Just One Kiss

by Dayna Quince

  “My Lady, Mr. Michaels is on his way to Bainbridge Hall. I’ve told him we are not heading that way, obviously…” The coachman threw an annoyed glare over his shoulder at Mr. Michaels. “But he insisted it was urgent.”

  “Lady Bainbridge, I have urgent news to deliver to His Lordship. I think it imperative that you hear it as well.” Mr. Michaels wiggled his way past the coachman. Hazel took in his disheveled appearance. He was soaked through, his hat and spectacles askew.

  It was on the very tip of her tongue to instruct the coachman to turn them around, but… “Mr. Michaels, as my coachman said, I am not going in the direction of Bainbridge Hall. I’m happy to offer you a ride to the nearest inn. It is not advisable for you to continue on in the storm.”

  Thunder rumbled above them as if in agreement. It was followed by a shout.

  Both men looked in the direction behind the coach. Hazel’s heart jumped to her throat and she poked her head out of the carriage to look as well. Rain drops tangled in her lashes, blurring her vision, but she could see the shape of a horse and riding galloping towards them, his cape flying behind him like great wings. He looked demonic, but Hazel knew without a doubt who it was. She jumped out of the coach, her boots sinking into the mud.

  “My lady!” Mary cried.

  The coachman and Mr. Michaels just barely caught her arms and stabilized her.

  “It’s not safe, my lady. We don’t know who that is.” Mr. Michaels urged her toward the coach.

  “It looks like the devil!” Mary gasped.

  “I know who it is.” Hazel refused to budge. She couldn’t take her eyes off him. He reined in his horse, the hooves sliding dangerously in the mud until they steadied and halted. The rider jumped down, ripping his hat from his head.

  “My Lord!” Mr. Michaels and the coachman said in unison.

  Hazel watched in a dreamy state as he ignored them and his eyes caught hers. He came straight for her, the men letting go of her as Garrett took hold of her arms and pulled her against him. He tucked her into the shelter of his body, resting his cheek on her head.

  “Whatever I have done or failed to realize… I am sorry. I will spend the rest of my life making it up to you if you will only give me the chance to make this right.”

  Hazel shivered and dampened her lips before speaking. “And what about your aunt? The woman who sacrificed her life to raise you?”

  “She is not well. I see that now. I made a terrible mistake. This is our time. I failed to see that residing together was not suitable for any of us.”

  Hazel lifted her head to look into his eyes. She wanted more than anything to believe him. “You think that these words will erase all that has been done, all the horrible things she has said?”

  “No. But… I desperately hope my love will. I love you more than my next breath. I need you more than the beat of my heart. You are my life now. I’ve been a fool. I’ve been every insulting word you can possibly think of but know that I will make it up to you, whatever it takes. I love you, Hazel. I swear everything that I am to you.

  Hazel swallowed the emotional wale that rose in her throat. She buried her head into his chest again. “Then take me home.”

  He scooped her into his arms and deposited her back in the carriage. Mary was there with a blanket. Her eyes wide and her lips struggling to hide a smile.

  “Mr. Michaels? What are you doing here?” Garrett finally addressed the two men standing there watching.

  Mr. Michaels blinked. “I, ah—yes, I have urgent news to report.”

  “Then by all means, let us return. Please join us in the carriage. We can speak once I’ve seen to my wife’s warmth and comfort.”

  “Thank you, sir.”

  The horses were hitched to the back and the journey that seem to take hours for Hazel while escaping felt like only minutes when wrapped within the warm folds of her husband’s coat and tucked against his side. No one spoke, but Hazel and Garrett had only eyes for each other.

  The coach stopped before the door and a footman held and umbrella as the coachman opened the door. Garrett stepped out first, and again, scooped Hazel into his arms and carried her inside. He didn’t stop in the Hall but continued up the stairs. Mary followed behind, meeting the shocked gazes of the peeping staff with a grin.

  Garrett carried Hazel to his chamber door. Mary stopped behind them and waited.

  “A bath,” Garrett ordered.

