by Gina Lamm
His smile was dark, but he sat beside her. He took her hand and spoke softly.
“I owe you an apology, Leah. I saw the duke embrace you, and I let myself believe that you would choose his rank and wealth over anything you felt for me.”
“It’s okay,” she said, laying her head against his bicep. “I’ve done stupid shit too, and I can’t blame you for getting the wrong idea. What made you change your mind?”
His fingers burned a trail along her throat. “I could not allow anyone to harm you without retribution.” Avery sighed and lifted her chin. “I must tell you that I am responsible for your abduction.”
She gasped. “What?”
“A man named Thomas Prachett. Many years ago, I accepted a loan from him. I needed the money to secure a place to live for Aunt Millie. In return, he demanded that I cheat in the mills.” Avery looked away, as if the words were distasteful to him. “When he decided he had need of me again, he used you to ensure my cooperation.”
Everything clicked into place in Leah’s head. “I thought I heard Mackenzie, the stable master, while I was being held in the cabin. Was he one of Prachett’s goons?”
Avery nodded.
She paused, enjoying the small circles Avery drew along her collarbone. “If I ever meet Mr. Prachett, I’m going to kick his nuts into his throat.”
Avery’s fingers paused. “You will not meet him. He is dead.”
Leah drew back in horror. “You didn’t kill him? Oh God, tell me you didn’t. He might have been a bastard, but I don’t want his blood on your hands.”
Avery’s quick head shake reassured her. “No, I did not. I did thrash the blighter, but he drew a dueling pistol. I ducked and the shot hit the bureau’s mirror. His Grace came to my aid, and his shot killed the man.”
Somewhat relieved, Leah settled her head against him again. “Good. It was self-defense then, not murder.” She laid a hand across his broad, muscled thigh. “But if you and Mrs. Comstock fixed part of the mirror, why can’t you come with me? I’m sure they’ll be looking for someone to blame for Prachett’s death, so it’d be best if you got out of here, right?”
He gathered her close to his chest, whispering into her hair. “It is not my choice to remain here, love. But the mirror is not large enough for me to pass through.”
Leah’s heart dropped through the floor. “You’re kidding.”
He held her tighter as she fought the tears. “I am sorry, Leah, more sorry than you know. But it is for the best. My aunt is worsening, and I cannot allow her to languish without care. You belong there, and I…” His voice dropped out. He cleared his throat as her tears soaked the cotton of his shirt. “I must remain here.”
She wanted to scream, to curse the Fates for being so damned cruel. She’d been through so much to find him, and now he was being ripped from her forever?
“I’ll stay with you.” She rose on her knees, cupping his face with both hands. “I’ll stay here with you and we’ll be together.”
“I may well be hanged for murder. I have no money, no home, nothing to care for you—”
“I don’t care!” She pounded his chest with her fists. “I don’t have anything if I don’t have you! Don’t you fucking get it? I love you!”
He took her lips in a desperate kiss, and she clung to him tightly, their mutual sorrow burning into passion. This would be the last time they’d be together, and she clung to each second as if she could burn it into her memory.
After all, those memories would have to last her a lifetime.
Thirty-One
Avery sensed his own desperate need to possess her in her passionate caresses. He knew what she was feeling because it was the same searing pain that beat in his chest.
His anger at their impossible position would do no good. His need to rail at God would gain him nothing. But he could give her his love, himself, to carry with her on her journey.
And he would.
He covered her body with his own, their mouths meeting and parting, delving deep and nipping lightly. Her hands roamed his body, playing along his broad shoulders, down the arms that held him suspended above her. Pulling his shirt upward, she arched her back.
“Please, Avery.” She pressed a kiss to his throat. “We don’t have much time.”
Her words were no less true than they were painful. Rising on his knees, he pulled his shirt over his head. Her fingers fumbled on his breeches.
“Let me, my love.”
She nodded, eyes darkening as he removed the last barrier and released his erection. He knelt beside her, hand delving beneath her skirts as her own soft fingers wrapped around his length.
