by Sable Grey
“He’s a bright boy.” She licked her lips nervously, and I almost smiled when Richard’s gaze dropped to her mouth momentarily.
“You know about his…condition?”
“I don’t like calling a part of who he is a condition. He’s a vampire just as I am a governess,” she corrected.
“Is that who you are?” Richard crossed his arms. “Because, truthfully, Miss Mason, I’ve never seen a governess do what you’ve done in your short time here.”
I could see she’d not quite understood what he’d meant. “Ritchie is bright and is rambunctious, but never bad.”
“I’m not talking about what you’ve done with my son. I’m talking about what you do with my brother. And with him.” He pointed at me. I waved when she glanced at me.
She started to turn to leave, no longer wanting to hear what he had to say, but Richard reached out and grasped her upper arm. I felt Leander tense inside of me instantly. Stay calm. She can weather his temper. She’s weathered yours. I felt Leander settle down in the back of my mind.
“What are you up to? Wealthy business man with his share of secrets looks like a nice place to crawl into and manipulate…” Her hand cracked against the side of his face. It surprised me that she’d strike him.
“How dare you, sir,” she gritted at him. “I am not up to anything at Blakewood other than raising your son. I do not crawl or manipulate, and I will not allow you to continue this insult of my character. And that is the only explanation you will get from me for I do not have to explain my affection or your brother’s to you or anyone. Now, unhand me.” I knew that tone. She’d taken it with me once or twice. It was how she spoke to Ritchie when she was letting him know she was serious and not going to entertain his horseplay during lessons. It worked. Richard’s hand fell away from her arm.
She whirled and stomped toward me. “Did you tell him there was something between us, Marcus Highcrest?”
I held my hands up. “I’m innocent.”
Her march toward me ended with her eyes narrowed and accusing. “You are as innocent as a snake!”
I laughed when she spun around and headed to join Ritchie at the river. “Damn, but her sass is intoxicating.” As Richard neared, I stood.
“You could have told me there was nothing between the two of you,” Richard snapped.
“And miss her rant on you? Absolutely not.” I chuckled. “She has a way of opening a person up and exposing the darkest twists of their insides. She looks you right in the eyes when she does it.”
“I can’t keep him from her, can I?” Richard sighed heavily.
“Why are you set upon keeping your brother alone?” I finally looked at him.
His gaze hardened. “You and I both know he’s never alone. My brother’s love is not enough to justify what you will do to her every time his back is turned.”
His words bit, but I didn’t even blink. “Who said anything about love? Ander is in lust, plain and simple. I wouldn’t let him try to convince himself otherwise. Once Ritchie is sent to school, we won’t need a governess for another several years. She’ll be gone.” Oddly, the words nearly choked me to say them.
“You don’t look as if you believe what you say.” Richard accused. When I didn’t answer, he turned and strode back to the manor.
“He’s right you know,” I said aloud as Leander eased from the back of my mind. "You said she makes you weak." I glanced to the riverbank where Elizabeth and Ritchie had resumed their search. “Sooner or later, I will seduce her.”
You won’t. I won’t allow it.
Chapter Seventeen
“What are you doing out here?” I watched Sebastian turn slowly and face me in the darkness. The wall in my mind solidified. Leander wanted nothing to do with the man standing in front of me. As always, he hid in the shadows of our mind, blocking out as much of what was going on as he could.
Sebastian Overton had aged since we were boys, and gray feathered his temples. But he was still as strong as he’d always been. I could feel that strength when I looked into his dark eyes.
“Just passing by.” He glanced across the estate toward the manor. “A man can look in on his own home.”
“Leander doesn’t want you here.”
He grunted. “No, I suppose he doesn’t. Is that why he sent you?”
I crossed my arms. “He didn’t send me.”
Sebastian sneered. “Of course he did. You don’t do anything he doesn’t allow. You never have. You're content with lurking around in the dark hours, while he lives out his life in the light.”
“One could say the same for you,” I pointed out. “Why are you here?” I knew why. He couldn’t leave. Like the rest of us, he was bound to his home, to what he loved. “That governess is trouble.”
I had an urge to lunge at him, and he must have sensed it because his gaze slanted in my direction. “Someone has to look after your son’s bastards.”
He stiffened, but did not verbally acknowledge my comment. “I’ve considered putting an end to the trouble she brings. I see her traipsing about at night. It would be easy enough to take away that which has you all salivating like dogs for her.” I knew he was baiting me.
I shrugged as if I didn’t care. “Ander will kill you if you do.”
He faced me fully. “And why don’t you? Aren’t you supposed to protect him? Isn’t that what you do? If not, what is the point of your existence?” His words hit their mark deep in my chest.
“I do as I wish. I always have. She’s no threat to me.” I shrugged again, but every muscle in my body had tensed. “Why should I care what kind of damage she does to your son?”
