by Meara Platt
When the lad attempted to dart into the woods, this time to chase squirrels, Thad grabbed him and lifted him onto his shoulders. “Up ye go, Pip. Ye’ll serve as pirate lookout. Let us know when ye see any. Ye’re to sound the warning if there are any marauders lurking in the hedgerows to attack us.”
That earned Thad a rare smile from Penelope who fell into step beside him.
Nathaniel and Poppy lagged behind, apparently engaged in their own conversation.
Beast didn’t mind. It allowed him to concentrate on Goose without comment from anyone. They walked in companionable silence past rows of neatly maintained thatched-roof homes, most with an abundance of red, purple, and pink flowers spilling out of window planters and arched over trellises or merely planted in their front walks.
When they reached the center of town, Thad set Pip down to wreak havoc on the unsuspecting population. Goose quickly took up the slack and grabbed the boy’s hand to march him toward the shops. Penelope and Poppy joined them, leaving Beast and his friends to saunter to the Golden Hart tavern where they could enjoy a pint while waiting for them to finish their shopping.
Beast worried that Goose might feel disappointed not having funds to purchase so much as a ribbon for herself, but Nathaniel seemed to read his mind. “My credit is good here,” he said with a wry smile. “After all, I own this town. I told Poppy that they should all purchase whatever they like and put it on my account.”
Beast nodded.
Thad raised his tankard of ale in silent salute. “Should have thought of it myself, but Pip was busy yanking on my hair and kicking his feet into my ribs. I was concentrating on getting into town in one piece.”
When the shoppers returned, Nathaniel ordered lemonade for them. Beast noticed that all had returned with packages in hand except for Goose. “Did you not find something you liked?”
She cast him a cheerful smile. “Lots, but I don’t really need anything.”
When she finished her lemonade and a light repast that Nathaniel had ordered for all of them, Beast rose and nudged her to her feet. “Come with me.”
“Where are we going?” She pursed her lips and frowned, obviously confused by his intentions.
“To find you something you don’t need.”
She sighed and shook her head, casting him a particularly sweet smile. “Beast, it isn’t necessary.”
“I know. I didn’t say it was.” He held out his arm and waited for her to take it. He didn’t know why the fact she’d returned with nothing rankled him so badly. She did not appear to be bothered by it, which rankled him all the more.
Was she now used to receiving nothing?
“You are quite an odd fellow. Do you know that?” But she went with him, no doubt worried he would make a fuss if she continued to resist his offer. Perhaps she’d noticed the determined frown on his face and realized that further protest was useless. He’d taken charge and was not allowing her to return to Sherbourne Manor empty handed. “So, you’re going to buy me my favorite thing I don’t want?”
“That you don’t need,” he corrected. “Surely, there are a few items that caught your eye.”
“Well, there is a particularly scandalous book Miss Billings has hidden behind her counter–”
“No books.” He chuckled, knowing she was teasing him.
In the end, he bought her a hot cross bun from the bakeshop, liking that the baker, a portly fellow by the name of Reginald Clyde, was genuinely delighted to see Goose. “We missed the sight of yer smiling face, Miss Gosling. Are ye here to stay for the summer?”
“I wish I were, Mr. Clyde. But it is only for the week and then back to London for me.”
The man nodded. “Well, ’tis a shame we won’t see more of ye. Did our hearts good to see ye and Miss Penelope and Miss Poppy come around. Ye’re nice girls. Quality and it shows. Right, Yer Grace?”
“Quite right, Mr. Clyde.” Beast purchased a dozen more buns for their afternoon tea because he saw that Goose enjoyed them. He felt a pang of regret she hadn’t chosen something more permanent, something to remember him by. A pin, a ribbon. A simple locket.
But she had taken pure delight when biting into the sticky confection. The sparkle in her eyes and grin on her face was a pleasure he would not soon forget. However, he resolved to come back into town another day and choose a gift for her that would last beyond five minutes. Of course, he’d also select items for Penelope and Poppy to avoid tongues wagging. He expected Goose would know it was for her.