  “Right away, sir.” Mary disappeared down the back stair.

  Garrett adjusted Hazel in his arms and opened the door. He kicked it closed behind them and set her down at the foot of their bed.

  “I’m not even cold. All this is unnecessary.”

  “It is necessary,” he said with his back to her as he pulled his robe from the wardrobe. He returned and began to undress her. Hazel put a hand on his arm.

  “Garrett, I’m not an infant.”

  He paused and looked up at her. His eyes were desperate. “I’m afraid to lose you.”

  Hazel took his hand. “I’m sorry I left. I’ll be waiting here for you.”

  Garrett nodded. “I will only be a moment.”

  “See to Mr. Michaels. He was very insistent.”

  Garrett nodded and left Hazel in his chamber—their chamber. There would be no more his and her suites. Her place was by his side in every part of his life.

  He found Mr. Michaels awaiting him in his study. Garrett entered and waved the man back to his seat. He poured himself a brandy and gulped it down.

  “What is so pressing that you risked your neck to return here.”

  Mr. Michaels pulled a ledger from his satchel. “I discovered a discrepancy in the household accounts. It was minor, or so I thought, or I would have mentioned it sooner. My aide was tasked with further investigation. When I returned to my office this morning, he presented it in detail and had made a profound discovery.” Mr. Michaels paused.

  “Such as?” Garrett ground out impatiently.

  “Your aunt has been siphoning money out of the house, more precisely, to her own children.”

  Garrett remained standing, his feet rooted to the spot. He jerked himself out of his shock only when the tumbler slipped from his fingers. It didn’t break as it fell to the thick carpet. Garrett blinked at it before looking up at Mr. Michaels.

  “I have cousins? You did say children?”

  “Yes, sir.” Mr. Michaels pulled out a sheet from his bag. “Mr. Charles Danford, presently residing in Whitely, and his sister, married and living in Derbyshire.

  Garrett turned away and closed his eyes. He had cousins. Two. Children of his aunt. He had more family. His heart ached with the familiar loneliness of a boy who played every day of his childhood alone.

  “How much money?” Garrett asked, but he actually didn’t care about the sum. He didn’t even hear it. His mind was racing with endless questions. The most important being why? Why did she hide the existence of her children? What more is she hiding? Garrett brought both hands to his face in utter bewilderment.

  “Find them. Bring them here to collect their mother,” Garrett said abruptly. He needed to see Hazel, speak with her, and hold her.

  Chapter 17

  Hazel lowered into the bath and Mary poured water over her head. Neither spoke, but Hazel could feel the tension in Mary. She didn’t want to know, whatever it was. Did she?

  She tried to resist the urge, but curiosity was clawing at her.

  “What is it, Mary?”

  “Emily quit her post.”

  Hazel wiped water from her face. “Oh?”

  “Oh? That’s your only remark?” Mary said excitedly.

  “I don’t want to speak of her. I don’t even want to hear her name.” Hazel warned.

  “She’s locked up in her room. They think she’s being sent off to Bedlam. She lost her top, she did.”

  Hazel didn’t know what to think of this new information. It was one thing to think someone was mentally ill, but different when that person proved it so succinc
tly. Hazel searched her feelings. Relief wasn’t among them, only wariness.

  “I wish Emily well,” was all Hazel said.

  “Mrs. Beasley said His Lordship will write her a letter of reference.”

  “Yes. I’m sure she has suffered, too,” Hazel said quietly. She watched her hand move through the water and wondered when Garrett would return. Why was Mr. Michaels so desperate to meet with him? She would no doubt find out soon. She was almost done with her bath when Garrett returned. He was troubled, Hazel could see. She sent Mary to her bed and wrapped herself in a towel. As soon as Mary left, Garrett was at her side, helping her dry her body and put on her wrapper. Then he sat and watched her brush out her hair. Hazel couldn’t bear the suspense.

  She spun on her stool to face him. “Well?”

  Garrett stared at her oddly. By his expression, he looked miles away.

