Garland of Straw (Roundheads & Cavaliers Book 2)

by Stella Riley

  ‘Clear,’ nodded Samuel, cheerfully.

  Abigail rose and awarded Gabriel her spectacularly sweet smile.

  ‘I don’t know why you should go to so much trouble for us … but I’m more grateful than I can say.’

  ‘Then let’s leave it at that, shall we?’ he replied pleasantly. ‘I’m about to have Major Maxwell show you out – so an appearance of being overcome with emotion as you leave would be no bad thing. Sam … you can mutter about the extortionate nature of my demands.’

  Mr Radford eyed him speculatively.

  ‘I don’t suppose you’d care to turn your ingenuity towards persuading Mr Morrell into admitting me to the family?’

  ‘No,’ agreed the Colonel. ‘I wouldn’t. Some things are easier than others. And now – goodnight.’

  When Venetia was finally alone with her husband, she said lightly, ‘Sam wants to marry Bryony?’

  ‘And vice versa. Jack, however, is not enthusiastic.’

  ‘No. I suppose not.’ She hesitated, feeling her way. ‘This has been quite a night, hasn’t it?’

  ‘It’s been extremely long, if that’s what you mean.’ Gabriel pulled off his coat and threw it across a chair. Then, laying his fingers on the rim of the table and staring meditatively down on them, he said, ‘I must be losing my touch. You never believed the ransom story at all?’

  ‘No. It may have taken some time … but I have a better opinion of you than that.’

  ‘Better, perhaps, than the one I have of you?’ His eyes rose enigmatically to meet hers. ‘What’s the matter? Don’t you want to berate me for misjudging you?’

  She shook her head. ‘You thought you had cause. And six months ago, I’d have believed it in a heartbeat and had Francis out of your evil clutches like a shot.’

  ‘So what’s changed?’

  ‘Don’t you know?’ Venetia moved gracefully towards the door. ‘I have.’

  He hesitated until her hand was on the latch and then said, ‘You wanted to talk. Perhaps now is the time, after all. But not here. Eden will be back any moment.’

  She turned, her expression surprised and a little uncertain.

  ‘Where then?’

  ‘My bedchamber or yours, I suppose. It doesn’t matter which.’

  She took a moment to try and see what, if anything, lay behind this and, failing to find an answer, said simply, ‘Mine, then.’ And led the way upstairs.

  *

  Once inside her room, she took the chair by the hearth and waited with some trepidation for Gabriel to come to rest on the window-seat. Candle-light glinted on the glossy dark hair but his expression remained in shadow and he seemed in no hurry to speak. Finally, however, he said, ‘There are a number of places we could begin this conversation but, as I said, it’s already been a long night – so I’ll cut to the main point. It’s clear that I made a mistaken assumption in respect of our friends downstairs. And I have a feeling that it may not be the only one.’ He paused and encompassed her in a level stare. ‘Tell me about Ellis.’

  Caught off guard, Venetia’s nerves jumped painfully. She said, ‘I already have.’

  ‘No. You’ve given me one basic fact.’

  ‘That’s all there is to tell.’

  ‘I don’t think so.’ His voice softened a little and he said, ‘I’m not trying to hurt or embarrass you. But I’d like to know how it was between you.’

  Venetia stood up so quickly her head spun.

  ‘You can’t expect me to talk about that. I never have. Not to anyone. And – and you can’t possibly want to hear it.’

  ‘I don’t want to - but I suspect I need to.’ Gabriel rose and faced her. ‘Do you think I’d ask about something so intimate if I didn’t suspect that it was important?’

  ‘It isn’t important. How can it be? It – it’s years in the past.’

  ‘But not behind you.’ Reaching out, he took her hand and drew her to sit beside him in the window. ‘Tell me about Ellis. And then we need never speak of it again.’

  He continued to hold her hand, his fingers warm and firm.

  Venetia avoided his eyes and stared down at their clasped hands. Then, drawing a bracing breath, she said baldly, ‘We’d been betrothed for two years and he – he started pestering me to lie with him. He said everyone else was doing it – which was pretty much true; that it was all right because we would marry – which was also true; and that, if I loved him, I couldn’t be cruel enough to send him off to war without giving him something beautiful to remember – which is the sort of thing he always said in order to get what he wanted.’ She stopped briefly. ‘And in the end, I let him persuade me. My brother, Kit, had died … it was possible Ellis might die, too. So I gave in.’