“That tasted delicious,” Goose said, tossing him an impish smirk as they all walked back to Sherbourne Manor later that afternoon.
He groaned. “We are not talking about that wretched book.”
She gazed up at him innocently. “I was merely discussing the treat you bought me. It looked delicious, too. And smelled heavenly. Ooh, and the touch of that sticky bun on my fingers was–”
She laughingly gave a startled cry in his ear when he picked her up and strode toward the pond. They had turned up the drive to the manor and were near it now. “Beast! Put me down. Don’t you dare toss me in!”
She wrapped her arms around his neck and clung tightly to him as they reached the water’s edge. “You know I can’t swim.”
“Will you stop talking about the five senses?”
“I only mentioned four. I never got to the sense of hearing. Although, I suppose my shrieking in your ear counts.” She laughed, apparently not the least concerned he would follow through on his threat to toss her into the water. She knew he never would.
He stepped away from the edge and was about to set her down, but she held on to him a moment longer. “Thank you for a perfect day, Beast.” She kissed him on the cheek, a light, lingering kiss that was neither sensual nor provocative, but managed to set him on fire anyway.
“It was a good day.” He put her down as the others approached, paying little attention to any of them, for his mind was on the past. He could not recall a nicer day in years. Indeed, he’d have to go back as far as his last summer here to remember a day as fine, and Goose had been a part of it back then as well.
He watched her run back to the house with Penelope and Poppy.
Lord, she still ran like a little goose.
He grinned.
Pip tugged on his hand to gain his attention. “Why didn’t you throw her in? I was sure you were going to do it.”
“No, that would have scared her. She can’t swim. I only meant to tease her, not make her cry. She knew I would never do anything to harm her. She–” She trusted him to protect her.
Pip shook his head. “She ought to learn to swim.”
“Perhaps I’ll teach her someday.” He ran a hand through his hair as the mere thought of holding her warm, naked body against him in the water began to set him on fire again. He had to stop thinking of Goose that way.
That damn book.
“Come on, Pip. Let’s go back to the house.”
The boy nodded. “I like Goose. Do you think her guardian is going to hurt her?”
He placed a comforting arm over the boy’s shoulder. “No, I won’t ever let him.”
*
Olivia awoke early the following day and leaped out of bed. “I hope I haven’t missed it.”
She hastily washed and dressed, then made her way downstairs as quietly as possible, wincing when the front door groaned as she eased it open.
She hadn’t missed it!
She paused on the front steps, the perfect perch to watch the fiery sunrise over the pond and meadow. Usually, they were shrouded in mist at this early hour, but not this morning. There was a lovely quiet to the dawn, a peaceful silence that would soon be broken as others began to stir.
However, all was not completely silent. She listened to the leaves rustling in the breeze and the soft tweet of birds nestled in the trees. A few butterflies flitted from bush to bush, their golden wings hardly flapping as they glided on the wind.
She shaded her eyes with one hand and glanced up to st
are at the white tufts of clouds floating overhead against a sky of rich magenta streaked with deep pinks, purples, and bursts of orange. Those brilliant colors would soon give way to shades of blue.
Her gaze then shifted to the pond, for the sun’s rays glistened on the water like diamonds caught in firelight. “Splendid,” she muttered and took a deep breath. “Oh, I’m going to miss this.”
She decided to walk to the pond, but had not taken a single step before she noticed someone come out of the trees where the men removed their clothes to go for a swim.
Obviously, one of them had taken a morning dip.
And he hadn’t bothered to don his shirt, thinking he was alone at this early hour, so he’d left it dangling casually over his shoulder. Her heart skipped a beat upon recognizing Beast striding toward her, his splendid warrior body on grand display.
