Lori Brighton - [The Seduction 02] (11 page)

“I’ve tried. You do not wish to discuss the glorious way I fucked you last night, nor do you wish to discuss the weather. I am merely a whore. My social education is sadly lacking.” He shook his head as if gravely disappointed. “Perhaps you should choose the topic.”

She crossed her arms over her chest and, with a huff, slumped back into the seat. “Oh do shut up.”

He laughed, almost startling himself. Uneasy, he focused on the window. He wasn’t quite sure who he was since leaving Lady Lavender’s. A man who worried about the welfare of others, a man
who laughed and smiled easily. This was not the man he’d known for the past fourteen years. Was it the sudden freedom? The clean air? Gideon frowned. No, he knew without a doubt it was the woman across from him.

A woman who stared out the window so she wouldn’t have to meet his gaze. A woman who had paid for his touch, yet seemed desperate to avoid him now. In fact, she was pressed so tightly to the seat, he was surprised she hadn’t burrowed through the leather. For some reason her distance greatly annoyed him. Within a mere moment, his good mood had fled. He would do best to keep focus upon the plan, and the plan was to escape as soon as he had the money.

“Where are we heading?” he asked.

“Just east of Wales,” she admitted, plucking at the yellowed, tattered lace at her sleeve. “I pray you have nothing against the west coast.”

Gideon fought to maintain his air of disinterest. “It’s not my job to mind.”

“Only yesterday you told me you were in control. You said that you made the decisions.” She gave him a smirk. The challenge lay before them, ripe with tension. “So which is it, do you follow or lead? You can’t be both, you know. It’s quite greedy of you.”

She thought she had him, but he never went down without a fight. “I merely said I do what I please, when I please.”

She frowned. “Wonderful, considering you have no opinion, it will make our trip much easier.”

He stacked his feet on the seat beside her once more. Baiting her was much too fun. The instinct to win and dominate was still there, but never had he entertained such an amusing rival. “I never said I didn’t have an opinion. I merely stated that it’s not my habit to care about mundane things.”

She lifted a brow. “Mundane? For someone who works in a brothel, your speech and manners seem awfully fine.”

“And for someone who is a lady, you seem awfully loose,” he shot back, going for blood.

Her face flushed, and he almost regretted his harsh words. Blast, but he wouldn’t let himself care. He’d perfected the debonair attitude of indifference, and he wouldn’t dare let the years of practice come to naught all because of a woman with emerald eyes.

“A lady can’t enjoy the fine pleasures of the body?” she asked, her voice sounding slightly shrill, and he knew he’d won. “A man goes to a whorehouse and no one bats an eyelash. A woman does and she’s loose.”

“No need to defend,” he said, lacing his voice with boredom. “I like loose women as much as any of the male species. You’ll have no problem finding men to fill your bed.”

“Wonderful. When you return, I’ll have to search for another. Shall I find one and keep him around for a while?” She tapped a finger at the side of her mouth as if in deep thought. “Or should I sow my wild oats and all that?”

Gideon shrugged, feigning indifference when the thought of her bedding another produced a surge of jealousy the likes he’d never known before. “I have found variety is the spice of life.”

“Indeed. Good to know.”

They fell silent. She was staring daggers at him, but he merely smirked in return. In spite of the fact that he shouldn’t have cared, he couldn’t push aside the image of Elizabeth with another man. He wanted to jerk her forward, throw up her skirts, and show her that she belonged to him…at least for now.

“What exactly do you want from me, Mrs. Ashton?” he queried quite calmly, although inside he seethed.

“Want?” She picked up the soft kid gloves that had been sitting on the bench drying from last night’s jaunt through the rain. “Why, your body…for about two weeks.”

He gritted his teeth together lest he say something he’d regret. He merely had to keep hold of his temper, play the besotted, charming fool until he had the means to leave for America.

