Duchess Beware (Secrets & Scandals Book 2) (33 page)

Slowly, she looked up, her eyes dazed.  His apprehension escaladed as his shaking hands worked frantically to remove the leather straps. He cursed the blood oozing from his wrists, making his hands slippery.  Ignoring the crumpled form on the floor, Daniel rushed to the other side of the bed to remove the other two bindings.  Once he freed Silver, he sat on the bed and pulled her into his arms.  “It’s over, darling, you’re safe.”  He held her to his thundering heart, his hands moving up and down her back.

Her warm breath tickled his ear.  “You’re making it terribly difficult to breathe, Daniel.”

Relief slid over him, as though his frigid body had relaxed into a tub of warm water.  He smiled, easing his hold enough to pull back and gaze into her eyes.

Her brother rushed forward.  “Silver, lass, are ye all right?”  With great reluctance, he stood to allow her to turn to her brother.

“Yes, I am fine,” she answered, sweeping rose petals from her sleeve.

Connor’s scowl melted away.  He rocked back on his heels.  “Tha’ is goud.”  Then he turned to the door.  “I had better see aboot Garrett.”

“Garrett?” Daniel and Silver asked in unison.

Connor nodded.  “Aye.  The man is lying on the floor downstairs in the kitchen.”

“Is he hurt badly?” Silver asked, her voice strained with concern.

“Oh, nay,” he answered promptly.  “Jus’ knocked out a wee bit by tha’ dim-witted cousin o’ yours.”

“Katrina?”

“Aye.  Found her hovering over Garrett with a shovel.”

Worry crinkled her brow.  “What did you do to her, Connor?”

“Nothing yet.  She bolted when she saw me.”  He turned toward the door. “I’ll find her, though.”

“Don’t hurt her.”

“Not tae worry, lass,” he called over his shoulder.

Daniel turned to his wife.  “Come,” he said, holding out his hand.  Then something on her throat caught his attention.  A thin red line across her pale skin.  “Dear God, Silver, you’ve been cut.”

She shook her head.  “It’s just a scratch.” She grabbed his hand.  “Now, please, take me home.”

Some of his anxiety receded as he assisted her off the bed and began leading her toward the door.  But after two steps, he heard her startled yelp and her hand tore from his grasp.  Spinning around, he found Merrick holding on to Silver’s ankle, trying to pull her to the floor.  His heart bucked.  A glimmer of steel caught his eye.

Daniel grabbed one of the pistols from the table at his side.  Merrick struggled to his knees and raised the dagger, red-black blood dripping from the tip.  He meant to plunge the wicked blade into Silver.

With his pulse pounding like drums in his ears, Daniel took aim and squeezed the trigger.

The explosion roared like a cannon blast.

Through the gray smoke cloud, he watched Merrick fly back against the wall, then collapse to the floor, leaving a smear of blood, bone and flesh against the flower painted panel.  A dark red trickle leaked steadily from the hole in the center of the man’s forehead.  Insipid, lifeless eyes stared up at him.

He lowered his arm and shifted his attention to Silver sprawled out on the floor beside Merrick’s dead body.  His breath caught.  She didn’t move.  The gun slid from his hand and clattered against the floor.  He rushed to her and kneeled at her side.  “Silver?”

“Is that man dead yet?” She opened one eye, then the other.

Relieved, he sat back against his feet.  His lips twitched.  “I thought you had swooned.”

His wife pulled a face and began to rise.  He assisted her up, impressed with her composure.  Damned impressed.  Shaking the dust and rose petals from her coat, she made a haughty remark.  “I never swoon, Daniel.”  Then she glanced at the dead body, paled, and promptly swooned.

He caught her before she hit the floor.

Epilogue

Five months later

Glaring at the closed door, Daniel halted his pacing to pull the gold watch from his pocket.  He checked the time, then looked back at the gleaming mahogany, shaking his head.  “It shouldn’t take this long.  Something is wrong.”

“It has only been four hours, Daniel,” Gran said.

He swiveled around.  “Isn’t that long enough?”  How in the hell could she remain so ruddy calm at a time like this?

Gran paused from her sewing and looked up, her lips twitching slightly.  “I labored for two days with your father before he was born.”

He could feel the blood drain from his face.  “Two days?”  No way in bloody hell could he take two days of this.

Garrett slid a chair behind him, then pushed him down.  “Sit before you swoon.”

Torie tapped him on the arm.  “I’ve been meaning to ask if you’ve heard from Mrs. Whitmore?”

