by Shana Galen
“Very well, Lord Nicholas, you made your point,” Sir Gareth said. “Put the vase down, and we’ll discuss the situation like gentlemen.”
Nick looked at the brothers, whose gazes were riveted on the vase, and then back at the vase. “I don’t think so.” The vase was the only leverage he had. He was going to strap it across his chest and sleep with it at night. “I’m not putting this vase down until I speak with my wife.”
“Fine!” Thomas said, waving his hands nervously. “Just don’t drop it.”
“Bloody hell,” George moaned. “If he breaks that vase we’re all done for.”
“Go fetch my wife,” Nick said, punctuating each word with a shake of the vase. Thomas and Devlin held out restraining hands while Charles and George shrank back, cringing. William just shook his head as though he knew the executioner was on the way.
“I’ll get her,” Sir Gareth said. “Don’t move.”
Nick nodded, watching the brothers and holding the vase aloft. He rubbed his aching nose on his sleeve, leaving a trail of blood on the superfine. Bloody hell, but his valet was going to have something to say about this, and Nick didn’t even have a ship to escape on any more.
Sir Gareth started for the door, but before he reached it, it swung open all on its own. The men turned, except Nick who was facing the door, facing his wife.
She stepped inside the drawing room, her brows winging upward in bemusement. Under those brows, her sea-green eyes were the same impossibly beautiful color he remembered. Her upswept hair was simple yet elegant with blond curls falling about the shoulders of her white gown. Such a gown might have made other women with pale hair and skin look like death, but Ashley glowed. Her cheeks were pink, her hair shiny, her lips red, her body…best he not look at her body with all of her brothers in the room and thirsting for his blood.
He knew the precise moment her gaze found him because her smile faded, as did the color in her cheeks. How it pained him to be the one who took the smile from her lips. That had never been his goal. He would have done anything at that moment to bring it back. Seeing her now, he did not know how he had lived a single day without her. He hadn’t lived. He’d merely existed, and he could go on merely existing, but God help him, he did not want that fate. He wanted her.
She took a breath. “Lord Nicholas,” she said, her tone formal and icy. How he longed for the sound of her voice when she first woke, low and husky and so incredibly warm.
“Lady Nicholas. I hoped we might speak for a few minutes.” He looked at the Brittany men. “Privately.”
“No!” Charles protested.
“Absolutely not!” This from Sir Gareth.
“Over my dead body!” Devlin said.
Nick turned on him. “I’d be happy to oblige.”
“Out,” Ashley said simply, pointing to the drawing room doors behind her.
“But Ashley,” Thomas protested.
“Out!” She looked at her father. “Would you mind, sir?”
He let out a breath, looked from his daughter to Nick and back again. “I suppose I can grant you a minute or two. But I’ll be right outside the door.”
“Thank you.”
He started through the door then looked back at Nick. “You’d better do something about the vase.”
She nodded. And then the door closed behind him, and they were alone. And all of Nick’s carefully planned speeches faded away. He could not think of a single word to say. Ashley spoke for him. “I think you’d better put down the vase. It’s my mother’s favorite. She’s threatened us with death if any harm befalls it, and I do believe she means it.” She held out her hand. “Give it to me.”
He crossed the room, stepping over a cushion, and placed the vase in her hand. She set it carefully on the floor, out of the way, but Nick kept his gaze on it. He might need it again. When she stood again, he reached for her, but she pulled back.
TWENTY
“I’d prefer it if you didn’t touch me,” she said, sounding so prim and proper she hardly recognized her own voice. To her surprise, Nick withdrew his hand. When she’d rehearsed that speech in her mind, she’d thought he would ignore her, pull her into his arms anyway, and kiss her senseless. But she’d been wrong about him. She’d always been wrong about him.
But, of course, that wasn’t fair. She was the one who’d changed the rules. She’d said she didn’t want marriage, didn’t want a husband and children, but she’d changed her mind. Oh, she still wanted adventure. Truth be told, she wanted it all. Nick could give her the adventure. He could be her husband, but he couldn’t love her.