“You’re the most beautiful man I’ve ever seen,” she said as he lifted her skirt to reveal her soft, white thighs. “I love to touch you.”
His hand trailed across the dark blond hair that crested her most secret flesh. “There cannot be a woman as lovely as you are to me.” He looked into her eyes, and his next words came without his forethought. “I would love nothing more than to have you as my wife.”
Tears sprang into the corners of her eyes, and she shook her head vehemently. “Stop talking. Come here and love me.”
She held her arms out to him, and he covered her body with his own. His tongue explored her mouth as his hands explored her body, loosening the buttons of her gown to release her breasts from their confinement. She gasped as his hand covered her pebbled nipple through the thin barrier of her shift.
“Avery, please,” she begged as she wrapped her thighs around his hips. “I don’t want to wait. I want you inside me.”
Though his body roared to claim her, he resisted the urge. He must make this last; he must carve this moment into his very being. Ripping her shift away, he bared her breasts to his hungry gaze. Her stays forced the beautiful orbs higher, and he took advantage of their perfect frame.
He bent his head and captured the tip of her puckered nipple between his lips.
Her fingers tangled in his hair and her hips thrashed as he flicked the tight bud with his tongue. He clasped her soft, round buttocks with both hands as he loved her breasts. Her body was made for him, though she’d had lovers before him, and would in all likelihood marry someday…
Growling, he refused to think of the future. This was their moment, and it was their forever.
He covered her breasts with his kisses, and he ravaged her body with his touch. His fingers delved between her folds as he kissed the pale column of her throat, lightly sucking the pulse that fluttered there.
She was so wet, her silky skin parted easily to allow his fingers entry. One, then two, slid within her heat, and she gasped.
“Avery,” she moaned, raising her hips to force him deeper. “Don’t make me wait, please.”
Though he wished he could draw their encounter out for hours, days, their lifetime, he knew that he could not. Kneeling between her parted thighs, he lifted her hips to receive him.
Poised at her entrance, her wet heat beckoning him, he hesitated. Looking down into her wide eyes, as blue as a summer’s day, he smiled.
“You are mine, Leah. My own angel.”
And he slid home.
There was nothing like that moment. Even in the times they had come together before, he had never known such pleasure as sinking himself into her heat. Holding her close to his chest, he stilled himself for a moment, letting himself sink deep into the cradle of her body.
“Oh please,” she panted. “Please.”
He moved against her in a rhythm that felt as natural as breathing. Breathing her in, he smiled. Her scent would forever be burned in his mind, that sweet exotic perfume that he had never smelled before and never would again.
Their bodies strained together, soft cries and intimate touches building in intensity until Avery thought he’d die from the pleasure. Her heat thrummed through him, almost as if they were connected in more than body. She buried her face against his chest, pressing kisses wherever she could reach.
When her
cries grew more desperate, and her movements more frantic, he reached between them and found the hidden place, the one that seemed to call out for his touch more than any other part of her exquisite body.
She exploded and, a second later, so did he. He muffled his hoarse shout as he poured himself into her, shuddering as her body wrung every last drop of his response from him.
He stayed there for several ragged heartbeats, waiting for the world to stop swimming about him. When it did, he rolled to the side, gathering his bedraggled, half-dressed, and well-loved angel to his chest.
“I love you, Leah,” he whispered. “I shall never love another as I love you.”
“Oh, Avery.” She closed her eyes. “I love you more than anything, and I always will.”
They dressed quickly but with more kisses and touches than were wise. Though he’d just had her, he wanted her again. He wanted to chain her to his bed and never let her go. But she needed more than he could provide, and though the thought broke his heart, he’d let her go.
They descended the stairs, hand-in-hand, only a few moments later.
The duke and Lady Chesterfield sprang apart when Leah opened the sitting room door. Avery wanted to laugh at the obvious blushes on their faces, but such an expression was beyond him then.
