Asher looked over at the stagecoach and noticed the last of the travelers getting on board.
“Miss Christensen seems to be acting pleasantly,” Asher said. “Why not forgive and move on?”
“But the girl thinks she’s better than me,” Everly said, flashing her eyes. Then she narrowed them at the coach as though she could see the girl in its dark confines. Her hand on his arm tightened like a vise.
“Everly, you’re being ridiculous.” And Asher admitted it was all slightly amusing.
Everly was not as intolerable as she tried to make herself appear. She didn’t become needlessly hysterical when she found something unpleasant and for a woman who would have to face a judge in a matter of weeks, he knew her to be holding up better than most.
And as Valiant had implied, this was one of the most entertaining voyages he’d ever been on. Though he’d been dismayed by the damage to his wheels, Asher had been unable to hold on to this anger with Everly present.
He drew comfort from her as he would a burning flame. She warmed him and gave life to feelings he thought long suppressed. Her every look, touch, and word inflamed him, branding his very being.
He understood why Everly was upset by Miss Christensen. Anyone would be, but what Everly seemed to be unaware of was that she was playing with fire. Whenever she pleaded with him to have her way or ran her hand up his arm, reality and common sense began to fade, and Asher found himself very tempted to finish what had begun in the tree.
He noticed then that Everly was staring at him and had been for some time. “What?”
“You called me Everly.”
“What?” How had he let such a thing slip from his mouth? “No, I didn't. I never call you that. Only ever Lady Wycliff.” It was his way of keeping his distance from her.
She shook her head. “No, Assurance, you just called me Everly.”
He blinked. “Don’t call me that.” No one ever called him by his true name, and he liked it far too much on her lips than he knew was right.
“Very well. See? I can be compliant.” She let him go and moved toward the stagecoach. “Let us hope that there is still a place where we can sit together.” She looked over her shoulder at him. “Are you coming?” Again, there was that look. Her eyes evoked his desire. A glimpse of her could make a man sacrifice name and fortune, anything for her.
And he greatly hoped there was no space to be next to each other. For both their sakes, he needed a few hours far, far, away from her.
∫ ∫ ∫
1 6
Everly grinned as the coach continued down the road.
Her body jostled greatly because of the high springs.
The man on her right repeatedly knocked into her. He apologized for most of the first half hour, but Everly assured him that she knew there was nothing he could do about it.
A woman with a high-pitched voice right behind Everly decided to sing. It caused her ears to ache.
Another gentleman snored louder than the singing.
And an unpleasant smell rose from somewhere in the coach.
But Everly managed to ignore it all for the most part, because she was sitting next to Asher.
When they’d arrived at the stagecoach, there’d been two spots in separate places. One by Valiant and one by a merry Miss Christensen.
But the poor girl had barely been able to call to the duke before Valiant moved.
“I detest the front row,” Valiant had said. “Here. You two can take my seat.”
The action left Miss Christensen shocked and struggling for words.
And Everly positioned exactly where she wanted to be.
Asher had begun to read the moment the gentleman on his other side allowed a lull in the conversation where Asher could properly excuse himself from it.
But then suddenly, he closed the book and looked over at her. “Why are you smiling?”
He’d noticed? She wondered how, since his nose had been in the book for some time now.
“You’d think me petty if I told you why I’m happy,” Everly finally said.
He leaned toward her and whispered, “You’re too late. I already think you petty.”
She gasped, but then laughed at the humor that glowed in his eyes. “No reason to concern yourself with.”
“Does this have anything to do with Miss Christensen?” he asked.
It did. “She called me old.” Saying it aloud still hurt.
She felt his entire body stiffen beside her. “She did? You know that isn’t true.”
Did she? Everly rarely regretted any decision she’d made about her life, but she knew the years were coming when it would become difficult for her to get with child.
Had she wanted a baby?
Yes, but she’d always known that in exchange for her freedom, she’d have to let such ambitions go.
Now, she was thinking about it again. Since the moment she’d held Beatrix’s little boy in her arms, her heart had begun to ache.
And then Brinley had returned from the Continent pregnant, and Everly realized her belly would never grow round with child.
“Lady Wycliff.”
She turned back to Asher.
His expression was gentle. “You are far from old.”
She smiled softly. “Far? When shall I be old then?”
“I swear. The day that it happens, I will let you know.”
She watched his eyes and knew he’d never say a word. She’d be on her deathbed at ninety and he’d still not say it.
She found great humor in imagining them in that particular situation. Him, nearly one hundred, holding her hand as she rested in a room they’d shared for many years.
The carriage came to a stop, pulling her from her musing.
“Everyone on foot,” the driver said.
There were groans from the other passengers. Everly bit her lip to hold back her own displeasure. Stagecoaches commonly emptied their passengers when faced with a great hill. It put less pressure on the four horses who were already forced to carry their luggage.
Everly stepped out of the coach and glanced around.
