Wicked Proposition (10 page)

Nicholas shrugged nonchalantly, his blue eyes
devoid of amusement. “I wouldn’t want to regale you and offend your
companion.”

“Catherine is a bit sensitive this morning, you
could say,” Gabriel replied mockingly and smiled to see Catherine
stiffen.

“Yes, so she is,” was all Nicholas said.

Nicholas tried to catch Catherine’s eye a number
of times. He told himself if he saw one look of fear, he was
stepping in and putting a stop to this. He told himself if
Catherine gave him any indication at all she was unwilling to go
with Gabriel, he would intercede on her behalf. His friendship with
Gabriel aside, he would be damned if he would see an innocent woman
used so despicably.

He knew only too well how Clarice procured her
women. It was rarely done without using some means of duress,
especially with the pretty ones. Beautiful girls like Catherine
were rare to be found without suspecting some use of force.

Nan had told him firsthand of how Clarice had
been known to drug and kidnap women. In order to supply her wealthy
clientele with a variety of women, she employed whatever tactics
she could to secure new girls. The troublesome ones found
themselves drugged and raped into submission until they accepted
their fate.

Nan had been forced into the life of a
prostitute in such a way. She had been snatched off the street by
Lester and Harry. She woke to find herself bound. When she
complained, she was beaten. After nights of rape and degradation by
Clarice’s most undiscerning clients, Nan no longer tried to run
away. Nicholas had offered to take her from the brothel countless
times. Nan refused, saying it was where she belonged now. Nan left
the brothel before he returned from sea. He could only assume she
had found the courage to flee and return to her father’s house.

His friend Gabriel was never good at denying
himself something he wanted. The man refused to see the truth in
the girl’s face. It was obvious she didn’t want to go. Should she
convey any sort of unwillingness, he would do what he felt was
right. He did it for Nan, and for women like her, who had fallen
prey to Clarice.

Catherine felt Nicholas’s eyes upon her. She
glanced over at him. He saw her glance over at Gabriel, who
appeared to be gazing out the opposite window, ignoring them both.
She looked back at Nicholas with a questioningly look. He appeared
about to say something, but thought better of it.

Nicholas saw her look away, conveying nothing to
him by her continued silence. Nicholas ground his teeth in
frustration, knowing the girl trusted him no more than she did
Gabriel. He saw the disapproval in her gaze during her timid
perusal of him. He was disgusted to feel aroused by her merely
looking at him. She avoided his gaze for the remainder of the ride
to his home.

The coach stopped in front of his residence and
he gave up trying to get the girl’s attention. She stared out the
window once more as he alighted from the coach. He uttered a short
response as Gabriel bid him farewell. Nicholas stood on the walkway
in front of his residence as the driver waited to disembark,
allowing a number of carriages to pass first.

His eyes lingered on the girl who appeared rigid
on the seat.
Give me a reason to interfere,
he thought
darkly. Catherine did not look back at him. Nicholas felt a sense
of disappointment as he watched the Earl of Iverleigh’s coach make
its way down the cobblestone lane.

###

Catherine felt panic as she watched Gabriel out
the corner of her eye.

Gabriel toyed with the frayed, lacy trim of her
skirt lying against the seat, unnerving her.

“You don’t appear pleased to be leaving with me,
my dear. Don’t tell me that you wish to go back?” he asked with a
raised golden eyebrow.

“I have no wish to return there!” Catherine
snapped furiously. “I have no wish to be your plaything either, my
lord. It appears I had no choice in it. You were a trifle
high-handed in this.”

Gabriel grinned at her show of temper. “So I
was, but what do you expect? Do you think I would merely hand
Clarice over three thousand pounds to let you walk away? That is a
bit naïve, even for you.”

“Do not expect my thanks, or my gratitude!” she
seethed. “You did not ask me what I wanted at all! You took all
upon yourself! I feel I owe you nothing.”

Gabriel began to grow irritated at the girl’s
continued defiance. He crossed his arms across his chest.

“Had you a better plan of making your way in the
world, you would not have sold yourself to Clarice. Do not blame me
if you chose poorly.”