His smile was cruel. “Because you are weak. You need Leander. You can’t be whole without him.” I gritted my back teeth together as he continued. “You live because he allows you to. You feed because he allows you to. There is nothing you can do without his consent. You're nothing more than a little lap dog who sits on command.”
My fists clenched at my sides, but I couldn’t find it in me to attack. Just as when I was a child, I found myself standing there taking the brunt of the man’s cruelty, shielding Leander from him as I’d always done.
Sebastian turned toward Blakewood again. “How is your mother?”
“Better off without you.”
His head snapped around, and his eyes narrowed looking more like a serpent than a man. “I asked you how she was.”
I shoved my hands into my pockets. “She seems happy to me, perhaps even relieved. We’ve agreed to introduce her to some of the older gentlemen in London. It won’t take her long to find a new husband.”
He moved quicker than I’d anticipated, and his cold fingers wrapped around my throat as his eyes blacked completely out. “I warn you not to say things like that to me.” His hand tightened. I had no time to react. Leander was there instantly, pushing through the barrier that divided us like a bull breaking free its fence. He forced the transformation so fast that the pain was blinding in the change from man to full vampire as he shoved me into the calm of darkness.
“Take your hand off of me, or I will rip it from your body.” I shook with fury and Father’s hand instantly fell away. He took a step back. I saw the surprise in his eyes of how quickly I’d surfaced.
“Then keep that dog of yours under thumb,” he warned.
“I told you not to come back here. I say nothing when Marcus visits you in London. I don’t like it, but it’s his decision. However, you are not welcomed at Blakewood. Keep away.” I met his gaze and then turned.
“Leander,” he called after me, but I wanted nothing more to do with him. Marcus moved forward, knowing I was finished. I was thankful when I felt the gentleness of his transformation begin, feeling guilt for having blasted mine onto him. Settle back, Ander. I can handle him.
*****
I stopped and looked back at Sebastian, a feeling of satisfaction in my heart. Through Leander’s eyes, I’d seen the fear in his father’s expression. Leander wasn’t the child
anymore. He wasn’t afraid of Sebastian’s temper.
“So it's you again.” Sebastian scowled.
Through that satisfaction, a small bit of pity found its way into my chest. It had been the first glimpse Sebastian had seen of his son since Sebastian had been thrown out of Blakewood. Despite the hardness in those sharp angles of his face, I could see the pain there behind his eyes. He was cruel and sometimes seemed outright heartless, but the truth was—and I seemed to be the only one to know it—Sebastian loved Blakewood and his family. He had left when Leander had thrown him out, hurt and shamed by his son’s rejection. He was hurt and shamed still, I could sense it on him like a dark cloak. Unwanted and cast away, he would remain on the outskirts looking in at what he still felt was his, unable to turn his back on them all together.
“Give him time,” I murmured.
Sebastian’s gaze darted away. “That governess is outside tonight. I can smell her.”
Yes, I could too. I walked away from him, following her scent. There is no amount of time that will make me accept him. Leander’s thoughts shook from the back of my mind.
“He is your father,” I said aloud.
Not by my choosing, he argued. And you were right. If he gets near Elizabeth, I will kill him.
“I’m insulted you think him a bigger threat to her than I am.” I fell quiet when I spotted her walking toward the stables. A light shone from beneath the doors indicating George was still in there, but Mildred wasn’t with Elizabeth tonight.
Looks like she might have grown bored with waiting for you, I taunted silently as I made myself invisible so I could follow her undetected.
When she opened the door, I slipped in so closely behind her that I could have touched her. She looked back over her shoulder as if somehow she sensed me there, but her gaze swept through me and into the darkness outside.
“Where is Mildred?”
She faced forward as George stepped into view from one of the empty stables. His shirt was unbuttoned and pulled free from his trousers. I moved out of the way as Elizabeth closed the door, a flush coloring her cheeks.
“She’s too embarrassed to come to you tonight,” Elizabeth said softly. “She asked me to come here and explain.”
George cocked his head to the side, and I saw his attention drag up and down Elizabeth’s figure while she kept her gaze averted. “Explain what exactly?”
Her hands swept over her hips, smoothing down her skirts. “Mildred is pregnant.”
Hell. Leander’s thoughts reflected his surprise, but I wasn’t. That little redhead had been visiting the stables for longer than three months. It was a miracle it hadn't happened sooner.
“That’s what she told you?” George frowned, clearly not happy with the news.
“She didn’t recognize the symptoms, but I did. She’d thought she was just ill. I had to tell her that I believed it was more than just sickness.” Elizabeth clasped her hands together, looking as uncomfortable as George. “When it becomes apparent to everyone, which I do believe will be in the next month or so, it would be best if the two of you were already wed and living as man and wife.”
