Argeneau Family - The Renegade Hunter Part 25

"What should we do about that?" Nicholas asked quietly, the hands that had been soothing a moment ago shifting to slide over her body with a decidedly different intent now.

Jo released a little sigh and melted against his chest. "Oh, I don't know. I can think of a thing or two."

"So can I," he growled, claiming her lips.

Jo sighed again as he kissed her, and then moaned as his hand slid around to begin tugging up her top. She moaned again for an entirely different reason, however, when a knock sounded at the door.

"We need to get the bed frame and headboard," Thomas called out as they broke apart to glance toward the door.

"And Mortimer just came in and said we can move you down to the cells," Bricker added through the door as Nicholas opened his mouth, Jo suspected to tell Thomas to get lost.

Sighing, Nicholas leaned his forehead against hers. "It looks like forever starts now."

"Looks like," she agreed, and then forced a smile and slid off his lap. Grabbing his hand, she gave him a tug. "Come on. We can finish off the dream s.e.x we had in the cells, but for real this time."

"You always find the silver lining," he said with a small smile.

"Well, how do you think I found you?" she asked as he stood up.

When he peered at her uncertainly, Jo explained, "Your eyes go silver when you're turned on."

"They must be silver all the time when you're around then," Nicholas said dryly as she led him to the door.

"Good, then I' ll always be able to find the silver lining, won' t I?" she asked lightly, determined to keep his spirits up until this was all over. Jo just hoped she could keep her own up as well.

Epilogue.

"Knock, knock."

Jo blinked her eyes open and frowned as she shifted her head on Nicholas's chest to peer toward the curtained cell door.

"I think it's your sister," Nicholas mumbled sleepily, his hand rubbing over her back.

"Knock, knock," Sam said again from the other side of the cell door. "We're coming in, so make yourselves decent or suffer the consequences."

Jo grimaced and grabbed up the sheets and blankets, tugging them up to cover her and Nicholas as the curtain moved and Mortimer appeared to unlock the cell door and open it.

"Oh good, you're awake," Sam said brightly as she sailed into the room, a tray in her hands.

Jo rolled her eyes with amus.e.m.e.nt. "Well, we weren' t but certainly are now."

"Ah well, it was about time you woke up. You guys have been sleeping-or not sleeping,"

she added dryly, "for two weeks now."

"We have slept some," Nicholas a.s.sured her, pulling himself into a sitting position. He leaned back against the headboard and dragged Jo up to lean against his chest.

"Besides, it's not like there's anything else to do," Jo said quietly. "It's that or worry."

"I wasn't criticizing," Sam said gently. "Mortimer and I were much the same way when we first got together. Well, not quite as bad, maybe. We had to come up for air on occasion, but then we weren' t living with the possibility that one of us could be executed."

Jo swallowed and cuddled close to Nicholas, rubbing her nose against his chest. She'd been doing her best not to think about that for these last two weeks. Both of them had. They'd drowned themselves in each other, doing little else but make love and sleep and make love again, with breaks to eat when food was brought out, feed when they needed it, or be escorted up to the house for a quick bath or shower.

In fact, except for the small detail that they couldn't leave the cell when they wanted, and couldn't bathe or shower together, the last two weeks had been rather grand, she thought, peering around the room they'd occupied for two weeks. It didn't look much like a cell anymore. Sam, Marguerite, and the other women had worked magic in the room in the very short time allotted, placing a screen around the toilet to allow privacy, installing a coffee machine, flowers, bedside tables, an area rug, and even books, though those hadn't even had their bindings cracked. Jo could have almost pretended they were on a lovely vacation in a hotel were it not for the fact that the knowledge that this might be her last days with Nicholas was always at the back of her mind... and Nicholas's too. She'd seen that knowledge in his eyes many times, and the sadness it had brought to his eyes had nearly crushed her. "Anyway," Sam said, sounding incredibly cheerful. "I know I'm early with breakfast this morning, but I couldn't wait. So, here you are."

"Why couldn' t you wait?" Jo asked curiously even as Nicholas said, "Thank you, Sam."

Sam ignored Jo's question in favor of smiling at Nicholas as she set down the tray.

"You're welcome," she said, and smiled as she straightened. She then turned to head to the door, saying, "Oh, by the way, Anders brought Charlie back."

"He did?" Jo asked with surprise, and then her gaze dropped as Mortimer opened the cell door again and Charlie suddenly came running in and straight to the bed. Jo promptly sat up, taking the sheet with her. She patted the mattress. It was all the invitation Charlie needed; he leaped onto it at once and dropped across her lap like he thought he was a lapdog rather than the large German shepherd he was.

