Bennett elected not to sit again and so stood by one of the front windows. He knew what was coming next. And he wanted to watch Ella’s reaction. He needed to brace himself for the admonishing he was certain would come.
Ella must have sensed something because she also did not sit. She stood behind her chair, arms crossed, but gaze averted. Her shoulders stooped, cheeks drawn.
A wounded animal. A weight sank in his chest. Somehow he had failed her. Tonight, yesterday, before they’d ever met.
The door from the kitchen opened. On a small table with wheels was the birthday cake. Pushing the table was Sally. She stood just over five feet, wore a servant’s dress and a permanent smile. Her skin was copper fitted over a black mesh.
Everyone gasped with awe.
Except Ella. Her mouth dropped open and eyes widened. Color flared across her cheeks like a spill of wine on cloth.
Finally as the table rolled to a stop and Sally began to slice the pieces, Ella directed her gaze at her mother.
“What is this?”
“It’s Jenny’s birthday cake.”
“Not that!” Ella had not patience for humor, apparently. “The servant.”
“Ah. Why, that is Sally. I have purchased her from Lord Barrington.”
And there it was. Her frigid stare was upon him. Their eyes locked.
The horror she feared as they spoke in his workshop had come true. An automaton was put into action. He knew it would be the first of many. She could not hold back progress. And yet, she would not be swayed from her ideals.
She hated him at that moment. He could see the rage and derision in her eyes. They were no longer the shining green of her dress, but the swirling mass of an oncoming storm.
His gut knotted, despite girding himself for her reaction. Again, he disappointed her. And again, he could not talk himself out of the pang it gave him.
Ella looked back at her mother. “And will someone lose their position because of…Sally?”
Lady Halswitch cocked her head, clearly not understanding her daughter’s distress. “Once I’m certain she functions as she should, then I will no longer have a need for a kitchen servant.”
No one could miss the fury in Ella’s gaze now. He’d never seen her face so red, her shoulders so tense.
“She’s darling.” It was Lady Westerling, doing her best to defuse the situation. “Very fine craftsmanship. Ella, you certainly would appreciate that.”
“Yes, this is quite remarkable.” Jenny’s father craned his neck to look-see all aspects of the automaton. “I am astonished with this mastery.”
None of this impressed Ella. She stared at Sally with disdain and revulsion, as if his creation would bring about the end of civilization.
“Ella!” Lady Halswitch snapped her fingers. “You are being immensely rude to our guest. You owe him an apology.”
“Me? How could you do this, Mother? How could you contribute to the end of people’s livelihoods? Now what will that kitchen servant do?” She glanced around wildly. “What will they all do when their work is done by manmade machines?”
Her outburst was followed by Sally wheeling the table back into the kitchen.
Bennett sighed. It was his fault. He knew she would react like this. Well, perhaps not this strongly, but then again she did have a full glass of wine.
He should have warned Lady Halswitch, told her to let Ella know ahead instead of having it be a surprise.
Why didn’t he?
Because he’d secretly hoped she would be impressed. He knew she admired fine craftsmanship and extraordinarily detailed mechanics. Sally was one of his finest creations to date and he wanted Ella to be in awe. Instead she loathed it.
Still, he felt responsible for her current behavior.
“Miss Wilder.”
She flashed her raging eyes at him.
“If you would grant me a few moments in the other room, perhaps I can help calm your distress.”
To hell with propriety and other such nonsense. He needed to fix this now.
She tilted her head. “Very well, Lord Barrington, I shall like to see you try.”
Chapter Twelve
Ellie took the lead. She brushed past Bennett and headed straight for the study, where she could close the door. She had much to say and the rest of the house didn’t need to hear it.
She entered the darkly paneled room. The rich smell of leather and wood polish filled her nostrils. She stopped before the massive desk and listened as Bennett stepped into the room.
“Shut the door.”
It clicked closed and she whirled around to see him leaning against it, arms crossed and an eyebrow raised. Damn him. Even when she was furious at him, his good looks and charm brought a shiver to her toes.
“Go on then.” Ellie tapped her fingernails on the desk. “Please do calm my distress.”
He stared at her, his dark eyes unreadable. Perhaps he was formulating what to say. More likely, he had no idea how to calm her distress and only wanted her somewhere alone.
At least, that was her wish.
Sigh. It didn’t seem possible that she could be so enraged by him and yet desire him so profoundly. Never had she met anyone who could engage her passions to such extremes.
“I should have known better.”
Her eyes widened. An apology?
He took a step forward. “You reacted so vehemently in my workshop at the sight of that arm. I should have known what a fully functioning automaton would do.”
Quite.
“But your mother insisted on the surprise. She wanted a big show of it all.”
Little by little, he moved closer to her. Her pulse gathered speed. A river rushing toward a bottomless waterfall.
“I was foolish enough to believe you might actually be impressed by the magnitude of the creation.” Bennett shrugged. He was just an arm’s length away now. “But instead of seeing the beauty and the genius, you only see possible injustice.”
Injustice indeed! “Does this one have a remotely controlled device like Gertrude? Can my mother make her do things with the touch of a button across the room? Where will this end? It’s bad enough that they take the place of humans, but then they have no internal control of their own?”