George stared at her for several seconds then laughed, holding up his hands. “Slow down, Elizabeth. I’m not marrying anyone just because one woman thinks another might be with child. I’ll want to know for certain that she is pregnant and then if it’s actually our relationship that made her that way.”
Elizabeth gasped. “She’s not been with any other men. She’s too besotted with you to even think of another.”
George pointed a finger at her. “Now, you don’t know that for sure.”
“I do know it for certain. It is ridiculous and offensive to think otherwise of her!” Elizabeth met George’s gaze fearlessly. I watched George take a step closer, and his gaze softened. I knew that look. Things were about to get very ugly.
“No, Mildred probably hasn’t been with another man. She's not like some women who bounce around between men letting them crawl between her legs one after another.”
Elizabeth nodded though the uncertainty of his words and change in demeanor reflected in her expression. “Absolutely, she is not that kind of woman.”
“Sometimes it’s a pity. A woman like that knows more things to do to please a man. She doesn’t worry of what’s considered indecent. She enjoys men and all their tastes as much as she wants them to enjoy her and hers.” George moved closer still.
Elizabeth’s chin lifted. “I’m certain I don’t know what you mean.”
“Yes, you do.” George purred softly as he reached out to run a finger along the lace at her wrists. “I admit, I didn’t see it in you that first day I brought you to Blakewood. You were all buttoned up and proper.”
“Certainly you are not insinuating I am the kind you speak of!” She jerked backwards, but he advanced until he had her cornered against the wall.
George shrugged his wide shoulders. “I didn’t really guess when I saw you with Marcus Highcrest out by the fountain that night. But when I watched you walk back to the manor with Mildred the last time she came here to me, and Master Overton stood up from behind the wall where it was obvious you and he’d had a little tryst, I knew then.”
“You are mistaken.” Elizabeth’s words sounded as if squeaked out of a tight throat. “And I don’t appreciate your spying on me.”
“All men want that kind of woman as a lover because she’s the kind that will protect herself from being tied down with children. She’s the kind that would keep their affair a secret so they could continue without jealousy or judgment.” George reached forward to touch her hips. “Did Mildred tell you how it was with me? I can make it good for you.”
Elizabeth placed her hands on his chest and pushed, but he didn’t budge. “Unhand me, George Delaney, or I swear I will take this matter up with Mrs. Loman.”
“No, you won’t. Trust me. You do not want to do anything so rash.” He pinned her against the wall with his body, his voice dropping dangerously soft. “It wouldn’t be good for you or for Mildred.”
I didn’t move, unsure if George was only trying to intimidate Elizabeth or if he meant to actually do her harm. In the back of my mind, I could feel Leander’s temper starting to grow hot. Just wait, I tried to calm him, and see if she can handle him or not. He may be all talk.
“No, George Delaney, it wouldn’t be good for you.” Elizabeth’s chin lifted despite his closeness. “How dare you defame my character in such a way? Do you honestly think that Mister Simpers will take your side while his daughter’s belly grows full of your babe? Don’t be as stupid as you look, George. Your only choice is to do the right thing by her.”
George laughed deep in his chest. “You may be right, but what would London think if they found out about the women in the west wing? A whole wing of employed whores? The master’s business would be ruined, I’d imagine.” He leaned so close that his mouth nearly brushed her cheek. “Blakewood is full of secrets. We can keep mine and Mildred’s as well as any that might happen tonight.”
“You wouldn’t dare!” She lifted her hand as if to slap him, but he caught her wrist and pinned it to the wall beside her. The other, he also grasped and held at the other side. She struggled to free herself, but George was stronger.
“I wouldn’t if you kept your trap shut about me and Mildred and perhaps made it worth my time to keep the Blakewood secrets quiet.” George angled his hips and rubbed lewdly against her. His tongue licked at her jaw, but she didn’t wait to see what he would do next. She turned her face toward him and bit into his cheek.
The coppery scent of his blood exploded in the air moments before he shouted and jerked away from her. I saw the red droplets of her attack on her lips. Before he could recover, she stomped to the door and threw it open. The next moment she was marching toward the manor.
Leander was so angry that my body shook from it. As George rushed past me and to the door as if to go after her, I allowed the invisibility to slip away and gave over to Leand
er’s need to take control or lose it, as it happened. I sank back into the darkness of his mind.
*****
Blinding rage at what I’d witnessed while Marcus did nothing to stop it burned through me. I reached forward and grasped George’s shoulder, whirling him around to face me. His eyes widened with surprise to find me standing where moments before there had been no one.
“You dare threaten to ruin me after I gave you work when no one else would?” I demanded. “Beatrice told me you were trouble, but I didn’t listen. I thought to give you a chance, but tonight you’ve proven her judgment was sound.”