by Emily Ward
That got to her. He could tell that she wanted to say something as he led her up the stairs. The paused to peek out a window. The police were indeed still surrounding the warehouse next to the one that they were in. They had gotten in the door, and men could be seen carrying crates out of the building and placing them onto a wagon. Eleanor breathed a sigh of relief. “We’re out at least.”
“We’re not clear of trouble yet, little miss Eleanor.” He kept the cockiness in her voice.
“What do you mean by that?” She had a frown on her face and it didn’t make him want to hold her close any less. Something about that face. It showed everything that he wanted to see and more. He wanted to pull her close to him, but it wasn’t the time. And he certainly wasn’t her type.
She was still looking at him as he forced himself to answer her question. “I mean that we still have to get out of this warehouse.”
“Can’t we just hide here?” Eleanor looked back out the window at the men going in and out of the warehouse.
“How long until you think they’ll find the tunnel we took here?” He chuckled and took her arm. “It’s time for us to make our exit.”
“Our exit? How exactly are we supposed to get out of here?” She looked incensed. It matched her hair.
“Yes. I say we slip out the back, it’s a different direction than the constables.” He nodded slowly as he started to form more of a plan in his head. “We can slip out of the area without being noticed.”
“Fine.” She didn’t look happy, but it was clear that she didn’t have another way to deal with this situation. It was very clear that while she was known for her attitude, she still wasn’t much of a rule breaker. Instead, she was the kind of woman that liked to buck the system without breaking any real laws. Much like he had started down this road. He hadn’t settled for that, however, instead, he was moving on to something new, something bigger. Something like this, that ended with the constabulary invading a warehouse full of stolen goods. And the beautiful woman that he was leading out seemed to be incredibly unhappy about the entire situation.
“I didn’t ask you to come, you know?”
“You were going to get my brother arrested.” She was getting louder. It was clear that he was getting to her. He loved that flush on her cheeks.
“Your brother got himself in his own trouble,” Liam smirked.
She stomped her foot. “No. My brother didn’t get himself into this problem.”
“Your brother has a problem rolling the dice.”
“That doesn’t mean he asked to do something illegal.” She was still frowning as they stepped out of the building finally. The night air was cool around them. It had suddenly gotten a bit later. Maybe he hadn’t noticed how much time he had spent teasing her during this entire ordeal. All he did was smile in response as he started to lead the way down the alley and out of it. She didn’t look happy, but she upheld the silence. He couldn’t be happier with the fact that he didn’t have to explain to her that she needed to be quiet while they were sneaking out.
He was grateful she could figure that much out. But he wasn’t surprised. The woman was smart. Smarter than most of the women that he knew. And it drove him crazy because it made him notice her more. And that was the last thing he needed.
She tapped him on the arm, pulling him out of his thoughts. Her touch sent electric shocks through his body. He couldn’t deny that she was beautiful and that something about her made her the woman that most of the men in his social circle would love to get their hands on.
He turned back her direction and she pointed at her ear. It confused him for a moment before he took the time to listen. He heard it. The steady clopping of a police horse.
The surprise on her face was evident as he grabbed her and pushed her against a wall. He buried her head in her neck. She hissed the words. “What the hell are you doing?”
“Saving us from getting arrested. Play along.” He didn’t have to say it loud, and he could feel her body moving against his. His hands started to roam up and down her sides, hungry and hunting to for the touch of her skin. He regretted the fact that her ripped dress was in the way.
He couldn’t touch her. Not really, but his lips traced over her neck. Her breathing deepened. Even if she was trying to hide it, she couldn’t. Her face was red with barely contained lust or anger. It was hard to tell with how her body was pressing against his.
He could feel his cock harden in his breeches. His body tightened, wanting to shift her skirt out of the way and enjoy the feel of every single inch of her skin. A soft moan. Was it from her or him? It was hard to tell. One of his hands traveled lower, starting to pull on her ripped skirts as the clopping of horse hooves got closer to the corner.
Finally, he managed to reach bare flesh as he kissed down her neck and made his way to the chasm between her breasts. Her bosom heaved with strangled moans. They were definitely from her. She was making those sounds that could drive a man crazy. He wanted nothing more than to touch her everywhere. To strip her down and take her any way that he could have her. Something about her made him a wild man.
She was touching him back, starting to tug at his clothes as he slipped the collar of her dress down, his other hand reaching to the back to start loosening buttons one by one. It was an explosion, neither of them in any control. The moment their bodies came in contact the most important thing ceased to be escaping without being arrested, but rather to get their naked bodies heaving next to each other instead of being separated by layers of clothing.
The clearing of a throat and the shine of a lantern brought them out of their stupor. His hand was already loosening her bodice so that her breasts spilled out. Her hands immediately flew up to cover herself. She was stunned into silence. “What brings the two of you out at this time of night?”
“Uh…” She couldn’t even find the words to respond to what he had asked. Instead, her eyes were on Liam, staring wide-eyed at him.
