When a Scot Loves a Lady fc-1

by Katharine Ashe

  She went within, taking his hand to draw him into a lady’s chamber of elegant simplicity. No gilding decorated the furniture of fine quality yet little ornamentation, no flounces lined the bed draped in plain brocaded silk. It did not surprise him. She needed no contrived embellishments to make her a woman, no feminine arts to render her beautiful. But the colors were all rich and warm, like her soul beneath the cool surface.

  “How many guineas will I be obliged to part with to hold the servants’ tongues, do you think?” She seemed thoughtful.

  “I will see to it that they do not speak of this.”

  She turned a curious regard on him. “Do you have that sort of power?”

  “Influence, perhaps. And associates. And not only in this.” He drew her to him. “They wish me to take a position in the Home Office.”

  “Here in London?”

  “Paris.”

  “I see.” Her gaze dipped to his waistcoat. “Your friends gave me to believe that the charade we are all enacting now would allow you to finally quit. Did they lie?”

  “I have yet to find the man who shot you, Kitty.” He stroked his thumb across her palm and she released a little sigh, her eyelids fluttering.

  “You are still involved because I am in danger?” Her voice was thin.

  “Do you wish the truth?”

  Her eyes widened. “Of course.”

  “If I refuse they will not leave you alone. They will ask you to assist them again, and if you refuse they will ask again, until you have agreed like you did this time. After that, you will have no peace.”

  A flurry of thoughts seemed to pass behind the thunderclouds. Leam wished he could read them, wished he could have invented a reason that she might believe. But he could not lie to her, not even to spare her pain.

  “I—” Her throat seemed to catch. “Why don’t I go to Paris then?” The corner of her mouth curved up uncertainly. “They cannot very well pester me there.” Her brow furrowed. “Or I suspect they could.

  Instead I will go to Italy. I have always wanted to see Italy. Or Greece. The Parthenon, and most particularly the ruins of the temple to the oracle at Delphi. Perhaps even a few islands. And Egypt, of course. That would be quite distant. Oh, how I would adore seeing Eg—” He pressed his mouth to her beautiful lips. “You are clever enough,” he murmured, “that no doubt they would pursue you even to the tops of the pyramids at Cairo.”

  She freed herself, laughing.

  “The East Indies, then? Emily wishes to visit the East. I could accompany her on her tour. If I ceaselessly moved around they might grow weary of pursuing me.” Her brows quirked up. “Are spies truly that persistent?”

  “Some.”

  “Are you?”

  “I was never a spy. But, yes, I was that persistent.”

  “You won’t continue with it now, will you?” Her gaze seemed to retreat.

  He nodded.

  “I see.” She placed her palm softly on his chest and her lashes dipped once more. “Touch me, please, Leam. Touch me now.”

  He stroked the swell of her breast and she sighed, her eyes closing. She was exquisite, asking him to give her pleasure and nothing else when he would give her everything if she requested it. His fingers sought the sleeves of her shimmering gown and drew the scraps of fabric over her shoulders.

  “‘A creature sent from Heaven to stay on earth, and show a miracle made sure.’” He touched his lips to her satin skin, sensing the quiver in her body, his own hands not entirely steady. “That you might have worn this gown for anyone but me fills me with jealousy.”

  “I wore it for myself.” She lifted her lashes, regarding him through curtains over the soft gray.

  “But if you wish, I will wear it for you the next time. Now remove it, if you please. And—and everything else.”

  As at the inn, in an instant the confident woman became a girl. He could not bear to hurt her. He could not bear to bring her more unhappiness. So he gave her pleasure while he could.

  Doing as she bid, he unfastened the elegant gown and it lay where it fell as he undressed her, discarding the layers of her cloak of sophistication. Only hazy need lit her eyes as he carried her to the bed and there touched her as she desired. He kissed her body, beauty formed of woman made for pleasure, her shoulders and waist, her breasts and the sweet curve of her hip. Easily she rose to his caresses, eagerly her slender hands explored him, driving him mad as they grew more confident. Her lips on him, and tentative tongue, undid him wholly. He could wait no longer.