  “I have two cousins. Mr. Danford and his sister. I’ve written to both of them to come here.”

  Hazel could barely restrain her shock. “She has living children?”

  He talked as if dazed. “Her son is a veterinarian in Whitely. Her daughter is married and living in Derbyshire.”

  Hazel moved to his side and took his hand. “What does this mean?”

  He shrugged. “I don’t know. I feel like I’m waking up from a long sleep. She’s pulled the wool over my eyes since I was a defenseless boy. She’s been sending money to them.”

  “Who cared for them?”

  “I don’t know. I simply don’t know. But I’m going to find out. Speaking to her is useless, she has no grasp on reality anymore, but I will speak to this son and daughter to find out if I was nothing more than a benefactor to support her family. They should be here in a matter of days once they receive my letters and see the urgency of the matter.

  Hazel was still raw from her own wounds at the hands of Mrs. Danford, but she couldn’t imagine what Garrett must be feeling. His whole world was coming apart at the seams. She wrapped her arms around him. Her heart broke for him. She was not the only victim here.

  “We’ll sort it all out, and then we will move on from this.”

  He turned his head and kissed the top of hers. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her tightly to his side.

  Hazel could sense his gaze. She looked up at him.

  “I owe you a lifetime of apologies,” he said.

  “We have a lifetime to look forward to.”

  “I love you, Hazel. You can’t know the shame I feel for being such a fool.”

  Hazel swallowed. She brought a hand to his cheek. “I love you, too. It doesn’t matter now. It’s over.”

  “I wish it was.” He pressed his forehead to hers. “But until I meet these people, I won’t know how deep her deception went, how much she took from me.”

  “How much damage could she have done?”

  He shook his head. “It isn’t the sum of the money that kills me; it’s… it’s the betrayal. She made me believe she loved me like her own son. Everything I thought I knew is different now. She was using me.”

  Hazel hugged him tighter. “She can’t hurt us anymore.” Hazel tried to sooth him. She didn’t want to talk about her anymore. She didn’t want that woman inserting herself between them anymore. He sounded to desolate, so lost.

  “Listen to me.” She put both hands to his face and forced him to look her in the eye. “I love you, do you love me?”

  “Yes!” he said vehemently.

  “Then nothing else matters. Here, in this room, nothing else matters. This is our home, this is our sacred space.” Hazel was gratified by the smolder in his eyes. They needed to connect again as they had their first night together. She stood and untied her wrapper. She let it drop to the floor. She watched his eyes devour her body and then he reached for her. She stepped between his legs, his arms encasing her tightly. He nuzzled her breasts.

  “Hazel…” He moaned her name against her skin.

  She threaded her fingers into his hair, crying out softly as he took her nipple into his mouth. Her body erupted in gooseflesh. He fell back on the bed, taking her with him. In a tangle of limbs and clothing, he undressed, and Hazel soon found herself arching beneath him as he slid inside her. This is where she belonged—joined with him, loving him. She would never give this up again. She clung to him passionately, her nails digging into his skin, the primal urge to bite her mate so strong, she nipped his chest with her teeth leaving small marks behind.

  He pumped wildly, groaning and growling his pleasure. Hazel answered him with her own cries of ecstasy. She dove headlong into a piercing climax, shuddering and sighing with a joy so sweet, tears threatened. She let them come, the weight of her sadness leaving her and a rush of happiness taking its place.

  Garrett soared to an explosive completion and then collapsed on top of her. Panting, he lifted up onto his elbows and looked down at his wife. “Don’t ever leave me again. I promise I will never give you reason to. Swear it to me. You are the sun of my life, without you I—”

  “I swear it.” Hazel wiped at her tears and smiled. She arched up to meet his lips. They held each other and kissed, some tender, some wild and hungry. It was exactly what they both needed as they began their journey over exactly as they were meant to go on—made stronger by their love, made stronger by their unity.

  Chapter 18

  A week later…

  Garrett and Hazel descended the stairs together, her hand tightly clasped in his. Quinn awaited them outside the drawing room. He held the door for them as they entered and closed it behind them.