Catherine sputtered in outrage, infuriated by
his comment. Her eyes sliced him to ribbons. She longed to slap his
handsome, arrogant face. It was his fault she made such a choice at
all. She longed to scream at him for it, but bit her tongue
instead. Catherine could find nothing to say in her own defense,
given the half-truths she had already given him.

“I can only assume from your continued silence,
you realize you are better off with me,” he commented dryly, his
dark eyes inscrutable as they met hers. “How old are you? I begin
to feel like I’m raiding the nursery.”

“I turned eighteen last month on the twelfth, my
lord,” she told him tightly. “Might you have asked my age last
night if you were that worried over it?”

Gabriel chuckled as he flipped up her hem with
his walking stick to admire her shapely calves underneath. “I admit
to a certain bit of distraction, my sweet. Forgive me if your
beauty and passion held me incapable of reason.”

“Must you always say such outrageous things, my
lord?” she whispered hoarsely, pulling down her hem and looking
away from his knowing dark eyes in acute embarrassment.

“Catherine, after how we spent last night you
can quit taking offense to everything I say,” Gabriel reminded her
in amusement. “Enough please, you dare deny enjoying it. I still
feel your nails in my back.”

“Please, just do not speak of it! I would rather
not think of it at all,” she pleaded. She held up a hand and made a
disgusted noise as he laughed once more.

“It appears I shall have speak of it often until
you get used to it, my dear,” Gabriel breathed silkily, his large
hand capturing hers and bringing it to his lips, making her shiver
as his warm breath scored the back of her hand. “I shall look
forward to every minute of our time together.”

“Do you make it a habit of buying unfortunate
women, my lord?” she asked sarcastically. “Yvetta said you already
have one mistress. What do you need with two, pray tell? Or are you
like your scandalous friend? How many did he entertain last night?
Three was it?”

“I am not in the habit of buying women. I
believed I was doing you a kindness back there. I still do, despite
your incessant complaints.”

“Had you done me a kindness, you would have let
me go on my way like a true gentleman, my lord,” Catherine snarled
in fury.

“Let us be clear on this, Catherine,” Gabriel
said coldly as his dark eyes clashed with hers. “I am hardly the
gentleman you think. You were bought for my amusement, however long
that lasts. I will decide when the debt is paid. Until then, it
might be to your interest to apply yourself.”

Catherine saw the coldness in his eyes. She
could see Gabriel was rarely denied anything he wanted. He would
not release her until he tired of her. She refused to speak to him
at all after that, staring moodily out the window. Inwardly, she
seethed to think he could merely write out a bank draft and
arrogantly claim to own her.

Gabriel would no doubt be furious when he found
her gone. It pleased her to think of his anger when she fled.
Catherine ignored Gabriel for the duration of the short trip to his
home. When the coach stopped he looked over at her. He smiled
mockingly.

“We are home at last, my sweet.”

“This will never be my home!”

She bristled in anger and he smiled even wider.
She longed to hit him then.

“Well, for an indefinite period of time it will
be,” he reiterated softly. He reached out to smooth a fallen curl
from her cheek. She pushed his hand away.

“You will regret pushing this matter.”

“I know you are angry at me now. In time you
will accept our arrangement. I can be a very generous man,
Catherine. You will be richly compensated when our relationship
ends.”

“I did not ask you for anything!” she cried. “I
simply wish to go home now.”

Gabriel could see she meant what she said. His
expression hardened. “And how do you propose to live? You told me
your parents left you penniless. Going back there hardly improves
your lot. Stay with me until the debt is paid. I will see you are
returned to your home with enough money to start anew. That seems a
more sensible decision.”

Catherine wanted to weep to know she could not
reason with him. She could see it in his eyes. He would not let her
go.

“Do you always get what you want, Gabriel?” she
asked bitterly.

His handsome face was alight with amusement as
he considered her words. “Truthfully, I do not always have to try
this hard. Most women leap into my arms, if you must know.”

Catherine gritted her teeth and said nothing
more. The driver opened the door to the coach and Gabriel stepped
down. He assisted her down and she stared up at the luxurious
townhouse despairingly.

