“No, I’ve not reached that conclusion at all.”
“You just
said
that Vickie couldn’t invent a story like this.”
“Victoria, you sustained a nasty blow to your head.” His hands tightened on Zeus’ reins as he sensed her disappointment and frustration. “Injuries such as yours can manifest any number of fantasies, including one that makes you believe you’re from the future.”
“It’s not an illusion. I’m not from your time. I don’t belong here.”
The mutinous tilt of her lips barely covered her fear and aroused something strong and visceral inside of him. He longed to make her feel safe. He wanted to hold her in his arms and press his body into her sweet curves like he had last night. His heart thundered almost painfully in his chest at the memory of how close he’d come to burying himself inside her hot core.
Christ Jesus,
without protection he might have fathered a child. He struggled to breathe. Nicholas fixed his gaze on the road and shook his head as if that would rid himself of the sensations gnawing at him.
“Tell me what this future of yours looks like.”
“Well, in my time, you’re dead and buried, obviously.” It was a blatant retaliation for what he was certain she perceived as his attempt to appease her like a child.
“That is a decidedly unpleasant picture,” he murmured as he fought not to laugh. “But if that’s true, then it makes you
much
older than me.”
“You can be a real jerk, you know that.”
This time he couldn’t restrain his laughter. He didn’t know what a jerk was, but he was certain it wasn’t a compliment. The scowl on her face only emphasized the fact. Suddenly, her irritation evaporated, and laughter lit up her features.
A vise tightened with unexpected speed around his chest at the sight. He’d never seen his wife laugh at herself or laugh with such unrestrained amusement. Victoria’s laugh was far from the artificial sound of amusement Vickie had, and he realized he liked the change in her laughter. Alarm bells went off in the back of his head.
The witch was turning his world upside down, and that was something Vickie had never done. His wife had evoked lust and desire in him when they first met, but those feelings had died on their wedding day. But the one emotion he’d never experienced with Vickie was this constant sense of being off balance. He found it difficult to think clearly when she was near. Worse than that, he wanted her in his bed. In an effort to regain control of himself, he cleared his throat.
“You were telling me about this future of yours.”
“I’m not sure how much I should tell you.” Victoria’s laughter disappeared as uncertainty clouded her expression. “I don’t want to do anything that might change the future. Although I suppose if I tell you just the basics that would be okay.”
“I doubt anything you say will alter the course of history, Victoria,” he said in a reassuring manner.
“Well, I’m not much of a historian, but I know you don’t have cell phones, doors that open by themselves, or television.” She winced suddenly as if in pain. He eyed her carefully and instinctively knew her discomfort was not contrived. As much as he was interested to know about doors that opened by themselves, he was certain Victoria had over stretched herself.
“I think we’ll continue this discussion at a later time. You’re clearly not feeling well.”
“It’s just a headache.”
“You’ve had several headaches since you returned to Brentwood Park.” With a squeeze of his legs against Zeus’ sides, he urged the horse into a slow trot. “You’ve pushed yourself too hard by refusing to rest, and you had a restless sleep last night.”
“Yes,” she whispered as she darted a glance up at him then quickly looked away.
Nicholas’ gut twisted as he realized she was remembering what had happened between them last night. Somehow, he needed to make her understand he’d not meant to let things go as far as they had. In the back of his mind, he admitted he wanted to repeat the events of last night and see them through to their completion. His cock stirred in his breeches again. Determined not to allow his body to respond to her, Nicholas drew in a deep breath and cleared his throat.
“Victoria, about last night—”
“There’s no need to explain.”
“You’re wrong, Victoria. I took advantage of the situation.” Nicholas wanted to shake her for refusing to let him apologize.
“Well, the next time you start something like that, finish it,” she said as she scowled at him.
“I will,” he snapped.
Nicholas stiffened as the full impact of their exchange rang in his head like a church bell.
Fuck
, had he just admitted regret for failing to do as she’d just insinuated? Eyes widening with horror, Victoria jerked her gaze away from him. Was she appalled by his response or her obvious frustration that he’d left her unfulfilled last night? The silence between them thickened with a tension that was almost painful.
