‘Oh, of course.’ Gibson’s irrepressible grin widened. ‘Anyway, wot did she say when you told her about the non-accident?’
‘Naturally, she was reluctant to believe anyone in her family intended her harm.’
‘That’s hardly to be wondered at.’
Nick sighed. ‘Alicia possesses a deal of common sense. When she’s had an opportunity to reflect. I believe she will take what I have told her to heart.’
‘Even if she does, she can hardly remain in a house where someone wants to top her.’
‘Indeed, we didn’t get the chance to discuss that difficulty.’ Nick untied his neckcloth and threw it on the bed. ‘You may leave me now, Gibson.’
‘Aye, but wot about—’
‘Not now, I need to think. Good night.’
Gibson’s astonishment at his abrupt dismissal was obvious. He stared closely at his master for a protracted period before slowly leaving the room.
When he’d gone, Nick lay flat on the bed and stared at the ceiling. He had time to spare, since he must wait for the household to settle down before keeping his assignation with Alicia. Nick had few secrets from Gibson but, on this occasion, for reasons he had yet to fathom, he’d chosen not to take him into his confidence.
Alicia walked back to her room, outwardly calm, but her head felt as though it was about to explode. She wasn’t sure what had made her agree to meet with the duke later. Alone in her bedchamber too! She blushed at her brazenness. Not that she had been given the opportunity to do anything other than nod briefly in agreement to his whispered suggestion. He had made it sound vital, but she could see now that there was nothing more for them to discuss. The attack on her could not have been deliberate. He had got that entirely wrong. No one had anything to gain from her demise, so she was in no danger from anyone in this house.
Except him.
But the only way to send a message cancelling the assignation would be through Janet. That would mean confessing that she had agreed to it in the first place. Shocking Janet in such a fashion was out of the question so she would just have to go through with it.
His grace wanted to exploit her for his own amusement, he had made that perfectly plain. Her face hadn’t recovered from its blush of a few moments previously before it was again invaded with heat. But this time her discomfort was caused by recollections of his questing fingers, separated from her body by a mere layer of silk and a flimsy corset. His capable hands had brought her alive in subliminal ways, consuming her with sensations that made thinking, protesting—any of the reactions she ought to have considered—completely impossible.
Which was why she really shouldn’t entertain him in her bedchamber. He might stick to his word and not lay a finger on her unless she begged. But, in her current highly emotional state, Alicia couldn’t be sure that she wouldn’t be reduced to begging. It was all his fault, of course. She had not been able to rid her mind of his expression as he smiled down at her during their dance. It had been devoid of all arrogance, and there was something reflected in his eyes that had been impossible for her to interpret.
Yesterday she had convinced herself that she had no interest in the duke. But yesterday she had considered him high in the instep and far too full of his own self-importance. If she thought about him at all, it had been to congratulate herself upon seeing through his sophisticated façade to the base individual lurking beneath it. She appeared to be the only member of her family who had not been taken in by his glamour, his wealth, his title, his good looks. But now she understood him a little better, which left her in something of a quandary. She had caught glimpses of the sensitive and rather lonely person beneath all that hauteur and no longer knew quite what to think of him.
Janet bustled along behind her, not saying a word. That was definitely not a good sign. She must be waiting for privacy in order to take her to task for being alone with the duke. Alicia didn’t know what she would say to defend the indefensible.
Much to her surprise, Janet merely beamed at her when they were finally alone. She busied herself by helping Alicia to disrobe and brushed out her hair, smiling all the while. When she’d completed her tasks to her satisfaction, she plucked the rose from between Alicia’s fingers and placed it in a bud vase on the bedside table.
‘You’ll be able to see it from your bed, my love.’
‘Leave the candle,’ Alicia said. ‘I won’t be able to sleep with all the noise coming from downstairs so I shall read for a while instead.’
‘All right, but don’t tire yourself, mind. I know what you’re like when you get your nose in a book.’
‘I won’t read for long. Good night, Janet.’