After a few moments of tense silence, she sighed, brushing her plait back over her shoulder. “Please, we will be together for a
fortnight. Can we not get along? Can we not be…” The carriage slowed, and her entire face transformed. The tension was gone, replaced with a bliss so pure that his heart actually constricted. “Home,” she said breathlessly. “We’re home.”

For a brief, insane moment he wished he could produce such happiness within her. More than irate at the way of his thoughts, he glanced out the window. He’d expected a small country estate. How very wrong. Holy hell, he’d been right all along. Elizabeth was no wealthy lady, she was a bloody heiress.

“Lovely place,” he drawled out, annoyed for some reason.

She gave him a tight smile, smoothing down the skirts of her dowdy gown. “Indeed. My late husband was quite good at investing.”

The carriage stopped in front of the estate. Out the left side window the home went on and on, but it was no fanciful museum as Lady Lavender had built. No, even over the façade of wealth he could feel a warm hominess of the place that called to him. Out the right window a brilliant green lawn rolled into the distance.

The carriage door opened, and the footman he’d met at Lady Lavender’s appeared. “My lady!” His greeting was much too jovial for a servant, his smile much too familiar. “Tis good tae see ye again.”

“Lady?” Gideon queried softly, quirking a dark brow. He certainly couldn’t blame her for not sharing her secrets. After all, who was he to her? But he could not abide liars and cheats, and he had a feeling this woman had purposefully left out the fact that she was an heiress.

“My husband had a small title,” she muttered, before turning her attention to the footman, almost as if embarrassed. “Will, so glad you made it back in good spirits.” She slipped her hand into Will’s, and he helped her from the carriage. “How is everyone?”

“Right dandy, they are. Although Benjie all but got ’imself foxed last night.” Will hooted, slapping his thigh. “Should have seen the pup—”

“Will,” Elizabeth snapped. Before she could reprimand the footman, the front door burst open, the large panels slamming against the golden façade. Gideon stepped warily from the carriage just as a young lad and lass rushed from the front door. They stumbled down the steps like overly eager puppies.

“Mama!” The boy jumped into her arms, throwing his pudgy hands around Elizabeth’s neck. Elizabeth merely hugged him back with laughing delight.

“Henry!” Elizabeth pressed a kiss to the boy’s dark curls, then turned and kissed the girl’s round face. “Cally! My sweet babies.”

Mama?

Dear God. Gideon wasn’t sure if he should be shocked or irate. Elizabeth had
children
? The last time he’d been around children, he’d been a child himself. What the bloody hell was he doing here? But Elizabeth…yes, she looked as if she belonged surrounded by babes. He felt completely caught off guard by her motherly position.

Elizabeth straightened, and her nervous gaze flickered toward him. Although she looked uneasy, he didn’t miss the sparkle of happiness in her green eyes. A sparkle that had been absent since he’d known her. She was thrilled to be home, thrilled to be with her children. “I suppose you have questions.”

Questions? He wanted to laugh at the absurdity of her statement. But mostly he wanted to curse himself for being interested at all. “A few.”

“Will, please take Henry and Cally inside,” Elizabeth demanded.

The serving lad gave her a cocky salute, but his curious gaze was on Gideon. “Yes, my lady.” He grabbed hold of both children and ushered them up the gravel path toward the wide, shallow steps that led into the estate, ignoring their groans of resistance.

Elizabeth sighed, looking suddenly weary. “I already told you that my mother-in-law is trying to kill me.”

“Not the question I wanted answered,” he said, his voice frigid. Was she intentionally being vague, or did she really think he hadn’t noticed last night?

She crossed her arms over her chest, her face taking on a stubborn edge. “What then?”

He stepped close to her, so close he could feel her warm breath on his neck. “My question, my dear, is how the hell you could possibly have children when until last night ye were a bloody virgin?”

So, he’d noticed after all.

That did pose a problem.