“I still don’t know why Silver wouldn’t allow that girl to rot in Newgate,” Gran said.  “Would have been no less than she deserved.”

Daniel shook his head.  “Silver felt Newgate would have been an improvement over the grief Lady Longley was going to give the girl for not producing an heir for her son.”

Torie looked up with fear in her eyes.  “You don’t think Mrs. Whitmore will come back here, do you?”

“I’m certain she won’t.”  He gave his sister a reassuring smile.  “Mr. Booth made it perfectly clear that should she ever come near Silver again, she would be locked away for good.”

The door opened, and Daniel jumped to his feet.

Dr. Benson appeared with a fierce scowl.  “Never again, Your Grace.  Never again will I allow that woman to assist me.”

His heart settled back into place just as Uncle George stormed forward. “Now look here, Samuel,
that woman
is my wife, Lady George Claiborne.  You—”

“Uncle George,” Daniel said, shaking his head, then turned back to Dr. Benson.  “Never mind Prudence, Doctor, how is my wife?”

The doctor’s face cleared of agitation.  “Oh, she and the babe are well.  Quite well.”  He smiled and stood aside.  “You can go in and see them now.”

Numb with relief, Daniel walked into the bedchamber, his eyes fixed on Silver lying in the center of their large bed, a tiny bundle in her arms.  He sat beside her as Prudence slipped quietly from the room.  “How do you feel?” he asked softly when her eyes fluttered open.

She smiled tiredly.  “Like I’ve been run over by a team of horses.”  Then she glanced down to the sleeping infant.  “But she was worth it.”  When her eyes lifted, they were shimmering with love.  “Meet your daughter, Daniel.”

At Silver’s insistence, he reached for his tiny daughter.  He held his breath and prayed to God he wouldn’t crush her with his big, clumsy hands. She was no heavier than a hand full of feathers, he thought, and nestled the baby in the crook of his left arm.  He ran a finger down her small, incredibly soft, round cheek.  Her tiny pink lips moved.

Love exploded within him.  So fierce was his love, it shook him. 

Daniel knew he would love, nurture, and protect his daughter with his very life if he had to.

The baby turned her head, revealing a tuft of russet hair beneath the blanket, and opened her eyes to stare up at him.  Amazingly, the babe didn’t start to wail, as he thought all babies did when they were awake and not feeding.  No, this babe stared directly into his eyes and a bond formed between them.  He could feel it.

“Are you terribly disappointed I didn’t give you a son, an heir, Daniel?”

Dragging his eyes from his daughter, he looked at his wife, noting her worry.  “How can I possibly be disappointed, my love?” he asked in disbelief.  “You have given me the most beautiful, precious daughter I could ever hope to have.  I am very pleased.”

The worry melted from her face.  “Perhaps our next child will be a son.”

Daniel sucked in a breath, shaking his head.  “I don’t want you having more children, Silver.”

A frown puckered her lips, then she smiled.  “Oh, Daniel, were you that worried?”

“Terrified.” A slight shudder went through him at the thought of losing his wife.

Her hand rose, its softness caressing his cheek.  “There was naught to worry about.  Everything went well.”  She shifted on the bed.  “What shall we name our daughter?”

He raised his brows.  “You haven’t named her yet?”

She shook her head.  “I wanted to do it together.  Have you any suggestions?”

Daniel looked down at his daughter, smiling when he saw that she still watched him.  “What do you think, little one?  What shall your name be?”

Her dark blue eyes stared into his.  The name leaped into his mind.  “We shall call her Grace, after your mother,” he said.  Had that been a flicker of approval?  Indeed, he thought with a grin.  Satisfied with his daughter’s response, he raised his head to see Silver’s reaction.

Tears glazed her eyes.  “Oh, Daniel, that is absolutely perfect.”  Then she halted, a slow smile spreading over her lips.  “And I have just thought of a middle name.”

“What’s that?” he asked.

“Elizabeth.”

“Elizabeth?”  He glanced down to his now sleeping daughter, knowing she would approve.  “Why, Gran will be thrilled.  It’s her middle name.”

“Yes, I know.  It’s also Prudence’s middle name.”

He lifted his gaze and took note of his wife’s devilish grin. “They’ll both take credit.”

“Precisely,” she agreed.  “But neither will have hurt feelings.”

