A Lord's Kiss

by Mary Lancaster et al.

  “You are the only one I am here to rescue.” He grasped her hand and pulled her along the garden wall toward the street.

  “I will not leave them,” she declared.

  Cameron whirled on her. “If you value those girls’ lives, you will do as I say—as you should have in the beginning.”

  She opened her mouth and he wondered if he would have to bind and gag her. To his relief, she closed her mouth and gave a stiff nod. He hurried them to the end of the alley. At the road, he looked left and right and found the road empty.

  “Can you run?” he asked.

  She nodded and he answered with a single nod. They raced across the street and reached his horse without a shout of discovery being sounded. Cameron grasped the pummel and swung up into the saddle, then reached for her hand. Alison clasped his hand and he pulled her up and onto his lap.

  A stench drew Cameron’s attention to the man’s coat she wore. “What the devil are you wearing?”

  “That horrid madame took my cloak. I had to have something to cover my torn dress.”

  Torn dress? Cameron forced back rage. Anyone could see that Alison was a genteel lady, not a prostitute. Not to mention—

  “Did the madame force the other women into service?” he demanded.

  “I do not think so. The men who took us inside said we were not supposed to… Well, Sarah, the madame, said she would not lose money, so I was to remain a virgin but—” Alison broke off.

  By God, he would return and deal with the madame. Cameron turned the horse and nudged it into a trot. At the end of the next block, he urged the animal into a canter. At the edge of town, he kicked it into a gallop. Alison buried her face in his chest and held on tight until he slowed the animal to a trot again fifteen minutes later.

  “Where are we going?” she asked.

  “To find lodgings.”

  For all her bravado, he felt her trembling. Cameron tightened his arm around her. He wanted to lock her in her room and kiss her at the same time, and feared he might break down, either way. He didn’t know how she’d managed it, but despite her meddling ways, he had come to care for her. Which was why he would make sure she never again did anything so foolish.

  They reached an inn half an hour later and Cameron swung his leg over the horse’s rump, then stepped to the ground. “Remain here.” He handed her the reins.

  “Lord Weston,” she sounded panicked. “Do not leave me.”

  Cameron covered her hand on the pummel. “Don’t fret, I shall only be a moment.”

  Cameron left her in the shadow of the building, then strode inside. To the right, a few people sat in the dining room.

  He approached the young man at the desk. “I need a private room for the night.”

  “Of course, but the room hasn’t been prepared. If you would like to wait in the dining room, I will have a fire lit and the room readied.”

  “No need. I will attend to the fire.”

  “Are you certain? ‘Tis no trouble.”

  “I am certain.” He scrawled his name on the ledger. “My horse will need attending to. He is out front. I will require a carriage before first light.”

  The young man nodded. “Of course. Will you be dining in the dining room?”

  Cameron shook his head. “Have supper for two brought to my room. And a decanter of brandy straight away.” He pulled a half guinea from his jacket pocket and set it on the counter. “Should anyone inquire as to my arrival…”

  The young man’s eyes widened and he snatched up the coin. “Understood.” He handed Cameron a key. “Our finest accommodations. Second floor, second door on the right.”

  Cameron took the key, started to turn, then paused and said, “I will need a bath for my wife.”

  “Right away, sir, and I will send someone out front for your horse.”

  A moment later, Cameron reached Alison. He grasped her waist and pulled her from the saddle, then tied the reins to the tying post. Cameron tucked her close to his side and started toward the rear of the building.

  “Where are we going?” she asked.

  “To the servants’ entrance.”

  The scent of fresh bread and cooked meat met them as they entered the kitchen. The cook stirred a pot at the stove and two maids chopped vegetables at a table in the middle of the room. They stopped and stared as Cameron quickly urged Alison up the servants’ stairs. On the second floor, he stopped at the first door on the left, inserted the key and opened the door to the darkened room.

  They entered and Cameron said, “One moment.” He crossed to the corner table and lit the lamp.

