HisLadysKeeperfinal.wps (15 page)

Gemma shivered, rubbing her bare arms. She felt him drawing nearer to her.

“You should take me home, and apologize to Mallory. I will speak on your

behalf as long as you give me an annulment and never come to darken my life again.”

HIS LADY’S KEEPER Marly Mathews 70

Hart placed his hands on her shoulders, gently pulling her toward him. Her back connected with his chest, a thrill of anticipation welled through her. She shivered again.

“You are cold—you should get back in bed—it’s not time to rise for a few more hours,” his voice softened, his visage warmed. He was in love with her—good lord, with all of her snippy retorts and the way she pushed him to the point of distraction he still wanted her.

Damn.

“I would like to leave now,” she asked instead. The large cabin suddenly felt stifling. He was right. She hated the sea, she couldn’t swim, and she was scared out of her bloody wits right now. She needed him far more than he needed her. Had he known that she feared water above anything else? Staring down a man holding a pistol was a stroll in the park compared to this agony.

“There is nowhere you can go,” he whispered softly against her neck. In the next moment, his soft lips pressed a kiss to the back of her neck. The startling sensations that rippled through her nearly caused her knees to buckle. His kisses, his touch, could literally rob her of breath and enthrall her to the point of distraction. She looked almost longingly at the bed. She wondered what it would feel like to have him making love to her. If his kisses were any indication … she rattled out a heady sigh. Collecting her wits, she returned to battling it out with Hart.

“You could turn this ship around, and sail me back to my family. I told you already that Mallory will spare your life if you bring me back before any damage has been done.”

He kissed the back of her neck again, and then reached around to kiss her earlobe.

Her knees turned to jelly. Had he not been supporting her .…

“Damage has already been done. Mallory is out for my head—and I can’t say I blame him. Stop telling me you will intervene and save me from Mallory’s wrath. That is getting older than a fine wine. I won’t have you throwing yourself in between us—if Mallory and I come to blows, don’t fear for me. Fear for your brother! I will pummel him into oblivion.”

Her heart raced. “I will tell him to cease and desist so you don’t kill him in that case. I have no wish to bury another brother, neither will I allow you to keep me with you, when I don’t want anything to do with you.”

He whirled her around to face him. A rising storm sparked in his gloriously dark orbs. They really reminded her of melted chocolate. She licked her lips, wishing he’d stop talking and instead kiss her! She feasted her eyes on his lips, pressing her own lips together in anticipation of his kiss.

“Listen to me carefully. You are my wife and only death will separate us. You can bloody well shirk off your idea about getting an annulment. It will not happen!”

“I will never fall in love with you,” she vowed. “It just won’t happen in a million years. You might as well shake off that delusion once and for all.”

“It’s a little late for that sort of vow, don’t you think? Face it, Gemma, you fell in love with me the first moment we met. You lost your heart that day—and I can safely say I did as well. Before you I had many women, but none that I actually contemplated sharing my life with.”

“That’s good to hear. You’ve been around—so, you won’t be too unhappy when you find you can’t have me. You’ll have to go and find yourself a nice little doxy HIS LADY’S KEEPER Marly Mathews 71

somewhere. I hear they troll the docks at night! You should be able to find yourself one in no time at all.”

“Never. You will be my wife in all sense of the word—I won’t have to go and fulfill my needs anywhere else because you won’t be able to get enough of me. The men in my family have never had problems with the art of seduction.”

“Get off your high horse. You don’t know what you’re saying. I will never be able to let you touch me or kiss me.” Who was she kidding? He pulled her into his embrace again. She was lying through her teeth and he knew it. Right now, she was inwardly battling with herself for her need to feel his lips on hers once again. If only he would claim them, tease them .…

Her thoughts raced.

“And yet, here you are nestled safely in my arms.”

“If I do stay with you, what will you do when you meet Mallory?” Her heart

jumped up into her throat.

“I will spare his life. After all, I can’t very well murder my wife’s brother, can I?”