Ella and Muriel entered the room behind them. When Avery would have released Leah’s hand, she gripped him tighter. He could not help but be relieved. Her touch was a commodity that would be ripped from him all too soon.
“Everyone,” Leah said. “This is Avery. I love him.”
Ella nodded pleasantly. “It’s great to meet you, Avery.”
“He and Mrs. Comstock repaired as much of the mirror as they could, but it’s only big enough for you and me to pass through.”
He could not help but be proud of the way her voice remained steady though her hands were shaking like leaves in autumn.
As Ella and the young maid carefully lifted the mirror and brought it into the sitting room, Leah stepped into his arms.
“Are you sure you can’t come?”
He tangled his hands in her yellow curls, holding her tight. “Even if the mirror were large enough, I cannot abandon my aunt.”
“I know.”
Their last moments together passed too quickly. Ella touched Leah on the shoulder, a compassionate look on her face.
“Leah, are you ready?”
His angel pulled free of his embrace, wiping the tears from her eyes. “Yeah.”
“Wait,” he said, and she turned. He swept her into his arms, kissing her with all the love and longing that lay in his broken, bleeding soul. She returned it with equal fervor, clinging to him desperately.
Too soon, he lifted his head.
“You must go.” His voice was broken—but so was his heart.
Ella stepped through the mirror first, squeezing through the small opening with a fair amount of struggle. Leah went after her, dipping her slipper through the cracked glass. It disappeared as though she were stepping into a pond instead of solid glass.
“Love me forever?” Her tears glittered like jewels on her reddened cheeks.
“As you wish,” he whispered as she disappeared.
* * *
Leah thumped to the floor of Jamie’s house, narrowly missing landing on Ella’s head. She rolled to the side to avoid crushing her friend.
“Are you okay?” Ella asked, coming to her feet.
“No, but it doesn’t matter.” She clamped the lid on all thoughts of Avery. Pawpaw was her focus right now. Once she’d seen him and demanded that he feel better, she could fall apart the way she was longing to.
“Come on, let’s get to the hospital.”
Fortunately, Leah’s suitcase was still there from her aborted housesitting trip. She threw on some jeans and a T-shirt, yanking her hair into a ponytail and scrubbing ineffectually at the tearstains on her cheeks. Within ten minutes, the pair was on their way to Concord Memorial Hospital.
Ella tried to draw her out in conversation a couple of times on the short drive, but Leah couldn’t really respond. Casual conversation was completely beyond her right then. She was starting to realize how Jamie had felt when she’d had to leave Mike behind. This was a pain that she wouldn’t wish on her worst enemy.
When they finally arrived and checked in at the visitor’s desk, they sprinted up the stairs to the second floor. When they got to the closed door of room 217, Leah ground to a sudden halt.
“Are you okay?” Ella asked, concern in her voice.
“Do you mind going in first?” Leah wrapped her arms around her middle as if she could stop the anxiety from knotting itself around her guts. “To see if he’s okay?”
“Sure.” Ella nodded and pushed the wide door open.
Leah slammed her eyes shut, unable to face the hospital room. What if they hadn’t made it? What if she’d left Avery behind and lost Pawpaw too?
“Leah, come in,” Jamie called softly.
With a deep breath that didn’t do jack to steady her nerves, Leah entered the room.
Pawpaw, that strong and capable man who was always moving, always laughing, always looking out for her, was lying pale and still as death on the hospital bed. Leah covered her mouth in distress. There were so many monitors, IV bags, cords, and tubes. She could only see half of his face because of the oxygen mask.
She rushed to his side, taking his hand as gently as she could. Mike and Jamie moved from their seats at the bedside to make room for her, and Ella stood in the corner while Leah looked down at the man who’d raised her.
“Pawpaw, can you hear me?” She rubbed at his callused fingers. “It’s me, Leelee. I’m here now. I’m sorry I was gone when you got sick.” She looked down, trying to get a handle on her emotions. “But I’m here now. And I found that man, you know. You would love him, Pawpaw. He’s amazing and strong and kind, and he loves me.”
