‘No, Kit, no. It’s not true.’
But Clarissa’s words fell on deaf ears. With a snarl of rage, Kit crossed the room. In one fluid movement he wrenched Alchester’s hands from Clarissa, pushed her to the side, and landed a punch so hard on Alchester’s jaw that he staggered back against the settle by the fire, knocking over a set of irons. It was a blow of which even the champion, Gentleman Jackson, would have been proud.
Recovering quickly, Alchester pushed himself upright, at the same time grabbing a poker with his left hand. As Kit moved in to land another blow, Alchester raised the poker. Clarissa screamed and ran at him, pushing with all her might. Her attack deflected his aim. The poker missed Kit’s head, but hit him a glancing blow on the shoulder, causing him to fall back, the punch he was aiming finding only air.
The poker clattered to the floor. Alchester searched for it with one hand, keeping an eye on his opponent. He knew that he was no match for Kit without a weapon. As his fingers felt the edge of the fire iron, Kit recovered his balance and moved forward, kicking it out of Alchester’s reach. This time Kit’s punch hit Alchester’s nose, drawing a spurt of blood. Giving him no time to hit back, Kit planted a second punch square on Alchester’s jaw. He went down heavily, almost without a sound, and lay on the wooden floor with his eyes closed.
‘Oh God, you’ve killed him.’ Clarissa went to kneel at Alchester’s side, grasping his wrist to feel for a pulse.
‘Don’t be ridiculous, Clarrie, you can no more die of a punch to the jaw than you can of a scratch on the arm, more’s the pity. Let him be and come here. Are you safe?’
She looked up, taken aback at the raw edge in his voice, and saw the worry reflected in his strained face. Kit’s dark blue eyes searched her countenance anxiously, his mouth a grim line. He was concerned for her. A flicker of hope sprang to life in the darkness of Clarrie’s heart. What if Alchester was right? What if she really did mean more to Kit than she realised?
But she had been here too many times before. ‘I’m fine. I promise you I took no harm from him, save fright and embarrassment at my own stupidity for falling into such a simple trap. Give me a handkerchief, Kit, I must staunch some of this blood.’
‘He can look after himself. Come here, Clarrie.’ Kit leaned down to grasp her hand, and pulled her to her feet. ‘I was worried. Really worried. You wouldn’t believe just how worried, you stupid girl. You really must break this habit you have of allowing yourself to be abducted.’
‘Were you, Kit, really worried?’ Clarissa smiled wanly, looking up into his eyes. She blinked at the blaze of emotion she saw in their dark depths. ‘Kit?’
‘Clarrie. Clarrie, I…’
Alchester groaned, startling them both, and tried to sit up. Reluctantly, Kit pulled back from Clarissa’s gaze, turning to view his adversary. ‘Get up,’ he said grimly. ‘Get to your feet and get out of my sight. You are lucky to escape so lightly. Take heed, Alchester, you get just this one chance. If I ever hear of anything, any rumours, any word at all, of your doings today, or if you breathe one word of scandal concerning Miss Warrington, I will ruin you, I swear. I have the means, I know you’re in debt up to your scrawny neck. So get out, and crawl back into whatever hole you came from.’
Alchester stood, clutching Kit’s bloodied handkerchief to his face, his eyes burning with hatred and impotent rage at his ignoble defeat. Reluctantly, he realised he had no choice but to obey. A brief bow to Clarissa and he left the room, cursing under his breath. Not only had his plan failed, he had been revealed in the cold light of day as Kit’s enemy. He knew Rasenby too well to argue. He had no wish to be ruined or ostracised.
Kit shut the door firmly behind him. ‘Now, Clarissa fair, we can be sure of no further interruptions.’
‘Kit, take me home. Mama will be worried.’
A brief smile crossed his face at that. ‘You have no idea how worried. She accused me first of murder, then of hiding your body in my attics.’
‘Oh, please tell me she did not. I will die of embarrassment.’
‘She called me a blackguard too.’
A small gurgle of laughter escaped from Clarissa. ‘Oh, no, surely not.’
‘I assure you. And that was on top of vile seducer from yesterday. Oh yes, and monster. I don’t think I stand in very good stead with your mama, although even she could not find a way to blame me when she realised you must have been tricked into meeting Alchester in order to discuss her debts. What can you have been thinking of, you foolish child, it’s not like you to be so easily taken in?’
‘I know, I realised it was a trick, but it was too late. I don’t suppose Alchester will be dunning Mama now, after today. It doesn’t matter though, they are gaming debts and must be paid somehow.’
‘As your husband, it will be my responsibility to sort that out.’
‘Kit, don’t let us go through all that again. You don’t want to marry me. And I don’t want you to hate me.’
‘So that’s it, my absurd, darling Clarrie. I wondered what prevented you from saying yes when I had been assured, first by your Aunt Constance and then by your dear mama, that you were dying of love for me.’
‘Oh!’ Clarissa flushed. ‘I am so sorry. What you must think of us all. Please believe me, I told them again and again that it wasn’t your fault, but they wouldn’t listen.’