‘Good night, pet. Sleep well.’
Alicia settled in an armchair in front of the fire to wait, clad in her nightgown, a robe belted across it. Her hair was tightly braided but on a whim she pulled it free and it tumbled around her shoulders. She didn’t know what to do next and tried to concentrate on her novel, but so few words penetrated her brain that she might just as well have been holding the book upside down.
The party downstairs had gathered momentum. She heard snatches of conversations on the terrace beneath her window. Noise and laughter rose above the melodic dance music and Alicia wished she could be a part of it. The desire to be whirled around the floor in the duke’s arms just once more struck with an intensity that surprised her. She needed a distraction but nothing was to hand so she stood and paced the length of the room, trying to concentrate on the duke’s suspicions and think of an alternative explanation for the attack on her.
She gave up almost immediately and resumed her chair. Where on earth was he? She tapped her fingers on the arm of her chair, her nerves taut as a bowstring, endeavouring to remain calm. He wouldn’t risk coming until everyone was abed. He would be taking a risk even then, but the rest of the family slept in another wing and the rooms on either side of hers were vacant. No one else had any business in this part of the house after dark.
She must have dozed off in the chair. A light tap on the door caused her eyes to fly open. For a moment she felt disorientated. Why was she not in bed? Then she recalled what she had committed herself to. Flustered, she rose unsteadily to her feet and cautiously opened the door. She blushed deeply at the sight of the duke standing on the threshold. He wore a shirt, open at the neck to reveal a thick mat of hair curling across his chest, and a pair of tight-fitting breeches. His feet were bare.
‘Come in.’ She opened the door wider and turned away from him, shy suddenly.
‘I thought the party would never end.’
She was conscious of his calm assessment as he took the seat opposite hers.
‘What hour is it?’
‘After three.’
‘Goodness.’
‘You ought to remain in bed in the morning and recover your strength. You are still very weak. I imagine that Will can manage your animals.’
‘Perhaps.’ Alicia stared in fascination at her half-dressed caller. She had never encountered a gentleman anything other than fully dressed before, so her curiosity was entirely natural. But that didn’t account for the salacious nature of the thoughts which flooded her mind. He watched her assessing him and the languid, half-amused expression on his sculpted features told its own story. She shook her head, determined to remain aloof. ‘You had something else you wished to say to me? In view of the hour, we should make it brief.’
‘Indeed.’ His eyes came to rest on her face, and more specifically on her wayward hair, and he appeared to be in no hurry to do so. He eventually cleared his throat and spoke to her in a deep voice filled with urgency. ‘I need to impress upon you the fact that someone wishes you harm.’
‘So you said earlier.’ She wrinkled her brow. ‘But I really don’t see who it could be. Or why.’
‘No more do I. But I intend to get to the bottom of the matter before I leave Ravenswing Manor.’
‘I thought you were due to depart tomorrow.’
‘I have ma
de no immediate plans to leave.’ The heat of the gaze he focused on her face, the intensity of his expression, made her quake with emotion. Inexplicably she also found herself shivering. How was it possible to be both hot and cold at the same time? He noticed her difficulty, of course. ‘Are you cold, Alicia? Shall I bank up the fire?’
‘No, I am not cold.’ She trained her eyes on the floor, unable to meet his gaze.
‘I am motivated by a desire to keep you alive, which transcends everything else.’
He spoke with a deep sincerity that caused her breath to catch in her throat. She found it increasingly difficult to concentrate upon his well-intentioned if misguided warning whilst his eyes held her captive. The only light in the room came from the dwindling fire and the single candle by which she had been pretending to read. She couldn’t bring herself to look directly at him. She didn’t need to because she was acutely aware of his presence. The emotion spiralling through her, causing havoc with her level-headedness, was desire. She wanted him. She wanted to experience, just once, the type of passion that could escalate between a man and a woman when they shed their inhibitions and followed wherever instinct led.
