His gaze turned to Caine. “I shall, of course, keep this confidence. There won’t be any unsavory gossip attached to this lovely lady.”
“What secret?” Jade asked, thoroughly puzzled. Sir Harwick was giving Caine such a piercing stare. It was unsettling.
“He’s concerned about your reputation,” Caine said.
“Oh, that.” She let out a long sigh.
“She isn’t overly concerned,” Caine said dryly.
Sir Harwick looked startled. “Why, my dear, it simply isn’t done. You shouldn’t be all alone here with an unattached man.”
“Yes, I suppose it isn’t done,” she agreed.
“But you’ve been ill, my dear, and certainly haven’t been able to think clearly. I don’t fault you or Caine,” he added with a nod toward the Marquess. “Your host has acted in good faith.”
“He has?” Jade asked.
“Most certainly,” Sir Harwick replied. “There’s a full staff in residence here. Still, the gossipers would have a holiday with this bit of news. Too many people would be hurt by the rumors. Caine’s mother . . .”
“My stepmother,” Caine interjected.
“Yes, of course, your stepmother,” Harwick continued. “She’d be hurt. As to that, his intended would also be quite crushed.”
“His what?”
She really hadn’t meant to raise her voice but Sir Harwick’s casually given remark stunned her. She suddenly felt sick. The color all but drained from her face. “Did you say Caine’s intended?” she asked in a scratchy whisper.
“Jade,” Caine began. “I believe Sir Harwick is referring to Lady Aisely.”
“I see,” she replied. She forced a smile for the physician’s benefit. “Now I remember. Lady Aisely, the woman you’re going to marry.” Her voice had risen to a near shrill by the time she’d finished.
She didn’t even know this Aisely woman, but she already despised her. The longer she had to mull it over, the more infuriated she was with Caine. God’s truth, she hated him, too.
“Lady Aisely wouldn’t take the news of your visitation here lightly,” Sir Harwick predicted.
“She isn’t my intended,” Caine interjected. “She’s my stepmother’s intention for me,” he qualified. He couldn’t keep the laughter out of his voice. Her reaction to hearing about Lady Aisely couldn’t have been more revealing. It told him she cared.
“But your dear stepmother is . . .”
“She’s hell-bent on getting Lady Aisely and me together,” he interrupted. “It isn’t going to happen, Harwick.”
Jade could feel Caine’s stare. She desperately tried to feign disinterest. She realized she was wringing the compress in her hands and immediately stopped that telling action. “Who you marry doesn’t concern me,” she announced.
“It should.”
She shook her head. “I just wish you’d mentioned your engagement before last night.”
“I’m not engaged,” he snapped. “And last night would have . . .”
“Caine!” She shouted his name, then lowered her voice when she added, “We have a guest, if you’ll remember.”
Harwick let out a rich chuckle. He walked by Caine’s side over to the door. “I have a feeling about you two. Am I right?”
“Depends upon what the feeling is,” Caine answered.
“She’s your intended, isn’t she?”
“She is,” Caine replied. “She just hasn’t accepted it yet.”
The two men shared a grin. “I can tell she’s going to be difficult, my boy.”
“Difficult or not,” Caine countered, in a voice loud enough to wake the dead, “she will be my wife.”
The door slammed shut on her shout of denial. Jade threw the compress across the room and collapsed against the pillows. She gritted her teeth in frustration.
Why did she care who he married? As soon as Nathan returned, she was never going to see Caine again. And why in thunder did everything have to be so complicated? Lord only knew that protecting Caine was work enough. Now she had to add Caine’s father to her list.
Was Lady Aisely pretty?
Jade pushed that black thought aside. She really was going to have to do something about the Duke of Williamshire. Colin was certain to be upset when he returned home and found his papa had died from grief.
Had Caine taken Lady Aisely to bed?
I cannot think about her now, Jade decided. There are too many other problems to worry about.