  Gabriel’s fingers tightened encouragingly on hers.

  ‘Understandable. And then?’

  She bent her head so that her face was completely hidden from him but he could see the tide of colour staining her throat.

  ‘It – it wasn’t beautiful,’ she said, as if the words choked her. ‘It was ugly and painful and – and sordid.’ She stopped again. And then, ‘There. That’s enough, isn’t it? It’s what you wanted to know.’

  ‘It’s what I suspected. And it’s almost enough. But not quite all, I think.’

  She pulled her hand free and wrapped her arms around her midriff.

  ‘You want every gruesome detail? All right. The first time … hurt. Really hurt, m-more than I’d expected … but he said next time would be better. Only it wasn’t much different - nor the third time either. So I decided that it wasn’t worth the risk of getting pregnant and made sure it never happened again.’

  Gabriel nodded slightly.

  ‘And how did Ellis take that?’

  Venetia gave a tiny, hopelessly unsteady laugh.

  ‘How do you think? He said there was something wrong with me – that other women he’d bedded liked it well enough. He said the fault was mine, that I was f-frigid and not the kind of woman any man could enjoy.’ Suddenly there were tears falling on her lap. ‘He s-said he’d as soon have a corpse in his bed.’

  This was worse – much worse – than Gabriel had suspected. It was, in fact, utterly unforgivable. Anger set up an insistent drum-beat in his chest but he controlled it. Sliding an arm around Venetia’s shoulders he drew her against him and set his mind to work, rapidly adding up the facts.

  Clearly, Ellis had behaved like a complete arse and damaged Venetia in more ways than one. Equally clearly, he was still making mischief. What was it he’d said at Preston? Venetia’s no coy little virgin waiting to be seduced … the inference being that she was both eager and easy. Then he’d gone directly to Brandon Lacey. Why? Presumably, to see what further trouble he could cause. Gabriel’s mouth tightened. In all probability, that glove had been no accident. Ellis had left it there to be found. And, cursing himself for his own stupidity, Gabriel realised that he’d fallen straight into the trap.

  Keeping his tone carefully mild, he said, ‘Ellis is plainly no gentleman. But you believed him. And have continued believing him for the last four years.’ It was not a question. And when she said nothing, he concluded simply, ‘You shouldn’t have.’

  She lifted her face then. ‘You can’t know that.’

  ‘Yes. I can.’ He released her hand to lightly brush the tears away. ‘That night at Brandon Lacey, I didn’t take any great degree of care with you – but I don’t believe you found the experience unpleasant. Ellis, on the other hand … well, forgive my crudity, but I’d guess Ellis just pulled up your skirts and had his way with you.’

  She stared at him. ‘How do you know that?’

  ‘Because it’s what you expected me to do.’ He took her hand again, absently tracing small circles on her palm with his thumb. ‘What Ellis did amounted to rape – and if that’s the best he can do in bed, I doubt he ever gets a woman to lie with him more than once. So, before you put the whole thing from your mind, you need to accept that the faults were his, not yours.’

&
nbsp; ‘Oh.’ She tried to absorb a notion that, but for distant glimmer of light, still seemed alien. She said awkwardly, ‘When we … when you and I lay together … I wondered if perhaps Ellis had been wrong.’

  ‘He wasn’t merely wrong, Venetia. He lied.’ An idea stirred and, before he could decide whether or not it was sensible, he said softly, ‘Shall I prove it to you?’

  Her eyes widened and he felt shock ripple through her. She said faintly, ‘How? That is … I don’t know what … I mean, you can’t want …’

  Gabriel’s mouth curled in that rare, slightly wicked smile.

  ‘I’d like to show you a little of what you’ve been missing. Just that. And if you want me to stop, you need only say.’

  ‘But —’

  ‘Shh.’ His breath tickled her ear and his fingers drifted almost casually to the nape of her neck. ‘I’m out of practice and will need to concentrate.’

