Silk And Steel Part 8

"Lucien... ?" She dragged herself upright with what seemed a gargantuan effort, swayed, and he steadied her against him. "Is it... really... you?"

G.o.d, he felt like the lowliest villain. "I would have come sooner. I should have. I thought I could find another way." A legal way, he thought. But seeing her like this, legal didn't seem to matter anymore.

"Will you... take me... home?"

His eyes slid closed, blocking out a needle of pain. "Yes..." he said softly. "That's exactly what I mean to do." Taking the cloak from his arm, he shook it open and spread it around her, tying it loosely, then wrapping her up in the soft warm folds. She leaned against him and he saw how weak she was, recalled her speech, and noted for the first time the odd slur of her words.

Another shot of anger speared through him. Blakemore. He would deal with the good doctor, too. Lucien bent and lifted her gently into his arms. "Just hang on to my neck. I'll do the rest."

He thought that perhaps she nodded. He felt her slim arms encircle his neck, the brush of her hair as she rested her head against his shoulder. Her feet were bare and icy cold. He wanted to warm them between his palms. He wanted to strip away her soiled night rail and look for bruises, make certain that no one had hurt her.

"Is she all right?" Jason asked with a frown, the moment Lucien stepped out of the cell.

"I'm not sure." A muscle tightened in his jaw. "Let's get out of here."

Jason nodded and led the way downstairs. Another guard was silently dispensed with, and in minutes they were out the back door and heading for the horses. Jason held Kathryn while Lucien mounted Blade, then he lifted her up to Lucien, who settled her sideways on the saddle in front of him. He wrapped his cloak around her, making sure to cover her feet.

Jason mounted his big black gelding, which tossed its ma.s.sive head, eager to be on its way. "Let's get the h.e.l.l out of here." He urged the horse toward the road and Lucien fell in behind him.

In minutes they were galloping along the lane, Kathryn tucked safely against his chest, one of his arms wrapped tightly around her. He could feel her steady breathing and the slow beat of her heart. She never spoke, only occasionally opened her eyes, and never really seemed to see him. Something was wrong, he knew, his worry increasing with every pa.s.sing mile. What the devil had they done to her? G.o.d's blood, he would make them pay-every last one of them!

They kept the pace steady and fast and eventually reached their destination. An unmarked carriage and four black horses sat behind the Marsh Goose Inn, exactly where Lucien had instructed. He swung down from Blade and lifted Kathryn down, cradling her gently in his arms. The coachman waited beside the carriage. He jerked open the door before they reached it and Lucien climbed the iron stairs, ducked his head, and carried her inside. Settling himself on the carriage seat, he rested Kathryn in his lap, tucked the woolen cloak around her, and pulled a lap robe over her legs. The moment Jason climbed aboard, he rapped on the top of the carriage. The driver slapped the reins, and the horses leaned into their traces.

It was hours yet to the lodge. They had decided Jason would accompany them that far in case any sort of trouble arose along the way. From there he would return to Velvet and Carlyle Hall. Once Kathryn was settled, Lucien had planned to return to the castle. He would send a serving woman to stay with her until Aunt Winnie arrived from London, where she'd been determined to stay until Kathryn was released.

In time he would send for her, tell her that the lady was safe, but not yet. He wanted to be certain she was truly all right and he wanted time to consider what course he should next take.

In the meantime, he simply sat there, holding his slight burden, worrying about her, wishing he knew what was wrong. Sitting across from him, Jason a.s.sessed her with his piercing blue eyes, his thoughts apparently running along the very same lines.

"What's the matter with her?"

Lucien unconsciously tightened his hold. "I don't know. They must have given her some sort of sleeping potion." He looked down at her, saw her eyes were only half open. "Kathryn, it's Lucien, can you hear me?"

A soft smile tipped her lips up at the corners. "Lucien ... I dreamt you would come." She shifted on his lap, leaned over and pressed a soft kiss on his cheek. Surprise, and a fine sliver of heat ran through him. "I prayed... you would come."

"How are you feeling?"

"Lovely..." she said with a throaty sort of drawl. "Now that you are... here." She relaxed once more, snuggled into his shoulder, and her eyes drifted closed.

"What the devil have they done to her?"

"Opium," Jason said, his jaw tight. "I've seen it before."