Daniel grinned in return, never imagining he could be so happy.  Careful not to wake the baby, he leaned forward.  “I love you, Silver,” he whispered and grazed her lips with his.  Then he kissed his daughter on her soft forehead.  “And I love you, Grace Elizabeth.”

Truly, he couldn’t be happier.

The Secrets & Scandals series continues with Book 3,
Lord Sinister
…

“Come, I’ll help you to bed.”

Amelia closed her eyes a moment.  Lord, give her strength.  Give her strength to resist this rogue.  Give her strength to not fall in love with him again.  She’d not survive another broken heart.  She almost didn’t live through the first one.

Julian moved forward, the heat of his body penetrating every layer of her clothing, scorching her bare skin.  She lifted her head and drew in a ragged breath when she saw him so near.  His eyes blazed with a naughty light, making her mouth go dry.  Then he reached for her, his touch sending shooting sparks up her arm.  He assisted her down the steps and to her bedroom door.  She couldn’t think, could barely keep her feet moving.

He opened the door for her and she stepped through.  Realizing he meant to follow her in, she spun around.  “Thank you, I can manage now,” she said a bit too breathlessly.

His smile was slow and wicked.  “I think you still require my assistance.”  He stalked forward and shut the door behind him.

A tremor went through Amelia.  Of delight or dread, she couldn’t tell.  She backed away, glancing everywhere, trying to think straight.  But her thoughts churned with the feel of Julian’s lips on hers…his hands peeling away her clothes…his naked body covering hers…  “You should leave now, my lord.”  All right, so she couldn’t help how shrill and frantic she sounded.  She’d had very little sleep the night before, after all.

A gleam entered his eyes.  “Surely you’re not frightened, Amelia?”

Terrified.  “No.”

“Then why do you look so scared?”

The wall behind her halted any further retreat.

“What are you so afraid of?”  He approached, towering over her, and removed the bag she had clutched to her chest, depositing it on the floor.  Then he placed his hands on the wall at either side of her head.  “You’re not afraid of my kisses, are you?”  His voice had dropped to a husky whisper and he stood so close, his nose nearly touched hers.

She plastered herself against the wall unable to move an eyelash, not just afraid of his kisses.  Terrified of them.  Terrified of how they made her feel.  Terrified that with each contact of his lips, he’d won another piece of her heart.

“Know what I’d like to do to you right now?”

She swallowed.

“I’d like to drop my mouth down over yours, part your lips with my tongue and taste you.  And as I sip your sweetness, my hands would be shedding the clothes from your body.”

A shiver when through her.

“My fingers would graze your nipples, making them rigid for me.”

Her breasts began to tingle.

“Then I would lower my lips, glide them down your throat, and capture a tasty nipple in my mouth.”  His smoldering gaze stayed locked on hers.  “My hand would then move down your stomach…” she almost groaned “…to the secret place between your legs.”

Her center throbbed.

“I’d glide a finger in first,” he whispered, his warm breath grazing her lips, “to feel how wet you were for me.”

She was wet, all right.

“Then I’d lift you up and set you down on my hard—”

“Stop it, Julian.”  Shaking with need, she closed her eyes.  The pictures he’d planted in her head wouldn’t go away, though.  Her entire body flamed like a torch.  “You are wicked and sinister.”

“I can help you, Amelia.”

Unable to help herself, she looked back at Julian.  The very devil couldn’t be so tempting.

“All you have to do is say the words.”

Every fiber of her body screamed out for her to say yes.  But she couldn’t do it.  The price she’d pay would be too high.  If she made love to Julian, her whole heart would belong to him once again.  And that would mean another broken heart when he got bored with her.

“Say them, Amelia.  Say the words.”

“I can’t,” she whispered.

He stared at her for several long seconds, his eyes glowing with even more determination.  Then he touched her.  He pulled her into his arms and kissed her.  She tried not to respond, but found it useless.  Where he led, she followed mindlessly.  His lips parted and his tongue probed, gliding against hers.  More, her body screamed.  She pressed herself against him, only slightly aware of her actions, and kissed him back.

Then he pulled away.  With chest heaving, he opened his eyes.  Eyes full of hunger.  Instead of pulling her back into his arms, as she hoped, as she feared, he turned around and left the room.

Amelia stared at the closed door.  Her lips swollen, her body a tight bow string ready to snap at any second.  She crossed her arms and sank down on to the floor.  Defeat lay heavy in her bosom, for she knew it wouldn’t be long before she gave in.

A tear sneaked down her cheek.  She just hoped she’d survive when he left.