She couldn’t take his words about danger seriously. She was too preoccupied with other feelings for them to make any sense. She ground her teeth. If he didn’t remove his gaze from her face and leave this room in the next few minutes, then she didn’t think she would be able to muster the strength to continue denying her passion.
‘Thank you, but it is unnecessary for you to inconvenience yourself on my behalf,’ she said in a commendably even tone, given the mayhem his presence was causing to her senses. ‘I am perfectly safe here.’
‘Then how do you account for the gunshot that missed your heart through nothing more than good fortune?’
‘It has to have been an accident,’ she said quietly, forced to consider the issue since he seemed determined to make his point. ‘I cannot bear to think otherwise. I can’t accept that any of my relations mean me harm.’
His eyes darkened. ‘What must I do to persuade you that the shot was no accident but a deliberate attempt to kill you?’
‘My family are a trifle negligent in their displays of affection towards me. But you must believe it when I say none of them has any reason to wish me dead.’
‘And you must believe me,’ he responded savagely, ‘when I tell you that one of them must have.’
‘No, it’s impossible.’
‘That’s what I expected you to say.’ He lifted his shoulders. ‘Ah, well, if you can’t think what it is, then I will have to work it out for myself.’
‘If I really am in as much danger as you suggest, perhaps I should arrange to remove myself from the Manor now and take possession of my cottage.’
‘That won’t serve.’
‘Why not?’
‘Because I can’t see the assailant’s need to kill you abating simply because you no longer live here. Besides, you will be less well protected there. It will be easier for the assassin to gain access to you.’ Alicia shivered and he reached forward to touch her hand, a reassuring gesture that failed to reassure. ‘I don’t mean to distress you, but if it puts you on your guard, then so much the better. But now, if there’s nothing else you can tell me that might help to unravel this mystery, I had best leave you to your repose.’
He stood up and Alicia felt shamefully disappointed when she realised that he really did mean to leave her.
‘Thank you,’ she said, standing also, ‘for your concern. I will take your warning to heart and be very careful.’
The duke turned and held her gently by the shoulder that wasn’t injured. ‘I sense that you still don’t really believe you’re in danger but I know it to be so.’
His expression was almost brutal. Observing it, Alicia’s legs quaked. She could see that he was in deadly earnest, and for the first time she actually wondered if he could be right.
‘Take great care.’
She blinked, gratified that a duke should concern himself with the welfare of a mere poor relation. Now all she had to do was figure out why her safety should be of such importance to him that he would risk calling upon her in the middle of the night in order to discuss it.
‘Vary the times when you go to the village, if you must go at all,’ he said. ‘Go by the main road, even if it takes longer to complete your journey. No one will risk attacking you if there is other traffic about.’
His hand still rested on her shoulder and the heat from his palm seared through the thin fabric of her robe. She looked up at him, a question in her eyes. Before she knew what was happening, his arms had encircled her body and, with a smothered oath, he kissed her. Not fleetingly this time but with a deep passion that stole her breath away. His tongue foraged her mouth and she instinctively opened it a little wider, brazenly granting him access. His hands roamed the contours of her back. Soothing, caressing.
She felt safe in his arms, almost ashamed of her acute awareness of him. Her emotions were in turmoil but she didn’t have the strength to care. She felt as though she were floating outside her body, a voyeur drifting on an endless wave of pleasure intended for someone else. An explosive amalgamation of sensations threatened to consume her, and she didn’t seek to fend off their lethal embrace. Instead she emptied her mind and surrendered to his touch, willing to follow wherever he led. Anxious to discover what came next.
Which was why a small protest escaped her lips when he abruptly broke the kiss.
‘Was I not supposed to invite your attentions?’ she asked him breathlessly.
‘You did, just now, with your eyes.’
She tried to look upon him severely. ‘Am I really that transparent?’ she asked.
