To Wager the Marquis of Wolverstone (16 page)

Not only would Gower
not
escape, he
was a marked man. He couldn’t bear thinking about her alone with
that depraved pervert.

“How close do you think we should get? If he
realizes we’re here, he might act out of desperation.” Marcus knew
Henry was right.

He narrowed his eyes against the swirling,
gritty wind and indicated that they should split and ride down each
side of the carriage.

To their surprise the carriage then began to
slow. It wasn’t until they drew closer, that Marcus clearly heard
Sabine’s terrified screams.

Then as if time had stopped, the wind
dropped, the screams died and the sound of a pistol firing filled
the air.

He heard Henry curse and advance on the
carriage which had rolled to a halt. Marcus leaped off his
galloping horse and threw open the carriage door with his heart in
his throat. Gower was on top of Sabine but neither of them was
moving. He reached in and grabbed Gower, dragging him out of the
carriage on to the ground. There was blood everywhere; it was all
over Sabine’s dress and the floor of the carriage.

With his heart beating hard, he clambered
into the carriage and tentatively reached out his hand to feel for
Sabine’s pulse. Her eyes were closed, her skin was warm, and then,
miraculously, he saw the tiny flutter of a pulse at the base of her
neck. Sabine was alive but was she injured? He began patting her
clothes as she turned her head.

“Marcus.” She let out a half cry, half sob
and flung herself into his arms. “I’ve kill—killed him. He was
trying to kill me….”

He picked her up in his arms, and held her
tightly, cupping her head against his chest. She sobbed
inconsolably and held him as if he might disappear. “Sshh,” he
whispered, “Are you hurt?”

She shook her head. He gave thanks to God.
He kissed the top of her head, then took her face between his hands
and said, simply. “Let’s go home.”

She reached up to kiss him and he savored
the taste and feel of her. She was alive, safe and unhurt.

He slipped out of his coat and helped her
into it. Her dress was soaked with blood and she shivered when she
looked down. “Don’t look at it.” Then he helped her out of the
carriage into Henry’s care while he fetched his horse.

Thankfully, Henry had covered Gower with his
coat. It seemed that Sabine’s shot had torn a hole in his neck and
he’d bled to death very quickly; too quickly, in Marcus’s
opinion.

Once Marcus had mounted, Henry handed Sabine
up into his arms.

“I’ll take care of everything here, just get
her home,” his friend said.

The terror he had felt when he’d heard that
shot would haunt him for the rest of his days. He’d almost failed
her again but, by the grace of God, she’d survived. This time, he
would
never
let her go. He knew that both she and Alfredo
belonged to him now. The long painful wait to claim her was
over.

She was back where she belonged. In his
life, his arms and soon, as his wife, in his home.

Chapter Fourteen

Sabine was sound asleep by the time they
arrived back at her home. Marcus carried her up the stairs to her
room and handed her into Claudette’s care. The French woman kept
thanking him as if he was some kind of hero. He wasn’t.

As he rode home, weariness invaded his limbs
and his heart was heavy in his chest.

Ten years ago he’d been unable to protect
her. Looking back he could pinpoint precisely when she had been
attacked. It was the day she no longer wanted to walk in her
parents’ garden. He’d thought it odd at the time, and from that day
on, she’d slowly withdrawn from him. She was no longer the carefree
and happy young girl he’d given his heart to. When he’d heard she’d
eloped he thought she’d backed away because she didn’t love him and
had given her heart instead to another.

But she hadn’t. He still didn’t understand
why she hadn’t come to him for help. Did she think so little of
him? Was she afraid he’d scorn her for something that wasn’t her
fault?

Arriving home close to four in the morning,
Marcus assured his butler that he wasn’t hurt. The blood on his
clothes was not his. He was told his mother had been asking for
him. Damn, he’d forgotten about the ball.

He was also handed a perfumed note. He knew
who it was from, Amy. Christ. No wonder his mother wanted to see
him.

