Reunited With Her Viscount Protector (Lords And Their Ladies Book 6)

by Mary Brendan

  Putting off a crucial talk wouldn’t help one bit. She had responsibilities now that she wouldn’t shirk. Her beloved granddaughter was dependent upon her and, with or without Jack by her side, she must accept all that entailed.

  ‘What were you thinking of, Dawn?’ he asked huskily, placing down his glass and closing the gap between them.

  ‘You...’ she said softly. ‘I was thinking of you and of the debt I can never repay you. You saved Lily’s life, mine, too, I suspect: I doubt that Mansfield would ever have let me bear witness against him.’

  Jack took her hands to tug her closer so barely an inch separated their bodies. ‘There is no need for you to feel obligated in any way. You surely know that I would do it all again and most willingly to keep you both safe. As for Mansfield, he is where he can’t hurt you. I shan’t waste another second of my life on him. And please don’t you think of him either.’

  ‘Lily knew him as her father for several years. It troubles me that she might ask about him at some time if a memory of her mama and the vicarage surfaces.’

  ‘If that comes to pass, we will find a way to deal with it.’ Jack pressed his lips to her brow to soothe her. ‘Don’t torture yourself with what might never be. Lily is young and will have many wonderful times ahead of her to obliterate any bad memories from her mind.’

  Dawn nodded, though frowning still. She wanted it to be so, but it was too soon for her to be completely free of Mansfield’s dark shadow.

  ‘A court will decide his punishment. A noose, deportation...whatever the outcome of his trial you may rest assured he will spend whatever days remain to him incarcerated and in chains.’ Jack offered up more reassurance, aware of her lingering uncertainty. ‘You will never see him again, I promise. I know it is hard for you to forget what he did, but no more of him...please?’

  Dawn made an effort to eject Mansfield from her mind. He had presented her with such danger and heartache, but Jack was right, she shouldn’t allow his malevolence to blight another single second of her future.

  She knew Jack was watching her for a sign she felt more at ease and she gave him the smile he’d been waiting for. It was a bittersweet pain knowing he meant everything to her while simultaneously fearing their remaining time together could be short. To drive that possibility away, she slipped her arms about his neck, grazing her body on his solid physique in silent demand that he tell her all she wanted to know without the need for her to ask. Once the questions were out there would be no going back. The die would be cast for both of them.

  Jack moved his hands seductively over the contours of her back, moulding her against him. The moment his breath stroked behind her ear, sending delightful shivers streaking through her veins, her lids fluttered low over her eyes. A sigh escaped her as his lips glided towards hers and covered them. His mouth was hot and hard, hungry for her, and as he ground their hips together she felt the rock-like urgency of his desire. His tongue tip caressed the silk of her lower lip, inserting between her pearly teeth to tangle with hers. ‘God... I’ve missed you, missed this. It seems like an age since we’ve even been alone together...’ he whispered against her cheek before again slanting his mouth over hers with an ardour that stole strength from her limbs.

  His long fingers twined into her hair, loosening pins so thick chestnut tresses coated his hand before tumbling to sway against her shoulders.

  Dawn arched her back, exposing a creamy column of throat that was immediately lavished with scorching kisses. With a groan Jack swung her up into his arms and carried her to the sofa, depositing her gently before following her down, his mouth swooping on hers.

  The earthy sensation heating her feminine core was making her squirm her hips against the knee he’d wedged between her thighs. She clasped his head, sinking her small fingers into strands of silvery-fair hair while trying to block from her mind that what happened next would determine not only her future but her granddaughter’s, too.

  Lily deserved to have a fond father figure as she grew. A man who didn’t just sneak into the house when she was abed. Dawn wanted this man to fill that paternal role and she knew that, young as she was, Lily had instinctively chosen him, too. But if he would not...would Dawn again settle for a marriage of convenience with a pleasant fellow for her granddaughter’s sake? Could she again endure all the disappointment for herself that such a union brought with it?

  His fingers were at her bodice, undoing buttons, his ravening mouth tantalising the achingly sensitive skin he was exposing. But the thought wouldn’t go away that they should talk before she fell completely beneath his spell. There would be no point in refusing to be his mistress once the deed was done. And once it was done...it wouldn’t be enough. If she found out at some time that he was to be somebody else’s husband she would feel cheated and bitter. Better to part as friends, quickly and with her pride and her reputation intact...

