He released her wrists and began to crawl down her body. When his head was level with her navel, he gathered her nightgown up above her hips and looked up at her. She had raised her head off the pillow and was looking at him with some confusion.
“What are you do- Oh!”
He didn’t give her a chance to finish her question, as he lowered his head and gently sucked on her clitoris. She didn’t speak again but he could tell from her movements and cries what she liked and didn’t like. He could feel her juices begin to flow and when he thought she was ready, he pressed one finger into her tight sheath, stimulating her there as well.
She threaded her fingers into his hair, almost as if to hold him in place and it wasn’t very long until she was panting with pleasure. He inserted a second finger to join the first and sped up his ministrations until she was teetering on the edge of orgasm. He slowed down slightly, drawing the exquisite torture out for a little longer, before finally pushing her over the edge.
As she recovered, he slowed his movements, knowing that she would be very sensitive now, but didn’t stop altogether.
The fingers in his hair relaxed a little and her chest was rising and falling rapidly as she got her breath back. He wished that she didn’t have the night shirt on, so that he might have an unobstructed view but alas, he would have to wait for that.
He licked her clitoris again, causing her hips to twitch and suddenly her fingers tightened in his hair as slowly but steadily, she drew his head northwards. Only when his head was level with hers did she release her hold and one hand snaked between their bodies, grasping his length and placing him at her entrance.
“I need you,” she told him.
Alex didn’t need telling twice and embedded his length in her, pausing for a moment to enjoy the sensation. Helen reached up to kiss him and he began thrusting into her, unable to resist the temptation for a moment longer. Helen matched his pace, her hips rising to meet his thrusts, as her tongue plundered his mouth.
He didn’t last very long and right now, he didn’t mind; he didn’t ever want to become immune to her charms.
She raised her hands and began to push his hair back from his face but there was just too much of it to tuck behind his ears. Still, she seemed to be enjoying the attempt and finally gathered it at the base of his neck, holding it in place with one hand.
“I could cut it,” he suggested.
“No!” she answered vehemently but with a smile. “I love it.”
“It has to be trimmed sometimes,” he answered logically.
“Fine. When your hair is longer than mine, you have my permission to trim a few inches off the ends.”
“You’re getting mighty possessive, if I may say.”
“You may, and I don’t care. You, Sir, are mine now, and that includes this.” She waggled the pony tail she held. “Do you have a problem with that?”
“Oh no, but if you get to say when my hair gets trimmed, I get to say when yours does too.”
Helen laughed. “I suppose you want me to grow it as long as Petrosinella did?”
“Who?”
“The heroine in an Italian children’s story. She was trapped in a tower by an ogress and the only way in or out, was for people to climb up her hair.”
Alex pretended to consider this for a moment. “That might be a little extreme, not to mention, inconvenient. Perhaps just grow it to the rump.”
Helen laughed. “When I first met you, I would never have dreamed that you had such a playful side.”
“Oh?”
“No. You were rather dour that day. I’m sure that seeing me shouting at a stranger in the street, didn’t create the best impression either.”
“Are you being serious? Your defence of that boy was the reason I followed you.”
“Yes, but I’m sure you would have preferred more ladylike behaviour.”
“Not at all.” He kissed her quickly. “In fact, other than when you blush at something wicked one of us has said, when you’re angry is when you’re at your most attractive.”
“Does that mean I should shout at you more often?”
“Well, all things considered, I’d rather you shouted at other people.”
Helen laughed but quickly sobered. She released the ponytail she held and cupped his face in her hands. “I’m so glad that you did follow me.”
Alex smiled warmly, but it too faded quickly, although for different reasons. “Truly, even with everything that’s going on? Murdered wives, a tyrannical mother-in-law, falling masonry?”
“Even with all that. I have no intention of letting anyone ruin what we have together.”
Alex wished that he could feel as certain as she sounded. Finally he rolled off her and she nestled into his side, her head propped up on her hand so that she could see him.
“You seem happier today?” he observed, realising that it was time for real life to intrude.
“I am. A good night’s rest can do wonders for the soul.”
“You were probably in shock yesterday, anyone would be.”
“Yes, I expect I was. Poor Jane didn’t take the news about Emma well either.”
“You spoke to her?”
“I came across her while I was out riding. She was standing right at the cliff edge, making me worry about her.”
“You think she might have…” Jane had never struck him as suicidal but you never could tell.
“No, not seriously. She was behaving very oddly though, asking me to join her at the edge. It worried me.”
“Tell me what happened?” he asked, trying not to sound overly interested because he didn’t want to frighten her.
She explained the encounter in as much detail as she could remember and given his suspicions of Jane yesterday, Alex suddenly wondered if her intentions had been slightly more nefarious than suicide. What if she tried to beckon Helen to her side, only so that she might push her off the cliff?
He silently thanked the Lord for her fear of heights, which had kept her a safe distance from the edge.
“What’s troubling you?” Helen asked when she had finished her story.
“Jane,” he admitted.
