Authors: Lightning
Adrian acknowledged Redding’s presence with a slight bow. “Redding. I was wondering whether you would join me later in the game room.”
Redding nodded. “Later,” he agreed curtly, then turned his attention to Lauren. “I understand you’re somewhat of a heroine.”
Lauren looked up at Adrian and wondered why his mouth tightened. Perhaps because the subject was being changed from what was so important to him? She turned back to Rhys’s dark gaze. “I did very little,” she said.
“Ah, modest too,” Rhys said. “I wonder if I might have the pleasure of this dance … a waltz, I believe,” he said as the first notes wafted over the room.
Lauren looked quickly at Adrian again, but his face was guarded, and he made no objection.
“I accept, sir,” she said, and took his gloved hand as he led her onto the floor. Lauren leaned back slightly in his arms and looked up—at the man who had what Adrian wanted most of all.
His eyes were not black as she had first thought, but a very dark brown, as was his hair. His face was not classically handsome like Adrian’s, but undeniably attractive in a harsh way. His expression was mocking, as if he found the world vastly amusing, and yet there was something hungry in it too.
“You are a very welcome addition to Society, Miss Bradley,” he said.
“A novelty,” she returned dryly. “I’ve never felt quite so out of place.” Even as the words came out, she wondered why she was saying them to him. This man was Adrian’s nemesis.
He chuckled. “I too am a novelty, Miss Bradley. Tolerated but not accepted.”
“But you own Ridgely.”
“Ah, so Lord Ridgely has told you about that,” he said. “What else did he tell you?”
“That you are a gambler.”
“And so I am. Does that bother you?”
“I’m the daughter of a country doctor. Does that bother you?”
“I think it’s enchanting. But I suspect you are a lot of other things too.”
“Do you like owning Ridgely?”
“Ah, back to that,” he said, his gaze leaving her and going to Adrian, who stood watching them. Rhys’s arm tightened slightly around her, and he swirled her around in practiced movements. Again she noticed the difference between the two men. Both were excellent dancers, but Adrian’s movements had been easier, more natural. Again, she felt the essence of a man out of place, like a leopard she had once seen in a small zoo. Yet from what she’d heard, this one had stubbornly locked himself in the zoo. She felt a strong curiosity about him, and a return of empathy. It flowed between them, and she felt his hand curl around her fingers. She looked up at him, and their gazes met. She couldn’t quite understand the feeling she suddenly had. There was nothing of the strong sensual and emotional attraction she had with Adrian, but something else, an immediate liking.
“Are you taken, Miss Bradley?” he said suddenly, and it took Lauren several seconds to understand his meaning.
She stiffened in his arms as she considered the question. She was. In her heart and soul, she was. But as her eyes went to Adrian, who was now talking to Lady Caroline, she knew she wasn’t. Not from Adrian’s viewpoint.
But she couldn’t lie to herself, nor did she want to lie to Rhys Redding. She had lied far too much already, and it had brought her too much misery. “Yes,” she said.
“Our Lord Ridgely?”
She nodded hopelessly.
“Does he feel the same?”
She shook her head.
He grinned cockily. “Then he’s a fool. May I call on you?”
Lauren looked up at him miserably.
“Consider it,” he said. “I have the strangest feeling that you too are a gambler, Miss Bradley, and we might have something to offer each other.”
Just then the waltz stopped, and Adrian moved toward them, his jaw set, and his eyes dark and unreadable. He reached for Lauren’s hand, taking it from Rhys’s grasp. “I think this dance is mine,” he said.
Lauren’s glance moved from Rhys’s amused face to Adrian’s. She wished she knew what he was thinking, whether he was jealous or angry, but his set jaw might have more to do with thoughts of Ridgely than of her.
