“If I tell her now, force her to a situation she doesn’t want, she’ll hate me forever. As much as I feel for her I couldn’t stand that.”
“I’m sorry.”
He wasn’t sure what she was apologizing for. She wasn’t the one who had created this mess. His head ached and his soul felt empty, especially after spending so much time with Minerva. He just wanted to return to his bed. “I have more letters to write, so I’ll retire to my room.”
Eleanor placed her hand on his arm. “James, it will be all right. I don’t know how, but it will.”
He had given up hope, but she was sincere in her feelings. He just wished he could return them. The thought of living the rest of his life without Minerva as part of it made him almost hope that Oliver was a crack shot.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
After wearing a trough in the carpet of his bedchamber, James had come to the only logical conclusion. He was going to have to turn pirate and kidnap his wife. He found Simeon going over some business in his study. “Cuz, I need to borrow a horse, your fastest preferably. Oh, and I have no idea when I can get him back to you.” Simeon’s head snapped up and one of his brows flicked to his hairline.
“So you are running off to the continent.”
“No. Decided you might have been right after all. Do you remember any of those mythology stories they used to teach us Latin and Greek when we were in school?”
“Some. What does this have to do with your duel?”
“Not much, but it’s related. I was thinking about Minerva and your wife and their Eris club. Do you remember what the gods would do when they fancied a woman?”
“Turn into some animal, wasn’t it?”
“That or they would just kidnap her.” His cousin started to smile and then bit the inside of his cheek to stop himself.
“Could turn out badly for you.”
“Worse than being shot?”
“Point taken. What are you going to do if she won’t relent?”
“Use all the wiles of my ancestors and be very, very persuasive. I decided to draw upon the habits of the old family line and cause some havoc. You do know how my family received their title?”
Simeon sat back and considered for a moment. “Actually, no. Our mothers were sisters, but I never did know much about your father’s family.”
“They received it for services rendered. They were a bunch of bloody pirates, who cut a deal with the Crown to help fend off the Spanish Armada. The years hadn’t civilized our family much until I came along. I’m thinking maybe, just this once…”
“Watkins!” Simeon yelled as his face split into a full-blown grin. The Northford butler arrived immediately, though he looked chagrined at being bellowed for. He was trailed by a dog that seemed besotted with him.
“Have the grooms saddle Mercury for my cousin.” Watkins left to relay the message, the dog trailing him like a shadow. “Gads, I wish I could go with you. I care for all of the Heiresses, but it would be delightful to see a man get the upper hand over one just once. You do know the minute she’s discovered missing, the others will mount a rescue.”
“I’m counting on it, but see if you can hold them off for a little while. I’d like some time alone with my bride.”
“Good luck, though I feel I should warn you about what you are getting yourself into. Marriage to one of the Heiresses is…” Simeon swallowed hard on the words. “Eventful.”
“If it means I’ll smile as much as you do, then I’ll take it.”
Chapter Twenty-Eight
The wind whipped James’ cloak back as the horse raced through the streets. At this time of night, Londoners with any sense were home safe in their beds. Only fools and blackguards were out now, and they kept off the streets. The air was chilly, and he wore over his face the black silk cravat of Simeon’s he’d stolen and cut eyeholes in to hide his identity. It covered all but his mouth and chin.
He was sure he looked a fool, but that is what Minerva had reduced him to. So why couldn’t he get the damnable smile off his face? He wasn’t even sure of what his plan was other than to sneak in and make her see reason. His hearty laugh made one of the horse’s ears quirk. Was reason even a possibility with this girl? As intelligent and exhilarating as Minerva was, when it came to him, reasonable seemed out of the question.
He pushed the horse to go faster. His body ached from not having her near him last night. She would consent to be his bride, not that moron’s, and if she didn’t, then at least he could hold her until that bastard was safely on his way back to America. If it came to it, then he would have to tell her of the marriage, but doing so would mean he’d lose her forever.
He should have informed his man of business to begin the annulment process, but in his anger and haste, he’d neglected his responsibilities. And frankly, he just hadn’t wanted to. He couldn’t think. That she was his, yet not, burned him to ash.
Kill him now, he wanted the girl, badly enough to risk looking a fool, to risk imprisonment if she took umbrage at his methods, to risk death or exile if he was forced to fight the bastard. And yet, still he raced toward his destruction in the hopes of saving Minerva from her own. If she didn’t want him once she was safely free of the bastard, then she could stay at Simeon’s and be rid of her father as well. Not that his cousin needed help in keeping one gloriously frustrating woman, but James would find a way to pay for her needs even if she wouldn’t have him. Yes, he was a fool and in love.
He tied the horse in the alley behind the small house where Minerva lived. If he could be sure of the layout of the house, he’d feel more comfortable climbing the trellis to her window. Since the trellis was in easy reach of one window, that was where he’d start. With the way this whole experience had gone, he’d no doubt crash into her father’s room. Lovely thought.
