Her kiss had rolled through him like an avalanche, building and collecting emotions as it went.
She’d told him to come to dinner.
She could have told him to jump off the balcony, and he might have done it.
He’d been hers to command ever since. He lived for that dark gaze.
“Nick, it’s your turn,” Leo said.
“Has been for the past half hour,” Oliver chuckled. “Can’t imagine who you were thinking about.”
Leo teased. “I believe her name starts with an E and ends with a Lisa.”
Nick rolled his eyes as Oliver burst out with laughter. The liquor from his glass clung to the start of his new beard, just under his lip.
He’d brought a new whiskey with him from a distillery in Scotland.
He was drunk.
They all were, actually.
Didn’t mean that weren’t capable of murdering any threat that came into the room. Being steady on their feet while inebriated had been the best lesson their father had ever taught them.
Nick picked up his glass and took another sip. He moaned. “This stuff is heavenly.” It was dark and fragrant. The bold color reminded him of Elisa’s eyes. “Who makes this stuff, you say?”
“Some boys in Scotland.” Oliver cleared his throat. “They said they learned the secret from a man in America.”
“God bless America,” Leo whispered.
“I’m thinking to invest,” Oliver said. “What say you?”
“I’m in.” Leo lifted his glass.
“Can we name it Elisa?” Nick asked. “It looks like her eyes.”
Oliver laughed. “Elisa? And how would you feel about everyone claiming to take a sip of your wife?”
Nick slammed his glass down. “I’ll kill them.”
Leo snorted and had to cover his face with his hand. “Oh, I think it came out of my nose.”
“Don’t get it on the cards,” Nick said. “Elisa uses these cards. Can’t have them smelling of whiskey.”
“Bourbon,” Oliver said. “The boys said it’s called bourbon.”
It was called Elisa in Nick’s mind. He hugged the glass to his cheek and imagined it was Elisa’s hand.
Then he looked up and saw Elisa by the door.
He put the glass down. “Elisa?”
“Can’t stop talking about her,” Leo said. “Now he’s seeing her everywhere.”
“No.” Oliver hit Leo’s shoulder. “She’s there by the door.” Oliver started to stand.
“Don’t.” Elisa held out her hands. “I don’t think any of you should be on your feet at the moment.”
“Wife.” Nick opened his arms to her. “Come here.”
Elisa smiled.
Nick watched her every step. She wasn’t trying to be sensual, yet his heart fluttered, nonetheless.
She stopped at his side and pushed back his hair. “You’ve a visitor. I’ll tell them to come back later.”
“No,” he murmured. “I’ll speak to them, but I’m having trouble stringing together words. You’ll have to untie my lips.” He grinned.
She laughed and gave him the kiss he wanted.
The blast of desire cleared his mind and brought everything into focus.
When she pulled away, she was grinning. “That tastes nice.”
Leo began to clear his throat loudly.
“Bourbon,” Nick called it, or her, he couldn’t decide.
“I like it,” she told him.
He liked her. His lower body especially at the moment. Her gaze and her words were setting his body on fire. He felt tears burn his eyes. He was so grateful to have her. He felt he might start weeping.
His brothers would never let him hear the end of it if he did.
But his emotions...
“Well, it’s decided.” Oliver slammed his glass down, breaking his concentration. “I’m ready to marry. Find me a woman as bold as this one, and I’ll make her the happiest woman in England.”
Leo whispered loudly, “You’re uncivilized. I don’t think there’s a lady in all of England who would rather sleep out on the damp floor of the woods as opposed to being curled up by a great fire in a large bed.”
“Oh, I would love to sleep outside,” Elisa said.
Oliver brightened.
She yelled when Nick pulled her down on his lap. His arms went around her and held her firmly in place. “Don’t give my brother any ideas.”
She wiggled around to face him but didn’t try to break his hold. She laughed.
“I hope I’m not interrupting,” a voice said from the door.
Elisa gasped and Nick released her as she began to stand. “I’m sorry, my lord. My husband… We were… distracted, I suppose. Allow me to introduce you to everyone.” She batted his hands away when he tried to assist her in straightening her dress. At least, part of his mind had tried to straighten it, the other was simply attempting to grab at her more curvy parts.
When she took a step away, he thought it for the best.
Nick turned back to the man at the door and was certain his mind was playing tricks on him.
It was Lord Bush.
He stepped into the room and stared at Nicholas. “I don’t have long. My ship leaves soon. Your wife wrote me a letter, detailing your feelings and what took place. I want you to know that I forgive you and that I thank you for your recent gift.”
Nick had been on his way to standing, but at Bush’s words, he settled back down. His emotions were heavy again. The effects of the bourbon were wearing off as he took in Bush’s pained expression.
“The day I lost my son, my world changed forever,” Bush said. “I have loved Emily for years.” Emily was Lady Upton. “I never thought I’d get a second chance.”
Bush looked at Elisa. “Your wife told me that you didn’t wish me to know that the instructions on how to get Emily came from you, but I’m glad she told me before we set sail.” He looked at Nick again. “Thank you. I am ever thankful to not have to spend the rest of my life alone.”