“No,” his voice was quiet. “Sally does not have a remotely controlled device. I do not create those with humanoids.”
He stood directly before her. She could smell that delicious combination of musk, sandalwood and cinnamon. His breath blew sweetly upon her hair. She couldn’t come back at him with some witty retort, she couldn’t think clearly. Every inch of him begged to be touched.
Immobile. Mesmerized.
“Ella.” Bennett bent low, his mouth against her ear. “You are the most persistent, idealistic, unyielding, fool-hardy woman I have ever known. And I can’t stop thinking about you.”
Every grip of anger melted into a liquid swirl of desire. Ellie brushed her hands on his jaw. Dizzying waves crashed in her bloodstream.
His lips pressed upon her neck. “Why do you torment me so?”
Small gasps escaped from her throat. A whimper of desperate yearning. She didn’t care. She didn’t care if someone walked in. Right now she only wanted Bennett’s lips on hers, his hands on her body.
His tongue traced a line from one side over to the other, where he then nuzzled against her ear. “No bargain this time, Ella. I want to know that you truly want my affection.”
No bargain needed.
Ellie pulled his face to hers and stared into those heavenly midnight eyes. “I am equally bewitched by you, despite your incessant secrets, capitalistic creations and iron heart.”
His lip curled. “Well, then, I see no reason why I should not proceed with my plan.”
She returned his grin. “Your plan?”
Bennett brushed his lips across hers. “To calm your distress, remember?”
There was no reply. His tongue slipped out and teased her mouth apart.
Fire blazed through h
er cells, pulsing and electric. Ellie opened herself to him, drawing him in, relishing the taste of wine on his tongue. She slanted her head, curled her fingers in his hair.
He shifted against her, moaned. Still, he did not release his hold on her, the connection of this intimate touch.
Ellie swirled her tongue around his, playing with it, teasing it, following it back to the inner corners of his mouth.
Suddenly his hands were down her back, pulling her hard to him. She felt every inch of his hard, masculine body. Sparkles danced to her fingertips, weakened her knees.
Bennett broke from the kiss and nipped his way down her neck.
Ellie threw her head back, leaned against the desk for support. At any moment, she could topple from the urgency of his desire.
“Lord, Ella…” His voice trailed off as his tongue thrust between her breasts. He kissed her mounds, captured them in his big hands. “I want to see.”
“Yes.” She was weightless and heavy, overwrought and undone.
With a few swift jerks of his hand, her dress was loosened and slipping off her shoulders. His fingers pulled the rest away, lowered her chemise and there she was. Bare and brazen.
“You’re so beautiful.” Bennett stared at her for the briefest moment before totally enclosing them in his hands. His thumbs rubbed over her nipples, bringing them to hard, aching points.
A drowsy fog enveloped her into a cocoon of mindless yearning. And when he drew one of them into his mouth, a fire erupted at her core.
He switched between them, alternating between soft, teasing kisses and firm pulls with his lips.
She dug her fingers deeper into his hair, clenching it as he tortured her. Every nerve ending stood at full attention, begged to be touched and caressed and licked by this master of seduction.
But instead he rose up and cupped her face in his hands. “You’ve no idea the agony I suffer at this moment.” His voice rumbled hoarse, breathless, as if he hadn’t the strength for full speech.
She managed a smile. “I may just know. Perhaps this torment will dissipate if we continue. Surely, there is an end to this madness.”
He thrust his hips against her. The unmistakable male hardness pressed near her belly button. It needed to be lower, to rub against the throbbing joint of her legs.
His cheek rested aside hers. “I want nothing more than to alleviate this need. But this is neither the place or the time.”
No, he couldn’t leave her. Not now. She couldn’t stand the frustration again. “We can go somewhere. Anywhere. But don’t go. Not yet.”
“Ah, Ella…” He lifted her dress back to her shoulders and tightened the laces. “I am long past my time of departure. And you must return to your party.”
“I don’t care about the party. I want you.” She looked him directly in the eye. “I don’t want you to stop.”
Bennett tilted his head, offered a wicked grin. “My apologies for leaving you in a greater state of distress than when we entered. But duty calls for us both, I’m afraid.”
The hell it did. He was a bloody coward. “You are afraid of me.” She pushed him away from her. “I see that now. Well, good. Perhaps you will finish what you start on a day that fear doesn’t rule you.”
His gaze narrowed. “I am not afraid. I just have more sense than you.”
“More sense? Each time you have been the one to cast me under your spell and then leave me cold and alone.” She put her hands on her hips. “Do you fancy me a game? Are your manipulations deliberate?”
Bennett started for the door. “As I recall, you were the one who seduced me in Lady Westerling’s library. I was merely undone by the provocation.”
Ellie’s mouth clamped shut. She could deny it but it would be a lie. She had sought to seduce him that night, to use her “feminine powers” to get what she wanted.
But tonight was different. Tonight he used his expertise to quiet her outrage. And she fell right into the trap.
She crossed the room and stood between him and the door. “Then it appears we are even now. I received my comeuppance.”