“Do you believe she might try again? I'm sure this has been devastating for her, but I honestly don’t see her as the type of woman who would harm herself.”
“I’m more worried about her harming you,” he confessed. “What if she didn’t have thoughts of suicide? What if she was waiting there to finish what she started at the stables.”
“Alex, I just can’t see why she would wish me harm, let alone her own sister.”
“Helen, she loves you, that much is clear for anyone to see. She loved her sister very much too, so perhaps she feels that I take the women she loves away from her. As you noted, jealousy is a powerful emotion.”
“Perhaps, but if what you say is true, wouldn’t she try to kill you, not me or Emma?”
Alex sighed. “In all honesty, I don’t know any longer. Sometimes I feel as if I don’t know up from down.”
“Alex, I’ve had a little time to think about this before you awoke and I think I will be safe once your birthday has passed. Your uncle will have failed and there would be no point in harming me.”
“Other than revenge, you mean?”
“Well, we can cross that bridge when we come to it. In the meantime, the safest thing is for me to stick close to home, or close to you. Perhaps after church today, we could go for a ride with the boys, just us and a picnic. No one else will know where we are going, so we can’t be harmed.”
“But it’s pouring with rain!”
“Then we’ll eat in the hunting lodge, or go and see those puppies again, or someone said something about a boathouse at the bottom of the cliff-“
“You don’t like heights.”
“True,” she said with a slight frown, “but there has to be somewhere we can go and remain dry.”
“I was actually thinking more of taking you away somewhere. We could easily get lost in Lo
ndon for a while, or take a break in Bath; I hear the waters are very invigorating.”
Helen looked hesitant.
“What is it?” he asked.
“You’re right, going away would keep me safe but it would also take me away from the boys. I finally feel that they are starting to trust me, well, Joe is and if I leave now, I worry that I might not be able to win him back.”
“You’ll have a harder time winning him over if you’re dead.” He didn’t mean to sound so forceful, and he truly did love that she cared so much about her relationship with his sons, but the thought of her dying shocked him into being blunt.
Helen looked hurt for a moment but pressed on. “In any case, we will never find out who is behind this if we run. With this deadline looming, they will be liable to make rash decisions and mistakes, so now is our best chance to find out who killed Emma and who wants to hurt me. I don’t think I could live here and always be wondering who it was that had tried to hurt me.”
Alex couldn’t argue with that logic. “Fine.”
“And we pretend that what happened at the stables was an accident. If you have proof that it wasn’t, then don’t tell me. Whoever is behind this needs to think that I’m still naive.”
“So you don’t want to know what I discover?”
“Of course I do, but the more I know, the harder it will be to lie convincingly. Right now, it could have been just an accident; if I know specifics then I could let something slip in conversation. Besides, many husbands seem to keep their wives in the dark over troubling incidents, so it isn’t that unbelievable that you would want to protect me from the truth.”
“You are far too logical for my peace of mind,” he said ruefully, pressing a light kiss on her hair.
“We also have another problem,” she continued.
“Oh?” he sounded resigned.
“Our prime suspect, Milton, wasn’t here when the stone crest fell. It couldn’t have been him.”
“That had occurred to me too,” he admitted with a sigh. “I’m starting to think that perhaps someone on the staff is involved, although of course, that doesn’t mean that Milton is innocent.”
“No,” she agreed.
They lapsed into silence for a few moments.
“You missed dinner last night, so you must be hungry by now,” Alex finally said.
“I can wait until breakfast,” she assured him.
“I arranged for us to have breakfast in bed this morning.” Feeling restless after their discussion, he got out of bed and rang the bell. Helen sat up in bed and watched him as he paced.
“Why don’t we both wash in the meantime,” she suggested.
Alex didn’t much like the idea of leaving her alone but he realised that he couldn’t be with her every minute.
“When you go into the dressing room, make sure that you lock the door to the hallway.”
Helen nodded her agreement so unlocking the door through to his rooms, Alex left her.
***
By the time Helen emerged from the dressing room, Alex had let Mr Graves and a footman into the room and they were pulling out a leaf on a semi-circular table by the wall, doubling its size and making it round in shape. They then unloaded the plates, pots, cups and cutlery from their trays and set two places.
Once they had left, Helen took her seat and removed the metal cloche from the plate in front of her, causing her stomach to rumble as she inhaled the aroma.
Alex poured her a cup of tea and they sat in awkward silence for a few moments, with only the chink of crockery as company.
“I think we should set a trap,” Helen finally blurted, unable to stand the silence any longer.
Alex gave her a sharp look. “No.”
“Alex, it’s the only way. Telling your mother about the change to your Will isn’t actually going to prove anything, is it? Just focus our suspicions. If we set a trap, then we’ll catch whoever is behind this red-handed. I don’t see why you are so against this.”
“Because I’m assuming that a central part of this trap will be using yourself as bait?”
“Well, yes.”
“In which case, I'm afraid that I am not willing to risk your life on the off chance that we might find out who is responsible for the threats against you.”
“But Alex-“
“No!”