She was going to have to do something about Colin’s father. A note, she decided, wouldn’t be good enough. She’d have to confront the man and have a firm talk with him.
Had Caine’s stepmother already made the arrangements for Caine’s wedding? Oh God, she hoped Caine had been telling her the truth. She hoped he didn’t want Lady Aisely.
“This is ridiculous,” she muttered to herself. Of course Caine would marry. And of course it would be to someone other than her. When he found out the truth about her background, he wouldn’t want her anymore.
With a growl of frustration, Jade gave up trying to formulate any plans. Her emotions were like the masts on the Emerald, blowing strong in a high wind. It was pointless to try to concentrate now. Caine’s papa would just have to despair a little longer.
She avoided Caine for most of the day. They ate a quiet dinner together. Sterns surprised Jade when he pulled out a chair and sat down with them. The butler ate his meal with them, too. He kept his attention on Caine most of the time, but when he did look at her, his expression was kind, affectionate.
She decided he hadn’t found out that she slept with Caine, after all. Jade was relieved. She’d already noticed that Sterns’ relationship with Caine was far more than employer and employee. They were very like family, and she didn’t want a man who Caine cared about to think she was a trollop.
She kept giving Sterns fretful glances until he reached over and patted her hand.
Caine did most of the talking during the meal. The conversation centered on the problems of running such a large estate. Jade was extremely interested. Surprised as well, for Caine showed he had a true concern for the members of his parish. He actually felt responsible for their well-being.
“Do you aid those who need help?” she asked.
“Of course.”
“By giving them money?”
“When it’s the only answer,” he explained. “Jade, a man’s pride is as important as his hunger. Once the stomach’s been filled, a way to better himself is the next step.”
She thought about that statement a long while, then said, “Yes, a man’s self-worth is important. So is a woman’s,” she added.
“If you take that self-worth away, there’s a good chance that he . . . or she will give up altogether. A man can’t be made to feel he’s been manipulated or made to feel a failure.”
“There’s a difference between manipulation and failure,” she argued.
“Not really,” Caine replied. “A man’s a fool if he allows either, isn’t he, Sterns?”
“He most certainly is,” Sterns agreed. The butler reached for the teapot before continuing. “A man’s pride is most important. It should matter above all else.”
“But surely you two will agree that there are times when pride must be set aside,” she interjected.
“Such as?” Caine asked.
“A man’s life is one excellent example,” she answered.
“But a man’s life isn’t as important as his self-worth,” Sterns said. “Don’t you agree, mi’lord?”
Caine didn’t answer. He was looking at Jade with that unreadable expression on his face again. Jade didn’t have any idea what he was thinking now. She smiled at him just to cover her own unease, then pleaded fatigue and returned to her bedroom.
Sterns had ordered a bath made ready for her. A fire burned in the hearth, toasting the air. Jade lingered in the tub, then went to bed. She tossed and turned for almost an hour before falling into a fitful sleep.
Caine came to her
bed sometime after midnight. He stripped out of his clothes, smothered out the candles, and eased into bed beside her. She was sleeping on her side, her nightgown bunched up around her thighs. Caine slowly eased the gown high, then pulled her silky bottom up against him.
She sighed in her sleep. The sound was like a fever to him. God, she was so warm, so sweet. His hand moved beneath her gown. He stroked her skin, her breasts, rubbing her nipples into hard buds. She moved against him restlessly, moaning in her sleep.
She probably thought she was in the throes of an erotic dream, Caine thought. He nibbled on her neck, teased her earlobe with his tongue, and when her backside pushed up against him more insistently, his hand slid down into the heat between her thighs.
He stoked the fire in her until she was hot, wet, ready for him. His other arm held her around the waist. She tried to turn toward him, but he wouldn’t let her move. “Open up for me, Jade,” he whispered. “Let me come to you.”
His knee nudged the back of her thighs until he was wedged between them.
“Tell me you want me,” he demanded.