Nick just stared. His cheeks felt wet and he knew he was weeping, but he was too afraid to move.
This moment was more than he’d been prepared for. He didn’t want to ruin it by offending Bush.
He didn’t know what to say or what would be appropriate.
Elisa stepped forward. Her voice shook. “I’ll see you to the door.”
Lord Bush nodded. “Good evening, gentlemen,” he said to Oliver and Leo. He gave Nick a final look and then left.
“Nick?” Leo asked. He seemed frightened.
Nick hadn’t cried in years. He wiped at his tears as Elisa returned.
“I’m sorry,” she said over and over again as she came closer. “I thought you two could meet in private if at all. I didn’t know he would come here. I just wanted him to know how wonderful you are.” She yelped as Nick pulled her down onto his lap once more.
He buried his head against her throat and said nothing.
She wrapped her arms around him and rubbed his back.
The room was silent. He heard his brothers leave, their chairs being pushed back and their footsteps retreating.
Nicholas struggled to calm himself.
Elisa whispered, “You are the husband of my heart and my mind. I chose you. I’d choose you again. You are my first and my last. You are everything to me.”
Nick fought to not strangle the life from his wife as his arms tightened.
She eventually leaned away and forced him to meet her eyes. “Tell me you’re all right. Let me know if you are angered by what I’ve done.”
“I will not have to spend the rest of my life alone,” he said, echoing Lord Bush’s parting words to him.
Those words struck Nick the most, because he understood how Bush felt. Love was glorious.
Elisa was glorious.
“I get you,” he whispered. “Don’t I?”
She tightened her hold and nodded. Tears were in her eyes. “Yes, you get me. Forever.”
She s
miled and his body emptied of every negative emotion that had begun to grow and climb over him like a venomous vine.
He felt free.
∫ ∫ ∫
5 7
* * *
Elisa placed the thick stick into the ground and then pressed her blade at the top of it.
“Steady now,” Oliver cautioned her.
With the blade balanced at the head of the stick, she began to beat it down, using another stick to hammer away. She smiled as the blade cut. She wore thick gloves to keep the wood from splintering into her fingers and left her face tilted as Oliver had instructed to keep small chips from getting into her eyes.
Even still, she could feel Nicholas close, ready to jump in at the first sign she was in pain or ready to give up.
The men had had a talk that morning and by the time Elisa had arrived for breakfast, it was decided she learn to shoot with a bow and arrow.
It had been Oliver’s idea that she first learn to make one.
“Say you’re in the wild,” her brother-in-law began as Elisa continued to chop away. “You’re on the run from a terrible gentleman who plans to do all manner of vile things to you when you’re caught. You don’t have much time before he finds you.”
Elisa worked faster.
“I’m not liking this story,” Nick said, coming to stand closer. “Change it.”
“Fine.” Oliver paced on Elisa’s other side. “You’re on the run from a woman who’s threatening to shoot you for stealing the heart of her man.”
“No,” Nick said. “I don’t like that one either.”
“It’s not real,” Leo said from his place on the stone bench in the garden. “It’s just a story.”
“Change it,” Nick commanded.
Oliver changed his voice until it was as sweet as sugar. “There’s a star that shoots through the sky every year. If one can manage to shoot it before it disappears, warm chocolate will rain down from the heavens.”
Elisa stopped and broke into laughter.
She looked at Nick and found him grinning.
“Much better,” her husband said, his hot eyes on Elisa as he spoke. Then he looked at her hands with meaning before meeting her gaze again. “Go on. That star won’t open itself and I love chocolate.”
Elisa went back to work, her face hot. “Is there actually a reason I’m doing this?”
“Just thought you should be prepared for anything,” Nick said.
Elisa thought of their father.
“But don’t fear,” Leo called. “We’ll not train you as our father did.”
Elisa turned to him and wondered how he knew her thoughts.
‘Chop, chop. Chop,” Oliver instructed.
Earlier, he’d had her mark a line through the pole, so she’d known where to line her blade. She was done a few minutes later.
“That was easy,” she declared. “Might I go get string from inside?”
“Inside?” Oliver asked, his arms crossed. “There is no inside.”
She frowned and pointed at the house. “There’s an inside right there.”
“No, there isn’t. We’re in the woods. There is no one here but you, half a bow, and nature. You’ll have to take apart old plants, find their inner fibers and twist and create your own string. That’s all you have.”
“And you,” she corrected him. “You, Nick, and Leo are here. Surely, you can do it for me.”
“No, we’re not here,” Oliver said. “As I said, you’re alone.”
“Excellent!” She put down the bow. “Then I shall go inside the house and get string.” She started for the house.
“What? I just said—”
“You said you’re not there.” She grinned over her shoulder. “Therefore, there’s no one to stop me, is there?” She dashed away.
Leo and Nick laughed, and Oliver stuttered to find words.
Nick came up behind her and plucked her from the ground just as she’d made it to the house.
She laughed as he spun her around and marched her back to the place she’d been standing. She tried to fight to free herself but didn’t struggle much.
“No cheating,” he murmured. His lips rubbed against the shell of her ear.
