the continuing adventures of the Avalon Society
“Are you quite certain we cannot make it to Gryffestone this eve?” Hazel asked again.
“Miss Grimm. We are in the midst of a torrential rain. The roads are nearly impassable at present and will only get worse. True, we are not far from Gryffestone, but had we continued onward, we might have spent the rest of the night inside the carriage when the wheels became mired in the mud. We would be stuck and in a very precarious position if your attackers came upon us. This inn is our safest option,” Lucien Saintmaur, Lord Wyldhurst, took her hand and helped her from the carriage.
Actually, it was more like a quick jerk of her hand that led to the dragging of the irritating lady behind him. He quickly situated them inside the dry entry of the Badger Inn.
After requesting the largest set of rooms available, which unfortunately turned out to be only one room with a small parlour, he followed Miss Grimm up the narrow steps.
Maids scurried about before leaving them to their privacy. The food he had requested was laid out upon the table. A warm fire blazed in the hearth.
When he threw the bolt to bar the door, Miss Grimm nearly jumped from the chair she had taken near the fire.
Her grey-blue eyes grew wide with fear as she watched him. He was convinced the woman would jump at the sight of her own shadow.
He sighed heavily. “Once again, Miss Grimm, I assure you, you are safe from me. I bolted the door to protect us, to keep harm out, and for no other reason.”
What was it Damien had told him? Oh, yes. She was jittery around men. There was no doubt, she was. There must be a legitimate reason for it. He decided that was none of his concern. Tomorrow morning he would deliver her to the Earl of Kinross who awaited her at Gryffestone, and be done with her.
“Yes, of course,” she expelled a relieved sigh. Her eyes darted around the room. Beyond an open door, she could make out one bed in the connecting room. “There is only one bed?” Hazel regretted that her voice came out resembling a high-pitched squeak.
“You will sleep in the bed, Miss Grimm. I’ll keep watch here, in this chair,” Luc informed her as he plopped down in the only comfortable chair in the room. It wasn’t large enough for his tall, muscular frame, but it would do. He shrugged. At least the woman was talking now. She had remained silent for the last hour in the carriage after he admonished her for complaining non-stop. He supposed it had been a blessing to have some peace and quiet.
“Eat,” he waved toward the cold collation on the table. He continued, “And get to bed. Hopefully the rain will cease and we can get an early start to Gryffestone on the morrow, eh?” A smile turned up the corners of his mouth when he noted the whiskey on the side table. He reached over and poured himself an ample dose of the dark, amber liquid. Whiskey, it was the very best thing about being in Scotland.
“You are imbibing in spirits?”
Again, she gave him that wild-eyed, fearful look right before those same eyes narrowed into a stony, gray glare.
“Yes, I am indeed. It is a fine whiskey. Would you care for a dram, Miss Grimm? It will warm your bones.” He seriously doubted it would do much else; it would take more than a wee dram to loosen up a disagreeable spinster like her.
“I would prefer it if you did not imbibe. Men lose their wits when they drink strong spirits,” she confessed. She proceeded to fumble with the ends of her shawl.
Her tongue was bitter, true, but there was that haunted, frightened look in her eyes again. Yes, yes, whiskey made men lose their wits and breasts made them sin. She had lists of things that caused sin and he was quite certain he had heard them all since laying eyes upon Hazel Grimm earlier that morning. Little wonder Miss Grimm was a spinster, and shoved as far back on the shelf as a woman could get. He smiled at his own witty jest. What Miss Grimm needed was several shots of whiskey and a good, hard…tumble. The corner of his mouth quirked upward.
Hazel wondered why he smiled. He seemed amused. He had already demonstrated that he could be trusted. He had saved her life after all. She could not have survived the assault he spared her from this day. Why then did she fear him? Was it those black slashing brows that gave him that diabolical look, or was it the intensity of those unreadable green eyes? Perhaps it was the sheer size of him. The man was tall with the broadest shoulders she had ever seen. His arms and legs were muscled; in fact, the man was nothing but muscle. A giant really. She didn’t understand such feelings. She felt uneasy and on guard around him every moment.
She was still glaring at him. He grimaced. He was certainly not the man to give that woman a tumble. Although that riot of bright red hair, currently pulled into an unflattering, severe knot, if fanned out upon a pillow might be a sight to see, though he was not willing to go far enough to find out, thank you very much.
“Fine. I won’t drink,” Luc growled in irritation as he slammed the crystal glass on the table. Yes, a day of Miss Grimm’s company was more than enough for any man to bear.
He rose and walked to the table. He perused the cold platter that had been left for them. He picked up a hunk of bread and took a bite. It was tasty, fresh even. With one physical need completely ruled out for the evening, for he would not be going there with her, he turned to fulfilling another. The food was fresh and flavored well despite it being cold.