‘I know you did. And I was so stupid I didn’t listen to you either. But when I did finally come to my senses, I realised the truth. You would only have behaved the way you did, my darling love, for one reason. But it was the one thing that I didn’t think possible. Forgive me.’
‘No, there’s nothing to forgive. We must go back. I must go home. And you must forget about me.’
‘But don’t you see, I can never forget about you. You silly girl, I’m not proposing to you because I feel guilty or because I’m worried what my sister might think. I don’t even care much about what your precious Aunt Constance thinks. I’m proposing for very, very selfish reasons. I need you. There will never be a time when I wake up feeling anything other than glad that you’re by my side. In my bed. In my head. And in my heart. Darling, dearest, Clarrie, how could I ever hate you when I’m so in love with you I can’t imagine life without you. I got it all wrong yesterday, said all the wrong things, didn’t say the most important thing. But I won’t ever get it wrong again with you by my side to keep me right. I love you, Clarrie. Please, Clarissa, don’t turn me down again.’
Giving her no time to respond at all with words, Kit pulled Clarrie towards him and kissed her ruthlessly, devouring her mouth like a man drowning, clinging to the rock of their love like a man saved. Crushing her to him, and pushing her bonnet back, he looked into her beloved green eyes, eyes so honest they could never lie, eyes that told him everything he needed to know. ‘I love you. I love you. Clarrie, say yes. Say yes now, or I swear I’ll wear you down with the asking.’
The tiny flame of hope in her heart ignited, but still her mind urged caution. She wanted to believe him. She so wanted to believe him. But how could she be certain?
It was as if he read her mind. ‘You’re wondering if this is just some sort of temporary infatuation, aren’t you? You’re thinking I’ll grow bored with you, regret this one day, aren’t you, Clarrie?’
She could manage only a nod.
Kit looked down at her pale face, the strain of the past few days showing in the dark lines under her beautiful green eyes, eyes that were looking at him with hope, with doubt, seeking reassurance. He wanted to kiss it all away, to hold her, make love to her.
But she deserved an answer. Their whole lives depended upon this moment. ‘If I had a magic wand, I’d cast a spell and you’d never doubt again. But in truth, my own darling Clarissa, I don’t know what it is that makes me so sure. I can’t put into words, not properly, what it is that’s so different about how I feel for you. I just know that it is. In the same way as I just know, with deep and unshakeable certainty, that I need you by my side to make me complete.�
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Pulling her closer, Kit wound a finger round one of her curls, then tucked it behind her ear. Giving in to the temptation of those soft lips, that beloved face, he kissed her softly, tenderly, pouring all his love, channelling everything into the kiss, feeling her respond to him in the same way. Feeling not just passion, but love, true love, enveloping them in its warm cloak.
Slightly breathless, he pulled back. ‘I can’t explain it, but I can feel it, and I know you feel it too. I know I love you because I just do. I know I’ll never leave you because I know I’ll never want anyone else. You’re the other part of me, what I’ve been looking for all my life, and you make me whole when I didn’t even know I was missing something. But I’ve found you now, my darling, and I won’t—I can’t—let you go again.’
‘Oh, Kit, I’ve never heard anything so lovely.’ Once more, Clarissa dissolved into tears, but this time they were of joy, for she believed him. He was right, and she felt it herself after all, this illogical certainty, this completeness, this simple and overwhelming love. ‘Kiss me, Kit, for I love you so much.’ Without waiting, she reached up and pulled him to her. This time their passion held no restraint. On the hard floor in front of the fire in a remote inn, Kit and Clarrie consummated their love.
Later, dishevelled, tired and glowing, they righted their clothing. Looking in the mirror at her face, Clarrie laughed. ‘I’m afraid you’ve left your mark all too clearly on me, Kit. The landlady will have no doubt what we’ve been up to.’
Looking at her heavy lids and flushed cheeks, Kit felt a familiar stirring. He smiled lazily, his own satisfaction reflected as clearly in his disordered hair, a necktie past recovery, the sated curl to his sculpted mouth. ‘I’ll gladly have you branded as my property, my beautiful Clarrie, for I can’t resist you. With a ring, I think, and quickly. A special licence. Tomorrow, the next day at the latest. We can shop for your trousseau later—I don’t intend for you to have much need of clothes for a while.’
‘Just so that we’re absolutely clear this time, Kit.’ Clarissa was laughing up at him, unable to believe it. ‘What exactly am I saying yes to?’
‘Just so that we’re absolutely clear…’ the answering smile in his eyes took her breath away ‘…you’re saying yes to a lifetime of me, me and no one else but me. You’re saying yes to being loved more than anyone has been loved before. You’re saying yes to me beside you always. I’ll be the first thing you see every day, and the last thing you see every night. You’re saying yes to a passion that will light up the sky. To sharing every part of my life. To being my better half. And on top of all that, you’re saying yes to being my wife.’
‘Yes. Oh, Kit, yes.’ There was nothing more that needed to be said and nothing else that mattered. Their kiss said it all, a kiss that had a new tenderness, a breathtaking prelude to a lifetime of passion and fulfilment, a promise that would never be broken.
* * * * *
ISBN: 9781459220850
Copyright © 2009 by Marguerite Kaye
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The Wicked Lord Rasenby Page 25