  Hazel took in the familiar face of Mr. Michaels and the three she did not recognize. The two men stood, the woman remained seated on the sofa. She held a handkerchief tightly gripped in her fist.

  “Good afternoon.” Garrett approached them and introductions were made. Hazel couldn’t tear her eyes from Mrs. Wade. She was a replica of her mother, only with chestnut brown hair and smoother skin. Her son, Mr. Danford was less so.

  They all took a seat and Mr. Michaels broached the difficult subject.

  Mr. Danford and Mrs. Wade have made it apparent that they were unaware of their mother’s doings.

  Garrett turned to them. “What did you think was happening all these years?” he said incredulously.

  Mr. Danford looked extremely apologetic. “She writes frequently and the story is always the same. She claimed you were very sick. Always near death and it was her tender care keeping you alive. We wanted to visit—to meet you. We saw you a handful of times as a babe. But she wouldn’t allow it. She said your temperament and health were too fragile.”

  Garrett was scowling. “And what of the money she sent you?”

  “She said it was the allowance her brother willed to her.” Mr. Danford shrugged helplessly. In the beginning, it was needed. We lost everything to debtors.

  “You were only children yourselves. Who took care of you?” Hazel asked.

  “Our Grandmother,” Mrs. Wade answered. “Our father’s mother lived near. We were sent to her.”

  Hazel shook her head in angry disbelief. “Why would she do such a thing? She abandoned you!”

  Mrs. Wade nodded and sniffed into her handkerchief. “It felt that way.”

  “What’s to be done now? Are we in some sort of trouble? We had no idea what she was doing all this time. It’s clear to me you were never sick.” Mr. Danford grimaced.

  Hazel was sympathetic. She believed that they were fooled, too.

  “You said she’s been communicating with you regularly through letters?” Garrett asked.

  “That’s correct.”

  “Well, it’s time she returned home with you. She is not welcome here any longer. She told grievous lies about me and stole from me, but she did care for me and raise me. I believe she is sick. She needs to be cared for. I will continue an allowance for her care, but I will never set eyes on her again.

  Mr. Danford shared a worried glance with his sister. She nodded. “I’ll take her in.” />
  Mr. Wade’s expression didn’t change, but Hazel wished she knew what he was thinking.

  “It’s settled then. In the time between now and when you leave, I’d like to hear more of what other family we have. I grew up thinking I didn’t have any at all.”

  Hazel could feel the tension leaving Garrett. Mrs. Danford would soon be out of their lives for good. Elation filled her. The week had been blissfully quiet and filled with moments of peace and joy. They’d taken walks together, gone for rides over the hills and valleys. Everything looked different now. The ominous cloud was gone. Life was brighter, rosier, and filled with promise again. Secretly, Hazel even hoped that new life would soon show itself inside her. The shadows in her heart were gone and there was nothing she wanted more than to carry Garrett’s baby and begin their family. She still had to wait to be sure, but in her heart, a bud of excitement bloomed at the idea it could already be a reality.

  * * *

  The next morning dawned dewy and cold. After they had shared a pleasant breakfast, Garrett and Hazel bid their goodbyes to Mr. Danford, and Mr. and Mrs. Wade. Hazel waited in the hall, no longer feeling anything toward the woman who descended the stairs slowly on Mrs. Beasley’s arm. Mrs. Danford had not ventured beyond her room after that fateful day. Her children had visited her there and taken their meals with Hazel and Garrett.

  Despite the awkwardness of the situation, the visit had gone well. Garrett conversed easily and openly with his cousins and extended future invitations for them to visit. He looked happy, and that made Hazel happy.

  Mrs. Danford looked around the hall curiously, her gaze barely touching on Hazel before sliding away. She said nothing as Mrs. Wade took her arm and led her to the coach outside. With final goodbyes, the door closed and they stood in the hall alone.

  Garrett stared at the door, his face impassive. Hazel took his hand and squeezed it. He looked down and smiled at her.