“You sound far too convinced that you will end up with the upper hand when it comes to my brother.”

“I’m only speaking the truth. Your brother doesn’t know what I’m capable of …

I never let him know.”

“So you played him like a violin for your own purposes. Why didn’t you exact your revenge sooner? You could have taken me as a captive long before Mallory married Elizabeth.”

“Yes … I could. But then, shattering his life wouldn’t have been so much fun.

Already the scandal sheets are agog with the real identity of Mallory St. Martin.”

“You didn’t!” she gasped. Never had she felt so much anger. “That will ruin my family … you bastard!”

“I did.” She punched him on the chest, and slipped out of his grasp when he grunted with pain.

“You are a pig of the foulest nature,” she hissed, backing away from him. “You have just ruined the entire reputation of my family. My sisters will be shunned on the marriage mart—you have relegated our family to a life of humiliation. No decent men will want to wed my younger sisters now—you awful man!”

“Oh, don’t be so bloody melodramatic. Your family still holds a great deal of sway in England.”

“Don’t give me that poppycock. This will damage my family—what if the

authorities decide to go after my brother? You are cruel—you make me want to scream and cry all at the same time. Why? You have what you wanted, why did you give that information out to the papers? All of the respectable papers not to mention the sensational rags will be running the news—Mallory will never be able to set foot in London again! You horrible, horrible man!” She was getting herself into a right and proper state. She could hear that she was shrilly screaming and she knew that she had to look like a spoiled rotten girl—but she didn’t care. If only she were three sheets to the wind right now. “If only you’d held back with the information! You could have used it as leverage against me! I would have done anything to keep you from making that information public! I would have gladly sacrificed my honor to you! You could have HIS LADY’S KEEPER Marly Mathews 72

used my body for your pleasure whenever you wanted!”

“Using you isn’t what I had in mind.” His visage darkened. “You are putting me into the pool of a man that would use and abuse his wife. You would not be used for sex, my dear. You would be made love to, there’s a difference. I can’t believe you would even suggest that I’d use you for that! You are a malicious little chit when you want to be!” he nearly shouted, his loud voice echoing off the cabin walls. He looked ready to kill her.

A loud knock sounded at the door.

“Do you see what you’ve done? You’ve alerted the crew, now all hell will break loose!”

He walked to the door and wrenched it open. She gasped. He was only wearing his trousers! She dashed for the bed, and slipped under the covers just as the door opened wide enough for the person to see in. Maeve stood with a lantern in her hand.

“What is going on, your lordship? It sounds as if you’re murdering your wife—I didn’t think you were capable of such cruelty—”

“I’m not hurting Gemma at all, Maeve. I’m sure however that my bride will be quite touched to learn that you were concerned for her.”

She could see Maeve craning her neck trying to look beyond Hart.

“Maybe you should let me see to her—does she have a case of seasickness?”

“No. Only a case of stubborn headedness.”

She snorted. Maeve chuckled. “It sounds as if you and the countess have the wits and wills to match. Your marriage shall be an interesting one!”

“Indeed.”

“We will be in port by sunrise.”

“Thank you, Maeve.” Hart started to shut the door on her, she propped it open with her one hand.

“If your mother finds out what you’ve done—”

“My mother will be delighted to discover that I’ve returned to her a married man.”

“She won’t like what you did in order to gain yourself a wife. She does not like underhanded dealings—she will not like the ruse you used in order to lure her into your marriage bed.”

“She knows exactly what I was setting out to do.”

“You’ve gone too far, your lordship!”

“You speak outside of your bounds, Maeve.”

“No … I speak within my bounds. I am a woman—and I have been serving your

mother for much of your life. She will not like to hear that you forced Lady Gemma into marriage and that you are forcing her to do other things against her will. Trust me on that one, she will box your ears when she discovers that you’ve become a brute!”

“I am not a brute, Maeve. You can see for yourself.” He waved her into the cabin. She looked around suspiciously and then focused her gaze on Gemma.

