The way his gaze ran over her body made her blush.
“You seem tired as well. Perhaps you would like to join me
for a rest?”
She spurred her horse forward, not waiting to see his
reaction. She had no doubt that Zeus could easily overtake her mount, so
Nicholas must have held him back. She didn’t mind. The sun was setting earlier
these days, but there was only a slight nip in the autumn air. The feel of the
breeze on her face and of the powerful animal beneath her was exhilarating. She
hadn’t realized how much she missed riding.
She had just turned onto the road that approached the manor
house when she realized something was wrong. Her saddle slipped ever so
slightly, setting off warning bells in her mind. She pulled back on the reins,
but the sideways motion didn’t stop. The saddle slipped even farther and she
found herself falling from the mare’s back. Spooked, her horse picked up speed
instead of coming to a stop. She closed her eyes in horror and tried to brace
herself for the impact, but nothing could prepare her for the feel of her body
slamming into the hard ground. She’d had the presence of mind to remove her
foot from the stirrup and release her hold on the reins and was glad of that
fact when she opened her eyes and saw her mare galloping down the road, the
saddle hanging at a precarious angle.
“Louisa!”
She could hear the worry in Nicholas’s voice, but couldn’t
catch her breath to reply. He brought Zeus to a halt, leapt from his back, and
kneeled beside her. His face came into focus above hers.
“Sweetheart?”
She liked the sound of that. Nicholas had never called her
that before.
“Louisa, stay with me.”
She realized that her thoughts were drifting. She tried to
focus on her husband’s face and voice.
“That’s right,” he said, laying a hand on her cheek. “Keep
your attention on me.”
He ran his hands over her arms and her legs. It took her
several moments to realize he was checking for broken bones. When he asked her
to wiggle her fingers and move her legs, she had finally managed to catch her
breath and her head was clearing. She didn’t think she was hurt, only dazed,
but she did what he asked.
“Can you turn your head?”
She turned it to one side, then the other, wincing at the
stiffness. Relief crossed his face.
“Can I sit up now?”
He helped her into a sitting position, then dragged her into
his lap. He held her like that for some time, just cradling her.
When she pulled back, she saw his anguish.
“I’m not hurt,” she said, needing to ease his worry.
“When I saw you fall off that horse…” He shook his head as
if to clear the memory from his mind. “My heart almost stopped.”
“The saddle,” she said, her voice still shaky. “I could feel
it slipping.”
His jaw hardened. “I’m going to take you home now.”
He stood, but instead of helping her to stand as she
expected, he lifted her into his arms.
“I can walk,” she said.
He ignored her and carried her over to his horse. He
released her then to climb into the saddle before pulling her up to sit
sideways before him. It was a little uncomfortable, but she felt safe being so
close to Nicholas. She wrapped her hands around his waist and settled against
his chest, trying to draw some of his strength into her.
* * * * *
After insisting Louisa rest after her fall, Nicholas
returned to the stables to speak to the grooms. They had no explanation for
what had happened, but what he discovered when he examined Athena’s saddle made
the blood freeze in his veins.
Now back in his study, he paced before the fire, trying to
come to terms with what he had learned. He wrestled with the urge to have a
drink from the bottle of brandy his valet had hidden away for him, but in the
end he resisted, knowing he couldn’t risk having another episode. He had to
keep a clear head and his wits about him now. Both his and Louisa’s lives could
very well depend on it.
He couldn’t keep the memory of watching, helplessly, while
she pulled on her mare’s reins before sliding off the animal’s back from
playing over and over again in his mind. He shuddered as he remembered seeing
her on the ground, pale and motionless. He’d been struck forcefully by his fear
that she was seriously injured.
Kerrick entered the study, not bothering to knock. “What’s this
I hear about Louisa having an accident?”
Nicholas stopped his pacing and turned to faced him. He was
going to need an ally in this and Kerrick was just the man for the job.
“Close the door and sit down,” he said.