The house was not as large or nearly as opulent
as Iverleigh Manor. Catherine wondered why Gabriel lived at such a
considerably more modest residence.

“Too late to make a run for it, my sweet,” he
whispered teasingly.

She resented his heavy hand at her elbow,
guiding her up the stone steps. She remained quiet, refusing to
rise to his baiting her. The door opened and the butler stood
aside. Catherine gazed down at the gleaming parquet floor in the
foyer rather than see the disparaging look on the servant’s
face.

Certainly the Earl arriving home with an
unaccompanied female made her status here with him rather
obvious.

“Higgins, see that Miss…ah…?” Gabriel began and
smiled down at Catherine questioningly. “What was your last name,
my dear?”

Catherine gazed up at him with a disdainful
look. “I didn’t give it, my lord.”

Gabriel’s eyes filled with amusement. “Higgins,
this is Catherine. She will be staying with us for an extended
stay. See that her trunk is brought up to my room, and a bath
prepared for her at once.”

Higgins complied, leaving them alone.

Catherine wanted to scream at Gabriel’s
infuriatingly smug look, but a middle-aged woman in a servant’s
uniform soon arrived. This was the housekeeper. Mrs. Whitley was
her name, and the woman’s lips tightened in disapproval as Gabriel
introduced them.

Inwardly Catherine felt the woman’s scorn. She
resented knowing the housekeeper had every right to look down her
nose at her. She could imagine what thoughts swirled under the
woman’s pristine white mobcap.

“I leave you in capable hands then, Catherine,”
Gabriel told her. “I have a series of errands to run this
afternoon. I will be gone until dinner. Make yourself at home, my
dear.”

Catherine digested the news he was leaving with
a hopeful look he easily interpreted.

“Do not think to leave, Catherine,” he warned
her with a frown, his dark eyes glinting warningly. “You would not
wish to know how determined I can be should you attempt to
run.”

“You do not own me, Gabriel,” she said angrily.
“I know you paid a great deal to get my release from Clarice, but I
had no say in it. If I see an opportunity to leave, I will take
it.”

“I was afraid you would say that.”

Mrs. Whitley returned. He stepped away and spoke
to her privately. Catherine gave him a withering look as the
housekeeper gestured for her to follow her upstairs. She avoided
Mrs. Whitley’s gaze as she was led up a staircase to the upper
floor to the Earl’s room, the driver following with her trunk.

The housekeeper led her down a hallway until
they came to the end. She opened the door for Catherine and she
stepped inside a large room. The driver set down her trunk. The
maids were there already preparing her bath in the sitting room
adjoining the master suite.

The room was large with heavy, dark furniture
within. The draperies were of muted shades of blue. The bed was
large and imposing, the comforter also a darker shade of blue.
Everywhere she looked reminded her of the man who held her captive.
His taste was simple and elegant, much like the man himself. She
was surprised he did not live more excessively. This was another
rather obvious discrepancy she didn’t fail to ignore.

Mrs. Whitley closed the door and Catherine heard
a definite click in the lock. She ran to the door and cursed to
know the housekeeper had locked her in under Gabriel’s orders. Her
eyes narrowed. She entered the small adjoining room where her bath
was prepared to try the door there, finding it locked as well from
the outside. Catherine was infuriated to know she was indeed a
prisoner here. Gabriel’s servants would no doubt do whatever he
asked.

Catherine plopped upon on a plush chair in the
bathing room as it filled with steam. She looked at the large brass
tub longingly. A bath sounded divine, a nap even more so.

Gabriel was in a foul mood as he left his
barrister’s office. Edward assured him he had done all he could to
submit the petition. Matters were again stalled. The court would
not hear his case for months. When he sat back in the coach on his
way home, he thought of Catherine. He felt a pang of frustration.
Clearly the girl was not grateful he had bargained for her release
from Clarice. She viewed him as some sort of monster now.

He scoffed at her abused feelings, wondering why
he cared at all. She was a pretty bedmate, no more. She was also a
complication he did not need in his life right now. He didn’t know
what madness had possessed him to take the girl with him. Leaving
her behind had been dismissed the moment he laid his hands upon her
that last time.