The Lady Gambles

by Carole Mortimer

  Dominic turned his hand over and captured Caro’s gloved fingers tightly within his grasp. ‘I assure you, my dear cousin, my feelings towards you have never been in the least fraternal or paternal.’ He lifted her hand, his gaze easily holding her widened one captive as he slowly, and very deliberately, placed a kiss within her gloved palm. He then had the satisfaction of watching as the indignant colour warmed her cheeks.

  ‘I see the way of things now…’ Nicholas Brown gave an appreciative laugh as he rose elegantly to his feet. ‘I hope I did not cause offence by any of my earlier comments, Blackstone?’ His movements were languid as he straightened his cuffs beneath his expertly tailored black superfine.

  Dominic’s fingers tightened even more firmly about Caro’s, preventing her from snatching her hand away, as he looked up at the older man challengingly. ‘Not in the least, Brown. I can see that in future I shall have to make sure I remain constantly at Caro’s side in order to provide her with suitable amusement.’ His voice had hardened in warning over that last statement, a warning he knew the other man was fully aware of as that calculating brown gaze met his in shrewd assessment.

  Caro was very aware that Dominic had been manipulating the conversation these past few minutes. And in a way that she did not in the least care for; after the things he had both said and implied, she believed that the handsome and charming Mr Nicholas Brown could come to only one possible conclusion concerning the Earl of Blackstone’s relationship with his ‘cousin’!

  ‘Perhaps, if you have time, Mr Brown, you would care to come for a turn about the park with me before taking your leave?’

  Dominic had the grim satisfaction in seeing Caro’s triumphant expression turn to a wince as his fingers tightened about hers. ‘I do not think that advisable, Caro,’ he grated harshly. ‘For one thing, it has turned a little chill.’ His tone implied that it was going to get a lot chillier! ‘I am afraid Caro and I must also go to another appointment, Brown,’ he informed the other man distantly.

  Nicholas Brown turned to give Caro a courtly bow before handing her his card. ‘You have only to contact me if you should ever again feel a need for company during another of your jaunts about London, Mrs Morton.’

  Nicholas Brown would only ever be allowed to accompany Caro anywhere over Dominic’s dead body! Which, he allowed grimly, was a distinct possibility if she continued to behave so recklessly…

  ‘You little fool!’ Dominic’s teeth were tightly clenched together as he returned from dismissing the carriage Caro had arrived in earlier, a nerve now pulsing in the hard set of his jaw, the scar upon his cheek once again a livid slash as he lifted her up into his curricle as if she weighed no more than a feather.

  She bristled indignantly. ‘I do not think there is any need—’

  ‘Believe me, Caro, you do not want to hear what my particular needs are at this moment in time.’ He gave her a silencing glare.

  ‘You—’ Caro’s second protest was arrested in her throat as Dominic urged his highly strung greys on to what she considered to be a highly dangerous speed. Not that she did not have every confidence that he was in complete command of the sleek and powerful horses, but she did fear for the safety of the occupants of the other carriages who were driving at a more sedate pace along the busy cobbled streets.

  Streets that did not look in the least familiar… ‘This does not look like the way back to Blackstone House?’

  If anything Dominic’s jaw clenched even tighter. ‘Possibly because it is not.’

  ‘But—’

  Dominic had turned and speared her with eyes that glittered a pale and dangerous silver. ‘Unless you wish for me to stop the curricle this instant, and warm your bottom to the degree that you will not be able to sit down again for a week, then I urgently advise that you not say another word for the duration of our journey!’

  Caution was not normally a part of Caro’s nature, but she decided that in this instance it was perhaps the wisest course; Dominic was angry enough at this moment to actually carry out that scandalous threat!

  That Dominic had been angry at finding her gone from Blackstone House in his absence was in no doubt. That he had been put to the trouble of seeking her out had obviously not improved his temper. That he had found her in the company of the charming Mr Nicholas Brown only seemed to have added to that displeasure.

  Why any of those things should necessitate Dominic now behaving with the savagery of a barbarian, Caro had no idea. Neither did she think it sensible at this moment—indeed, it might be highly detrimental to her health—to question him further.