Liam pulled himself together and moved his body to cover her shame. “Just a bit of fun, sir. Nothing wrong with that, is there?”
The officer squinted and he could hear the woman behind him squeak in sudden terror. “Eleanor Cole, is that you?”
“No. No. It’s not her.” Liam tried to cover her more.
She must have had the sudden realization of the trouble that she was in. He could feel her start to cower behind him. She was using him as a shield, to cover the fact that she was still putting her dress back on. He could feel her panicked breath against his back, and it sent shivers down his spine.
The three stood there in a silent war of wills. “I know Eleanor. She’s the best friend of one of my daughters. Amelia.”
“I know Amelia. Sweet girl.” Liam was trying to cover for Eleanor. Some part of him actually felt bad for what was happening to Eleanor even if she had just made his life difficult.
“Do you really think that’s going to work? What are you doing here with the Cole girl?” The man dismounted and walked over to Liam.
Liam tried to stay in front of Eleanor. He could hear the rustle of fabric behind him. The girl was trying to fix her clothes. It was a little too late. They were already caught, but he understood. “There’s nothing going on. She ripped her dress and I offered to help.”
It was a lie he knew was never going to work, but he had to try. After all, Eleanor deserved better than this sort of situation that she was going to have live with. And this was going to get out. There was no way to avoid it now that she had been recognized.
He couldn’t hold off the constable for long, the man was walking around Liam, and all he could hope for was that she had herself put together by the time the older man got around the shield he was forming with his body. Liam sighed. “Look, this doesn’t have to go anywhere.”
“I’m good friends with her father.” The constable frowned. That was it. He knew that their cover wasn’t going to last much scrutiny, and now a part of him wished that it wouldn’t make it very far at all. But
this was now working, and he had just officially been caught impugning a young woman’s honor. It didn’t bother him so much. At least that’s what he kept telling himself.
“I know you are.” Her voice was soft, cowed by what they had been caught doing. He reached back, trying to squeeze her hand. She put her hand in his.
“It’s not what it looks like.” It fell on deaf ears. And he wondered what it was that he was going to do. He wondered if he should have come clear about why they were really there, but he decided against it. He could talk his way out of this situation. He had walked his way out of worse.
“I’m sure you’ve got a perfectly good explanation for why you had your hands all over my friend’s daughter?” The constable cocked an eyebrow and Liam knew that trouble had come into his life. And it was trouble he may not be able to find his way out of.
Chapter 5
Liam paced in his study. He was in enough trouble, and he had just added to it. The warehouse full of stolen goods was his job to care for, after all.
It wasn’t like he didn’t have bigger things to worry about, but he was worried about Eleanor. The girl must have been dealing with issues. There was something about being caught in an alley with a known cad to make a girl look bad. And she did indeed look bad.
He kept pacing, he knew that there was no reason her situation should upset him like that, he had more important things to deal with, like the fact that he had lost a lot of items that had been placed in his care, and it was possible that he might find himself blamed for the loss of them.
He shook his head, forcing himself to focus on the problem at hand. The men that he had found to work with had gotten themselves into trouble with the seized goods. They had a time table to deliver it in, and he had been in charge.
The truth was, he had gotten involved in this enterprise on a lark. He hadn’t needed to get involved in this kind of business. It wasn’t like his family needed this kind of money. Instead, he did it for the thrill. And now the thrill had him in trouble on two different fronts.
He sighed as he kept walking back and forth. The study had several bookshelves. He walked over to one of them and tipped a book off of it. He flipped through it, carefully looking at the pages. He couldn’t focus on what was on the page, instead, his mind wandered over to the feeling of her body against his. He remembered everything about that moment, the feel of her skin against his lips, the way his body reacted to how close she was.
“God above. That woman is going to drive me crazy.” He groaned as he sat back down at his desk.
The knock on the door pulled him out of his thoughts. “Come in.” He already knew who it was. It was his mother, the matriarch of his life.
She made her way in, a severe frown on her face. “The Cole girl?” It was all she needed to say. He knew then that she knew. “I cannot believe this, Liam. How could you do something as foolish as this?”
“Mother-” Liam tried to cut in.
But it didn’t work. She wasn’t going to fall for him interrupting his way out of the coming lecture. “I was told from reliable sources that you were caught with your hand in her dress in the warehouse district.”
“I know, mother. I know it looks bad, but I promise- “
Once again, he wasn’t given a chance to finish. His mother wasn’t the type to stand by his misbehavior once it was a risk to the family’s reputation. “Do you have any idea what people are saying about us? About you? You hear a lot of things about your antics, but this may have gone too far.”
“It wasn’t what it seems.”
“Do you remember what world you live in, young man?” She continues her lecture, the anger was filling her up. “In society, it’s all about what it seems. You were caught with your hand in a girl’s dress. And now you’ve got to make it right.”
“How exactly would I do that?” Liam felt the exasperation rise up in him.