“Let’s just forget it happened. Okay?” she whispered with a hint of what he was certain was humiliation.
“As you wish,” he replied at a loss for words that would ease the mortification he knew she was feeling.
He wasn’t sure what bothered him the most. The idea that her desire excited him or the idea that last night had impacted him more than he cared to admit. The manor appeared in front of them, and relief swelled through him. Several minutes from now, he’d be able to put some physical distance between them. Last night had left him aching for something he didn’t understand, and holding her in his arms like this was becoming damned uncomfortable.
“You don’t like your wife very much do you?” It wasn’t an accusation so much as a simple observation.
“I’ve not been given enough reason to do so,” he snapped as he remembered the scene he’d stumbled upon in Lord Brentwood’s library the day of their wedding.
“What did she do to hurt you?”
“Humiliation is a better word. I found a footman and Vickie a few short hours after we were married in a…compromising position.”
Nicholas’ body hardened as he remembered the raw pain of humiliation he’d endured those few minutes as he’d stared at Vickie bent over a library table, while a footman fucked her from behind. His teeth clenched, he forced himself to push the loathsome image from his mind. She drew in a sharp breath as she met his gaze.
“You were in love with her.”
“No,” he shook his head.
“If you didn’t love her, why did you marry her?”
Unprepared for the question, Nicholas stiffened against her. Why in the hell was he responding to her questions as if she wasn’t his wife? His fingers tightened on Zeus’ reins to the point that the stallion tossed his head in protest. He didn’t like the fact that he had to remind himself that she was his wife. Changed perhaps, but she was still the Countess of Guildford. A sound of regret escaped Victoria.
“I’m sorry,” she said in a repentant tone. “That was rude of me.”
“We had an arranged marriage,” he said in a dispassionate voice, surprised at how easily she apologized when she was in the wrong. “Your father wanted a title for you, and I…I wanted Brentwood Park.”
“Brentwood Park must mean a great deal to you if you were willing to marry a woman you don’t love.”
“Marriage is a business arrangement. Love seldom comes into it,” he said firmly as mocking laughter sounded in the back of his mind. The fact that he’d confused love for lust only made his marriage to Vickie that much more of a disappointment.
“I won’t marry someone I don’t love,” she said in a resolute voice.
“You’re already married, madam wife.” At his dry response, she rolled her eyes at him.
“You’ll eventually have to admit that I’m not your wife.
“If I did, we’d both be in a great deal of trouble.”
He frowned. If Victoria’s story was true, then where was Vickie? Was it possible Vickie might be dead? He suppressed a snort at the ridiculous notion. Such a thing was impossible when he was holding his wife in his arms at this moment in time. He no longer believed she was the Vickie playing an elaborate game, but he didn’t believe she was from the future either. There had to be a medical explanation for Victoria’s behavioral changes. He’d have to find a way to convince Victoria to be seen by Dr. Bertram.
“I ran away because Anna knows I’m an imposter.” The unexpected confession took him by surprise, and he experienced a brief moment of pleasure that she’d trusted him enough to tell him why she’d run away.
“Anna will not betray your confidence. She and Sebastian are my closest friends. They’d never do anything to harm me,” he said in a reassuring tone of voice. “You can trust them just like you can me.”
“So what you’re really saying is that I have to continue pretending to be your wife until the real countess returns.” Fear echoed in her voice, and he pulled her tighter into his chest.
“Victoria, has it occurred to you that the life you say you have in the future might be your mind’s way of helping you deal with the trauma you suffered? We have no idea what happened to you, and it’s possible you’re blocking out the incident.” His question made her jerk her gaze up to him, and she shook her head.
“It’s not,” she said with a quiet conviction that had him questioning his own certainty.
“Tell me what you remember before Thomas Goodman found you.”
“I was in an art gallery. The picture of the cottage was there. I think I was going to buy it…” She gasped and pressed her hand up against her head. It was obvious she was in pain, but her gaze never left his. “I remember a man. He was in the gallery too. He was with me, but something happened. If I could just remember…”
A sharp cry escaped her before she lost consciousness and fell backward over his arm. Nicholas uttered a soft oath and quickly shifted her body until her cheek was against his shoulder. Her face was ashen, and her breathing was slow and ragged, just as it had been yesterday.