She began to pant. Her struggles ceased. She wanted to go inside, but gathering string was far from her mind.
She wanted Nick to join her.
She pressed herself against him, and he stopped walking.
“What are you doing?” He groaned. His arms tightened. “My brothers are just yards away. Do you wish for them to see me this way?”
“They’d see nothing if we return inside.” She twisted her hips again.
He moaned. Then he turned and shouted at his brothers, “We’re going for string.”
“Liar,” Oliver called. “Bring her back. The lesson isn’t over.”
Nicholas ignored him and Elisa was ever thankful.
∫ ∫ ∫
5 8
* * *
Nicholas rested his head on Elisa’s muslin and sheet-covered belly later that evening. He hoped he’d gotten her with child. If she was not, he had plenty of time to try again. All afternoon, they’d abandoned his brothers and kept to themselves.
“Why the bow and arrow lesson?” Elisa asked. “Really, I must know.”
There hadn’t been a true lesson. Once the bow had been fashioned appropriately, Elisa had impressed them all by her abilities. It shouldn’t have been such a surprise. Artemis was the goddess of the hunt and most ladies aspired to look like her, at least while holding the bow.
He idly rubbed her hip. “We thought it would be a good idea that you be prepared for when we find Alguire.”
“Why?” She was playing with his hair and stilled. “Do you believe he’ll come after me?”
“Not at all.” Her husband pushed up on his forearm. “I won’t let him get anywhere near you, but should you wish to seek revenge…”
Her brown eyes seemed confused in the light of the fire. Then they brightened with surprise. “I have no desire to shoot anyone.”
“Are you certain? Not even the man who killed your father?”
She looked away. “People have hurt me for years. I had to learn to stop wishing pain upon those who were the cause. Such thoughts never made me happy.” She looked at him again. “Killing Alguire won’t make me happy.”
“But his death,” he tested. “Would it please you if someone else took him away?”
She ran a hand through her own hair. She’d cut it how he liked it. The curls brushed her cheek but didn’t go past her chin. She sighed. “I cannot say I’d be saddened if one day I looked up and he was no more. Often, I wished such things a reality, for the very worst that Society had to offer to simply… go away. Sometimes, it happens.”
“And who do you think makes it happen?” he asked. “Think of life as a great opera. You’ve been sitting in the box, observing from a distance. You cried when the character felt pain and joined them in their triumph, yet it’s a different world from behind the stage.”
“Are you trying to tell me that the villians in shows are executed behind the curtain?” she teased.
He laughed. “No, but men like Oliver and Leo are just part of the reason there are not more Alguires in London.”
“Oliver is an assassin. You told me as much. Surely, not everyone he kills deserves it.”
“Had you said that before Cassius took his place at Van Dero, it would be true, but that is no longer the case. Cassius only calls men like Oliver for the very worst of Society, as you called them. It is why Oliver is here. He has nothing better to do. He’s come a long way, I can assure you.”
“Are assassins truly necessary?” she asked.
“In a world with men and women who abuse their power, who are capable of forcing the weak to do as they please, to ask children to fight to the death and more.”
Her brows pinched together. “What could be more than death?”
“Living through unspeakable acts,” he whisper
ed. “Not having the choice to die, to stop the pain.”
Her eyes watered. “I wasn’t treated well at Bedlam. I know there were guards who enjoyed causing me pain. I often wonder who they cause pain now.”
“We can make it stop,” he offered. “If you wish.”
She frowned. “Why must it be my decision?”
He grinned. “Someone has to do it. Someone has to make the hard decisions. I, for one, am glad it is not always me. I could never be Cassius.”
She cupped his chin. “I think you could.”
“With you at my side, I’m sure I could do anything.”
“But I’m glad you are who you are,” she said. “That someone forced you to come after me. Does that make me selfish?”
He moved up onto his hands and knees. “Be as selfish as you wish.” Bending forward, he pressed his lips against hers. “Nothing pleases me more.”
She tilted her head. “Well, there is something I want right now.”
His body began to make ready. “What is that?”
“It’s a secret,” she whispered. Then she lifted a sheet. “You’ll have to come under here to find out.”
He was there immediately. The discovery was a most enjoyable one.
∫ ∫ ∫
5 9
* * *
Elisa woke up to a great commotion. Nicholas was out of the bed a second later and throwing on clothes. She got out just slightly slower than he did. The sun was just rising outside their curtains. She heard footsteps pounding down the hallway and knew they belonged to Oliver.
She wondered how an assassin could be so loud.
Another pair of footsteps followed.
Leo shouted, “Oliver, there’s a lady in the residence!”
“So?” Venmont replied.
“Put on some breeches,” Leo told him. “You can’t walk around in small clothes.”
Elisa covered her mouth.
“There is trouble downstairs,” Oliver said. “I don’t think it matters—”
Nick stuck his head out the door. “Breeches. Everyone wears breeches.” The shouting from downstairs was louder.
The voice of their butler rose. “I’ve got everything under control, my lord.”
A Knight of Vengeance: (The Valiant Love Regency Romance) (A Historical Romance Book) Page 28