“You already know the answer to that.” She stood in front of him. Even if he towered over this woman by a foot, she was intimidating. The kind of woman that no one dared to cross, even as her black hair was starting to grey.
She was a powerful woman and he couldn’t help but cower a little bit. “I’m sorry.”
“Her father was already in contact this morning.”
“It wasn’t that bad.” Liam knew it was a lie, and from the look on his mother’s face, she knew that it was too. She could spot him lying a mile away. “I know. I’ll handle it.”
“You’re not going to like how you’re going to handle this. I can look the other way for most things, but this is too far. You need to fix this.”
“How am I supposed to fix it?”
“You don’t want to know the answer to that, young man.” His mother had a glare that could melt steel, and she had it pointed solidly in his direction. He winced under the glare. “You’re going to have to help her regain her honesty.”
“Her honesty? You want me to make her honorable? Have you met that woman? She’s nothing but spit and fire.” Liam was in shock. “Nothing I could do would add more damage to what she’s done to herself.”
“I don’t want to hear it.” His mother waved off his complaints. “There’s nothing that you can say about this. You will make it right. I won’t be known as the mother of the young man that took the honor away from the Cole girl.”
“I didn’t take her honor, mother. You act like we were caught actually in the act.”
“From what I hear, you were caught with her dress half off and in a public place too.”
“It was an alleyway.” Liam couldn’t believe that he was having to discuss all of this with his mother. After all, this was the woman that he was raised by, what purpose did she have nosing into his social life.
He sighed, feeling the offense that his mother was heaping on him. And he knew deep down that he deserved this. After all, she had never raised him to damage the reputation of a lady and she looked the other way for all of his other indiscretions. And he knew that she had an idea of his more roguish inclinations.
He was sure that she already knew what kind of trouble he was in, but he knew that she didn’t know the extent of his trouble. He couldn’t blame his mother for being worried about him. He was starting to get a little worried. His allies were starting to ask more and more of him, but there simply wasn’t an easy way out of there.
“Focus, Liam.” His mother snapped at him.
He snapped back to attention. “What is it?”
“Her father is here to see you.” Her voice was a matter of fact and he felt his heart drop into his stomach.
“What do you mean?” He clasped his hands in front of him and fought the urge to wring them. This was his mess. It was a huge mess. And it was solely his fault. He had known the Coles had weaknesses, but this was going too far. Sir Cole was a powerful man. While his family didn’t have much in the way of power, they held a lot of political influence. It was well known that he could easily pay for anything he wanted except for the excitement that came from skirting out of trouble.
He should have known that someday he would find trouble that he wouldn’t be able to skirt around. After all, this was the kind of thing that happened to good men that went found themselves deep in criminal activity that had started on a lark. He sighed. “Wait. I know what you mean.”
“You should.” His mother wasn’t going to give him any sort of relief. The woman was beyond disappointed. She was purely angry.
“Show him up.”
“I’ll tell him to come and speak with you.” She stomped out of the room. The woman wasn’t going to calm down anytime soon. He plopped down in the chair behind his desk with a sigh. It wouldn’t be long until he had to face the music for his actions.
He waited. And then he waited longer. The man didn’t come through the open door. Liam sighed, dropping his head into his hand. There would be no greater day to run for the hills like this day was. But he wasn’t going to do it. People may think that he was incapable and horrible as a p
erson, but he wasn’t one to run from consequences that hurt others.
His eyes wandered over to the window then he shook his head. It wouldn’t do any good for him to bolt out the window. He resigned himself to waiting until the man deemed it was necessary to show up. He got back up, starting to pace again, looking down the hall at the back half of each turn, but nothing.
Nothing for a good long time.
An hour. And then, there he was. Standing in the doorway looking like a man that was about to lose his mind if he saw too much. Liam frowned and let himself be stared down for a minute. “Sir Cole.”
“Liam.” Titles were ignored. This man meant business.
“Yes, sir.” Liam gulped. Sir Cole had seen his time in the war, and he was every bit as intimidating as he seemed.
“It seems that we have something to discuss. Normally I would be discussing this with your father, but seeing as you’ve found yourself the patriarch of your family, this is a matter for your attention.”
“I understand how it might be distressing for you.”
“I’ve spoken to my daughter about it.”
“What did she say?” Liam felt the urge to wring his hands again. He made himself stop doing it. After all, it was just Eleanor.
“She had trouble explaining exactly why she had taken up with the likes of you. I believe that she was trying to protect you.” Sir Cole adjusted his sleeve as he looked at the man. Liam had the sudden feeling that it was only from the other man’s self-control that he was avoiding getting punched in the face. But it was also clear that his companion was preparing to punch should it come to that.
Liam gulped. “I’m sorry that I ever put her in the position to feel that way, sir. I’m sure that we can figure something out.”
“I’ve got suitors pulling out requests to court her every hour since you two were discovered together.” He frowned.