She could feel the velvet tip of his sex. She bit on her lower lip to keep herself from shouting at him to quit his torment. “Yes, I want you,” she whispered. “Please, Caine. Now.”
It was all the surrender he needed. He gently pushed her onto her stomach, his hand splayed wide across her pelvis, and surged inside her with one powerful thrust. Her tight sheath gloved him, squeezed him. He almost spilled his seed then and there. Caine stilled his movements and took a deep breath. “Easy love,” he whispered on a groan when she pushed up against him.
Her hands were making knots out of the sheets. Caine’s hands joined hers. His head fell forward to rest in the fragrant hollow between her neck and shoulder.
“Caine, I want . . .”
“I know,” he answered. He was determined to go slow this time, to prolong the sweet agony, but her insistent pleas drove him beyond control. He drove into her again and again, until he was mindless of everything but finding fulfillment for both of them. When he knew he was about to pour his seed into her, his hand moved down her stomach. He stroked her into finding her own release.
Their climax was glorious. Caine collapsed on top of her. He was exhausted, and completely at peace. “Love, are you still breathing?” he asked when his heart quit hammering in his ears.
He was teasing her, yet when she didn’t answer him, he immediately moved away from her. “Jade?”
She rolled over and looked at him. “You made me beg.”
“I what?”
“You made me beg.”
“Yes, I did, didn’t I?” he answered with a wide grin.
“You aren’t the least contrite,” she announced. Her fingertips caressed his warm chest. “You’re a rake, all right. I don’t understand why I find you so appealing.”
The dreamy, passionate look was still in her eyes. Caine kissed her forehead, the tip of her freckled nose, and then claimed her mouth for a long, wet, tongue-thrusting kiss. “Do you want more, love?”
He didn’t give her time to answer. “I do,” he whispered in a low growl.
A long while later, the two lovers fell asleep wrapped in each other’s arms.
Chapter Ten
The following eight days were magical for Jade. Caine was such a gentle, loving man. He was so considerate of her feelings, too, and had the uncanny knack of understanding her moods quicker than she did. She liked their evenings most of all. Sterns would light a fire in the hearth in Caine’s study, and the three of them would read in companionable silence.
Over the years, Sterns had actually become Caine’s substitute father. Jade learned that the servant had been with Caine’s family from the time of Caine’s birth. When Caine established his own residence, Sterns had followed.
Sterns did let her know he was aware of the new sleeping arrangements. While she blushed with mortification, he announced that he certainly wasn’t judgmental. He also added that he hadn’t seen Caine so carefree in a good long while. Jade, he decreed, had lightened the Marquess’s mood.
A messenger arrived from Caine’s mother, requesting his aid in pulling his father out of his present dire circumstances.
Caine immediately went to visit his father, but when he returned some two hours later, he was in a foul mood. His talk with his father had come to little good.
That night, after Caine had fallen asleep, Jade met with Matthew and Jimbo to give them new orders.
Matthew was waiting for her just a few feet behind the cover of the trees. The seaman was tall, reed thin, and had skin as dark as a panther’s. He had the personality to match the magnificent beast, but only when he was riled. He also had an easy smile that could be quite dazzling when he was in the mood to give it.
Matthew wasn’t smiling now. He had his arms crossed in front of his chest and was scowling at her just like a man who’d found a thief rummaging through his drawers.
“Why are you frowning so, Matthew?” she asked in a bare whisper.
“I saw Him standing at the window with you the other night, girl,” Matthew grumbled. “Has that dandy been touching you?”
Jade didn’t want to lie, but she wasn’t about to share the truth with her trusted friend, either. “I was injured,” she replied. “Now don’t give me that look, Matthew. I took a pistol shot in my side. It was a paltry wound. Caine was . . . concerned and he stayed in my chambers that night, watching out for me.”
“Black Harry’s going to feed my arse to the sharks when he hears . . .”
“Matthew, you aren’t going to tell Harry anything,” she interjected.