Chapter Ten
In arranging to meet Alicia in her bedchamber, Nick was aware that his resolve to behave in a gentlemanly fashion would be a difficult ambition to achieve. He tried to pretend that she wasn’t in a state of semi-undress and that her vulnerability and increasing dependency upon him didn’t change anything. Ha! Simply looking at her caused desire to rip through him in virulent waves. If he quit the room before it took a stronger hold, there was an outside chance that he would be able to stick to his resolve. His original intention to play with her for his own amusement now seemed tawdry, making him ashamed of the person he was in danger of becoming. The sort of man who used his position of power to get what he wanted, the consequences be damned. He hated men of that ilk and would not join their ranks. Instead he would make sure that she remained safe.
He was about to leave her when she looked up at him, a passion she was too inexperienced to conceal reflected in her eyes, causing Nick to silently curse. Damn it, there was only so much temptation a man could endure, but he could not, would not, compromise Alicia. It would appear that after thirty years of searching, His Grace the Duke of Dorchester had finally located his conscience. Reluctantly he released Alicia and moved away from her.
‘It’s late,’ he said gruffly. ‘I should be gone.’
‘And if I asked you to stay?’ She tilted her head, her expression one of innocent enquiry. But the extravagant sweep of lashes shading her eyes was insufficient to disguise the need reflected in them.
Nick maintained control and held on to his noble intentions by a whisker. If she continued to look at him in such a provocative manner he would lose the skirmish with his newly located conscience.
‘Your wishes don’t signify.’ He took a step towards the door. ‘It would be best if I leave.’
‘Best for whom, your grace?’
Nick ran a hand through his hair, feeling uncharacteristically disadvantaged. ‘In coming here tonight, it was not my intention to compromise you,’ he said.
Her answering smile was imbued with a wealth of confidence. She might be inexperienced but the little tease knew precisely what she was doing to him and enjoyed tormenting him. ‘You warned me of your intention as soon as you arrived here and I have decided to take you up on your offer.’ She twir
led the sash of her robe in loose circles, almost as though she intended to unfasten it. It was vital for the sake of Nick’s rapidly dwindling resolve that she didn’t do so.
‘Alicia, why?’ He choked on an oath when she regarded him with a deeply sensual expression that had no place on such an innocent face. ‘Do you feel some sort of misguided duty because I rescued you? If so, then let me hasten to assure you that you owe me nothing.’
She lifted one shoulder in a negligent and very elegant shrug. ‘It’s simply a question of having my curiosity satisfied. I have observed horses mate but cannot believe that the couplings between humans could possibly be so clinically brutal.’ She shuddered. ‘But I will never know unless I try it for myself. You’ve offered to teach me and…well—’ She spread her hands and left her unfinished sentence hanging in the air between them.
He shook his head. ‘I should not have done so. I was angry with your uncle and cousin and took it out on you. That was unworthy of me. I apologise.’
Alicia’s tinkling laughter was the last response he expected. ‘I took exception to your high-handedness, your grace. But I find now that humility suits you even less.’
‘Your future husband should be the one to introduce you to the delights of the bedchamber.’
‘If you mean to imply that I am behaving loosely, then it won’t serve. I don’t intend ever to take a husband so must throw myself upon your mercy or forever live in ignorance.’
Nick gave an elongated sigh and abruptly gave up the unequal struggle with his conscience. He knew now that he would accept her delightful invitation, wondering if he had seriously expected this situation to develop in any other way. He pulled her against him, dropped his head and captured her mouth, feeding from its sweetness. When he broke the kiss, they were both breathing heavily.
‘Tell me what you know of workings in the covering barn,’ he said, taking her hand and leading her toward the bed.
She nibbled her index finger as she contemplated her answer. Her hair cascaded over one shoulder and Nick ran heavy locks through his fingers as he gently lifted it away from her face. ‘I am aware that it is only possible for the coupling to proceed if the mare is feeling receptive to the stallion’s advances.’ She glanced up at him, frowning. ‘I have never understood what instinct drives her to tolerate such brutality. But since making your acquaintance, her motives become clearer.’
Of Dukes and Deceptions: Dangerous Dukes Vol 4 Page 12