Kerrick did so before turning back to his friend. “I get
nervous when you tell me to do that. The last time you needed to speak to me in
private you wanted me to bed your wife.”
“You can rest assured we won’t be revisiting that subject.”
He went to his desk and bent to pick up the saddle he’d placed on the floor
next to his chair. He dropped it onto the desk with a loud thunk. “This is the
saddle from Louisa’s horse. Tell me what you think.”
Kerrick raised his brows but didn’t speak as he examined the
saddle. It didn’t take him long to discover the problem.
“The billets broke? Both of them? How old is this saddle?”
“I purchased it when I was last in London. It’s never been
used before today.”
Kerrick shook his head in disbelief. “I don’t understand.
How could they have frayed so soon? And why wouldn’t a groom have noticed their
condition?”
“Look at the underside of the billets.”
Kerrick flipped them over and frowned. “The fray is
smoother,” he said, running a finger along the edge where the leather had torn.
Nicholas remained silent, waiting to see if Kerrick would
confirm what he suspected.
After examining all the edges, Kerrick swore. “These were
cut.”
Nicholas nodded. “I believe so. Not all the way through. The
underside was sliced, but enough of the leather was left intact that it wasn’t
visible from the right side of the straps. It was a new saddle. The stable
master examined it when it was first delivered, but not again since it was only
used for the first time today.”
“So it looked fine from the surface,” Kerrick said. He
examined the depth of the cut again. “It would have held for a time, but then
start to fray the longer Louisa rode.”
Nicholas barely controlled the anger that seethed under his
skin, making him desperate to lash out at someone.
“This makes no sense. Why would anyone want to hurt your
wife?”
“That isn’t all of it.”
Nicholas went on to explain what had happened on the night
Louisa had destroyed all his brandy. How he’d gone to the village to drink and
hadn’t fallen ill. He also told Kerrick about how he’d started having symptoms
when he was in the conservatory after touching some of the flowers that
Catherine had informed him were poisonous.
“It was in the brandy, damn it. I am all but sure of it.
Someone has been adding something from one of those plants to make me ill.”
Kerrick was clearly stunned. “I’ve had some of that brandy.”
“As have I, and I’ve not always fallen ill. I suspect
whoever’s been doing this is acting selectively, making sure I am the only one
who drinks from the bottles that have been laced with the poison.”
“Do you know what you’re implying? Your father and your
brother experienced the same illness as you, which means they, too, were
poisoned.”
“They were murdered.”
Kerrick came to the same conclusion as Nicholas. “You
believe Edward is behind this.”
“Who else has anything to gain? We all know he’s an
unscrupulous bastard, and with all the men in my family out of the way he
stands to inherit.”
“But why would he want to hurt Louisa?”
“The household staff has no doubt realized that Louisa and I
have consummated our marriage. Word must have reached Edward. He wouldn’t want
to risk that she might be carrying my child. If she were to fall pregnant with
a boy, he wouldn’t be as close to inheriting as he believes he now is.”
Kerrick was silent for a moment before speaking. “I’m sorry,
Nicholas. To learn that your father and brother were murdered…” He shook his
head, at a loss for words.
Nicholas’s hands clenched into fists. “I want to go over
there right now and strangle the bastard.”
“We’ll have to call in the authorities.”
“I know. That’s one of the reasons I wanted to speak to you.
I believe you have friends who are uniquely qualified to help us.” Nicholas had
suspected for some time that Kerrick had ties to the government’s Home Office.
He’d even wondered if some of his friend’s mysterious absences could be
attributed to him engaging in spy work. He’d never come out and asked him about
it, but Kerrick’s response now seemed to confirm his suspicions.
“Of course,” Kerrick said, not bothering to pretend
innocence about his connections. “I know just the man. He’ll ferret out
Edward’s guilt.”
Nicholas nodded his thanks.
“I’ll leave today and will return as soon as I can. Try to
be careful until then. I’ve grown rather fond of your wife, and much as I’d
like to throttle you at times for your stubbornness, I’d rather not return to
find you’ve become another victim of your cousin’s greed.”