Elizabeth waited until Will had taken the children inside. When the door closed firmly behind them, she finally turned toward Gideon, facing the truth. He’d redressed in the silken waistcoat, white undershirt, and black trousers he’d worn at Lady Lavender’s. Although it was slightly wrinkled, he still looked debonair and entirely too handsome for his own good. If anything, his rumpled state gave him the air of a rakish lord, only adding to his appeal. Wasn’t fair, wasn’t quite fair at all that he should so readily look the part of a nobleman while she never seemed to look above the part of a chambermaid.

“Shall we walk?”

“I’d rather hear the truth.” His voice was even, pleasant, but she didn’t miss the underlying hardness in his tone. Truth of the matter was that he frightened her. “Why were we attacked?”

Elizabeth sighed, her shoulders sinking. Best to just tell him the truth now. “My mother-in-law wants me dead.”

“As you’ve mentioned.” He didn’t even flinch at the disturbing announcement. “But why?”

His hard stare made her uneasy. She started walking, following the path that led around the house, the crunch of gravel underfoot the only sound in the quiet afternoon.

“Because my mother-in-law doesn’t believe I am worthy of her son’s money and estate.” She knew he followed, she could sense him behind her. It was as if he had burrowed into her soul, a burr that clung irritatingly to her insides. “My husband died almost a year ago. When he lived, he protected us. Now…there is no one to keep her at bay.”

“She’d kill you to get her hands on the inheritance?”

She paused, and he paused beside her. “Yes, and sadly not even because she needs the money, but because she doesn’t think I deserve it.”

He released a wry laugh. “Truly, it’s like a Shakespearean play.”

She was surprised he read Shakespeare but merely shrugged, unable to deny it. “Indeed.”

The day was beautiful, really. Warm, the sun shining down through a brilliant blue sky. Birds filtered through the garden, their merry chirps peppering the air. And she was home…finally home. But Elizabeth felt cold. So very cold. She wrapped her arms around her waist, watching Gideon pace in front of her. It was the first time she’d seen him lose control of that stone façade. Oh, his face was still hard as granite, those eyes still unbearably chill, but his flustered movements hinted at his true feelings. She’d made him uneasy.

“And you’ve dragged me into this mess for what reasoning?”

“You don’t have to be involved.” She swallowed hard. If he refused to stay…she wasn’t sure what she would do. “But I needed you, just once. Just in case…” Oh dear, how did she explain? “I needed to lose my virginity.”

He paused, his hands on his slim hips, his gaze narrowed on her. “In case
what
? She had a surgeon examine you for proof of your innocence?” He sneered in disgust, his gaze sweeping over her body in a way that left her heated and humiliated. How could anyone so beautiful be so wretched?

She looked away, unable to meet his gaze. Yes, in her crazed mind she’d worried the dowager would enforce an examination. “One never knows.”

“This is utterly ridiculous.”

“Yes,” she sighed. “I agree, but such is my life at the moment.” And that was the sad, sad truth.

“So, your mother-in-law is trying to kill you.” He started walking toward the side garden where the roses were in full bloom, his face inscrutable. “And would you care to explain how it is that you could have had children, yet still be a virgin?”

It was a garden Mr. Ashton had planted for her when he’d uncovered how much she adored roses. She sighed and settled upon a stone bench, looking up at the many windows of the estate and wondering how many servants watched and whispered about her odd guest. Even Will knew very little about the facts.

It was time for the truth…at least a little of it. She had no choice now but to trust him. “You must promise me one thing before I speak—”

“I’ll promise you nothing.”

Her temples began to throb. It was very hard, indeed, to keep calm when she was around the stubborn man. Lord, she either burned with desire or burned with the uncontrollable need to slap him. Which was worse, she wasn’t sure. She tilted her head back just enough to send him a glare. Speaking with Gideon was very much like dealing with the children. “Please don’t be difficult.”

He settled beside her, his nearness intimidating, his warmth welcoming. She had to force herself not to flinch when his hard thigh pressed to hers. Her toes curled in her boots, for she felt his touch all the way to her feet. Images of last night flashed to mind.