The only response Pawpaw gave her was a slight wrinkling of his brow. She squeezed his hand tighter.
“I promise you’ll love him. But you have to get better so you can meet him, okay?”
Mike and Ella left the room, and Jamie laid a warm hand on Leah’s shoulder.
“The doctor came by. The tests aren’t looking as good as they’d like. But don’t give up hope, okay?”
Jamie hugged Leah from behind, wrapping her arms around Leah’s shoulders. Leah’s eyes fluttered closed as she took solace in Jamie, grabbing her friend’s forearm with her free hand. The world had crashed down around her, and though things couldn’t get much worse, her best friend was there for her.
“Love you, James,” Leah sniffed.
“Love you, Leah,” Jamie replied, tears in her voice.
They stayed that way, Jamie holding Leah, and Leah holding Pawpaw’s hand, for long moments, until a soft knock on the door drew Leah’s attention.
“Come in,” she called as Jamie straightened.
Ella came in first, a curious smile on her face. “Leah, Mrs. Knightsbridge is here to see you. She has something for you.”
Leah stood reluctantly. She didn’t want to let go of Pawpaw, but Jamie patted her hand.
“I’ll stay with him. Go ahead.”
Jamming her hands in her pockets, Leah moved past Mike into the hallway. Mrs. Knightsbridge, dressed in plain cotton dress with white sneakers, was standing by the door and smiling widely. To her left stood a broad man, not too tall, with long, light-brown hair, the color of dark honey. Hazel eyes, a crooked nose, and muscles that were clearly defined in the tight black T-shirt he wore.
Leah’s heart stopped.
“Avery!” Her cry was much too loud for a hospital, but she didn’t care. She launched herself at him and wrapped her arms around him. “How are you here?”
Mrs. Knightsbridge laughed as Leah kissed him, not giving him a chance to answer the question. “I believe I can answer that. He and the duke replaced the mirror, so why did you not think I could bring him to you afterward? The time stream is becoming more st
able again, so I was able to time his arrival much more advantageously. It is some of my best work.” She preened as Leah turned, keeping a death-grip on Avery’s hand.
“Mrs. Knightsbridge, you are amazing.” Leah hugged the woman, who laughed again.
“It is no trouble, no trouble at all.”
Sobering, Leah turned to Avery. “I’m beyond thrilled that you’re here, but what about your aunt?”
His expression darkened and Leah’s heart fell.
“She lasted but a day after you’d gone. Her illness had progressed so much that she could not eat.”
Leah pressed a kiss to his lips. “I’m so sorry.”
He cleared his throat. “She is free of pain now. How is your grandfather?”
“Pawpaw’s not so good. Can you come with me?”
He nodded. “I will do whatever you wish of me.”
Leah threaded her fingers through his and led him into the darkened hospital room. Mrs. Knightsbridge followed.
“Avery, this is my Pawpaw, Milton Ramsey.”
Leah held tight to Avery’s arm and closed her eyes. Things should be so perfect now. This was what she’d wanted, right? To feel whole, to be loved, to have Pawpaw satisfied that she’d have someone to lean on. Why did the last piece of the puzzle have to be such a tough one? Why couldn’t she flip a switch and make her grandfather whole again?
A terrifying series of beeps screamed through the room, ripping Leah’s eyes open. “Pawpaw!”
Pawpaw was sitting up, pulling at his monitors and tubes. “Get these blasted wires off me. Man can’t breathe wrapped up in all this mess.” He stopped, blue gaze trained on Avery. “Who in the sam hell has his paws all over my Leelee?”
Adrenaline flooded Leah and she grabbed her grandfather’s hand. “Pawpaw! Are you okay?”
He coughed and pulled the oxygen mask away from his bearded chin. “Can’t stand this plastic over m’face. Leelee, get this thing off me.”
“Jamie, go get the nurse, please.” Leah turned back to her grandfather, grateful tears tracking down her stinging cheeks. “Pawpaw, you have to leave that on. You need the oxygen.”