His dark eyebrows lifted.
“But I continue to stand by my claim that you fear me…or perhaps you fear what will happen if you allow yourself to have me.”
His face changed instantly. The amused softness had been replaced by a tense jaw and pressed lips. He could not hide it. No matter what excuse he gave or lie he told, she could see the alarm lurking in that haunted gaze.
But like the Bennett she had come to know, he recovered quickly and pasted a pleasant smile on his face.
“I truly must go now, Ella. Please step aside.”
She backed up until she hit the door. “Where do you go each night?”
He gave a loud sigh. “I cannot and will not tell you that. This is one area in which your persistence is futile.”
Hardly. She did not give up. In time, she may cease asking him, but she wouldn’t give up learning the answer. She’d follow him, if necessary.
“Very well,” she conceded for the night. “Then one last thing before you disappear like a vampire on the hunt for blood…”
He drew in a sharp breath.
“I want another kiss. A kiss that does not have a motive or plan behind it.”
This time his dark stare went from guarded to raw heat. “What your touch inspires in me, Ella, is far from motivated. I respond the way nature intended.”
“And there is no lie in my response either.”
Bennett put his palms on the door, as if to block her escape. But she had no desire to flee. Her pulse beat frantically inside her ears, her breasts ached for his hands, her nipples begged for his tongue. Breathing turned shallow. She licked her lips but it did not assuage the dryness.
He held her gaze, daring her to look away. “You can believe these words from me: my body hurts for you. I cannot sleep at times for the pain. But there are things you do not know about me. Secrets I cannot share. These things keep me from having you.”
There could not be a secret so terrible…unless he was the alleyway killer.
He bent low, swept his lips across hers. “These moments between us only happen when I lack discipline, when I have been weakened by your charms.”
“Bennett.” Ellie reached up, rubbed his cheek with the back of her fingers. “Please don’t go. I don’t care about your secrets.”
His arms wrapped around her waist, then he lifted her up and moved her aside. “You should, Ella.”
Then he was down the hall and saying his farewells.
She clenched her jaw and waited for him to be gone, completely out the door and on his way to wherever he went each night.
She should go straight upstairs to her room. If she’d come in her Lightrider, she’d change and then follow Bennett into the night. Even if it meant flying in the dark.
But no. She had come on the train and feigning illness would only lead them to ask her more questions.
And so Ellie straightened her dress, made certain her hair was not overly mussed and re-entered the dining room.
Ah, yes, another beauty handed right to him.
If only they’d give him the comfort he sought, instead of treating him as a beast. Bitch.
A finger touched the silkiness of her skin. Adrenalin surged. Reckless energy. Wild lust.
She bucked against the strong clutch of his arm.
He growled. That stopped her.
Through the haze of lust-filled anger he could still make out the yellow of her hair.
His free hand slid down her thigh then moved atop her dress to the rolling curves of her body.
He squeezed and she screamed anew. This time she would not be calmed. She kicked, jerked, twisted.
Rage bellowed in his gut and spiraled into his brain, where pain scoured the inside of his skull. The more she fought, the more madness overtook him. Within seconds all manner of humanity was gone and the monster took over.
He slammed her against the stone wall, gripped her wrists wit
h his free hand and shoved his other at her throat.
A shooting pain rang up from his inner arm. It hurt but it wasn’t enough to deter him. No, nothing would stop him now.
He squeezed her throat. A delirious few seconds passed until she struggled no more.
His breathing was rampant, body shaking.
Warm blood trickled over his hand as her body went limp. Then he let her go.
A clanking sound startled him and he leapt back. There on the ground was a black box. A small blade still jutted from the top. He slid a switch and it retreated. This must have been what stabbed his wrist.
Ah yes, he’d seen this before. Obviously, it was useless.
He dropped it in his pocket then abandoned the lifeless heap at his feet.
Chapter Thirteen
Bennett woke with a start. Blackness surrounded him, like a coffin closed over his face.
Where was he?
He reached below him and felt softness, but it could be either his bed or the cushions of his Flyer.
Then the softness of a pillow sank beneath his hand. The breath he’d been holding rushed from him in a heavy sigh. He’d made it home. Unfortunately he didn’t remember doing so.
Bennett dropped back onto his pillow.
He’d left Hilltop Hall in a state of extreme suffering. He wanted Ella more than he’d ever wanted a woman. Torturous thoughts plagued him on his journey into Lundun. By the time he’d arrived, he was in such a state, he considered not staying. But that would have been unthinkable.
Instead he forced himself not to think of her, to focus on the routine. He remembered spending the first part of the night as he did every night: strapping on his special goggles and moving from place to place to find his prey.
But after several hours, weariness set in, visions of Ella’s luscious breasts once again dragged him into a deluge of sensations. At once, he felt drunk and lustful and reckless.
After that, he remembered no more.
Until he awoke into this dark room.
A tightness weighed on his chest. He’d never gone this long without recall. There had been moments, maybe even ten minutes or more. But never hours, never long enough so that he’d gone from one location to another without remembering.
The Iron Heart Page 10