She wanted it to be enough that he was here today. He’d finally come for her. But his presence wasn’t enough. Why had he waited? Why didn’t he sweep her off her feet and carry her forcibly to that new town house he’d rented, presumably for her, and never let her go? Why did he stand here looking at her warily, as though she were a wild animal about to attack? Why couldn’t he just love her?
“Rissa has been asking about you,” he said, clasping his hands behind his back and looking a great deal like his brother, the marquess. Rissa. Yes, at least the little girl loved her.
“I’ve been to see her several times. She seems to be getting on well with the nannies I sent. Really, Nick, you needn’t have hired all three.”
“How am I supposed to know what to do?” he said, unclasping his hands and holding them out. “I need your help, Ashley. I need you.”
She waited, but that was all he said. “It’s not enough, Nick.”
“Then what do you want?”
“More.”
“More?” His face was red now, still handsome, even in anger. “I have given you everything I ever cared about. I walked away from the battle with Yussef. Do you know how long I’d been plotting my revenge?” He was stalking toward her now, and she was forced to take a step back or he’d have plowed her over. “But for you, because you asked me, because you kept telling me revenge was not the solution, I walked away. You made your way into my head with all your arguments, and I listened, and that murdering pirate is still loose on the seas.”
It was true. He had done that for her. Now, she wished he hadn’t. She wished the two of them had never met.
“I gave up my ship for you, so we could come home.”
She took another step back and her knees hit a chair. Abruptly, she sat.
“The Robin Hood meant everything to me, but you, Ashley, mean more. What kind of husband would I make if I stayed a pirate? What kind of father? I gave it up, and I haven’t looked back. And still it’s not enough. What do you want from me? What is enough for you?”
She felt tears sting her eyes. She was so weary of weeping. She’d wept so much the past days, she didn’t think she had any more tears in her. “I want it all,” she whispered. “I want you. All of you.” She looked into his eyes, so clear and blue. His face, so strong and handsome. “I want you to love me.”
“Would I have done all of that if I didn’t?”
She held her breath. Perhaps he did love her after all. Yussef and the ship might have been his sacrifices, but she’d fallen in love with him when he’d seen her disfigured leg and wanted her anyway. Wasn’t that another show of love? She tried to rise, to take him in her arms, but she could not. She needed the words. She needed to know he meant them. She wanted what Catie had, what Josie had, and from what she had heard, what Maddie and Lord Blackthorne had.
She should have called on her friends, instead of hiding away, but what would she say when they asked about Lord Nicholas? That she loved him, but he didn’t love her back? She didn’t want their looks of pity before the three of them returned to their loving husbands and she returned to a cold bed.
Ashley took a breath. “I’m not seeking to separate or d-divorce.” What an awful word. “I would never put my family or yours through that sort of scandal. We can remain married, but for now I want to live apart. I need time to think. Perhaps, in a few months, we might speak again, and circumstances might b
e different.”
Perhaps she could live without love.
She stood. “I think you had better take your leave.”
Nick stared at her. He was going to lose her. He, captain of the Robin Hood, who’d never lost a battle, was going to lose the one thing he cared about. But she was being unreasonable. She wanted too much—his very heart and soul. Fine. He’d give her the time she wanted. Maybe she’d miss him and come running back.
He started to move toward the door to the drawing room, wondering if he should grab the vase in case he needed leverage to make his exit, but his feet would not cooperate. He could not leave her. He was a man with perfect instincts, and he knew this was his last chance. If he did not win her now, he lost her forever.
He sank to his knees in front of her, surprising even himself. A cold sweat had formed on his brow, and his heart was pounding too fast. She looked up at him, surprise on her lovely face, and his heart steadied a bit. He’d lost everyone he ever loved, but he would lose her now if he didn’t love her.