"Opium? Good G.o.d-what will it do to her?"

"Depends on how long she's been on it. The stuff's incredibly addictive. As long as she keeps taking it, she'll stay just like she is."

"Like a trained puppy, you mean. Someone they can control."

"Exactly so."

"What happens now that she won't be getting it any longer?"

"In time she'll return to normal."

Lucien frowned. "How long a time, and what happens between now and then?"

"Once the stuff wears off, she'll get sick. Her body will crave the drug and until it's completely gone from her system, she'll be pretty bad off."

Lucien tried to clamp down on his anger, but it seemed to swallow him whole. "d.a.m.n the b.l.o.o.d.y b.a.s.t.a.r.ds to h.e.l.l."

"They wanted her malleable, easy to handle. They might have kept her that way for years."

"Thank G.o.d we didn't wait any longer."

"Thank G.o.d we got away with it."

Lucien glanced toward the window, but the heavy red velvet curtains were drawn, keeping the flickering light of the carriage lantern well hidden inside. "I was planning to leave her alone at the lodge once we got there. I thought I'd send a lady's maid over in the morning to see to her needs."

"I'm afraid it isn't going to be that easy."

Lucien stared down at the top of her dark head. Even unwashed and tangled, her hair glinted faintly red in the light of the candle. She must have felt him watching her for she tilted her head back and her eyes slowly opened. Kathryn looked up at him and smiled. "Will you... kiss me? I liked it... when you kissed me... before."

Lucien groaned, and Jason chuckled, a rumble in his broad chest. "I thought she was just a friend."

"It wasn't like that. They were taking her away. I couldn't seem to reach her. I-oh, dammit, never mind. You wouldn't understand."

"Lucien... ?" she whispered, the sound of his name soft and low and oddly enticing.

"What is it?" he snapped, still disgruntled, sorry the moment the words left his mouth.

Kathryn didn't seem to notice the gruffness. "In my dreams... you kissed me... over and over. Will you... do it... now?"

For a moment he didn't answer, for even in her dirty nightgown, with smudges on her face and her hair in tangles, he wanted to. He could feel her small b.r.e.a.s.t.s pressing into his chest, feel the roundness of her bottom against his groin, and inside his breeches he went hard.

"This is insane," he grumbled.

Jason just laughed. "Looks like you're going to have an interesting night ahead... at least what little is left of it."

"Don't be absurd. The girl doesn't know what she's saying."

"I'm sure she doesn't. But opium has a way of getting to the truth."

Lucien ignored him. Kathryn needed his help, nothing more. He had failed her once but he wouldn't do so again.

They rode in silence for most of the journey, Kathryn opening her eyes now and then, several times repeating her soft request for a kiss. By the time they reached his hunting lodge deep in the Wealdon forest, his nerves were on edge.

Jason just kept grinning in that way that made Lucien want to hit him.

Fortunately, the lodge had been cleaned and prepared as Lucien had instructed. Though the night was nearly ended, candles burned in the windows and a fire roared in the hearth. Bennie Taylor, a tall, thin boy who had worked for him for years, was waiting by the door as he carried Kathryn inside. With his angular face and thick sandy hair, he was growing into a handsome boy.

"Everything's ready, milord, just like ye said." The son of a tenant, Bennie was seventeen now, one of his best grooms and most trusted employees.

"Thank you, lad. That'll be all for now." The boy slipped quietly out the door and Lucien, carried Kathryn toward the fire. Remembering their first encounter and the lady's penchant for cleanliness, he had instructed Bennie to have a bath ready and waiting. A steaming tub of water sat in front of the blazing hearth. More kettles hung over it, and a bar of rose-scented soap rested on the floor next to the tub beside a stack of clean white linen towels.

"Looks like you're all set," Jason said with a quick survey of the room.

"A bath..." Kathryn said with a wistful sigh as Lucien set her on her feet. "How wonderful." She swayed toward the tub and might have fallen in if he hadn't caught her around the waist and pulled her back against his chest.

"Take it easy. You don't want to go in headfirst."

She smiled up at him through heavy-lidded eyes and thick black lashes, and pulled the tie at the neck of her gown. It slid slowly off one shoulder. "I feel so dirty. I can't wait... to be... clean." She leaned toward the tub, but her knees seemed to sag. Lucien tightened his hold and hauled her back to her feet.