  It was so plainly a lie that she nearly smiled. But his mouth was feathering tiny kisses up her throat to an unsuspectedly sensitive spot beneath her ear and his arm was drawing her a little closer to the warmth of his chest … and so, for a moment, she even forgot to breathe.

  He continued soothing her with the merest whispering touch of his lips along her jaw, the curve of her cheek, her temple … while his fingers stole the pins holding up her hair until it fell loose over her shoulders and half-way down her back. He leaned away, smiling a little, to let her watch him twine one long lock around his palm and let it slip free. Then, still trapping her gaze with his own, he slid his hand up to cradle her skull and drew her slowly close again until his mouth touched hers. He ran the tip of his tongue along her upper lip and felt the small tremor that flowed through her in the second before she opened for him, allowing him to embark on a long lazy kiss that teased her into response but demanded nothing.

  Venetia leaned into him and without realising it, encouraged him to take the kiss a little deeper. Almost tentatively, her hands slid up his chest and across his shoulders to tangle in the thick, silky hair. The enticing drift of his tongue and the unexpected gift of having him so close sent flickers of heat coursing through her and made her distantly aware that she wanted more.

  Intent on arousing her slowly, Gabriel continued to take his time. One hand strayed unhurriedly around her waist, skimmed her breast and then lingered on the soft skin revealed by the cut of her bodice. The other sought the laces of her gown and gently, almost slyly, set about releasing them. When they fell free and, still toying with her mouth, he gently removed her hands from about his neck and placed them at her sides. Then, inch by tantalising inch, he eased the gown from her shoulders until she was half-naked … the incredible silver-blonde hair tumbling about her, half-veiling the pearly flesh beneath and creating a highly erotic illusion of modesty. He used the tip of one thick, curling strand to trace the underside of her breast … and recognised that the task he had set himself was going to be more difficult than he’d anticipated.

  ‘Damn,’ he breathed.

  Her eyes flew to his, full of uncertainty.

  With the merest hint of rueful amusement, he said, ‘I imagine many men have called you beautiful. But looking as you do now, the word is woefully inadequate.’

  Venetia flushed. ‘Don’t. You’re embarrassing me.’

  It occurred to Gabriel that he’d be embarrassing himself if his body didn’t start obeying his brain. Trailing his mouth across hers, he closed his palm around her breast. Venetia gasped and tried to reach for him, only to find her arms still trapped by her bodice. Breaking the kiss and smiling at her, he freed her hands, murmuring seductively, ‘I hope you weren’t thinking of fighting me off?’

  ‘No,’ she breathed. ‘No. I … oh.’ This as he bent his head and set his tongue circling one nipple while his fingers teased the other.

  Some moments later, when she was sobbing for breath and struggling to get her hands beneath his shirt, he looked up at her again and said, ‘This isn’t the most conducive location, is it? My neck is complaining.’ And, scooping her up in his arms, he carried her over to the bed, hauled off his boots and lay down beside her. ‘Now … where were we?’

  Venetia’s hands fisted in his hair and she pulled his mouth down to hers, pressing her body against his. Her skin was on fire, her breasts were aflame with exquisite sensation and molten heat was pooling in the pit of her belly. She moved against him, wanting more … wanting the feel of his flesh against hers and hating the layers of skirt and petticoat that separated them.

  Knowing it but still refusing to hurry, Gabriel gradually bunched the silk and cambric up and up, sliding his hand along her calf and thigh. He stroked the bare skin above her garters, drawing another moan from her and making her hips arch towards his hand. Then, setting his jaw and reminding himself that this was about her desire, not his, he grazed her nipple with his teeth and allowed his fingers to find the slick heat of her. Venetia shuddered at the suddenly almost unbearable peak of sensation and pushed her hands against his chest as if in protest.

  ‘Please,’ she gasped. ‘I can’t … oh, please.’

  ‘Hush, darling,’ he whispered, somehow managing to keep the agonising grip he was having to exert over his own arousal out of his voice. ‘It’s all right. Just trust me … and, when you’re ready, simply let go.’