The touch of their hands, as usual, ignited fires deep inside her. She felt her legs quake as another waltz started, and he pulled her close to him. Close but not close enough. Never close enough, never until their bodies joined again. At the very thought, sensations so strong and warm and liquid ran through her that her body instinctively moved closer to his, although her dress and its many crinolines necessitated a certain distance. She saw his eyes cloud and felt the sudden hesitation in his steps, and she knew he was feeling similar needs. No matter how hard he tried to keep a distance, he still felt them. Lauren felt a certain sense of triumph as well as a renewed desolation. She could take today, even if she couldn’t have tomorrow.
Adrian had been unsuccessful with Rhys Redding. Lauren knew it the moment the two men emerged from the game room. She had been hovering near the entrance as much as possible, ever since the two men disappeared inside.
She had prayed that Redding would sell the estate back to Adrian. And then perhaps at least some of her guilt and regret would fade; perhaps then she could even tell Adrian of her deception. Perhaps then he could forgive her. Perhaps then …
So she had watched the game room with anxiety until the door opened, and Adrian emerged alone. She suspected no one else would realize he was bitterly disappointed, for his face showed little. But his shoulders were straighter than usual, as if he had taken a blow, and his eyes when they met her gaze had no elation in them, no laughter.
Lauren ignored the people to whom she was speaking and walked over to him, holding out her hand. He took it, holding it tight for an instant and giving her a wry smile. And then they were interrupted by a young dandy who asked her for a dance.
“Yes,” Adrian answered for her, giving her no chance to decline. As the young man led her to the dance floor, she saw Adrian go through a pair of doors that led outside. Her heart, already wounded for herself, now cried for him, for the defeat in the stiff back. Still, it stung her that he had wanted to be alone, not with her, but alone.
She smiled a glittering smile as her dance partner asked whether she had ever seen an Indian in America. She continued to smile at the absurdity, but it seemed to be a common question tonight. War and Indians were all anyone wanted to know about.
“No,” she replied brightly. She had never seen an Indian.
Adrian didn’t return to Sir Giles’s town house with them.
Sir Giles, his own mood heavy, relayed Adrian’s apologies to her.
“Mr. Redding didn’t agree to sell, did he?” she finally asked him.
“No.”
“What will Adrian do now?”
“Go back to sea, to blockade running,” the man said. “A friend of mine offered him a command of one of his ships, but Adrian wants his own. He can make a faster profit that way.”
“Or lose even more,” Lauren said softly.
“Oh, he can lose a great deal more. If the Yanks ever get him again, you can be sure they won’t lose him a second time.”
Lauren would have happily sold her soul that very moment if she could have reversed everything she had done, if she could, in some way, help Adrian.
And perhaps there was a way she could. Just maybe.
And her soul would be little enough price.
Lauren waited impatiently for three days.
She knew Rhys Redding would’ come. She felt it in her bones. He had issued a challenge, and he wasn’t the type of man to back down.
Other visitors came in droves to the town house. Everyone wanted to meet Miss Lauren Bradley who had outfoxed the Yanks.
Adrian came by for supper on the third day, apologizing for not seeing her earlier but explaining that he had been combing the shipyards, trying to find a ship nearly completed. He didn’t want to wait for the construction of a totally new vessel. With the disaster at Gettysburg, the war might soon end and, with it, any chance to win back Ridgely.
Socrates was with him. He had practically flown over to her, giving her great smacks on the cheek and apparently scolding her for her absence. It was ridiculous how much she’d missed the small animal. It had been the three of them those wonderful days in the woods.
Adrian grinned at her in the old, charming way as Socrates continued to hover near Lauren. “He bit me twice,” he said. “His way of telling me he missed you.”
Lauren could barely breathe for the lump in her throat. She had missed him so much, missed that smile that made her feel so wonderfully alive. She started to reach out, needing badly to touch him again, just to know he was indeed here. But she drew back, for she knew a mere touch would not be enough.
Sir Giles entered just then. “Any success?”
“I think so,” Adrian said. “There’s a ship that’s pretty close to my needs. It was being built for a group of investors who are having second thoughts, now that only two ports are open.”
“How long?” Lauren managed to ask.