There was something about Beast that made her heart flutter and her breath catch. He was rugged perfection. Broad shoulders, trim waist, and muscled arms. But there was more to him than merely the fine cut of his figure, or the gleaming waves of his golden hair. He continued toward the house under the soft rays of morning sunlight, unaware she was watching him.
She stood in place, waiting for him to notice her.
He hadn’t looked up and seemed lost in his own thoughts, and while she stood too far away to clearly see his eyes, she’d looked into them often enough to know there was a compelling beauty and intelligence reflected in their amber-green depths.
“Beast, your eyepatch,” she said in a whisper, nibbling her lip in consternation. He always wore it to cover his one bad eye. But he wasn’t wearing it now. No doubt, because he expected no one to be about at this hour.
Should she slip back inside the house? Pretend she hadn’t seen him?
The decision was taken from her when he chose that moment to glance up.
“No help for it now,” she muttered, remaining on the front steps and watching as he strode toward her. She could not tell if he was frowning or smiling, but he did not appear angry when he finally reached her side.
Her breaths had been erratic when she’d first spotted him. Now, she was unable to breathe at all. Mercy. His hair was wet and beads of water were trailing down his neck and across his exquisitely broad chest. The gold hairs along his chest were also damp, as was the bronzed skin along his muscled shoulders. “What are you doing up at this hour, Goose?”
He did not appear at all embarrassed to be caught without his shirt or his eyepatch.
She felt a blaze of heat run up her cheeks, for she could not tear her gaze away from him. His lips softly curled into a smile, revealing he knew it.
“Um,” she replied, not so cleverly.
She was standing on the first step, but still had to look up to meet his gaze. She made the mistake of casting a glimpse downward, her eyes drawn to the light dusting of golden hair that began at his chest and tapered as it disappeared below his navel and into his trousers. Fortunately, he hadn’t noticed her gawking since he’d been donning his shirt and had it over his head at the time.
She was struggling not to make a dithering fool of herself. “Um, I love the sunrise. My… um, room at Gosling Hall overlooked the meadow. I would wake up with the sun each morning and toss open my window to peer out at the grazing deer and the birds chattering in the trees. The deer should be coming out to forage at any moment. Ah, and here are the first. A doe and her two yearlings.”
He grinned at her, obviously amused by her discomfort and then followed her gaze toward the meadow. “Have you been back to your home since Lord Gosling took guardianship over you?”
“No.” She recovered a bit of her composure now that he was not looking directly at her. “I miss it. I’ve wanted to walk over there ever since we arrived, but I’m afraid of what I might find. He dismissed the staff so there’s been no upkeep for the last two years.”
“That’s a shame.”
“Oh, Beast, why do some men act the way they do? It would have cost him so little to maintain a groundskeeper and small staff.”
“I know,” he said gently, his gaze still fixed on the nearby meadow. “I have no answer for that. Some men are just too petty and mean to see beyond their own selfish interests.”
“I heard endless lectures on why he had to stint because my father hadn’t properly managed our funds. I really miss the place. It held such happy memories for me. I might go over there after breakfast.”
He nodded. “I’ll go with you.”
“Thank you, I’d appreciate your company. But you don’t have to.”
He laughed softly. “Yes, I do. Those tricks you’ve learned from that damn book may have roused my sense receptacles… in a good way… too good at times. But it also works in the opposite direction. Your guardian has roused my ire and I mean to do something about it.”
Her eyes widened in surprise. “What are you going to do?”
Although he knew she was staring at him, he kept his gaze on the meadow. “It depends.”
“On what?”
He finally turned toward her. “On what he’s done to hurt you. If he’s allowed the house to fall into ruin merely to spite you…”
“Don’t worry about me, Beast. He can take away my piano. He can neglect my house. But he can’t take away who I am or what I feel inside.” She smiled at him and hesitantly reached out to touch his cheek just below his injured eye.
“Don’t, Goose.” He stopped her hand by gently wrapping it in his before she could do what she’d intended. “I didn’t think anyone would be up yet. I left my eyepatch in my bedchamber. Don’t stare. I know it looks hideous.”