He opened Amy’s missive and read-

My Lord,

Since you did not appear at the ball
tonight, I have taken it that your decision regarding Lady Orsini
is made. This is good. Love is hard to find, but once found, lasts
a lifetime. Your love is to be envied.

I release you and wish you much
happiness.

With my blessing and understanding.

Lady Amy Shipton

He smiled inside. Amy was a quite a woman.
She deserved someone special too. Perhaps Henry should consider
her… Hmmm, a plan was forming in his head as he walked down the
corridor to his bedroom. He’d think on that some more, once his own
situation was resolved.

He needed to bathe. His clothes were covered
in blood.

Tomorrow he’d have to face his mother and
declare to her his intention to marry Sabine. He was sure that once
his mother learned the truth, she’d welcome Sabine with open
arms.

But first he had to learn the complete
story, and once he was bathed and dressed in clean clothes he set
off again, back to Sabine’s townhouse, this time determined to get
all the answers he needed.

Sabine lay in her bath. She’d been unable to
sleep well, with the picture of Gower’s face tormenting her as he
lay dying on top of her. She’d killed a man. Yet, she somehow
couldn’t bring herself to feel any remorse. He would have killed
her, she was sure of it. She touched the bruises at her neck.

She kept scrubbing at her skin till it was
raw in an effort to cleanse herself of the taint of Gower, just as
she’d done ten years ago. Gower, even in death, still had the power
to make her feel dirty.

Now, at least, the two men she loved most,
Alfredo and Marcus, were safe. Claudette had told her Marcus had
carried her home and then left. No doubt he’d raced off to make his
apologies to Amy. They were supposed to have become engaged last
night.

How ironic, she was finally free to reveal
her secrets but now he was bound to another. She knew Marcus, and
realized that he would not be dishonorable enough to go back on his
word. She admired him greatly for that.

She heard the door open behind her. She rose
from the tub and called over her shoulder, “Claudette, can you hand
me the towel please. I’m as clean as I’m ever going to get.”

It was his scent that alerted her to his
presence first, just before two strong arms enveloped her in the
big towel, picking her up and walking through to the bedroom where
he seated her on his lap as he sat at the end of her bed. He held
her tightly against his chest as she rested quietly listening to
his heartbeat beneath her ear.

Before she could speak, he bent his head
down and kissed her. The kiss was soft, gentle and possessive all
in one. He took command of her mouth, sweeping his tongue inside,
sending her senses reeling. She kissed him back, her arms slipping
around his neck, dragging him closer and closer to her.

Finally, he broke away from the kiss. “So
you do have some feelings for me then, or is this simply gratitude?
No more lies between us.”

She stroked a lock of hair away from his
face. “I’ve never lied to you.”

“Ten years ago you lied about your being in
love with another man.” He looked closely at her. “Why? Did you
have so little faith in my love for you?”

Tears welled at the memory and she cupped
his cheek. “No! It was
because
I loved you that I needed to
leave.”

“I don’t understand.”

Her wedding day had been the saddest day of
her life. She’d wept tears of agonizing grief. Tears for the friend
and lover she’d lost in Marcus, tears for the man who would make
her his wife, whom she knew she would never love, and tears for the
unborn child she was carrying whom she would always see protected,
regardless of the violence behind his making.

When Alfredo was born, she knew she’d been
right to sacrifice everything for her son. She had never regretted
her decision, yet there had been times during the last ten years
when living hurt so badly, if it had not been for Alfredo, she’d
have quite happily curled up and died.

Why should the innocent suffer? It was so
unfair.

“I asked my father to find me a husband and
he found Orsini. And you’re right, I never loved him.”

Marcus’s eyes narrowed. “This doesn’t make
sense. Your father told me it had been your choice. Yet now you say
he arranged it.”

“I asked him to.”

He demanded, “
Why?
I would have
helped you. We could have been together—happy.” The pain in his
voice made her tremble in misery. It appeared that she wasn’t the
only one who’d suffered during the last ten years.

She owed him the truth.

So quietly that she wasn’t sure he’d hear
her, she whispered her painful secret. “When Gower raped me, I knew
there was a chance I could get with child.”