  Once the room was aglow with soft light, he closed the door, then dropped to one knee at the hearth. Alison stopped just before the braided rug in front of the hearth and clutched the coat tightly closed, arms crossed in front of her chest.

  A large bed sat against the west wall, a small table with three chairs filled the corner near the hearth, and a changing screen stood in the corner to the left of the bed.

  Cameron placed more kindling in the hearth as flames flickered to life. He gently blew on the fire. The wood snapped and crackled as the flames rose higher. He grabbed two small logs and crossed them on top of the burning kindling.

  At last, he rose and brought a chair closer to the fire. “Sit here.”

  She hesitated, then approached and sat. Cameron squatted and removed her slippers, then got a blanket from the bed.

  Once he’d wrapped the blanket around her, he looked down at her and said,

  “What were you thinking?”

  “Why did you not rescue the women?”

  He sighed, then brought the other chair over and sat beside her. “We are trying to discover the identity of the man behind the kidnapping of other young women like Sallie and the others.”

  “Are the women in danger because of me?”

  He hesitated. “I have men watching them.” Her eyes widened and he added, “I am not a kidnapper, Alison—nor am I a fool. I would never send women into danger without someone there to help them.”

  She hung her head. “I mucked things up.”

  He blew out a breath. “Mischief is a special gift you have.” He lifted a brow. “Your only fault, I am certain.”

  She released a shuddering exhale and stared into the fire. “Just one of many, I am afraid.”

  “Start at the beginning, Alison,” he instructed.

  Cameron listened as she explained about overhearing his conversation with James, and of wanting to prove his innocence or guilt in order to bring him to justice.

  “I believed you intended to compromise my cousin, then you stole me from my home…” She shrugged. “I found it highly likely that you were a kidnapper. But I realized that the girls who were kidnapped knew you. How do you know those women?” Then quickly added, “Never mind. It’s none of my business.”

  He grunted. “That has never stopped you from interfering, but I ask that you cease interfering after we are married.”

  She frowned. “You cannot still mean to marry me?”

  “Indeed, I do, and you will obey me.” The sooner the better, for her own good—and his sanity.

  Something flickered in her eyes. Rebellion? Cameron became aware of a sour smell, then remembered the coat she wore. “Alison, give me that damn coat.”

  Her eyes widened and she quickly removed the blanket and sloughed out of the coat. “We must burn it.”

  “Burn it?”

  “It is evidence.” She rolled the jacket into a ball and tossed it into the fire. The flames floundered, then began to catch and blaze. “If they find the jacket, they will know what I’ve done.”

  “Alison, what have you not told me?” An uneasiness welled in his gut.

  “I hit the man over the head with the basin.”

  A knock sounded on the door.

  She jumped. “Lord, they found the dead body.”

  “What dead body?” he demanded.

  She stood. “The man I killed.”

  C
hapter Fourteen

  The knock became more insistent. “Who is it?” Cameron called.

  “The maid, sir, with your dinner,” a girl replied.

  “Quick, get behind the changing screen,” he whispered to Alison. She frowned, and he said, “Your dress, Alison.”

  Her mouth parted in a small gasp, then she hurried behind the screen. Cameron opened the door and two maids entered, carrying platters laden with food. They set the platters on the table, along with a decanter of brandy, then curtsied and left. He locked the door, then bade Alison return to her seat by the fire.

  Cameron poured two tumblers of brandy and handed one to her. “This will settle your nerves.”

  She sipped the brandy. He filled two plates with cold meats, cheeses, and several sweetmeats, then gave her one. He grabbed his plate, then sat. Alison nibbled on the meat and cast nervous glances at the door.

  “What happened with the man?” he asked with as much gentleness as he could muster. He wanted to ride back to the brothel and beat every man there.

  She returned the meat to her plate. “I hit him with the water basin—the man Sarah sold me to.”

  “You are certain you killed him?” Cameron hoped she had. He finished his brandy in two gulps.

