His voice sounded strange behind the cloth that he had wrapped round his face. His hat was pulled low. Clarissa took in her surroundings. There were five other men, all with pistols, standing near the carriages.
“You are not doing as I asked, Your Grace.” The man pointed the gun at her and Andrew stepped in front of her. “I won’t ask again. Tell them, or everyone dies.”
Clarissa knew he was telling the truth. Andrew turned to her but she shook her head. “It’s only furniture,” she said. She turned to the carriages that were lined up on the road. “All of you dismount and don’t fight them. It is not worth losing someone’s life.”
She watched as they all scrambled off the wagons.
“Everyone on their bellies,” one of the robbers ordered. The sound of an approaching carriage caught all their attention. One of the bandits yelled at his friends to mount the carriages, and she knew they were going to ride away on them all. But her drivers had other ideas. One of them let go of a whoop that sounded like something you would hear on a battlefield.
The men tackled each other, falling to the ground and wrestling around just as Andrew launched himself at the man standing in front of them. He pushed Andrew aside and pointed the gun at Clarissa.
“This is for my employer.” Clarissa gasped, but before she could move, Andrew stepped in front of her. There was the sound of a gun going off, and Clarissa fell to the ground, covering her head as the noise increased around her. She heard words like, “watch that one,” and “get him,” mixed with the horrid sounds of flesh hitting flesh.
It took her a few moments to realize the man who had ordered them out of the carriage was no longer standing above her, and Andrew was lying on his stomach… and he was not moving.
* * *
Andrew was certain the voices he heard belonged to Essex, and Ellington, but that wasn’t possible, was it? They hadn’t been in the carriages when the highwaymen had stopped them. It had just been him and… “Clarissa.” His throat burned as he said the word, and, thank God above, she answered.
“I’m right here, Andrew,” she said. “Don’t move too much. The bullet tore through your shoulder, and it’s still mending.”
He tried to open his eyes, but they didn’t seem to want to obey.
“Stay flat,” Essex said. “The doctor said the bullet did little damage, but you lost a great deal of blood.”
“Where am I?” he asked as his eyes finally fluttered open. Clarissa was in a chair close to the bed. She took his hand and stroked it. “You’re at my home in Bath. We were robbed. Or they attempted to do it, anyway.”
“This morning?” he asked. He looked around her and through the open window he could see that it was daylight. If they’d been robbed on the road in the daylight, how could he now be at Clarissa’s house in the daylight?
“It was two days ago,” Clarissa said.
“How did they do it?” he asked, turning his head toward where Essex stood, with Charlotte beside him.
“They set up two accidents, one in front of you and one in back, to keep traffic from the road,” Essex said. “We should be glad that a tradesman on his way to London decided not to wait and drove around. He’s the one who came up on the robbery and distracted them, and put an end to the event.”
“Were they caught?” Andrew asked.
“Not a one,” Ellington said. Andrew had almost forgotten he was there.
“How can that be?” Andrew asked.
“They had horses and were obviously skittish,” Ellington said. “The tradesman, I can’t remember his name right off hand, said they ran like frightened rabbits. I guess they wanted the wagons and Clarissa’s goods, but they didn’t want to risk being caught.”
“Marks,” Andrew said.
“Yes, we’ve already figured that out,” Clarissa said. “But he was in London, at White’s with his friends. He had to have hired men to rob us.”
“Men who were obviously not paid enough,” Essex said with a laugh. “We still have no idea what he’s looking for.”
“What about Clarissa’s things?” Andrew asked.
“They are already in London,” Clarissa said. “We sent them up that same night, thinking Marks wouldn’t expect it.”
“And I’ve hired guards for the Park Lane house,” Essex said. “I don’t think he’d be dumb enough to stage another attempt, but there is always a possibility.”
“We’ll stay here until you’re well enough to travel,” Ellington said. “We have guards here, too.”
Clarissa stroked Andrew’s hand, and he turned his attention to her. He heard Essex mutter something about going to check on food, and soon Andrew and Clarissa were alone.
“You were not hurt?” he asked.
“Only when I saw your blood,” she said. “There was so much of it, and it frightened me. I thought my heart might stop. Do you not remember what happened?”
His skin tingled as she moved her hand over his forehead. “Most of it. I don’t remember the pistol going off. I do remember that I didn’t protect you.”
“You did,” she said. “The gun went off and you were in front of me. You were hurt because of me.”
She kissed him, her lips gentle. “I did something you might not approve of.”
“You didn’t fall in love with another man, did you?” He tried to laugh but it hurt and he ended up coughing instead. She waited until he was done and offered him a glass of water. He took a drink and then collapsed against the pillow.
“What can I do for you?” she asked.
“You can tell me what you did that you think I might not approve of,” he said. “Please don’t tell me you’ve gone to bed with another man.”
“No.” She kissed him again. “I wrote to the queen and told her I wanted to marry you. I did it on impulse, and after I’d sent it to London I worried that you might not be happy with me for doing it. I should have waited to talk about it with you.”
He stared at her, not quite sure what to say. The look of utter pain on her face made him wince. He’d hurt her and he hadn’t meant to do anything of the sort.