  “Kitty, love, give me yourself.”

  She did, her hair cascading across the counterpane, eyes half lidded in passion. He entered her and her back arched, her peaked breasts jutting up as her lips parted and she pressed her palms to the mattress. Embedded in her heat, he could not draw breath. His chest seemed compressed, his heart struggling for its every beat.

  Her gaze came to his.

  “Leam?” she whispered.

  “Kitty, I—” He could not speak.

  She laid her hand upon his chest, then trailed her fingers down to his waist, then around to the small of his back.

  “Do you remember in Shropshire when you promised you would make it last?” The velvet caress of her voice stroked his senses like her hand on his skin. She slid her knee up, the satin of her thigh cradling him. “Make it last now. Please.”

  She spoke with her body but there was something more in her eyes, something he barely dared hope. Trust.

  He made it last. As long as he reasonably could. She was tight and wet, and despite her words, impatient, a woman of passion whose body had barely known pleasure. Leam gave her what she asked for, bringing her to the edge with his mouth and hands, then again, until she whimpered, begging for release. When her shudders caressed his cock, her lips breathing his name, he let himself have her fully, possessing her so that she convulsed again, gasping and clutching at him in surprise.

  She clung, trembling, her eyes closed and breathing fast. Catching his own breath he stroked damp tresses from her brow and kissed her parted lips. She opened onto him her rainclouds, and there was no longer any place for Leam’s heart but in her.

  “Thank you,” she whispered.

  His chest constricted. He brushed his thumb across her lower lip reddened from his kisses.

  “If you continually thank me for making love to you,” he managed to utter, “I shall at some point grow too embarrassed to do so effectively.”

  Her lips curved up. “I do not entirely understand what you mean, but in any case I do not believe that is possible.”

  “Let us not find out, shall we?” he said tenderly enough, but his brow seemed taut and he drew away, leaving Kitty suddenly lighter, and cold. He only went far enough to gather the blanket and pull it over her, once again stroking the hair from her face when she turned onto her side. But he did not hold her. Instead he rested on his back and passed his hand across his mouth and jaw.

  Kitty drew in steadying breaths, willing her heartbeats to slow. This was what it was to be a man’s mistress. To give him her body. To make love to him in her bed—or on a kitchen countertop, apparently—until she knew only him. And to pretend in public that they barely knew each other. And to not really completely understand him. Still, to fear him a little. Mostly to fear the power he had over her.

  “Kitty, my son is not my own.” His face illuminated in the flickering light from the hearth was drawn, his cheekbones and jaw hard. The blanket came only to his hips, the masculine strength of his arms and chest taut with tension.

  “Who is his father?” she finally whispered.

  He turned his head and met her gaze. “My brother. And I had him murdered for it.”

  Kitty’s heart turned over, and her stomach. “The duel?”

  “I arranged it.” He looked again at the canopy above. “I meant only to frighten him. And, I suppose, to threaten him. I was insane with jealousy.”

  “Then you did not—did not want him to die?” She knew the a
nswer already. She would not love him so if he were capable of that sort of hatred.

  “No.” He shook his head. “But he deloped. And as his opponent’s tricks with a pistol were well known to him, he chose to step into the shot intended to pass him by.”

  For a long moment the only sound in the chamber was the soft hiss of flames in the grate.

  “My wife disappeared shortly after that,” he finally said. “I think she feared for my sanity. She told her family she was going on holiday with me. But she was not. She left the baby in Scotland and came here to hide, I think. They found her two months later in the Thames. She had apparently been there for some time.”

  A soft bluster of warm air rose from the hearth, sending the light dancing along walls and bedding and the man beside her who had told her a horror story.

  “Does your son know?”

  “No one knows. None among the living.”

  “Why did you tell me?”

  He shifted onto his side and took her hand. “Because,” he said roughly, “I would have no secrets between us. And because I am by nature a jealous man.”

  “How jealous?”