  She shook her head. “He was bleeding and didn’t move.”

  Cameron rose and set his plate on his seat, then refilled his glass. He returned to his seat. “Finish your brandy.”

  She took another sip. “Will a magistrate believe that I was defending myself?”

  Cameron looked up from his plate. She stared, eyes wide. Dirt smudged her cheek.

  “No one will know it was you.”

  “How can you be sure?”

  He smiled gently. “Only a fool would risk a dawn appointment by insinuating that Viscountess Weston frequents brothels.”

  She slowly nodded. “It was horrible. I prayed you would find me.”

  He lifted her face. “And I did. You belong to me now.”

  She frowned. “I am not going to marry Robert, am I?”

  The question startled him, but he said in a neutral tone, “Do you still want to?”

  She dropped her gaze. “When that man kidnapped me, I gave not a single thought to Robert.”

  Relief flooded him. With a finger under her chin, Cameron tilted her face upward. “There is no need to feel guilty, love.”

  “But I promised to marry him.”

  “Were you and he ever intimate?”

  Her brow furrowed, then her mouth fell open. “I beg your pardon. Robert is a gentleman. He would never— I would never—” Her cheeks reddened.

  “Then you need not worry,” he said. “After all, you didn’t break your promise on purpose.”

  “I wouldn’t have broken the promise at all had I not interfered in Erin’s business.”

  It wasn’t Miss Lennox’s business, but her father’s. Cameron said, “Would you like to hear a secret?” Her mouth parted in surprise, and Cameron had the impression she wasn’t certain. Still, she nodded, so he said, “I am pleased you tried to save her from me.”

  “You are? Why?”

  “Because otherwise, I would…”

  Would what? Not have ridden for two hours like the devil nipped his heels? Wouldn’t have jeopardized an operation designed to catch a notorious sex slaver? Or wouldn’t have fallen in love? God help him. Would she believe that?

  “Otherwise, you would have been stuck with Erin,” Alison said. “I know she is a handful, but she would have tried very hard to be a good wife, and you may rest assured she would not have butted into your business. She is far better suited for you than I.”

  “Hardly.”

  She frowned. “There is no need to be rude.”

  “I am not being rude.” Bloody hell, he was botching things up. “I have no interest in Miss Lennox.”

  “You had no interest in me, either.”

  “That is what I am trying to say.”

  “I understand quite well,” she replied. “You needn’t remind me.”

  “I am not reminding you. That is, I mean to say, I didn’t have interest in you only because I did not know you. Now that I do, well—”

  She blew out a frustrated breath. “Never fear, you can send me to the country as we agreed.”

  “Send you to the country? That was only when you insisted you were going to marry Thomson. Do you really think I am the kind of man to marry a woman then shut her away in the country?”

  “I think no such thing. We simply agreed, and I don’t want to be a bother. Erin is likely to never forgive me for locking her in the closet, so I have no real reason to stay in Inverness.”

  “Locking her in a closet?” he blurted. “What the devil are you talking about?”

  “The night I came to your home. I couldn’t very well have her show up at Welbourne when I was there.”

  “Of course not,” he said. She’d really locked her cousin in a closet?

  She shot him another narrow-eyed look. “You may be as rude as you like, but you must admit I did save her from you.”

  “You saved me from her,” he corrected.

  “Erin is not so terrible,” Alison cried. “She is my cousin and dearest friend.”

  “For Christ’s sake.” Cameron grasped her hands. “You misunderstand me, love. What I mean is…” He took a deep breath. He held her gaze. “You saved me.”

  She lifted her brows. “From…”

  He smiled gently. “From myself.”

  “That is just plain silly. I—”

  Bootfalls sounded in the hallway and her head snapped in the direction of the door.

  Cameron grasped her shoulder and gently squeezed. Her head jerked in his direction.

  “No one is coming for you, love,” he said.

  Her eyes shimmered with unshed tears.

  “Alison, there is nothing to fear. I—”

  “May we go—now—please?” she cut in.