“I’m sorry. It wasn’t my intention to make you uncomfortable. It’s a terrible injury, but it is also a part of you, so how can it ever be hideous to me?” She eased her hand out of his and placed it against his cheek, careful not to touch the area near his wounded eye. “You are a most magnificent beast. One I care for dearly.”
She thought he’d draw her hand away again, but instead, he turned his face so his lips touched the palm of her hand.
He placed a light kiss against her palm.
Then another on the inside of her wrist.
Her legs turned liquid and her body began to tingle. She was eager for more, but that was all he did before pulling away and taking a step back to study her.
“That felt nice, Beast.”
He arched an eyebrow and cast her a rueful smile. “Too nice. I shouldn’t have done that. We agreed the senses of touch and taste were too dangerous.”
She laughed and shook her head. “So is the look of you. My heart is fluttering. But I suppose you have that effect on all women. You certainly knew what you were doing when you kissed my palm and wrist.”
He climbed onto the first step so they were now on even footing. He was a full head taller and so much broader in the shoulders. Despite being of average height, she felt small next to him. His arms were as solid as granite. What would it feel like to trail her fingers over the hard muscles and experience that forbidden sensation of touch?
No, better not. Her sense receptacles were already ridiculously aroused after the intoxicating way he’d just touched her.
“I don’t know how I affect other women. It doesn’t matter. You are not like any other, Goose. Don’t ever think you are just one of the crowd.” He tucked a finger under her chin and tipped her head up to meet his gaze. “Any man of worth will recognize the quality in you instantly. You don’t need to arouse a man’s sense receptacles with any tricks from that book. Just be yourself and you will set male hearts aflutter.”
“Is yours fluttering now?”
He cast her a wry smile. “No. My heart never flutters. I suppose that’s why I make a very poor test frog. Although you seem to have had some victories over me.”
“I hardly think those count since I was only appealing to your baser, male brain function. Those tests would have worked on any man. I haven’t had any success yet appealing to the part of your brain
that controls falling in love.”
“Ah, the higher brain function. The one that forms the deep and lasting connections. Are you sure?”
She regarded him curiously. “About you falling in love with me?” She laughed softly. “I think we can agree there is no danger of that.”
“You’re overlooking the fact that I kissed your hand.”
“In a lovely and seductive way,” she said with a nod. “How is it different from the way you’d kiss any other woman?”
“No different, I suppose. But there’s no one like you, Goose. If I gave my sense receptacles free rein, I’d kiss you. And keep on kissing you.”
Her eyes rounded in surprise. “You would?”
He nodded.
“I wouldn’t stop you.”
He cast her a mock look of horror. “Then I had better stop myself. Once I get started, there’s no telling where those kisses will lead.”
Someplace wonderful, she expected.
To her great disappointment, he drew away and climbed the remaining two steps into the house. “I’ll see you at breakfast.”
She waited for him to disappear inside before setting off for the meadow. However, she remained on the edges, not wishing to disturb the deer as they now emerged from the woods between Sherbourne Manor and Gosling Hall and wandered through the tall grass to munch on shrubs.
A majestic buck joined the others.
He reminded her of Beast, the way he watched protectively over those in his herd. This buck, she presumed, had mated with each of the four does, and the young deer were all his offspring. It brought to mind the description of males in The Book of Love, spreading their seed wide. Did this male love one doe in particular?
She was fascinated by the nuances of their movements and lost track of time. She must have been standing out there longer than she’d realized, for Beast surprised her when he came back to her side. “Woolgathering, Goose?”
She shook her head in denial. “I was watching the deer, the way the dominant male interacted with the females in his herd.”
Beast groaned. “That book again. Everyone’s awake and gathering for breakfast. Care to join us?”
“I’ll be along shortly. It’s lovely out here.” After a moment, she sighed and took his offered arm as they walked back to the house. Beast was dressed now and sported his eyepatch.