This was the first outright argument
they’d had since marrying and Louisa couldn’t understand why Nicholas had
chosen that moment, when they were expected soon for his aunt’s dinner, to dig
in his heels. She’d been dismayed to learn he hadn’t yet dressed and had
finally cornered him in his study, where she now stood facing him across his
desk while he reclined in his chair.
“If we cancel now, the rift between you and your cousins
will never be mended.”
“Good,” he said, his scowl deepening. “They can all go to
the devil. I care not if I ever see any of them again.”
While she agreed wholeheartedly when it came to Edward Manning,
she couldn’t help but feel Mary didn’t deserve such censure from her husband.
“If you won’t attend for your grandmother’s sake, will you
do it for me?”
“I am doing this for you. I don’t want you anywhere near my
cousin. I don’t care how many people are in the room at the time.”
She thought they’d already settled this matter and couldn’t
understand why he was arguing about it yet again. She’d have to give him extra
incentive. With careful calculation, she placed her palms on his desk and
leaned forward, giving him a tantalizing view of her breasts which now
threatened to spill forward. She hid her smile when his eyes dropped.
“Do you remember that thing you wanted to do in bed the
other night?”
His scowl lifted and a gleam of interest entered his eyes. “What
are you proposing?”
“Do this one thing for your grandmother, one evening at your
aunt’s house. In exchange, I will agree to try what you suggested.”
He frowned. “That’s blackmail.”
“I’d rather think of it as negotiation.”
He rose swiftly and rounded the desk. When she straightened
to face him, he cupped the back of her neck with his hand, his thumb stroking
along the column of her throat. “Maybe we can try my thing first and then we
can go to the dinner.”
His voice was low and husky and despite her misgivings, a
thrill of anticipation went through her.
She shook her head and spun out of his reach to press her
advantage.
“No. You’ll have no reason then to keep up your end of the
bargain.”
His eyes narrowed. “What is my guarantee that after the
dinner you won’t change your mind?”
“You’ll have to trust me.”
He stalked toward her. “Not good enough. I think I’ll need a
small down payment first.”
“We’ve left it too late to cancel, and we don’t have time
to… you know.” She could feel herself blushing.
“I didn’t leave it too late. You decided to ignore my wishes
about sending our regrets.” He captured one of her hands and pulled her to him.
“I think, given the circumstances, you owe me some compensation.”
Her pulse quickened when he trailed his hand down the outside
of her thigh and began to drag her dress up. She buried her head against his
shoulder. She knew her protest was weak, but she had to make it.
“We don’t have time…”
“Aunt Elizabeth has waited this long to set up her little
reconciliation dinner. She can wait a while longer.”
She didn’t resist when he shifted her around and started to
walk her backward. When her bottom bumped against the edge of his desk, he
lifted her so she could sit on the edge. He didn’t need to tell her what he
wanted. Now almost as eager as he, she unbuttoned the fall of his trousers and
reached in to wrap her hand around his hardness. His breath hissed out as she
squeezed him.
“Vixen,” he said, lifting her skirts until she was bared
from the waist down.
“I do believe you prefer me this way,” she said, drawing her
hand up and down along his sizeable length.
“You cannot begin to imagine,” he said, spreading her legs
apart and moving between them.
She helped to guide him, her body ready, and moaned in
appreciation when he thrust into her with one sure stroke. The rhythm that he
set was relentless, and she reached her peak twice before he allowed himself
his own release.
* * *
* *
In the end they were half an hour late. From the obvious
relief on his grandmother’s face, Nicholas could tell she’d expected him to
send her on alone. He still had major reservations about the wisdom of putting
his wife in harm’s way. He’d allowed her to sway him, but only because part of
him wanted the opportunity to observe his cousin. He prayed Edward wasn’t
stupid enough to do anything with the whole family there, but he knew desperate
men couldn’t be counted on to act rationally. The attempt on Louisa’s life was
proof of that.