“Lady Gemma, are you well?” Maeve asked, a little too nervously.

She sat up. She was caught between putting on a show for Maeve or fessing up with the truth. She stared over at Hart. He actually looked a little ill at ease. His mother had to be one hell of a formidable woman.

“I’m unharmed. You don’t have to fret over me, Maeve. I’m sure that Hart is HIS LADY’S KEEPER Marly Mathews 73

capable of a great many things, including betraying my brother and ruining my family, plus forcing me into marriage—but he couldn’t lay one finger on me when he’s angry. I assure you, he’s been the perfect gentleman. He’s acted like a true and loving husband—

unfortunately.” She sighed.

Maeve looked between them. She could obviously sense that something wasn’t right, though she didn’t seem like she was going to press the issue. Had Maeve been born with her face disfigured or had someone or something done that to her?

She inched closer to her. “I would however, be grateful, if you’d managed to mend the dress that I came here in.”

“Mend that dress? I threw it out.” Maeve snorted disdainfully. “It was

unsalvageable. And besides, you don’t need to save your dresses for mending—his lordship can afford a new trousseau for you.”

Her words stung. “You threw it out?” Gemma asked disbelievingly. She shook her head. “You didn’t … you couldn’t have … why did you do that?” Living on a budget for so many years before Mallory married Elizabeth, made her still quite the frugal lady when it came to replacing clothes. She never discarded anything unless it was beyond repair.

“Because you have no need of it,” Hart spoke up.

“No need of it? What in the world am I going to wear? In case you’ve forgotten, I didn’t exactly have time to pack my trunks!”

“The nightgown does become you. You needn’t worry, I have made

arrangements. You’ll find some clothes in that chest right over there.”

“That’s wonderful. I forgot that you probably had plenty of time to make your plans. I hate to disappoint you though, I won’t fit in those dresses.”

“Oh, I think you’ll be surprised.”

“No … I won’t be.”

Maeve was getting entertained. “But my dear, Hart, you don’t understand … you were planning on taking Elizabeth—Elizabeth and I will never fit into each other’s dresses. She’s just a different build than I am.”

“I know—don’t worry.” His eyes flashed at her. “I only bluffed when I said I was going to take Elizabeth. As soon as I saw you six months ago—I knew I wanted you.”

Another shiver ran up her spine. “Six months ago?” she asked softly. She tried to think back to what she was doing six months ago—and for some reason she couldn’t remember. She felt uneasy knowing that someone had been watching her—and not just someone, Hart had been watching her.

“Six months ago?” she repeated, voice coming out strangled.

“I think I’ll be leaving now. Charles might be up to no good if I leave him for long,” Maeve said quickly, eyeing the two of them warily. It was obvious that Maeve didn’t want to get caught in the crossfire when all hell once again broke loose between them.

“You’ve been watching over Charles?” Gemma asked, turning to look at Maeve

in surprise.

“Who else would? He’s a right and proper scamp … he almost escaped

yesterday, by jumping overboard. He would have tried to swim to shore if Hart hadn’t jumped in after him.”

“Hart jumped in after him?” Her heart fell, she didn’t like thinking that Charles HIS LADY’S KEEPER Marly Mathews 74

would willingly leave her behind—maybe she had overestimated the child’s affection for her. He was right though, if he had the chance to get away, he had to try.

“How was he? Did he take in too much water?”

“I don’t know why he would … he swims like a bloody merman!” Maeve

laughed.

Her heart ached. “When can I see him?”

“You won’t be seeing him until we get to land. I can’t trust you and Charles together, you just might concoct some sort of plan … and since you probably swim as well as he does—no, you stay right where you are.”

She looked away from him. He didn’t need to know that she couldn’t swim to save her soul. She swallowed uncomfortably, remembering the summers spent with Andrew and Mallory who had constantly attempted to coax her into the water so she could learn the basics of swimming.

“I could do with some fresh air.” She pulled at the nightgown. Had it suddenly gotten warmer in here? She felt as if she was heating up.