  His brow creased. “I should think that is now obvious.”

  “You did not mind it when you thought I was flirting with Mr. Yale at the inn.”

  “I did.”

  “You did not.”

  “Then he is an exception.”

  “What about Mr. Cox?”

  His face went still. “I was. Very much so.”

  She wanted to tell him he hadn’t anything to concern himself over, that her heart was thoroughly his and no other man would ever touch it. But she kept her counsel. She was at least wise enough to know she must not continue to set herself in comparison to his adored wife.

  She drew her hand away and tucked it into the coverlet against her chest.

  “Kitty, I read the file on Poole.” His voice remained low. “He was a villain.”

  She hadn’t thought she had any breath left to give, but a sound ushered forth, soft and short.

  “I hope the man courting your mother is not as well.”

  She nodded, swallowing past the tears gathering at the back of her throat. “Do you think this trap will work?”

  “If he is guilty.”

  “Must you really go there in the morning yourself?”

  He nodded. Then, watching her, his brow furrowed anew. He leaned up on his elbow.

  “Kitty, you are not thinking of going. Do not tell me you are.”

  “Then I will not tell you. But I will be withholding the truth. I told Lord Chamberlayne I would meet him there.”

  “No.”

  “Yes. I must be completely convincing. What sort of self-respecting jilted woman would not wish to actually see her lover ruined? I cannot simply leave it to faith. That would be contrary to what Lord Chamberlayne knows of me, after all. What everyone knows.”

  “He agreed to it?”

  “I told him he hadn’t any choice.”

  “Kitty, this is foolhardy.” His eyes looked intense. “If Gray’s suspicions are accurate, Chamberlayne cannot be happy believing I know the location of the ship’s cargo.”

  “But I must know if he is guilty. Do you think this is easy for me, Leam? Betraying my mother so that I do not betray my country?”

  “No.” He captured her hand and pressed her palm to his lips. “I know it cannot be. But if I believe you to be in danger, I will not be at my best.”

  She squeezed her eyes shut, his words bittersweet. “It is too … complicated.”

  He did not respond. Instead he cupped his hand around her face and kissed her. She reached for his arms, running her palms along his smooth muscles.

  “Kitty.” He stroked the side of her breast. “Do you wish me to remain here for a while yet tonight?”

  “Yes.” She could not lie. “More than I can say.” Good riddance, wisdom and circumspection! Her tongue would reveal her, after all, it seemed.

  His thumb passed over her hardening nipple, sending a tingling ache into every part of her.

  “Then promise me,” he whispered, “that you will not go to the meeting tomorrow morning.” His hand tortured, his hip shifting against hers.

  “Blackmail does not become you, my lord,” she uttered, then gasped as he touched her between her legs. She had not known this was possible, to be roused so easily so many times in one night. But she was still hot from their lovemaking and so easily stirred by his touch.

  “Promise me.” He caressed and she was lost.

  “Yes,” she breathed. Then again, “Yes,” when he came inside her with his finger. And again, “Yes,” when he made her come with only his hand, slowly and beautifully, his mouth caressing her breasts, the need inside her now perpetually longing for him.

  Then he gave her more. And he made it last even longer than before, until she was nothing but liquid pleasure to do with as he willed. Which she had been from the start, in any case, in a tiny inn in Shropshire when she had believed the worst thing in life could be surrendering her reason to a man who went about with great shaggy dogs.

  When it was over, he settled her against his chest in the circle of his arm.

  “I trust I needn’t repeat that you have promised.” He spoke against her hair, and it seemed so intimate and familiar.

  “You blackmailed. I promised. It seems fairly clear which of us has had practice convincing others to do as we wish.”

  “Not in precisely that manner.” He sounded as though he were falling asleep. But his words pleased her far too much. It seemed, perhaps, she had something of a jealous nature too, after all.

  After a time she felt certain he slept. She stroked two fingertips along the taut sinew of his forearm. He did not stir, his breaths even, the hollow plane of cheek to jaw and the sensuous curve of his mouth holding her rapt. She whispered, “I want to go back to Shropshire,” because longing filled her heart with a sorrowful sort of joy and she could not hold it inside any longer. And because she could say foolish things to him now and he would not hear.