  A slow sweep sent fresh tremors through her. Another made her whimper with need. Knowing his own control wasn’t going to last much longer, he slid his fingers inside her, curling them slightly … and Venetia came apart, unravelling in a series of violent contractions and stifling her cries against his shoulder.

  Gabriel continued to hold her, slowing and finally halting his caresses as he felt her release subside. Then he placed a light kiss on her brow and concentrated on trying to calm his own body. After a moment, Venetia said unevenly, ‘Gabriel? Aren’t you going to …?’

  ‘No.’ God, how hard that was to say. ‘No. This time was for you. To prove you’re as capable of sexual fulfilment as anyone else … and that Ellis should be horse-whipped.’

  ‘Oh.’

  He picked up her next thought before she had time to fully formulate it and, summoning what was left of his will-power, took her hand and pressed it briefly against his groin, saying, ‘And yes – of course I want to. But you’re overdue for a little consideration.’

  Silence fell for long moments and then she stole all the air from his lungs by saying shyly, ‘Thank you.’

  He settled her more comfortably on his shoulder ‘Go to sleep.’

  Her hand closed on a fold of his shirt. ‘Will you … could you stay for a little while?’

  ‘Yes.’

  Her eyes closed and her breathing slowed. Then, just when Gabriel thought she’d fallen asleep, she murmured hazily and as though the fact was somehow miraculous, ‘I wanted you.’

  And you very nearly had me, he thought, with dark humour. But said merely, ‘I know.’

  She sighed, nestled a little closer and, as if he hadn’t spoken, added, ‘I never wanted Ellis. Not ever.’

  And that was when something unexpectedly painful stirred inside his chest … and he closed his eyes the better to absorb it.

  ~ ~ ~

  EIGHT

  Escorted by Tom Harris, Venetia spent most of the following morning trailing from apothecary to apothecary, discreetly harvesting the ingredients she needed to make a reliable, fast-acting sleeping potion. And all the time, she found herself dwelling on the events of last night … on Gabriel’s mouth and his hands and the unbelievably exquisite things they had done to her. And the hope he had given her for the future.

  Her concentration being at a low ebb, it took her a while to remember that Isabel had promised to call that afternoon but when she did remember it, she sent Harris off to Covent Garden with a message designed to put her ladyship off for a few days. And all the time, she could feel strange little pulses of delight flickering through her and unaccustomed heat warming her skin.

  Half an hour af
ter she got back to Cheapside, the world suddenly turned dark again – due to a source she had all but forgotten. Venetia stared at the note with a sensation of sick rage before crumpling it savagely in her hand. Then she went in search of Mr Larkin and, when she found him, said baldly, ‘Read that – and tell me what you think.’

  Wat subjected her to a long, inscrutable stare, smoothed out the paper and squinted at it from arm’s length.

  ‘I think,’ he grunted eventually, ‘that Sir bloody Ellis needs a kick up the arse. What does he want to meet you for?’

  ‘How should I know? And what difference does it make? I can’t meet him. I won’t. But neither can I just ignore him and hope he’ll go away – because he won’t. He never does, damn it.’ Venetia drew an unsteady breath. ‘Shall I tell Gabriel?’

  The seamed face creased thoughtfully.

  ‘I reckon that depends on what happened last night?’

  ‘L-last night?’ she queried, feeling her colour rise.

  ‘He had those two up from downstairs, didn’t he? And that dim lump Baxter said the Radford lad was here with the wife of one of them.’

  ‘Oh. That. Yes.’

  ‘Yes. That.’ Wat grinned. ‘Was there anything else I should have meant?’

  ‘No. Didn’t Gabriel tell you about it?’

  ‘I haven’t seen him. Well?’

  ‘It’s complicated,’ she replied. And gave him the gist of the previous evening’s events … give or take a few exceptions … none of which Wat seemed to find very surprising. Then she said, ‘If the circumstances were different, I’d be showing that note to Gabriel instead of you. But, with things as they are, it seems better not to muddy the waters by dredging Ellis up again right now. And Gabriel could certainly do without it. He’s got more important things to think of.’

  ‘So where does that leave you?’

  For the first time since she had entered the room, a faint, wry smile touched her face.