  “I promise you, no constable will come to arrest you.”

  “I want to go home.”

  “Home?” he repeated.

  She nodded. “I will not sneak out again, I promise.”

  His chest constricted. She wanted to go home, to Welbourne.

  “It is but an hour’s ride,” she said

  He shook his head. “I will rent a carriage.”

  “Nae.” She grimaced. “I have spent enough time in a carriage in the last week. Also, a carriage ride is at least two hours.”

  More, in truth, but he didn’t correct her.

  “By horse, we can be there in an hour,” she said.

  “A little more than an hour,” he replied.

  “I know the distance, sir. It may be fifteen minutes more, but that is negligible.”

  “The hour has to be past two, Alison. We will not arrive home until at least three thirty.”

  “We can gallop part of the way,” she said. “Instead of a carriage, rent a second horse.”

  He hesitated.

  “I will not sleep a wink in that bed.” She twisted her head and motioned to the bed behind them.

  He looked at her plate. “I will agree only if you finish your dinner. I will not have you falling off your horse from hunger.”

  “That is silly, but I agree.”

  Half an hour later, Cameron had her wrapped in a borrowed cloak and seated atop a rented horse as they headed for Welbourne. She spoke little, but gave him no cause for concern, and she rode straight in the saddle. When they turned down the lane that fronted Welbourne, he was certain he heard her draw a deep breath.

  They fastened the horses to the tying post at the road, and Cameron ensured Alison had the cloak snug about her body before he hurried her up the walkway to the front door. He pulled the key from his front pocket and opened the door to find a sleepy footman coming to his feet.

  “Go on to bed, lad,” Cameron quickly said. “No one else will be arriving at Welbourne this night.”

  The boy blinked at him, but didn�
�t wait to be told twice before he scurried down the hallway and entered the servants’ stairs.

  Cameron took Alison to her room, added logs to the embers in the hearth, then stood and faced her as she unclasped her cloak. “I will heat water for a bath.”

  Her brows rose. “You will heat water?”

  “I will have you know, madam, that I would make a very capable serving lad.”

  She shook her head and waved him off. “Be gone, then, for I will not argue against a bath.”

  “I trust you will not mind using the wood tub instead of the porcelain? I am capable, but carrying a porcelain tub by myself is beyond even my strength.”

  Her expression sobered. “Really, sir, you need not bother yourself. I am content with a little fresh water to wash my face and arms.”

  He shook his head. “I do not mind.” She frowned as if to rebut, and he added, “Alison, it is best if the servants don’t know about your clandestine activities.”

  “Oh, yes. Of course, you are right.” He started to turn, and she added, “I am very sorry I put you to so much trouble.”

  Cameron hesitated. She stared at him, eyes wide, expression so worried, he reached her in two steps and pulled her close. Her mouth parted in surprise in the instant before his mouth covered hers, then she melted against him. His heart jumped to a gallop, and his cock responded with startling need.

  He swept his tongue inside her mouth and tasted a hint of the brandy she’d drunk. He wanted badly to lay her down on the mattress and drive into her hard. He’d been a fool not to realize that she couldn’t simply accept his word that he was an honorable man. He hadn’t protected her as he should have. Cameron broke the kiss and pressed his mouth to her cheek, then the edge of her mouth and lingered a moment with another soft kiss.

  “Cameron,” she whispered.

  His name on her lips was the sweetest sound he’d ever heard. Cameron ran his tongue along the seam of her lips. His heart thundered when she again opened her mouth. He slipped his tongue inside and, to his surprise, this time, she tangled her tongue with his. Cameron swung her into his arms and walked to the wing backed chair before the fire and sat, settling her on his lap. He kissed her thoroughly, claiming her mouth as his. He slid his hands along her back, detailing the curve of her torso, her spine, then resting his hands on the swell of her hip. She threaded her fingers in his hair and tugged. Cameron growled low in his chest and thrust his hips against her bottom.