Anger and fury and regret washed over Marcus
in equal measure. He felt the inside of his stomach recoil and the
bile rose in him. “You can’t have thought I would turn you away and
desert you if you were.”

She wiped a tear from his cheek. “I know you
would not have turned me away. That is the reason I had to
leave.”

He buried his head in her shoulder. “Did you
think I would challenge him to a duel and that I might die? I would
have—I bloody should have!”

“That was my initial reason for keeping my
shameful secret a secret.”

“There is no shame.”

“Well, it was the reason for not telling you
at the time. But it soon became evident that whatever future we
might have had could no longer be. I realized I was pregnant.”

He pulled back from her to look in her eyes.
“Alfredo…”

Her tears began to fall. “My innocent son,
he doesn’t deserve to suffer. I had to give my child a name. I
couldn’t allow him to be born a bastard.”

Anguished tears fell on their joined hands.
He tried to blink back the pain. “I would have proudly given him my
name.”

“No. You were already the Marquis of
Wolverstone. If we had married, and my child was a boy, he would
have become your legitimate heir. I couldn’t allow you to make that
sacrifice. It would not have been right. And as it turned out, I
did have a son.”

He drew in a breath sharply. “Not right. Not
right. What is not right is what you have endured.” He placed her
hand on his heart. “What
we
have endured. I missed you every
day. I longed for you every day. If I closed my eyes tightly
enough, I pictured you here beside me and I swore I could still
smell your scent.”

“My dreams of you kept me going. You were
never out of my heart. Never, ever.”

“And I never will be again.” He picked her
up and sat her on the edge of the bed and then got down on the
floor on his knees. “Lady Sabine Orsini, will you do me the honor
of being my wife? Will you and your—our-son, Alfredo, fill my life
with love and happiness and make me whole again?”

Her smile died. “But aren’t you engaged to
Amy?” she asked quietly. “I won’t let you sacrifice your honor for
me.”

He softly cupped her cheek in his hand. “You
have sacrificed much more for me. I’m not engaged to Amy anymore.
She turned me down when she knew I was in love with you.”

The smile he loved so much returned
instantly. “Really? You’re free to marry?”

He pulled her up into his arms and kissed
her passionately. “I’ve
never
been free of you. I’ve loved
you for so long, I was never able to love another. Will you? Will
you please put me out of my misery and become my wife?”

“Of course I will,” she cried as she drew
closer to him. “I can’t believe this is truly happening to us. I
love you so much.” She flung her arms around his neck and pulled
him down to kiss her.

She pushed herself out of his hold and he
groaned. Then his smile turned wicked as Sabine allowed the towel
to fall to the floor as she walked to the door and locked it.

“Alfredo might wake soon and I’d rather like
some private time with you.” Her husky voice and the sight of her
glorious body sent waves of heat to his groin.

He stared at the vision before him, feeling
his empty soul filling to the brim with love as she padded softly
toward him, naked except for her beautiful smile.

Her beauty left him bereft of breath and he
became eager to worship every delectable inch of her.

He loved that not only was she strong, but
that she still had such capacity to love, after all she’d been
through. He intended to spend the rest of his life making her
happy.

He lowered his face to her, mute with
adoration, as she stood before him. She slid hands up his chest.
She took his hand and pulled him toward the bed, then pushed him
down to sit on the edge of it, nudging her hand in between his
thighs.

“It’s my turn now to love you in the way
I’ve always dreamed.” She began to undo the buttons of his placard.
She freed him to her gaze and pushed his falls further down off his
hips.

He gave a wicked smile. “I hope I live up to
expectations.”

She looked down and curled her hand around
his jutting erection and he groaned. “I’m very hopeful,” she
giggled. Then her face took on a serious look. “I want to do
something I’ve never done with any other man.” With that, she
lowered herself to her knees, her gaze riveted on his straining
erection.

He knew her intention. He remembered her
question in the carriage the day she’d come to him and offered
herself to him in order to honor their wager. “
Can a woman kiss
a man down there?
”