“Bloody hell,” he said fiercely and jabbed his heel into Zeus’ side to send the horse into a full gallop.
As the stallion thundered toward the manor, Nicholas glanced down at Victoria’s pale features. She looked like someone on the brink of death, and the thought put the fear of God in him as he pulled Zeus to a sliding halt in front of the manor. He allowed Victoria to slump against the horse’s neck as he quickly dismounted. As his feet hit the ground, he winced as the force of the impact shot a pain up his leg.
“My lord,” Mickey called out behind him.
Gently, he pulled Victoria off the stallion and glanced over his shoulder at the young stable hand running toward him. With Victoria cradled carefully in his arms, he limped toward the front steps of the manor.
“Take care of Zeus, Mickey.”
“Is her ladyship—”
“
Do it
, Mickey,” he growled as he climbed the marble steps and crossed the manor’s threshold into the foyer.
“We were beginning to wonder where—dear Lord, what’s happen?” Anna’s cheerful greeting became one of horror.
“She fainted,” he growled as he carried Victoria toward the stairs. The rest of his guests hurried out of the dining room and into the hall at Anna’s exclamation of fear. Sebastian strode past his wife and hurried toward Nicholas.
“Nicholas, spare your leg. Let me take her upstairs,” his friend said with a dark frown of concern.
“No,” he rasped harshly. “She’s my wife. Have one of the servants fetch Dr. Bertram.”
“Right away,” Sebastian said as he turned away to complete his task.
Nicholas nodded before he continued toward the staircase. Pain shot up his leg into his hip as he climbed the steps with Victoria in his arms. Last night he’d witnessed vulnerability in his wife, and for the second time in two days, she was exhibiting a death-like state that emphasized she was far more fragile than he thought. A visceral fear struck at his heart as he carried Victoria down the hall to her room. Behind him, he heard Roberts clucking like a mother hen as he followed Nicholas into Victoria’s bedroom.
“If you continue abusing your leg like this, my lord, you’re going to be laid up,” Roberts said sternly.
“I’ll be fine,” he replied in a terse voice as he bent over Victoria and debated whether or not he should undress her. A knock on the bed chamber door made him look over his shoulder, and Molly entered the room.
“You should let Roberts see to your leg, my lord. I’ll tend to her ladyship,” Molly said in a quiet voice. About to chastise the maid, he turned around too quickly, and his leg gave way beneath him. He barely escaped a fall as his hands grabbed the edge of the mattress for support.
“God damn it,” he bit out fiercely as nerve endings fired off pain signals in his head. Roberts was at his side in an instant, but Nicholas waved him off with a sharp gesture as he balanced his full wait on his good leg. “Bring me a chair, Roberts.”
“Molly is quite capable of ensuring her ladyship—”
“
Bring me a God damn chair
.”
Nicholas turned his head back to Victoria lying so still on the mattress. Why the devil didn’t she wake up? She’d not been unconscious this long yesterday. He leaned forward to ensure she was still breathing. Relief surged through him as the soft breeze of her breath brushed his face. Her cheeks were still pale, but he was certain there was a hint of color beneath her skin. At least that’s what he wanted to believe.
Roberts placed a chair beside Victoria’s bed, and Nicholas sank down with relief. He leaned forward and took her hand in his. Despite the pallor of her complexion, her hand was warm. As he studied her features, he contemplated their discussion on the way back to the manor. Clearly her mind was confusing reality with fantasy. A sudden, intense fear made him go rigid as he considered the possibility she might not wake up.
The thought filled him with a foreboding unlike anything he’d ever experienced before. He tried to dismiss the emotion, but it remained. How was it possible that in less than twenty-four hours, Victoria had managed to make him feel things he’d never felt for Vickie? Not once in his marriage had he ever experienced such a sense of fear and helplessness where his wife was concerned.
“Nicholas…Nicholas.” Anna sounded as if she were far away. He slowly looked up at his friend to meet her sympathetic gaze. “You need to let Roberts tend to your leg.”