  But he said, “As do I.” He wrapped her hand in his and drew it to his chest. “Now go to sleep.”

  “Why? You will be leaving soon, won’t you?”

  “Too soon. And as much as I enjoy your conversation, tonight I wish the pleasure of sleeping beside you, even for a short time.”

  What could she say to that?

  He pressed a kiss onto her brow. “Happy birthday, Kitty.” He held her, and remarkably soon she slept.

  When she awoke, he was gone.

  Chapter 23

  When the dowager appeared at the breakfast table, her eyes were lively, her gaze on Kitty keen.

  Unfortunately Kitty could do nothing to hide the flush on her cheeks or anxious cold of her palms. By now the meeting between Leam and Lord Chamberlayne had taken place. She had only to wait, praying he would send word.

  “I did not expect you up for hours yet, Kitty dear.” Her mother lifted a cup to her mouth. “Mrs.

  Hopkins told me of your late visit from the Watch. An incident with dishes in the kitchen, apparently.”

  Kitty’s cheeks flamed. “She told you that?”

  The housekeeper came into the chamber with a fresh pot of tea. “Lady Katherine was very kind to pick up those broke dishes before she turned in.” She poured tea for Kitty and handed it to her with only a flicker of a winking eye and a lightning-quick smile. “Monsieur Claude was most appreciative.

  Myself as well, ma’am.” She curtsied.

  “You are welcome, Mrs. Hopkins. It was my—” Her throat stuck. “Pleasure.” Had he cleaned up the dishes before leaving? She wouldn’t disbelieve it of the strangest nobleman she’d ever known. She forced her attention to her plate. “How is Serena, Mama? Your note did not say how ill she was feeling.”

  “I did not stay at the other house last night, Kitty. I told you that so you would not worry.” Her mother shuffled through the small pile of the post at her elbow. “Mrs. Ho
pkins, you may go now, and close the door.”

  The housekeeper cast Kitty a quick glance and left.

  Kitty held her breath. “Where were you, Mama, if not at Alex’s?”

  “With Douglas.” The dowager lifted her regard, her face serene with contentment and sparkling with happiness. “We are to be wed. Will you wish me happy, my dear daughter?”

  “Oh, Mama.” How could she wish her anything of the sort? “Mama.” She stood and wrapped her arms about her mother’s shoulders and held on to her. “I thought you indifferent to his offer.” Her voice shook.

  The dowager drew her away and studied her face.

  “Only cautious. Kitty dear, what is amiss?”

  Kitty gripped her hands together. “I wish only for your happiness.”

  “You are not happy with this, then? I had hoped you would be. You and he seem so comfortable with one another.”

  “Oh, but Mama, you see—” Kitty cast about for words to begin. She should not have waited to tell her. She should have been brave. She could not bear her mother’s steady regard and dropped her gaze.

  On the table beside her cup was a sealed note, her name on it.

  Like a schoolgirl with a tendre, she had memorized Leam’s hand from the envelope in which he had sent the music. Her heart thumped. She grabbed up the note and tore it open.

  “Kitty?”

  “Mama, I—” A whoosh of air went out of her. Lord Chamberlayne was innocent of wrongdoing.

  But the note said little more, only that she was to come to the park at eleven.

  She glanced at the clock on the sideboard, and leaped up. “Mama.” She went to her mother, grasped her hands, and kissed them one after the other. “I am so very happy for you. I like Lord Chamberlayne very much and am thrilled he is to be part of our family.”

  “Kitty, this is highly unusual.”

  “Perhaps. But now I must go.”

  “Katherine.”

  “Truly, I have an appointment.” She went toward the door, flashing John a speaking look as she went. He was doing a poor job of concealing a grin.

  Her nerves raced. Why did he wish to meet her at the park? Why not come here to tell her? He had never been shy of calling before. Not exactly.