"Hi Charlie. h.e.l.lo baby, was Anders nice to you?" Jo asked, petting him affectionately. "I missed you, boy."

Sam waited until the dog had settled and then smiled and nodded. "Anders said Charlie was a good dog and he'd have to get one, but now that everything is resolved you'd probably want him back."

"What?" Jo stiffened and glanced to her again. "What's resolved?"

"Did she forget to tell you?" Mortimer asked, stepping into the cell now himself.

"Oh, I guess I must have," Sam said innocently, and then slid her arm around the man and said, "You go ahead. You took the message."

Mortimer glanced to Jo and Nicholas. "Lucian called. He' ll be here in an hour."

"And?" Nicholas asked tensely.

Mortimer hesitated, and then glanced down to Sam. "Go on."

Grinning widely, she announced. "You're innocent, Nicholas. You didn't kill that woman. He didn' t explain the details on the phone, he wanted to do that in person, but he said to tell you you're free."

"Thank G.o.d," Jo breathed as Nicholas crushed her to his chest.

"So you two have an hour to eat breakfast, shower, dress, and present yourselves at the house.

The whole Argeneau family is on their way over to hear about it. Congratulations, you two,"

Sam said with a laugh, and then slapped her leg. "Come on, Charlie."

The German shepherd hesitated, but then climbed reluctantly off the bed and moved to the door.

"He' ll be waiting for you at the house," Sam a.s.sured them. "We all will." Jo watched them leave and then turned to Nicholas and raised a hand to caress his cheek.

"You're free."

"And innocent," Nicholas said solemnly.

"I always knew that," she whispered.

"But I didn' t," he admitted. "And it's been a stain on my heart for decades."

Jo smiled softly. "You're a good man, Nicholas Argeneau."

"And you're a good woman," he said, twisting his head to kiss her fingers. He turned back and smiled. "How would you like to be a good wife?"

Jo blinked in surprise at the words and then frowned and asked with disbelief, "Are you kidding me? After everything we've gone through, that's your idea of a proposal?"

Nicholas's eyes widened. "I-"

"Because if so-" Jo crawled into his lap, straddling him. She clasped his face in her hands, scowled at him briefly, and then dropped her fake scowl, smiled, and whispered, "Then the answer is yes."

"d.a.m.n, Jo," he breathed. "If I were a mortal, I'd be dead of a coronary by fifty."

"Good thing you're not mortal, then, huh?" she asked with a grin, pressing a kiss to the side of his mouth, and then the other side, and then his nose, and eyes... "I love you Nicholas Argeneau."

"And I love you, soon-to-be-Mrs. Argeneau. Now and forever."

"Now and forever," she agreed as he drew her against him.

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"There it is."

Merry raised her head and drew her mount to a halt behind the men as they suddenly cleared the woods and a castle loomed before them. D'Aumesbery was a large, imposing fortress, perched on a hill and overlooking the land surrounding it. It was much bigger than Stewart, which didn't bother her except to make her wonder how her father had managed to arrange such an advantageous marriage. He'd always claimed it had come about through friendship with the late Lord d'Aumesbery, claiming the two men had met at court while young and started a friendship that had lasted a decade. D'Aumesbery's son, Alexander, had been born five years before her, but the moment Merewen had been born, the two men had sealed their friendship with the marriage contract.

Merry suspected the friendship had not lasted long after that. At least she didn't ever recall visiting between the families. She suspected her father's drinking may have had something to do with it. Her mother had once said that while her father had been a hard drinker when younger, he had not grown really bad until his own father's death when Merry was two. It seemed his grief combined with the new responsibility as laird had pushed him that final step to prefer the happy, fuzzy state of drunkenness to the sober reality of his life.

"Here we are, Merry." Her father turned to beam a smile on her. One that was reflected on her brothers' faces as well, she noted as he added, "Ye' ll meet yer betrothed now, and soon ye' ll be a married lady with a pa.s.sel of bairns to chase about."

Aye, rather than three grown drunks, Merry thought, but didn't speak the words aloud. Why bother? Very soon she would be free of that ch.o.r.e. She'd have a husband of her own, one who, hopefully, would be nothing like her father and brothers.

With that hope firmly in mind, Merry urged her mare past the men and up the hill. It was late enough in the morning that the drawbridge was down and the gate open. Still, they were hailed as they approached; Merry stopped and left it to her father to answer the hail and explain their presence. She then followed his mount into the bailey and straight to the steps of the keep, knowing the news of their arrival would reach it before they did.

Merry was dismounting when she heard the keep doors open. Once on the ground, she saw that a seasoned soldier was rushing down the stairs toward them. It was not her betrothed. He was only five years older than she, and this man looked to be fifteen or twenty years older at least. Wondering who he was, Merry moved to stand beside her father as the man reached them.