“I’ll write her and tell her I was wrong.” Her voice was small, and it sounded as if she might start crying at any moment.
“You’ll do no such thing,” he said. He felt tired all of a sudden, as if he might lose consciousness. “No wife of mine admits that she was wrong.”
He closed his eyes and thought about Clarissa, about waking up next to her and feeling her warm, velvety folds wrapped around his dick.
“There’s just one thing you have to do for me before I’ll marry you,” he said.
“Anything, my darling, anything at all.” She put her hand on his chest.
He opened his eyes and smiled at her. “You have to learn to say prick, dick, and cock. You practice it while I sleep.” He closed his eyes and the darkness took over as he thought about how wonderful it would be to hear her say nasty words while he was inside her.
Chapter 10
Three months later
Clarissa reached for the chair Andrew had lifted and pulled her hand back when he slammed it down, the sound reverberating through the room.
“I am not an invalid!” he yelled.
She took a step back and said, “The doctor said—”
“Three months ago,” he said, his voice lowering in volume. “Clarissa, my darling, my wound is healed, and I will not—I repeat will not—allow myself to sit around while other members of this household wait on me hand and foot.”
The shooting, and the resulting convalescence, had been hard on him, Clarissa knew, and the doctor from two days ago had said he was fully recovered. But it was difficult not to flash back to the scene in the field outside Bath, where he lay with blood pooling under him.
“I just think you should rest,” she said. “After all, we are going to the theater tonight. It’s your first time out since the incident.”
“Exactly,” Andrew said. He picked up the chair and moved it to the other side o
f the sofa. “It looks better over here, don’t you think?”
“Once again, you should rest,” she said.
“I’ve done nothing but rest,” Andrew said as he plopped down in the chair and rested his feet on the table in front of the sofa. He crossed his legs at the ankle and patted his lap. “Come over here and let me play with you.”
“It’s the middle of the day and the staff is working,” she said.
“You haven’t let me touch you since that day,” he said. “Did my injury make me less of a man in your eyes?”
“You saved my life,” she said. “You are more of a man than anyone walking the face of the earth.”
“Then stop treating me like a child,” he said. “I am recovered, and I am ready to fuck you until you can’t walk for a week.”
Clarissa shivered, and then she smiled. “Forgive me. I just—I don’t want to lose you.”
“You will not,” he said.
“They never found the men,” she said.
“And they won’t,” Andrew said. “They were hired thugs. I am sure they are in a graveyard somewhere, buried deep after their bodies were not claimed. Marks has disappeared, and Scotland Yard is looking for him. After they heard our story they want to question him. Clarissa, he is probably out of the country. We will never know what he was looking for; it is over.”
“So you say,” she said. “But he sounded so desperate that day in the maze. I think he will return. I’m afraid he will return.”
“I will protect you,” he said. “I cannot stay under your roof, but the men I’ve hired will make sure no one comes into the house in the middle of the night.”
Unless they are dead, Clarissa said to herself.
“Have you heard from the queen?” he asked.
“No,” she said. She had received a short note in response to her letter after the shooting. The queen will consider your request, it said. And that had been the last of it. They had been careful to make sure Andrew stayed at his own home. And they had not, as he complained about earlier, had sex.
Part of the reason for that was Clarissa was worried about his health. But the other part was she did not want to do anything that could get back to the queen, who could deny Clarissa’s request to marry Andrew.
“Well, it was a thrill moving a chair from one spot to another,” Andrew said. “I’m exhausted from the excitement. Shall we go upstairs and pick out a dress for tonight? I might pass out from the exertion.”
“You’re going to be wearing a dress?” she asked with a laugh.
“Watch it or I’ll give you a few swats to correct that attitude,” he said. He stood and looked around. “This really is a very impressive structure. I can see why Lady Strauss would want to own it.”
“Yes, well, there is no chance of that.” Clarissa glanced at the books sitting near the garden window. They were part of what Belinda had brought to her after Clarissa’s return to London. She hadn’t even looked at the titles. Instead she’d just set them aside and taken the woman at her word that it was all she had. Clarissa prayed she would never have to lay eyes on Belinda again, but she knew that wasn’t true. They were in the same social circle, which meant Belinda would turn up at parties. When she did, Clarissa would make her best effort to keep distance between them.
According to Andrew, his friend Barton was still keeping company with the woman. She wasn’t sure why. Thinking of Belinda made another thought push its way into her mind.
“Charlotte is going to help me plan the party to announce my opening of the house,” Clarissa said.
“Charlotte would have a party for Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday and take Sunday off before she started all over again if Dalton would allow it,” Andrew said with a laugh. “I hope you’re not planning to follow in her footsteps.”
“No, but I think this one should take place,” she said. “I have very little experience in planning a party, and am happy that Charlotte is going to help.”
“She is an expert at it, and will help immensely,” he said. “Now, let us go upstairs and pick out a dress.”
“As you wish,” she said. He took her hand and they went upstairs. He had been the one to suggest they go to the theater tonight, which she supposed meant all of his friends and their wives would meet them there. If that was the case she hoped Barton and Belinda were not among them.