  She looked about her curiously as Dominic turned the curricle on to one of the city’s quieter residential streets, the wide arc of cream-fronted town houses along this tree-lined avenue nowhere near as magnificent as Blackstone House, but of a style that was nevertheless elegant as well as quietly genteel. She turned to Dominic with a guarded frown. ‘Are we to go visiting?’

  His mouth twisted scathingly. ‘Hardly.’

  ‘Then why are we here?’

  They were here because Dominic had realised, after almost making love to her last night, that for Caro’s sake, as well as his own, he could not allow her to remain within his own household for a single night longer. That having her so freely available to him at Blackstone House was a temptation he was finding it increasingly hard to resist. The only solution to that dilemma, he’d felt, was to move Caro to other premises as quickly as was possible. With the added security of being able to staff that establishment with men and women Dominic could trust to ensure that she did not repeat this morning’s recklessness.

  In fact, the sooner she was made aware that the oh-so-charming Mr Nicholas Brown was, in fact, the danger Dominic was attempting to protect her from, the better for them all!

  Dominic brought the curricle to a halt in front of the three-storeyed terraced house he’d had prepared for Caro’s arrival only that morning, allowing an immediately attentive groom to take hold of the horses before he jumped lightly down to the pavement. He moved around to the other side of the carriage to raise his hand with a politeness he was far from feeling. ‘Caro?’ he prompted tersely as she remained seated.

  Caro’s earlier puzzlement had obviously turned to wariness as she stubbornly refused to take his hand and step down from the curricle. ‘What are we doing here, Dominic?’

  Dominic was not a man best known for his patience, and what little he possessed had already been pushed to its limit this morning by this infuriating young woman. Neither did he care to explain himself in the middle of the street. ‘Will you step down voluntarily, or must I employ other, perhaps less dignified, measures?’

  Her eyes flashed the same sea-green as her gown. ‘You did not seem to have the slightest thought for my dignity earlier when you made a show of me in front of Mr Brown!’

  ‘It is my dignity I referred to now, and not your own.’ Dominic eyed her quellingly.

  ‘Then let me assure you that I have absolutely no intention of going anywhere with you until you have explained— Dominic…!’ The last came out as a surprised squeak as he wasted no further time on argument but took Caro by the hand to pull her forwards on the seat before throwing her over one of his shoulders. ‘How dare you? Put me down this instant!’

  No, Dominic acknowledged grimly as he began to walk down the path towards the house, dignity certainly had no part in these proceedings!

  Chapter Ten

  It was a little difficult for Caro to take in the unfamiliarity of her surroundings when she was hanging upside-down over one of Dominic Vaughn’s broad shoulders. Even so, she did manage to take note of the quiet elegance of the hallway once they were inside the house, and several doors leading off it to what were probably salons and a dining room.

  Several servants stood just inside the hallway as the Earl of Blackstone calmly handed one of them his hat before he began to ascend the staircase with Caro still thrown over his shoulder.

  ‘Not a word!’ he warned softly
as he obviously guessed she was about to voice another protest.

  Caro clamped her lips together, her cheeks red with mortification as the servants below continued to watch the two of them until Dominic had rounded a corner to enter a long hallway. ‘You will be made to regret this indignity if it is the last thing I ever do!’ she hissed furiously.

  He gave a scathing snort. ‘If I could be sure that was the outcome, I might allow you that privilege!’

  ‘You are despicable! An overbearing, arrogant bully—’ Her flow of insults came to an abrupt halt as Dominic entered one of the bedchambers and tilted her forwards over his shoulder before throwing her unceremoniously down on to a bed. Caro barely had time to glare her annoyance up at him before she suffered the further indignity of having her bonnet tilt forwards over her eyes as she bounced inelegantly upon the mattress.

  Her eyes glittered up at him furiously as she pushed the bonnet back into place. ‘How dare you treat me in this high-handed manner?’