The air was still cool at midday.
Behind her, the earth stretched in a verdant display of beauty. The sky with its thick gray clouds seemed to stretch like hands toward the horizon. In the distance, she saw a mansion with cherry blossoms in bloom. The fields were greens with some browns here and there.
“This way,” Asher called.
She walked at his side and was glad to see that Miss Christensen was being entertained by one of her friends, who’d clearly not fit inside her carriage.
Valiant caught up with them once the incline began.
The coach rolled past them slowly, the sound of its springy wheels and the driver’s call drowning out conversations.
Everly decided she didn’t mind the walk. They’d be in the coach for another few hours at least until they reached London.
She was looking forward to getting there just as much as she feared it. What if there were no answers to be found? What if she was forced to return to the country with no new information?
It wasn’t that she couldn’t afford the cost of the diamonds. If she was forced to pay what they were worth, then she’d struggle to survive for the next few years.
Yet she would.
She’d have to sell a few of her favorite pieces of art, her jewelry. She’d likely have to get rid of half her staff as well. She hated to think about the consequences of such an act. Many of her staff had been with her since her childhood.
“You look troubled,” Valiant said aloud. “You’ve no reason to worry. Asher is very good at getting to the heart of issues.”
Everly looked at Asher and found him to be looking away, though she was sure he heard his sister’s praise. It seemed he had a champion in Valiant and perhaps his other siblings.
She recalled Lore telling her that Asher had always been more of an uncle than a brother to him and Valiant.
The future duke had also found
Hero less inclined to obey his orders than his other two siblings.
“We’ll be in London before you know it,” Asher promised.
At the top of the hill, something cool touched Everly’s cheek. She looked up at the sky but didn’t think the clouds moving in their direction.
“Let’s hurry to the carriage.” Panic laced Asher’s voice. He grabbed both her and Valiant and nearly rushed them down the hill. Everly might have fallen if Asher wasn’t holding her so tightly.
They were the first to reach the carriage. Hastily, he helped both of them inside before climbing inside himself. Now, they sat in the back.
The other passengers came in a few seconds later. Many of them had started to run as the rain came more quickly.
“I hope this doesn’t slow us down too horribly.” Everly looked over at Asher to find his entire body stiff.
“I had barely a drop on me,” Valiant said to her brother as she rose to get her bag from another row. Then she sat on Asher’s other side. “Thank you, Asher, for getting us out of the rain before it could begin.”
His name seemed to call him from whatever thoughts had overtaken his mind. He turned to his sister and blinked. Then he relaxed and swallowed. “You’re welcome.” He turned away again.
Everly wondered what was happening. In a day, she’d grown used to a less rigid Asher, so it was clear that something was bothering him.
But now was not the time to discuss it.
The coach was soon underway again and the conversations before them grew dim. Eventually, it seemed that nearly everyone had either fallen asleep or decided to read or watch the landscape silently.
Everly turned to Asher again. With the dark clouds blocking the sun, the coach became very dark.
Their journey had been slowed greatly, but the driver promised to try and make it to London tonight.
She leaned toward Asher and whispered, “What’s on your mind?”
He looked at her. The darkness and the rain that fell around them made the moment seem intimate. It was easy to imagine they were alone. “It is nothing I wish to worry you about.”
She frowned, not liking the evasive answer. Here he was, in the middle of her trouble, yet he was unwilling to share his with her? Everly was usually very good at solving problems. She wished to help Asher and decided she would push him. But not at the moment. Later when they were alone.
What secrets did this man hold so close to himself? She had a feeling that no amount of begging would get her the answer she sought.
And did she truly have time to worry about anyone else at the moment? Her own life seemed to be heading to great peril.
Yet still, with everything Asher was doing for her, she desperately wanted to give him something back.
He spoke again. “We won’t have the time to see Lord Fallen this evening but seeking him out will be the first thing I do tomorrow.”
She nodded and turned toward the window. The sway of the carriage eventually lulled her eyes closed.
She woke up in the dark leaning onto something hard and warm. Asher’s breath caressed her ear. “We’ve arrived in London.”
She lifted her hands and found herself to be leaning on his chest. She felt the scrape of the stubble on Asher’s chin against her cheek as he pulled away. Was his hand in her hair? She felt something stroke down the side of her throat before it disappeared.
She could have rested in his arms through the night. Few things were more comfortable.
She’d never rested against a man before. Over the last decade, she’d spent time with a few men, given her share of kisses behind closed doors, but never had she been a participant of something so intimate.
∫ ∫ ∫
1 7
In the coach, it was still too dark for anyone in the back row to be seen so Everly decided to pretend she was still asleep, even giving a slight moan as she burrowed farther against Asher.
She hadn’t known how much strength he hid underneath his clothes. He was flat and toned, likely from riding and walking his vast lands.
She heard the others in the coach rising to get out, the first row would disappear and then the next, leaving hers last. Yet no one seemed to rush, the hour making them all lethargic.