Jason chucked and Lucien swung a hard glance in his direction. "What the devil am I going to do?"

Jason just grinned. "I told you the night would be interesting." He jerked open the door and stepped outside, then closed it firmly behind him. Lucien could hear him chuckling as he swung up on the back of the fresh horse that was waiting for him in the stable. The thunder of hooves sounded and Jason was gone. The two of them were left alone.

Kathryn stared with longing at the tub, then looked back into his face. "I seem to be... having a bit of... trouble."

"So I see," Lucien said dryly, trying not to notice the ever-widening expanse of skin at the neck of her nightgown. The opening was so large any moment the d.a.m.ned thing would slip down to her waist.

"Do you think you could... help me?"

Lucien ground his jaw, knowing he had no choice, trying to discipline the part of him that was swelling with antic.i.p.ation at the thought of seeing her naked. G.o.d's blood, he had always considered himself a gentlemen. He couldn't remember a time when his attraction for a woman had affected his careful control.

Kathryn swayed toward the tub. Lucien steadied her, but the nightgown slipped out of his grasp and pooled in a heap at her feet.

"d.a.m.n and blast!" She was lithe and supple, all smooth skin and gentle curves. She was tall for a woman, yet she fit neatly beneath his chin. She slid her arms around his neck to steady herself and his hands settled at her waist. It was impossibly small, her hips flaring gently. He closed his eyes for an instant, sucked in a steadying breath, and lifted her into the tub.

The water made her smile. She sank down into the warmth with a soft purr of pleasure and tiny bubbles lapped at her b.r.e.a.s.t.s. They were cone-shaped, he saw, heavier at the bottom, the nipples a dusky rose, small and tight and incredibly erotic.

Lucien steeled himself. He wasn't a man to take advantage, and Kathryn was hardly in the right state of mind to encourage his advances. Besides, he was betrothed to another woman, nearly a married man. In truth, he couldn't imagine how he had let himself get so involved with her, wasn't even certain exactly why he was going to all of this trouble. Except that Kathryn had somehow become a friend and friends didn't abandon each other when they were in trouble.

a.s.suming a businesslike persona, he soaped a cloth and washed her neck and shoulders. Kathryn washed her face, sloshed some of the water around in her mouth, spit it up in the air, and it landed on the floor. She gave him a saucy grin and Lucien rolled his eyes.

"We had better do your hair."

Kathryn nodded and he helped her slip below the surface of the water. He washed the heavy ma.s.s with the rose-scented soap and helped her rinse it out.

Kathryn smiled up at him. "That feels... so good."

G.o.d, did it. Her hair was like dark, wet silk, her skin as smooth as the petals of a flower. By the time he was finished and had lifted her out of the tub, he was hard and aching. He was furious at himself for his unseemly lack of control and angry at the fate that had put him in this position.

He steadied her with one hand while he dried her with the other, surveying her body for any signs of injury she might have suffered. He saw no marks, only the roundness of her bottom and her long, shapely legs, the graceful line of her torso from neck to hip. She was lovely in the extreme, sweetly curved and incredibly feminine. He fought to ignore the throbbing in his groin, and it occurred to him it was he who was suffering, and mightily.

"I feel so much... better."

Lucien cleared his throat. "I'm sure you do." A clean white night rail sat next to the tub. He pulled it over her head with brisk, efficient motions, then breathed a sigh of relief once she was decently covered again.

She smiled up at him. "Now will you... kiss me?"

G.o.d's teeth! "Listen to me, Kathryn. You don't understand what you are saying. You don't want me to kiss you. It was simply something you dreamed. In the morning you'll be able to see things more clearly. In the meantime, I'm going to carry you upstairs so that you can get some sleep."

"What... what about my hair?"

"Your hair? What about it?"

"We have to get out the... tangles."

She was right, of course. He gave up an inward groan. He would have to brush it out, run his hands through the heavy damp strands, watch the way it glistened in the firelight as it dried. Lucien shook his head, disgusted at his train of thought. He set Kathryn down on the camel-back sofa, propped her against the arm, and set to work on her hair. It took a goodly amount of time, yet oddly he failed to notice, engrossed as he was in the job he'd undertaken. Once the tangles were gone and he began to brush it dry, Kathryn made little sighing sounds of pleasure, and he found himself smiling, oddly pleased by the sound. His fingers combed through the softly curling heavy strands and desire flared inside him. He tamped it down and hurriedly plaited the dark lengths into a single long braid.