  ‘How dare you completely disobey my instructions this morning and leave Blackstone House unaccompanied?’ Dominic thundered, appearing completely unaffected by her indignation as he glowered down at her.

  Her eyes narrowed in warning. ‘I do not consider myself in need of your permission concerning anything I may, or may not, choose to do!’ She drew in an angry breath. ‘Neither does anything I have done this morning compare to your outrageous behaviour of just now.’

  ‘I beg to differ.’ He eyed her coldly, dark hair rakishly ruffled, although the rest of his appearance was as elegantly fashionable as always: perfectly tied neckcloth against snowy white linen, a deep grey superfine over a paler grey waistcoat and black pantaloons above brown-and-black Hessians.

  His sartorial elegance made Caro even more aware of her own dishevelled appearance. Her sea-green gown was in disarray, rumpled from where she had been thrown down on to the bed, her hair even more so as she sat up to untie and remove the matching bonnet completely.

  She gave an unladylike snort as she threw the bonnet aside. ‘I do not believe you have ever begged for anything in your life.’

  ‘No,’ he acknowledged unrepentantly. ‘Nor am I about to start now.’

  ‘What are we doing here, Dominic?’ Caro still felt agitated by the fact that he appeared to have carried her into the home of someone she did not even know; there was no way she could know the owner of this house when she was unacquainted with anyone in London except Dominic himself. And Drew Butler and Ben Jackson, of course. And now Nicholas Brown.

  Dominic watched coldly as Caro tried unsuccessfully to tidy the waywardness of her curls. ‘I am more concerned at this moment with the fact that your recklessness in going to Nick’s this morning may result in much more serious repercussions than what you view as the indignity of being carried against your will into this house.’

  Caro ceased fussing with her hair to look up at him scornfully. ‘You are being ridiculous. There was no danger involved in my choosing to visit Mr Butler and Ben—’

  ‘And Nicholas Brown?’ Dominic’s nostrils flared angrily. ‘Do you believe yourself to have been in absolutely no danger from him, too?’

  Her chin rose. ‘Mr Brown was charming, and behaved the perfect gentleman in my company.’

  Dominic gave a fierce scowl. ‘Ben Jackson is more of a gentleman than Nicholas Brown.’

  She eyed him haughtily. ‘After your most recent behaviour, I am inclined to believe Ben to be more of a gentleman than you, too!’

  Dominic’s eyes narrowed to icy cold slits, his jaw clenching as he once again fought the battle to retain his usual control over his emotions, rather than letting them control him. It was a battle he had been destined to lose from the moment he’d walked into Nick’s earlier and saw Caro calmly sitting down and drinking tea with the man he believed responsible for the attack on Nathaniel Thorne. As for being a gentleman, Brown was a man whose rakish handsomeness often occasioned him being invited into the bedchambers of married ladies of the ton, but who would nevertheless never be invited into the drawing room of one.

  Dominic’s teeth clenched so tightly together he heard his jaw crack. ‘You have absolutely no idea what you have done, do you?’

  She looked unconcerned. ‘I merely exerted my free will—’

  ‘To sit down and drink tea with the previous owner of Nick’s.’

  ‘Oh.’ Caro looked momentarily nonplussed by this information, before rallying once again. ‘I am sure I do not understand why, when you now own the club, that you should choose to hold that against him.’

  ‘It is an ownership Brown relinquished to me with great reluctance,’ Dominic grated pointedly.

  ‘No doubt. Even so—’

  ‘Caro, I know you to be an intelligent woman.’ Dominic spoke with controlled impatience. ‘I wish that you would now stop arguing with me long enough to use that intelligence.’

  She eyed him warily. ‘With regard to…?’

  ‘With regard to the fact that only minutes ago you sat down and drank tea with the man I have every reason to believe is the very same man I have these past two days been attempting to protect you from.’ Dominic’s hands were now clenched at his sides.

  Caro looked startled. ‘You are referring to Mr Brown?’

  ‘I am indeed referring to the man you think is a perfect gentleman.’ Dominic’s tone implied he knew the man to be the exact opposite of her earlier description of him. ‘I believe him to be behind the attack on Nathaniel.’