His arms ached by the time he’d gotten to the second floor by way of the trellis. He made a mental note that if he survived this whole ordeal, he needed to spend time at his estate, working the land. He was getting soft. Peeking in the window made him feel like a lecher, but he couldn’t see much anyway. Just a hopefully Minerva-sized lump in the bed. Gazing longer, he recognized her form from the way she had splayed herself across the bed. She’d slept the same when it had been the two of them. By the end of the night, he’d given up and just let her roam over him until she’d settled. His body tightened at that memory.
As quietly as he could, he forced the window sash up. It wouldn’t do to be found out now. In another minute, he was inside and crouched next to her sleeping form. He dropped the cloak from his shoulders in preparation, but now what? He couldn’t speak to her. She’d recognize his voice in an instant. He could bundle her up in the bedclothes and try to escape down the stairs. With her screaming her head off and bringing down the whole house? Not likely to work.
A thought sparked in his brain and brought a smile to his face. If it went badly, then she’d hate him for it. He would have to trust that the love he felt from her would prevail, even if she refused to admit it to herself. Carefully, he climbed on the bed with as much stealth as he could muster. When he’d settled himself, she rolled toward him and sighed something that sounded very much like his name. James lost his resolve and kissed her forehead.
His kiss woke her like she was some fairytale princess instead of a woman who could run him through. Gads, was it the Lansford pirate blood that made her so beguiling to him? Was that where his ancestors had gone wrong? They had married into society to legitimize themselves, when they should have been marrying women who could stand up to them and keep them fighting fit.
“Who are you?” she managed to squeak before he covered her mouth with his hand. In her shock, she didn’t even fight him.
“The man who loves you,” James whispered in Minerva’s ear, trying to make his voice sound deeper. He felt her relax and then look at him more closely. He was prepared for a fight, not for her to purse her lips to kiss his palm. Good God, who could even figure out how the woman wo
uld react? In his surprise, he pulled his hand away.
“Oliver?” she whispered to him. He growled at the bastard’s name on her lips, though he could tell she was teasing him. “Ah, I didn’t think so. What do you mean to do with me then?” He had no trouble imagining her crossing her arms and cocking her hip at him in challenge.
It was a challenge he gladly accepted.
“Make you mine.”
She gave a tiny gasp, and then she was breathing in quick little puffs of air. “James…”
He couldn’t stand it any longer and kissed her with the passion he’d been keeping leashed. She quaked in his arms and then melted under his onslaught. Her little mewl signaled her need for air, but the minute he tried to release her, she clung to him all the harder. Yes, she loved him, but the foolish woman refused to admit it to herself, let alone him.
“I’m prepared to kidnap you for your own good and keep you until that bastard has sailed for the States so you don’t destroy yourself.”
“What of your position at the college, your good name, all of it?”
“It means nothing, knowing you are trapped in a bad marriage. You don’t want to marry a man who doesn’t value your intelligence, and I fear what will happen to you if you aren’t allowed to exercise your God-given talents. If you can’t see fit to protect yourself, then I will.”
“I am perfectly capable of protecting myself!” Her voice rose and then dropped to a whisper, so they didn’t alert the rest of the house.
“Really? Then explain to me why an intelligent, capable woman would tie herself to an idiot who means only to work her with the most menial tasks and then use the money he earned off of her work to keep a woman on the side? Do you have an answer for me?”
“I… James, we will never work out. We’re too passionate together. We’re all wrong for each other.”
“I have more to lose in this relationship than you, and I’m happy to lose it.”
“You don’t know what you’re saying. I… You’ll be shunned by your peers for marrying beneath you.”
“I don’t care one toss for them.”
“But, but, what about… James, I wasn’t completely honest with you.”
He pulled back at her words. Minerva wasn’t the kind of woman to lie about anything.
“So tell me now. Have it all out, and I’ll show you how well we’re suited.”
“You won’t think so when I tell you.” She closed her eyes, as if readying herself for his rejection. Truly, there wasn’t a single thing she could say, short of her loving the idiot, that could change his mind.
“I don’t think I can give you heirs.” Having gotten that bit out, the rest tumbled out in a rush. “Oliver left me with child, though I didn’t know it.”
“There’s a child?” His heart constricted, and he fancied killing the bastard in cold blood.
“No. I lost it well before I came to term.” Tears crested her lashes and spilled down her cheeks as she tried to finish her story. “A-A-Adeline found me in a pool of blood and cleaned me up. She told my father I had the gripe and had to stay in bed a few days.” Silent sobs shook her, and still she pushed on. “She nursed me back to health. She’s the only one who knew. I meant to write to Oliver when he sent me his direction, but he never did. I don’t know that I’ll ever be able to have children. I don’t know why I lost that babe.” She was sobbing out loud by the time she finished, so he pulled the cravat from his head and wiped her tears with it. Then he tucked her in closer while she cried herself out.
“My love. I have a cousin who can inherit if it comes to pass that we have no offspring. And if that is the case, then our ideas and innovations will have to suffice as our lasting contribution to society. Rest now, we’ll talk more in the morning.”
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Minerva rubbed her nose along the velvet of James’ waistcoat. Her body felt lighter than it had in ages. Her spirit burst to escape like the sun around the edges of the curtain. The sun…
“Oh, James! James, wake up. Your duel.”
The dratted man batted the hand pulling at him. “Shh, sleeping. Lovely dream of Minerva in my arms.”