"Laird Stewart," the man greeted, holding out his hand as he stepped off the stairs. " 'Tis a pleasure to meet you. I am Gerhard, Lord d'Aumesbery's... man."

Merry's eyebrows rose slightly at his hesitation. It appeared to her that he hadn' t been sure what to call himself, or what his station was. Odd, she thought as she watched the two men shake hands. Then the Englishman was turning to her, beaming brightly. "And you must be Lady Merewen. A pleasure, my lady. Welcome to d'Aumesbery."

"Thank you," she murmured, and then waited patiently as her father introduced her brothers.

Gerhard greeted both men politely and then shifted his attention to the rest of their party, who had dismounted and now stood about uncertainly.

"I shall have your horses and wagon attended to directly. In the meantime, perhaps we should go in."

Her father nodded, and took Merry's arm to lead her to the stairs, asking, "Where's d'Aumesbery? He should ha'e been here to greet us. He isna away, is he?"

"Nay, nay," Gerhard a.s.sured them as he followed them up the stairs, Brodie and Gawain trailing behind. "In fact, you are most fortunate in that way. Had you arrived on the morrow, we would have already left for Donnachaidh."

"Donnachaidh?" Merry asked with surprise, halting to turn to the man with surprise.

Donnachaidh was the Duncan stronghold, and less than a half-day's journey from Stewart.

"Aye. Alexander's sister, Evelinde, recently married the Devil of Donnachaidh and he wishes to check on her," Gerhard said as her father urged her forward once more. "Actually, we were supposed to leave this morn, but Alex is... er... indisposed."

Merry felt trepidation slide through her at his choice of word. Indisposed was the term she used when referring to her father and brothers when they were nursing a sore head after a night-or several days-of drinking. And what did he mean they were supposed to leave that morn? The man had sent for her. Surely he hadn' t then planned to leave ere she arrived?

"All's well that ends well, eh?" her father said with a bluff laugh before she could ask any of her questions. He tugged on her arm once more, drawing her up the last few steps to the keep doors.

"Aye, of course," Gerhard agreed quickly. "But I should explain-"

"No need, Lord d'Aumesbery can explain," her father, Eachann, interrupted, pulling the door open and urging Merry inside. He hustled her several steps forward, but then paused, and they both stood blinking in an effort to make their eyes adjust to the sudden dearth of light.

As with most castles, the great hall was much darker than it was out in the sunlight and the sudden shift left them both briefly blinded. That being the case, Merry actually heard the occupants of the hall before she saw them. Raucous shouts and cheers a.s.saulted her ears and drew her blinking gaze to a crowd of men gathered in a small tight bunch.

"Is he among that group?" Eachann Stewart asked, glancing about for the man who had greeted them.

Gerhard nodded as he hurried to catch them up. "Aye, but-"

It was all her father needed to hear. Waving the man to silence, he again hurried Merry forward, this time steering her toward the group by the trestle tables. Gerhard rushed after them. "But I should tell you that he is suf-b.o.l.l.o.c.ks!"

Merry glanced over her shoulder to see that the man had tripped over something in the rushes. He stopped to pick up whatever it was, and then her attention was drawn forward again when her father suddenly drew her to a halt. They'd reached the edge of the group, and her father was now tapping the nearest man on the shoulder. The fellow, as large as a small building, turned a glare on them for interrupting whatever was going on, but quickly killed the glare when her father announced in a bluff voice, "I am Laird Stewart and this is me daughter, Merry, soon to be yer lady. Where is her betrothed, Alexander d'Aumesbery?"

The fellow's eyes widened, slid to her, and crinkled slightly as he smiled, but he didn' t answer her father's question. Instead, he turned to nudge the man next to him. Once he'd gained his attention, he whispered something in the fellow's ear, and that fellow peered around with surprise before nudging someone else. Within a moment every face in the crowd had turned to look at her. No one, however, was stepping forward and announcing that he was her betrothed.

Merry was just growing uncomfortable under their stares when Gerhard caught up.

"Really, Laird Stewart, I should explain..." he tried again, but paused as a sudden roar of fury sounded from the center of the group of men before them. It was followed by shuffling and shifting as the men whirled back to whatever had held their attention earlier. Merry stood on her tiptoes, trying to see what was happening, but couldn't see a thing. Then Gerhard shifted past her and pushed his way through the crowd, Merry quickly following in his wake . When he paused, she stood up on tiptoes again to peer over his shoulder, and this time was able to see what was happening. Two men were rolling about on the floor, a slender, smaller man attempting to defend himself as a larger man appeared to be trying to throttle him to death.