Dammit to h.e.l.l, he wasn't interested in Kathryn Grayson, at least not beyond bedding her a time or two. His life was laid out exactly as he wanted it, as he had been planning for years. Even if it weren't, she was the last woman he would consider taking to wife. She was headstrong and stubborn, too smart for her own good, and far too b.l.o.o.d.y independent for a woman. He couldn't help thinking of his father, thinking of the terrible mistake he had made in marrying that sort of woman.

He wanted a docile wife, a pleasant, manageable little dove like Allison Hartman. Allison would obey his wishes, raise his children as he saw fit, and allow him the freedom to live his life as he wanted. If that meant having a mistress-if it meant having a dozen-he would do so if he chose. He couldn't imagine Kathryn Grayson meekly accepting any of those things.

They reached the top of the stairs, and she turned her head to look up at him. "Lucien?"

"Yes, love?" He carried her into the bedchamber and set her down gently on the edge of the bed.

"Will you... kiss me... now?"

He went instantly hard again, pressing painfully against the front of his breeches. Kathryn was smiling up at him, her eyes a deep forest-green, her body soft and supple where it leaned into his. What would it hurt? he thought. One little kiss. What could it possibly hurt?

He bent his head and gently covered her mouth with his. Her lips were full and incredibly soft, fitting perfectly with his own. He drew her full bottom lip between his teeth, kissed the corner of her mouth and it parted slightly, allowing his tongue to slide in. He hadn't meant for that to happen, but now that it had, he could taste her feminine sweetness mingled with the faint copper flavor of his own desire.

Kathryn slid her arms around his neck and kissed him back, and a wave of heat washed over him. Lucien deepened the kiss, slanting his mouth over hers, first one way and then the other, cupping her face between his hands and kissing her more deeply still. A tiny mew of pleasure bubbled up from her throat as his hands found her b.r.e.a.s.t.s and he cupped one, the fabric lightly abrading her nipples where he rubbed it with his thumb. Heat sank low in his belly. Need licked fiercely through his blood.

Lucien jerked away as if he had been burned, swearing a savage oath. "d.a.m.n and blast, woman! What the devil are you doing to me?"

Kathryn's dark brows pulled faintly together, as if she were pondering the question. She touched her moist, kiss-swollen lips and looked up at him. "I thought you... wanted to kiss me."

"Of course I wanted to kiss you, dammit! That is only the beginning of what I'd like to do." He jerked the blankets up over her, tucked them beneath her chin. "Now go to sleep before I lose the last of my sanity and do something both of us will regret in the morning."

Turning away, he strode to the door and yanked it open, but he couldn't resist a last glance over his shoulder. Kathryn's eyes were closed and he thought that already she was sleeping.

"Good night... Lucien," she whispered, her eyes still closed. The tiniest smile curved her lips.

Lucien blew out a breath and smoothed back his hair, which had come loose from the ribbon at the nape of his neck. He closed the door with a heavy sigh, and set out to find the lost strip of velvet, determined to put both his person and his mind back into some sort of order.

His jaw clenched on his way down the stairs. He didn't like the l.u.s.t he felt for Kathryn Grayson. He didn't like the protective instincts she stirred in him. He felt out of control in a way he couldn't remember, and he didn't like that most of all.

"d.a.m.nation." What the devil was he doing mixed up in the woman's affairs? How had he gotten so involved with her? He had troubles of his own, a marriage to arrange, lands and estates to manage, an aunt who depended upon him. Kathryn had no right to interfere in his life as she had.

And yet he knew he would continue to help her. She was alone and afraid and she had no one else to turn to. He thought of her lying upstairs in his bed and tried to block the image of her sweetly feminine body, of her eyes on his mouth as she had asked him to kiss her.

That he wanted her, he couldn't deny. He only hoped she would awaken on the morrow once more in her right mind and he would no longer have to suffer such an agony of temptation. If she continued her innocent enticement, he wasn't certain how much longer his frayed grip on control would last.