“If we can come to an agreement, two or three weeks,” Adrian said with satisfaction. “It’s ready for a test run now.”
The lump in Lauren’s throat dropped to her chest. She didn’t have much time.
“And you,” Adrian said, his eyes meeting hers directly. “How are you faring in London? How do you like it here?”
“I … find it very different.”
His brows furrowed together. That was not what he had asked her, but then he knew he had thrown Lauren into something entirely new. He had not meant to desert her so completely, but so much depended on his obtaining a ship. He could do nothing, say nothing, until his future was settled … and until he had the time to win her trust and her heart. The latter, he thought he had. But dear God, how he wanted the former!
They had supper together, the four of them, Sir Giles asking about the new ship, its cargo space, its speed. Adrian would have to secure a good crew to Nassau, where hopefully he could then find most of his old one. He didn’t think he would have problems. The riches of blockade running were legendary; there were few sailors who would not take a few more-than-normal risks to partake of such wealth.
Lauren, however, felt her heart drop further with every word.
He would be gone soon, doing the same dangerous work, except now it would be worse. If only she could persuade Rhys Redding to sell Ridgely.
The thought, the means of accomplishing it, kept her occupied throughout the evening, until Adrian said he must take his leave. It was late, and Socrates had dozed off in her lap, his head lying trustfully against her arm.
Sir Giles shook his head. “You have a way with that creature, my dear. He never did like me.”
Lisa, his sister, gave him a sharp look. “Because you never liked him.”
Sir Giles sighed. “If I remember, Lisa, you had your own problems with Socrates.”
“Well, I think he’s a dear now.”
Lauren bit her lip and looked toward Adrian, who was also trying not to smile. Socrates had lost him any number of friends, and Sir Giles and his sister were among the few who had tolerated the monkey. And even they were visibly relieved that Adrian had decided to take Socrates with him to his own lodgings.
Bidding Adrian good night, Sir Giles and Lisa took their leave, ceding the room to Adrian and Lauren. She walked him to the door, a reluctant Socrates moving between them.
In the foyer, Adrian accepted his cape and cane from Quigley, who kept a cautious distance from the monkey. Adrian thanked him and turned to Lauren, his hand reaching for her cheek, his fingers touching it lightly. “We need to talk, you and I,” he said.
Lauren swallowed the words she wanted to say.
We need to do more than talk.
She nodded.
“As soon as I can complete this sale …”
Ridgely again. Always Ridgely. She chewed even more heartily on her lips. “Adrian …”
His gaze intensified, and she recognized the fire within, but was it for her, or Ridgely?
“Hmmmmmm?” he said, his fingers now fondling the back of her neck, and she couldn’t say any more. She couldn’t tell him not to go back to blockade running, because she knew he would. She couldn’t give him an ultimatum, because she would lose.
“I miss you.” His words were ragged, and she felt herself quake inside as his lips exploded on hers. His need was obvious; it signaled itself in hands that trembled slightly, in the way his tongue plundered at first and then gentled into tender longing.
“Be patient with me,” he whispered so softly that she didn’t quite catch the words. And then he moved away, his fierce blue eyes glinting in the candlelit hall.
Adrian walked back to his lodgings. He needed air. He needed exercise. What he needed was a cold swim.
Bloody hell, how he ached inside. He felt ready to explode. He had wanted to take her, then and there, in the hallway. He had wanted to steal her away. He had wanted to erase the sad, wistful look in her eyes when he’d talked about the new ship. He had wanted …
He wanted so many things. But for the first time in his life, he wanted to do things right. Lauren and Ridgely had become indelibly intertwined in his mind. He wanted it for her and wanted her for Ridgely, and he wanted everything right in every way. For most of his life he had gone his own way, swaggering into one disaster after another, until he had focused on Ridgely … and now Lauren. Both had become obsessions, and he knew it. And he didn’t want to taint either. He didn’t want Lauren to have to marry him because of a child, nor did he dismiss the possibility of capture again, or death. That meant he had to keep a distance from her.