The seaman wasn’t at all intimidated by her angry tone. “You got yourself a sassy mouth,” he replied. “I seen the fancy man put his arm around you when you were walking to the front door that first day, and I will be telling Harry. That’s a fact you can start cringing over now. Jimbo wanted to put a knife in his back. Only reason he didn’t is because he knew you’d be put out with him.”
“Yes, I would be put out,” she answered. “No one’s going to touch a hair on Caine’s head or he’ll answer to me. Now quit frowning, Matthew. We have an important issue to discuss.”
Matthew didn’t want to let go of their topic. “But is he giving you real trouble?”
“No, he isn’t giving me any trouble,” she replied. “Matthew, you know I can take care of myself. Please have more faith in me.”
Matthew was immediately contrite. He didn’t want his mistress to be disappointed in him. “Of course I know you can take care of yourself,” he rushed out. “But you don’t know your own appeal. You’re too pretty for your own good. I’m thinking now Jimbo and Harry were right. We should have cut your face when you was a youngster.”
She knew from the sparkle in his handsome brown eyes that he was jesting with her. “None of you would have dared to harm me,” she countered. “We’re family, Matthew, and you love me as much as I love you.”
“You’re nothing but a puny brat,” came another deep voice. Jade turned toward the sound and watched her friend, Jimbo, silently move to stand directly in front of her. Jimbo’s frown matched his giant’s size. Like Matthew, he was also dressed in drab brown peasant garb, for brighter colors could easily be spotted through the branches.
In the moonlight, Jimbo’s frown looked fierce. “Matthew told me the dandy touched you. I could kill him, just for that. No ones . . .”
“You’re both underestimating Caine if you think he’ll easily let you put your knives in him,” she interjected.
“I’m betting he’s as puny as Colin,” Jimbo argued.
Jade let him see how exasperated she was with him. “You haven’t seen Colin in quite some time and he was half out of his mind because of his injuries then. He’s probably as fit as ever now. Besides, you’ve made a serious miscalculation if you believe either brother is weak. Remember, Jimbo, I was the one who read Caine’s file. I know what I’m talking about.”
“I
f the man’s got blood, he can bleed,” Matthew pronounced.
Neither seaman seemed affected by her frown. Jade let out a sigh of frustration.
She turned to Matthew and said, “I must go and have a little chat with Caine’s father. You must keep Caine occupied with a diversion while I’m away.”
“I don’t see any need for you to talk to Caine’s father,” Matthew protested. “Colin and Nathan are bound to show up any time now.”
“The way they’re dawdling? No, I dare not wait any longer. Caine’s father might very well be on his death bed now. He isn’t eating or sleeping. I can’t let him die.”
“I can see you got your mind set,” Matthew muttered. “What kind of a diversion are you thinking of?”
“I’ll leave that in your capable hands,” Jade countered.
“When you want it done?” Jimbo asked.
“Tomorrow,” she answered. “As early as possible.”
Jade finally went back to her bed, content with the knowledge that Matthew and Jimbo wouldn’t let her down.
The diversion began just bare minutes before dawn the following morning.
She realized then that she should have been more specific with her instructions. And when this was over, she was going to have Matthew’s hide. His capable hands, indeed. The man had set the stables on fire. Fortunately, he’d had enough sense to let the horses out first.
Caine was occupied, she’d give Matthew that much credit. The horses were running wild. Three were about ready to drop their foals, and every hand was needed to squelch the spreading fire and chase the animals down.
She pretended to be asleep until Caine left the room. Then she dressed in quick time and slipped out the back way. Caine had posted guards around the perimeter, but in the chaos, she was easily able to sneak past.
“Jimbo just left for Shallow’s Wharf,” Matthew told Jade as he assisted her onto the mount he’d chosen for her. “He should be back by sunset tomorrow with word for us. If the winds are strong, don’t you suppose Nathan will be here soon? And are you certain you don’t want me riding along with you?”
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