Still, Everly’s time was short.
His fingers found her hair again, curling into the strands.
She held back another moan.
His day-roughened cheek brushed hers and sent shivers down her limbs.
Everly popped her eyes open.
What was he doing? This was Asher! She’d thought him dull and rigid.
His fingers flexed in her hair again, lightly scraping her scalp and she shuddered.
No, he was neither dull nor rigid. His hand held hers in a vise grip. Her own fingers clenched his clothes.
His breathing was heavy and uneven as spoke in her ear again. “Everly, you must rise.” His voice was coarse. “It’s time to go.”
She tilted her head back and found herself in the cradle of his arms.
In the dim light from the front, she could see his eyes on her and was surprised by the riotous hunger he seemed to be holding back.
Did he desire her? She found it hard to associate Asher with anything so unrefined as carnal desire.
Yet there it was. She could feel the heat climbing off his body and hitting hers with the strength to knock the air from her longs.
She thought about the kiss in the tree and could now see that he clearly meant to do it when it happened.
Would he attempt to do it again?
Trepidation rose within her. “Let me go,” she whispered.
He blinked. Then, he composed himself. His visage fell into the fixed position he used with polite society. His hands fell away. Then he turned and followed Valiant from the coach.
They took a hack from the inn. It was halfway to his residence when Everly said, “Perhaps, I should return to my own townhouse.”
“No,” Asher said from across from her. “You’re to stay close.”
Close was the last thing she wanted to be with him. She wrapped her arms around herself and gazed out into the dark. It had to be after midnight.
She looked over and fount Valiant staring out her own window.
Beaumont House would come into view soon.
Everly had seen it a few months after the fire that had consumed it and Valiant’s husband, Lord Beaumont, last year. Now, as the mansion came into view, she saw that it was slowly being returned to its former glory. Valiant would likely be able to live in it come next year.
That was, if she wished to.
When Everly had asked, Valiant had seemed uncertain. She’d also confessed to Everly that her husband had not died alone. He’d been having an affair with one of their friends, Lady Yates.
The tragic tale had hardened Everly’s conviction that she’d made the right choice never to marry. Men could not be trusted. Neither with her body nor her heart.
Yet, you trust Asher.
To a point, she reminded herself. With a matter such as this, she was glad to have him as her champion, but she would never consider him more than a friend… no matter how much her traitorous body yearned for more.
She’d have to control her new attraction to Asher. It was too late to go back and see him as she had before. He was not a bore.
In fact, she found him far too interesting.
She waited in the dark as Asher grabbed his sister’s hand.
Valiant turned to him and smiled.
Everly lowered her gaze as her heart raced. It was hard to find such a caring and thoughtful man unattractive. No, her only hope was to make it clear that she did not want to become entangled with him.
She’d do it once they arrived at his residence.
That settled, she found the rest of the ride very pleasant.
As the footman carried their trunks to their rooms, Valiant departed with a smothered yawn. “Good night to you both. Don’t expect me for breakfast. I will be far too tired.”
<
br /> Asher turned to her with a maid at his side. “This is Ruth.” Why did he suddenly look so formidable in her eyes? Was it because she was in his domain? Why did she find it so irresistible?
“She will see to your care while you are here and will show you to your room,” Asher told her. “But if a matter arises that you believe to be too much for her, do not hesitate to ask for me.”
“I can’t imagine needing you for anything,” Everly said. “But I shall keep your words in mind.”
Asher nodded and then turned away.
“May I speak to you for a moment?” she asked. “Privately?”
Ruth immediately departed to the far side of the room.
* * *
Asher showed Everly into his office and had barely closed the door behind them before she turned to him.
He knew what she would say but knowing made few things better.
“What happened in the coach and in the tree at the ball can never happen again,” she said. “Though I am unattached, I do not engage in affairs.”
He frowned. “I would never ask you for such an arrangement.” An affair would never be enough for him. “And I apologize and take full responsibility for my actions.”
She tried for a smile as she crossed her hands before her. “That isn’t necessary. I might have given you the impression that I was receptive of your advances, but I’m not.”
Asher remained silent, willing this conversation over.
Everly sighed. “Neither of us wish to marry and since there will be no affair, we should set some boundaries for the next few weeks.”
“Boundaries?” Asher asked.
“We shall keep our hands to ourselves,” Everly said. “And our mouths and other… parts.”
Asher groaned. Just when he thought this conversation could not get any worse, it did. “My lady, I vow to treat you just as I would any other. From this moment on, you can rest assured that there will be no advances, because I will not make any again. This, I vow. Now, is this meeting over or do you have something of a different nature you wish to discuss?”
Everly blinked and then shook her head. Her voice was softer. “No, that was all.”
“Very well, then I bid you goodnight, Lady Wycliff.” Asher bowed and left the room.
The Perfect Duke (Valiant Love) (A Regency Romance Book) Page 8