He had never raised his voice to her before and she was shocked into silence. He gave a long sigh then dashed a hand through his hair.
“Helen, it…” he sighed again and this time appeared to deflate. “Keeping you safe is the whole point of finding out who is behind this. To then intentionally put you in danger seems rather senseless.”
“But you’ll be there to protect me.”
“And what if something goes wrong? What if I can’t be there for some reason, or I'm injured or otherwise incapacitated? I’m sorry but I can’t allow that, Helen.”
She was just about to argue further when he reached across the table and took her hand.
“I can’t lose you. Please try to understand.”
She did understand because were their roles reversed, she would feel the same way about him endangering himself.
“All right, you have my word.”
He visibly relaxed then and gave her a relieved smile.
They settled on a course of action that was basically Helen staying close to the house, staying even closer to Alex and hoping to ride out the danger until after his birthday.
Once they had eaten their breakfast, Alex presented her with something he had been keeping in his robe pocket, something made from leather. A closer examination showed it to be a small dagger, enclosed in a leather scabbard, with two small straps and buckles.
“It’s supposed to be worn on the forearm,” he explained, taking it from her and demonstrating how to position it, with the dagger hilt pointing to her wrist.
She pulled the dagger out and saw that it had a three inch long, double edged blade, which looked wickedly sharp.
She must have looked hesitant as he stepped closer, took the dagger from her and pulled her into his arms.
“It’s just a precaution,” he tried to assure her. “Just in case.”
As much as Helen didn’t like the idea of carrying a knife around, and even less of using it on someone, he was right and it was better to be safe than sorry.
“Thank you,” she mumbled into his chest.
***
The trip to church later that morning was a stifled and awkward affair.
Pearl favoured Helen with withering glares and Alex with a hurt expression, in between her disapproving sniffs.
Rose was even quieter than usual, perhaps picking up on the atmosphere. Anna as usual remained stiff and silent. Jane looked tired, as if she’d had a restless night. Joe and Jules stayed close to Helen, Joe scowling at everyone. Even Clarence seemed affected by the tension and remained mostly silent.
For their parts, Helen and Alex were too preoccupied to converse much with anyone, although Helen did attempt to talk to the children, but the atmosphere among the family made her speak in hushed whispers.
No one seemed particularly interested in the sermon and in fact as they congregated outside the church afterwards, Alex couldn’t even remember the priest’s topic.
They made polite conversation with other locals in the church courtyard but Alex kept glancing at Helen, who still had both boys by her side as many different people came up to greet the new Duchess. She handled the attention with confidence, although he could see that she wasn’t anywhere near as talkative as she had been last Sunday.
Alex would have preferred to stay closer to Helen but couldn’t do so without appearing impolite to those he was talking to. Besides, he thought that in such a public place, Helen was probably safe.
He had just said goodbye to Mr Jameson, who ran the local confectioners, the one Helen had been visiting frequently since her arrival, when Jane slipped her arm through his before anyone else could claim his attention.
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“Walk with me,” she said, directing him around the edges of the courtyard. Alex did as she asked, although he made sure to keep Helen within sight.
“Is something troubling you?” he asked, unable to shake his suspicions about her.
“My behaviour yesterday. I wanted to apologise to you, that was unacceptable.” She began to bite on her thumb nail, as she had done yesterday.
“You were in shock,” he lied, doing his best to sound reassuring. “It was a perfectly understandable reaction under the circumstances, I'm sure.” It hadn’t escaped his notice that she was Milton’s sister. With their best suspect not on the estate for the attempt on Helen’s life, it made sense to him that Jane might have acted in his stead. Quite how or why either of them wanted to hurt Helen and more especially, their own sister, was beyond him but discovering their motive could wait.
“The truth is, I feel disloyal,” Jane interrupted his thoughts. She ceased chewing on her nail for the moment and turned to look him in the eye. “I care for Helen, truly I do but... a part of me feels as if I shouldn’t, as if I am betraying Emma by liking her. Then, having the chance to protect Helen, to stop someone from harming her when I couldn’t protect Emma…” Her words trailed off and she resumed biting her nail.
It occurred to him that perhaps they hadn’t harmed Emma but did wish to harm Helen, to all intents and purposes, Emma’s replacement.
“I can see how you might feel that way but back then, none of us knew that Emma was even in any danger. We couldn’t have prevented her death when we didn’t know that she was in danger.”
“I never said it was logical. I also… I can’t stop thinking that if I had married you instead of her, then she would still be alive. I’m the elder sister and if I hadn’t been so selfish…”
“You feel guilty,” Alex guessed. He could understand that, for although he was innocent of blame in Emma’s death, he felt guilty too. She was his wife and he should have protected her. The logic of it not being possible to protect someone when you didn’t know of the danger they were in, hadn’t eased the sense of responsibility that he felt.
It made sense that Jane would feel that way too, and he honestly didn’t want to believe that Jane could be a killer. His suspicions about her and her brother remained; they probably would until the culprit was apprehended, but her honesty had quelled some of his doubts.
Love, Lies and Murder Page 20