“You will come eat,” it was a polite command.
“I don’t think I could,” Hazel shook her head. Nervous butterflies fluttered in her stomach. Yes, that was what it was. He made her nervous. He watched her too closely. That was why she was uneasy in his company.
Did she frown all of the time? “Suit yourself,” he shrugged and threw a grape into the air, then caught it with his open mouth. Quite amused by her snort of displeasure, he sat and entertained himself with some more tidbits upon the platter. He caught another grape, then a piece of beef, a nip of cheese. His entertaining game lasted all of five minutes, until he realized she was still staring at him wide-eyed. It unnerved him to the point he decided to do something about it.
“Miss Grimm, would you mind not staring at me? If you continue to watch my every move, I might come to the conclusion that you find me devilishly handsome and wish to be seduced this eve. Do you want to be seduced? Do you wish to let me have my wicked way with you?” He pretended to begin to rise from the bench.
“Sorry, I – I,” she stammered as she hastily rose. “No! I will retire,” her voice came out a desperate whisper.
Luc noted her cheeks flamed bright red, not far from the brilliant shade of that glorious hair. It did bother him to see her hands tremble though. Mayhap it was more than her being jittery around men. He suspected at that moment that she just might fear men. There had to be a reason. He wondered what it was. He did see fear in those silvery blue eyes, and felt a pang of regret for putting it there.
“Do not lock the bedchamber door, Miss Grimm,” he barked. He smiled inwardly. He could be just as disagreeable to her as she had been to him the entire day.
“Why not?” She whipped around to face him.
He noted a flash of defiance in her eyes. Hmm? Interesting. He explained calmly, “If someone came in through your window, I could not prevent them from taking you.”
“Oh. I see.” Another blush “I will not.”
He gave her a nod then watched as she picked up her smaller bag and entered the bedchamber. She closed the door. He did not hear a click.
Hazel scolded herself. When he mentioned seduction, why had she felt…flattered? She never wanted to, well, she just could not do that. The sins of her past could not be erased. She could never think of marriage or that. Ever.
Why after all these years did she feel disappointed with her fate? She shook her head. She was being a complete ninny. It was the first time she had ever spent so much time in the company of a man she was not related to. And he was rather handsome. That must be why she was uneasy, timid, and felt quite out of place. She was just succumbing to silly nonsense instead of rational thought.
&n
bsp; On the other hand, was what she felt temptation? That kind of temptation would surely lead her to sin. Mayhap her oldest brother and sister-in-law had been correct when they told her that her hair was the mark of sin, and she was doomed to be a sinner.
No, she shook her head. Her dear departed brother, Jeremiah, had told her many times, ‘twas not her fault, nor was it the fault of her hair color. The fault lay inside the man who took advantage of her when she was but a child. Tears stung her eyes. She wished Jeremiah were still alive. What was to become of her now? How was she to go on without her dearest friend and brother? She heard Jeremiah’s voice in her head, Hazel dear, you must move on from your past. You cannot let what happened define you. I wish more than anything that you would let it go and be happy. You deserve to live a happy life.
Hazel straightened and squared her shoulders. That was just what she intended to do. She would overcome this and prevail. She didn’t know how, but she would find a way.
Satisfied that Miss Grimm had taken herself to bed, and would not intrude upon his privacy, Luc returned to the chair and his whiskey. He downed what remained in his glass with an amused chuckle then poured himself another. He lifted his glass toward the closed door and whispered, “Thank goodness there are warm, talkative, and willing women in the world who appreciate men, for Miss Hazel Grimm is certainly not one of them.” Pleased with himself, he let go a boisterous laugh then drained his glass.
It was too bad that Miss Grimm was such a sourpuss. Her fiery hair could indeed tempt a man. If it wasn’t attached to her person, it might tempt him. The quick glimpse he saw of those plump breasts earlier, when not flattened by that ridiculous binding she insisted upon wearing, could definitely fill a man’s hand. He found her gray eyes quite interesting when she wasn’t glaring at him. He wondered for a moment, and only a moment, what desire would do to the silvery blue of those large eyes.
“Bah!” He sighed. Hazel Grimm was the worst kind of spinster, for she truly hated men. So he would think on her no more. It would be an utter waste of his time.
eBooks by K. R. Richards
The Lords of Avalon Series
Lord of the Abbey
Lords of Honor
Lords of Retribution
Lords of Atonement
Lords of Avalon Companion Novella
Lord Greyton’s Fall from Grace
The Decker Brothers Trilogy
Decker’s Fate
(All of the above are available on Amazon Kindle.)
COMING SOON:
The Decker Brothers Trilogy, Books 2 & 3
Liam’s Spell (Late 2016)
Brody’s Charm
Quest for the Shroud Series
Book 1 - A Bachelor No More (Mid 2016)
Books 2 & 3, as yet unnamed.