He led her to the second door on the left and opened the door. They went into her sitting room, which in turn led to her bedroom.
“Has this one always been yours?” he asked.
“It has,” she answered. “It has two distinct advantages over other rooms. The first is its windows look out over the gardens. The second is that it does not link to the master room where Taylor slept.”
“And when we marry?” he asked. “I hope you will not want a separate room, but if you do I’m sure we can find one for you.”
“I rather like this one,” he said as he crossed to the bed and stretched out, propping his back against the headboard. “There is a great deal of room for our rope activities, and this bed is perfect. Shall we break it in?”
“No, not with the staff roaming the hallways,” she said.
“I’m beginning to think you are just making excuses,” he said. “But we shall deal with that later. Now, show me the gowns that are your choices for this evening.”
Clarissa couldn’t help but smile. She wanted so much to have him inside her, to feel him pulsing and thrusting. But she was still worried that it would be too much for him, even though he seemed as if he was, as he said, fully recovered.
“How about this one?” She pulled out a red dress, which she knew would be too much. When she’d bought it she’d never really planned to wear it. She’d just been happy to spend money.
“No,” he said. “Next?”
They went through the same thing with a green, lilac, and blue one until they came to a red dress that was less pronounced than the last one.
“That is beautiful,” he said. “It doesn’t have as many flounces and ribbons. Come here and let me hold it up to you.” He stood and she walked toward him, holding the dress in her arms. He fingered the satiny material and then pointed to a mirror. They walked to it together and he held the dress flat against her body. “It will show off your breasts beautifully. And there are only two petticoats. Wear no other underthings tonight. I love the idea of you being naked under your dress.”
“Andrew, you’re a devil.”
“You’ll enjoy it, too,” he said. “In a particularly boring part of the production imagine that I’m raising your skirts and playing with your pretty little quim. That will make you squirm.”
“Like I am right now?”
“Would you like me to love you?”
Oh, how she wanted to say yes. “I have to admit I’ve been thinking about it a great deal.”
“I would be hurt if the opposite were true,” he said.
“It will give me a great amount of joy thinking about you taking me in Taylor’s house. He was so cruel to me.”
Andrew carefully placed the dress back into the wardrobe. When his hands were free he cupped Clarissa’s breasts, and she moaned with delight. His kiss was perfection, and she wanted so much to test the theory that his body was fully and truly healed.
But just then Sally knocked on the door. “Your Grace? Lady Charlotte is here to speak with you.”
“Perfect timing, as always,” Andrew said. “Go have tea with her and we’ll go to the theater tonight. Then, after the theater, we shall be together again, as if it were the first time for us.”
“It pains me to think that you were not the first man, the only man, to ever be inside me.”
“To me it will be as if I were,” he said. He kissed her once more and said, “Go to Charlotte and I will slip out the back way. I will see you later tonight.”
“I can hardly wait,” Clarissa said. Right now, she cursed her friend for her timing. But then she realized the sooner she went do
wnstairs the sooner the play would take place, and the sooner she would be in bed with Andrew.
Why had she waited so long? He’d tried to tell her he was fine, and she was just being overly cautious. Tonight was the night, though. It would be perfect.
* * *
The theater was very crowded, and the appearance of the Duchess of Melbourne, on the arm of the handsome Lord Beaton, caused quite a stir. Their attack on the Bath road had caused quite a stir, and this was their first time out together. They were greeted by all, and then gossiped about behind fans and programs.
“You’re causing quite a fuss, Your Grace,” Lord Buxton said as he greeted her. She greeted the rest of the group, which included Lady Buxton, Lord Barton, Lord and Lady Essex, and Lord and Lady Ellington. Clarissa was thrilled to see Belinda was not with Barton. There were two couples there that she didn’t know very well, Lord and Lady McIntyre, and Lord and Lady Cannonberry. They were all members of the infamous Club, the one in which she had yet to participate. Which was just fine with her. The McIntyres and Cannonberrys had come by the house to see Andrew while he was healing, but she hadn’t spent that much time with them.
“So it would seem,” Clarissa said. “Imagine what they will do when they are invited for the housewarming party.”
“There will be no place for anyone to park their carriages,” Cannonberry said. “You are quite the talk of the town, after your altercation with Lady Strauss, and then of course Beaton’s shooting.”
Clarissa blushed furiously. “You’ve heard about the fight with Belinda?”
“Everyone’s heard,” Charlotte said, and for a moment Clarissa wondered if her friend had been the one to spread the word. Or maybe it was the Stanhopes. Either way, Clarissa was now the talk of the town.
“Don’t worry, darling, sometimes notoriety is a good thing,” Andrew said. “Your party will be a great crush. Shall we go to the box? And afterwards we will meet for refreshments.”
His words seemed a little strange to her, but she let them flow over her. When they were in their seats, Clarissa enjoyed the first part of the play. It was a performance of some French play, with a name she couldn’t remember. All she could think about, really, was the fact that they were out, with all of his friends, enjoying their time together.
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