“You ninny! That isn’t a dream! I am in your arms, and you are in my bed.”
“Mmm, so I am. Come back to bed, wife.” And with that he pulled her under him and nearly smothered her in kisses. Lack of oxygen made her dizzy, or maybe it was his kisses. Either way, it was a good few minutes before she realized exactly what he’d said. What did he mean by “wife”?
“James, you must leave. They’ll find you here, and I’ll be ruined.”
He held her pinned under him, plucking kisses from her as she squirmed. “Not ruined.” He kissed her. “Married.” He kissed her again.
He moved his way down to her shoulders, where he pulled the ribbon on her nightgown, and smiled as if he’d found treasure hidden there. At least now that he was kissing her collarbone, she could speak.
“James, them finding you here does not mean we’re married. Compromised, but not married. Don’t be a fool.”
He looked up at her then and grinned madly. “Too late. Already a fool. Already married.”
Minerva couldn’t be certain she’d heard him correctly with his face buried in the crook of her neck. Married? The man had finally lost his mind.
She summoned all her strength and hoisted him off her, and he tumbled to the floor.
“What are you talking about? You were going to fight a duel with Ol—” At his stern glare, she didn’t finish her thought. “Regardless, you can’t be here.”
“I can, and I will. You will only marry that bloody bastard over my dead body.” James stood over her now as she lay in her bed. He’d never been anything but kind and caring through all the trials and tribulations of their adventure. The only time he’d acted like this was when he’d been the earl at the house party, where she’d nearly stabbed him.
Now though, his actions brought out the desire to lay herself bare to him and let him ravish her. Her nipples pearled, and she shivered at the thought. A mewl escaped unwanted from her throat. As she watched him studying her, his eyes darkened and a mischievous smile played at his lips. He knew what he was doing to her.
He bent to whisper in her ear, “Soon, my sweet. Very soon I shall have you all to myself, no hiding, no subterfuge. Mine alone.” Goose pimples covered her body. She lo—liked the man he was as the professor, distinguished, esteemed, kindly even, but when he acted the scandalous earl, her body quaked for his touch.
“Please,” she sighed as he ran a single fingertip over her shoulder. Not enough, not nearly.
“Say you love me, and I’ll give you your heart’s fondest desire.”
She had no idea what he was talking about. “A microscope?” He burst out laughing at her question, and she tried in vain to shush him.
Finally he smiled at her. The arrogant earl was gone now and caring James stood in his place. Her body warmed with wanting him closer. This dear man beguiled her. She would never be bored with him. A tear rolled down her cheek at the thought of his being bored of her.
“Show me how you need me?” The words came out of her as a breath, but they had the effect she’d intended. His actions were quicker, surer now, yet gentle as always. He smoothed her hands up over her head and distracted her with kisses. It wasn’t until he pulled away that she realized he’d tied her to her headboard with the black cravat. She had a moment’s panic but then saw the mischievous glint in his eye.
“Trust me,” was his only direction. She was mute with anticipation, so only able to nod at him. This was a new incarnation of the man, blending the caring of James and the passion of the earl into something both new and yet familiar. “You only need to tug and you’re free. But, indulge me a moment,” he whispered in her ear.
Her body buzzed like a struck tuning fork. And he seemed to be molding that reaction as if it were a physical thing. Minerva swallowed thickly. Her breasts ached, her sex weeping as the man did no more than
run gentle hands over her, but in none of the places she desperately craved his touch.
At her moan, he seemed to come back to himself. “You are mine, Minerva. Mine to protect. Mine to worship. I won’t give you up, ever. Do you understand me?” Tears pricked her eyes, and that lump was back in her throat. Again she was reduced to nodding at him. “But…” Dread welled up unbidden at what he’d say next. “I need to know you feel the same.” She wanted to shout her love, but fear still had her in its talons. She managed to nod at him again, but he shook his head. “I need to hear you say it.”
“I want you,” she managed after a moment.
James smiled at her. Then he shook his head as he removed himself from the bed. She blinked as he removed his clothes, distracting her from his demand. “Say it, Minerva. Say it, and we both will rejoice.” She knew what he wanted, but years of practice were hard to undo.
“I care for you.” That earned her a kiss, but little more, as he went back to smoothing his hands over her again, warming her with his touch. Her reaction to him now settled in her sex. As if he knew exactly what he was doing, he returned to his spot between her knees. The soft scrapes of his fingernails against her feminine flesh made her pant, trying to take in more air.
“I’m going to torture you with pleasure until you tell me the truth, Minerva.” Oh heavens, a bolt of lust shimmered through her. The smile on his face brushed any fear aside, leaving nothing but want. “Tell me, and I will make you mine, bind you to me so that you know I would never leave you.”
“What… Oh dear Lord…” He’d leaned forward and kissed her between her legs. His tongue, warm and wet, left her writhing. Aware of her bound hands, she made sure to grab the headboard above her so she didn’t accidentally pull them loose. “Oh, James, please. More, please!”
“Quiet love, or you’ll wake the whole house.” He was biting his lips to keep from smiling. “If you want more, you’ll have to give me my truth.”
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