard,” Kat spit out.

Sir Stephen took a threatening step towards Kat, his face contorted in hatred. Alex drew Sir Stephen’s attention away from his imprudent wife.

“You shall pay for your transgressions, Sir Stephen. Unless…Release us now and I shall ask the king to go leniently with you.”

Sir Stephen returned to stand before him, gloating. “Nay. I think not. With you dead, I shall have everything I ever wanted.”

Alex shook his head. “You make no sense. What could you possibly gain with my death?”

“Revenge, for one. Your sister murdered my cousin,” he snarled. “Bertram was the only person who ever loved me, who treated me with respect. And I want her to suffer, as I have suffered, for the rest of her life.”

“Nay. You are wrong. My sister could not kill anyone.”

Stephen shoved his face in Alex’s and swore, “I have a witness who says otherwise.” Spittle splattered Alex’s face.

“Then why did he not come forward when your cousin died?”

Stephen spun around, stalked to the post at the foot of the bed and gripped it with his hand. He stared down pensively at Sir Luc lying still and as pale as bone. “
She
feared the repercussions of doing so. But it matters not anymore. I shall deal with your sister in my own way.”