  Caro swallowed. ‘Are you sure?’

  Dominic’s expression was grim. ‘After this morning, yes!’

  Caro began to tremble slightly, as the full import of what she had done began to sweep over her. She had found Nicholas Brown affable and charming, had flirted with him lightly, as he had flirted with her. She had even invited him to go walking with her! Admittedly that had been in response to what she had considered to be Dominic Vaughn’s overbearing attitude, but that did not change the fact that she had made the invitation. And all the time, the man was a complete villain!

  ‘If you truly know this for certain, then I do not understand why you did not instantly challenge him with the despicable deed?’ Caro, uncomfortably aware of the severity of her error, decided to attack rather than defend, only realising her mistake as she noted the anger smouldering in the depths of Dominic Vaughn’s ice-grey eyes once more flare into a blaze.

  ‘I was an officer in the King’s army, Caro, and a soldier does not confront the enemy before he has his own troops firmly in place and, more importantly than that, the civilians removed from harm’s way.’

  She gave a dismissive snort. ‘Apart from myself, there were but the two of you present this morning.’

  ‘And Brown’s cut-throats were no doubt waiting outside in the shadows, eager to assist him if the need should arise.’ Dominic looked down at her coldly. ‘One of my dearest friends has already suffered a beating on my behalf, I was not about to see the same happen to you this morning, or indeed Butler and Jackson.’

  Her eyes widened. ‘You believe the attack on Lord Thorne to have been meant for you?’

  ‘Only indirectly. It would appear that, for the moment at least, Brown is enjoying playing a cat-and-mouse game of inflicting harm on my friends rather than a direct attack upon me.’

  ‘Then that is even more reason, surely, for you to have confronted him this morning?’

  ‘Caro, it sounds distinctly as if you are accusing me of lacking the personal courage to confront him.’ Dominic’s tone was now every bit as glacial as his eyes.

  It would be very foolish indeed of her to accuse him of such cowardice, when three nights ago she had personally witnessed him challenging those three young bucks well into their cups. When he had not hesitated to come to her rescue in the middle of a brawl. When she knew him to have been a gallant officer as the mark of that gallantry was slashed for ever upon his face.

  But foolish was exactly how Caro felt at learning how mistaken she had been
concerning Nicholas Brown’s nature. Foolish, and embarrassed, to have been flattered by the attentions of the man she now knew him to be.

  Her chin rose proudly. ‘I would have thought you might, at the very least, have allowed him to see that you are aware of his guilt.’

  Dominic gave a hard smile. ‘Oh I am sure he is well aware of that fact.’

  ‘How could he be, when apart from making such a show of implying our relationship is that of more than cousins, you were politeness itself?’ Caro asked.

  ‘The fact that I implied our relationship to be that of more than cousins, as you so delicately put it, was done with the intention of warning Brown, should he even consider the idea, of the inadvisability of harming one golden hair upon your head.’ A nerve pulsed in Dominic’s tightly clenched jaw. ‘Which is not to say that I now feel that same reluctance myself.’ The very softness of his tone was indicative of the depth of his anger.

  Caro’s trembling deepened as she realised too late her mistake in questioning Dominic when he was already so displeased with her; the grey of his eyes had become so pale and glittery that they glowed a shimmering silver, the scar standing out harshly in the tautness of his cheek, and his mouth had thinned to a dangerous line.

  If those things were not enough to tell Caro of her mistake, then the purposeful look in his eyes as he moved to kneel on the bed beside her before pulling her roughly up against him and lowering his mouth to capture hers certainly did!

  There was no gentleness in him as he ground his lips against hers before his tongue became as lethal as an arrow as it speared between her lips to thrust deeply into the heat of her mouth, and one of his hands moved to cup and then squeeze the fullness of her breast in that same remorseless rhythm.

  Caro knew she should have been at the least frightened, if not repulsed, by the force of Dominic’s passion, but instead she found herself filled with an aching excitement; her cheeks felt hot, her breasts full and aroused, and between her thighs became damp and swollen.