And he did. He loved her enough to kneel before her, take her small, cold hand in his, and say, “Ashley Brittany, the first time I ever saw you, I fell in love with you. Hopelessly in love with you.” His voice was shaking and the words were stilted. He hadn’t known he would say them, hadn’t realized they were true, until now. “I had to have you, and like the rogue I was, I seduced you. I want to be sorry for that, but I’m not. I’ve never regretted anything with you. Not taking your innocence, not marrying you, not choosing you time and time again.”
She was staring at him, eyes wide. “Nick.” She tried to pull her hand away. Instead, he pulled her to her feet and into his embrace. He was not letting her go. Not now. Not ever.
“The truth is”—his whole body was shaking now—”I have lost everyone I ever loved. My friend, my father, my…mother.” He lowered his head, willing his body to stop shaking. “I was there when she died…when she was murdered. I saw it all, and I died that day. I don’t think I can find the will to live again if I lose someone else I love that much.”
“Nick.” Tears were in her eyes when he looked up at her. “I understand. You don’t have to say it.”
“But I do because the only thing worse than losing the woman I love is losing her because I didn’t love her enough. I love you, Ashley.” And with those words a sudden calm came over him, like the ocean after a fierce storm. The next were easier. “I love you more than my life. I cannot live without you in my life. I don’t want to live without you in my life.”
Now was the moment he would beg her to go home with him, but he wasn’t going to beg. He wasn’t going to ask. He couldn’t leave this to chance. In one quick movement, he swept her into his arms. “What are you doing?” she cried.
“I’m abducting you.”
“You don’t have to do that!” she said on a laugh. That was a good sign, wasn’t it?
“You’re coming home with me, and I’ll keep you there until I can convince you I love you. I’ll serve you breakfast in bed, buy you an hundred gowns, take you to every godawful ball, and take you to bed, Ashley. We are going to spend a lot of time in bed, and every time I touch you, every time you cry my name, I’m going to tell you that I love you.”
“Alright,” she whispered.
He was striding across the room, still holding her in his arms. But now he paused. “What did you say?”
“I said yes. I’m going home with you. And Nick?” She wrapped her arms around his neck. “I love you too.” She kissed him then, and the feel of her sweet mouth on his was like coming home again. He had the urge to lay her back on the chair, but he wasn’t risking those mad brothers of hers returning and murdering him. He wasn’t risking setting her down, either. And so he kissed her back, walking to the door, and kicking it open. Sir Gareth and his sons stood outside, staring at them.
“What’s the meaning of this? Ashley Gweneira Brittany, you come down right now.”
She laughed, and Nick held her tighter against his chest. He loved the sound of her laughter.
“I’m not Ashley Brittany any more,” she said. “I’m Lady Nicholas, and I’m going home with my husband.” She looked up at him. “Nick, take me home.”
“With pleasure.”
EPILOGUE
“Aren’t you going to tell me anything?” Maddie asked.
Ashley pursed her lips, and looked up at the clear, sunny sky. They were strolling in Hyde Park, their white parasols bumping into one another. Rissa and two of her nannies had left them to feed the ducks in the Serpentine, and this was the first opportunity Maddie and Ashley had to speak without interruption from the loquacious child. A few yards ahead of them, Lord Blackthorne and Nick seemed deep in conversation, giving the girls a private moment.
She and Nick had only made their presence in London known three days ago. She’d been expecting her friends to show up on her doorstep at any moment, but she hadn’t minded having Nick all to herself either. She did not know why she had ever been so against marriage. She had adventure. She had happiness. She had never been happier in her life. She had never felt more loved.
Now there were just a few details to arrange. First of all, she had to convince her brothers to stop threatening Nick’s life. Secondly, she had tell Maddie some sort of plausible story about where she had been the past months. After all, she couldn’t tell her the truth.