Works in Progress:
Historical series:
The Séance Club
Book 1, Bewitching the Earl
The Darkes of Penzance
Book 1, Captain Darke Takes a Wife
The Cornish Rakes
Book 1, The Rake of St. Nectan’s Glen
(Series as yet unnamed)
Book 1, The Offer
Contemporary:
Beneath the Mississippi Moon
A Small Town Affair
Note from the Author
I hope you enjoyed reading Decker’s Fate as much as I enjoyed writing it.
Reviews are so important to authors, they help potential readers know if they want to take a chance on an author previously unknown to them, and they give the author invaluable feedback. Reviews help all authors, especially self-published and independent authors like me. I do read all my reviews, and I use the constructive feedback to perfect my craft. I strive to improve with each book I write.
Please feel free to leave a review on Amazon or a review and/or star rating on Goodreads.
https://www.amazon.com/review/create-review
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For info and updates about upcoming books and series and to connect with me, you can find me at: www.facebook.com/K.R.Richards.author http://mayitellyouastory.com
http://www.goodreads.com/KRRichards
http://krrichards.blogspot.com
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Thanks to my family and my friends who have supported me through this entire journey! I have so many people supporting me, I just can’t name you all anymore, but please know I appreciate each one of you. Thanks to my Spiritual sisters back home in AZ. I miss our circles! Thanks to my MS support group.
A huge thanks to my dear friend, Kerry Huber, a.k.a. author K. Huber, for being my biggest support system and for all of her guidance, and the beautiful covers she makes for me! I wish to thank Elizabeth Rees, a.k.a. author Elizabeth Seer and E’Nell Rees, for all of her support and ideas, and a thank you to author Connie Flynn for her support and shared info, especially our promo idea sessions. I want to thank her for taking a quick peek at my first attempt at a contemporary novel, and giving me some valuable feedback.
I want to thank my incredible Beta readers, who help me so much. Kerry Huber, who reads my draft before anyone else does and finds my most embarrassing mistakes. Also, Elizabeth Rees, Jan Goode, Emily Seyler, and Heather Reed. You ladies are awesome. I appreciate what you do so much.
Thanks to my fans. K. R. Richards would not be here without you! I truly enjoy talking to you all on Facebook. I enjoy coming to my page every day and chatting with many of you. You guys are awesome. Your feedback and support means so much to me. I will continue to work hard for you all.
Thank you to all the brilliant landscape and professional photographers in the UK that I have come in contact with for bringing my settings to life for me. You help me to connect with the genius loci, spirit of place. While sitting at home on my computer, I can see my settings in spring, summer, winter, fall, rain, gale, ice, snow, or sunshine.
Did you know…
Joe’s Grotto, in Phoenix, Arizona, has been open since 1994 and is one of the best rock music venues in the Valley of the Sun. If you want to know more about Joe’s Grotto see:
http://www.joesgrotto.com
https://www.facebook.com/#!/joesgrotto.musicvenue?fref=ts
Nineball is the name of a real band in the Phoenix area, and Marty and Natalie Lucas are the lead singers. If you want to know more about Nineball, or Marty and Natalie’s other bands see:
https://www.facebook.com/#!/NineballBand?fref=ts
http://www.exevententertainment.net
Crushed was a real band, (an awesome band!) and did retire, however they occasionally play reunion shows. Check out Crushed at:
https://www.facebook.com/#!/crushedofficial?fref=ts
See their FB page for itunes link.
To Joe Grotto, Joe’s Grotto, Marty & Natalie Lucas, Nineball, past & present Nineball band members, Mark, Jeff, Mike, & Mike of Crushed, past Crushed band members. Thank you for the wonderful music and all the great memories.
About the Author
Photo: Photos by Maddy
Natchez Trace Parkway,Chickasaw Indian Village, Tupelo, MS
K. R. Richards likes to garden, is a medium, reads tarot, and is a serious collector of crystals, minerals and gemstones.
She is the author of the Lords of Avalon series and Decker’s Fate. Currently, she is working on Book 2 of The Decker Brothers Trilogy, and Book 1 of the new Historical Romance series, Quest for the Shroud, where the adventures of the Avalon Society will continue.
K. R. currently lives in Mississippi, though she calls Arizona home, and plans to return to live in her beloved desert someday. She has two amazing sons, a beautiful daughter-in-law, and two wonderful grandchildren. She has two cats and a Collie, all rescues.
You can connect with K. R. at https://www.facebook.com/K.R.Richards.author, http://mayitellyouastory.com, http://www.goodreads.com/KRRichards http://www.amazon.com/author/krrichards, and http://krrichards.blogspot.com
Decker's Fate (The Decker Brothers Trilogy Book 1)
Decker's Fate (The Decker Brothers Trilogy Book 1) Page 42