When she and Nick had discussed it, they’d come up with a fabrication that Ashley thought delightful. It was also to ensure none of her friends had any information about Nick’s role as the captain of the Robin Hood. The navy had launched an investigation into the ship and its captain after the incident with the Formidable, and neither Ashley nor Nick wanted to involve their friends. Ashley would have to lie for the time being, but it would protect Maddie from complicity.
Nick had also received word that Yussef’s ship was at the bottom of the ocean. The note, when he’d shown her, hadn’t been signed, but there was a crude drawing of a lion and a gazelle. She knew it had come from Mr. Chante. Yussef was no more.
At the moment, Ashley just wanted Maddie to stop questioning her.
“What else do you want to know?” Ashley finally said. “I told you what happened.” Or at least a version of it.
Maddie shook her head. “But I don’t believe it.”
“Then you won’t believe the rest.” And Ashley was not going to tell her at any rate.
“So I am supposed to believe that you and Lord Nicholas actually conspired—”
“I wouldn’t have said we conspired. We collaborated.” Oh, this was too amusing. She could not wait to tell Nick when they were alone again.
Maddie sighed. “Fine. You collaborated to ensure that Lord Blackthorne and I married. I find that difficult to accept.”
Ashley would have found it difficult to accept as well. It wasn’t true. Ashley gently changed the topic of conversation. “That’s how I felt when I realized you were eloping with a dog-breeder. Really, Maddie! Someone had to save you!”
Maddie frowned at her. “How did Lord Nicholas become involved? I didn’t even know you were acquainted.”
Ashley bit her lip. Maddie was like a dog with a bone. “That’s a rather long story.”
“I have time.”
She glanced at Nick and Lord Blackthorne. “Lord Nicholas wanted to do his brother a favor. He felt guilty for all the trouble he’d caused over the years.” That sounded reasonable.
“And I was the favor?”
“You needed to be saved and Lord Nicholas thought his brother needed a wife. I thought you two would be perfect together.” That was true enough.
“But that doesn’t explain the innkeeper who chased us, or the Duke of Bleven, or the drunk priest. You cannot possibly have orchestrated all of that!”
Ashley raised her brows. “You underestimate us. A little bribery goes a long way.”
“You bribed the Duke of Bleven!”
Oh, she’d forgotten about that part. “No. T
hat was one factor we hadn’t counted on. I’m sorry he hurt you, Maddie. He was never part of the plan.”
They walked in silence for a moment. Up ahead, Nick slung his arm about Lord Blackthorne’s shoulder. She smiled.
“And what exactly was your relationship with Lord Nicholas?” Maddie asked.
“He’s an old family friend,” Ashley said quickly. Too quickly.
“I see. I find it hard to imagine the two of you consp—collaborating together. You didn’t seem to like each other very much.”
“We’ve had a few...minor difficulties.
“And now?”
“Now?”
“Ashley, stop being so evasive! What are your feelings for Lord Nicholas? You said before that you had trouble resisting him. Are you in love with him?”
“No!” Ashley cleared her throat. Was she being too obvious? Giving all away? “I mean, no. It’s a marriage of convenience. A marriage that worked out rather well for you.”
“I don’t believe any of this. I know you feel something for Lord Nicholas, Ashley, and he for you. I can see it—”
“Maddie!” Ashley rounded on her. “Stop trying to help.”
“I can’t,” she protested quietly.
“Think of something else.”
“Very well. Where have you been all this time?”
“Would you believe kidnapped by pirates?”
“No.”
“I didn’t think so.”
In front of them, the men turned and motioned for them to join him. Maddie gave Ashley one last look. “You know, as much as I love Jack, I do miss our Spinster’s Club.”
“We were its last members.”
“Perhaps we can form a new club.”
Ashley laughed. “Why am I not surprised? Very well, then.” She linked her arm with Maddie and they started toward Nick and Lord Blackthorne. “What shall we call it?”
Maddie smiled. When they reached their husbands, Nick pulled her into his arms and kissed her, heedless of the people in the park. She batted him playfully away.