  ‘You said earlier you had much to tell me,’ Dawn gasped out, clasping his abrasive chin to stop his mouth doing its wicked work. She gazed into his sleepy eyes. ‘It isn’t just Mansfield we need to talk about, is it, Jack?’ she said hoarsely.

  The ironic slant to his mouth displayed he was frustrated she’d withdrawn from him. In consolation she brushed a kiss against his cheek, then rested her forehead on his shoulder. ‘Sarah confided in me that she loved William and intended to jilt you.’

  ‘I know she confided in you...she told me.’

  ‘Why haven’t you mentioned it to me, then?’ Dawn searched his eyes.

  With a sour laugh he was on his feet and a moment later had walked away.

  Dawn sat upright, fumbling at her button hooks. ‘Would you have told me you’d been jilted?’ she asked quietly.

  ‘Of course I would have told you. But not right now. I’ve not been with you...really been with you, in a long while. Can you blame me for wanting some time for us before the hubbub starts again?’

  Dawn stood up, a chill starting to replace the sensual heat that had almost stolen her reason. ‘No...I don’t blame you. But don’t blame me either for wanting to know to what hubbub you refer. Do you mean Lily?’

  ‘No...’

  ‘I think you do. You find my granddaughter’s presence annoying.’

  He picked up his glass and shot back the cognac in one swallow. ‘Why ask me a question, then tell me you know the answer better than I do?’

  ‘Don’t be clever with me. Just tell me the truth, Jack.’ Dawn attempted to keep a note of pleading from her voice.

  ‘I always tell you the truth. But if you want to concentrate on other people rather snatch the opportunity to have some time just for us for a change, so be it.’ An oath beneath his breath was smoothly followed by, ‘Let’s start with Sarah, then. Yes, she jilted me and I’m glad for her and for me that she did so. I had already decided that I couldn’t go ahead and marry her. But...coward that I am... I’m glad she spoke first and saved me the job of possibly humiliating her with a rejection.’

  ‘You’re not a coward,’ Dawn said huskily. ‘You’re the bravest man I know. And it was a sweet thought to consider her pride before your own. So...will you allow her and William to get married?’ Dawn took a step closer to him.

  ‘I’ve given them both my blessing. If her father were still alive, I hope he would approve of my decision.’ Jack toyed with the empty glass on the sideboard. ‘Before he died Snow told me his abiding wish was to know that his daughter would be safe and happy with a kind husband. He believed the fact that she was badly compromised would prevent a decent gentleman marrying her.’ Jack frowned at the memory of that solemn conversation. ‘He believed I owed it to him to always protect her. He was right. But I believe I’ve upheld my end of the deal by letting Sarah go to William Grove. She tells me he is the only person who can make her happy. He is a gentleman...one of the best...and quite capable of keeping her as safe as his wife as I would were I to marry her. In fact, she i
s safer with him. She told me if I refused to let her go she would keep running away to find William until I did.’

  Dawn gave a wry smile. ‘You are a good man...a wise man to have found the logic in it. You have nothing to regret in acting compassionately.’

  ‘I’m a good man, am I?’ he mocked. ‘So why don’t you trust me, Dawn?’

  ‘I do...of course, I do. What do you mean by saying that?’

  ‘You do, do you? Yet you believe I’ll abandon you once I have had my wicked way. That’s the truth of it, isn’t it?’

  ‘I didn’t say that...’ she choked out.

  ‘You didn’t need to, sweet, I can see it in your face.’

  After an indignant moment she demanded, ‘Well...will you leave me?’ She challengingly elevated her chin. ‘You’ve never actually made it clear where I stand with you. Yet I have plainly refused to be your mistress. If, indeed, you still want me as such.’

  ‘Why would I not want you?’ he queried silkily.

  Dawn took a breath before throwing caution to the wind. ‘Sarah told me something else: she knew you would be glad to be jilted. She believed you’d sooner marry Pauline instead.’ Dawn’s eyes blazed accusingly at him. ‘If that is your intention, then maybe you’ll have no need of a mistress...especially one burdened with a small child. A decent gentleman would honour his vows and stay true to his wife.’

  ‘Is that it?’

  ‘Is that what?’ Dawn cried, infuriated by his cool, faintly amused, demeanour.

  ‘You’re jealous of a woman from my past? I haven’t visited her in ages and have no intention of doing so again. Our relationship was over the moment I saw you on Regent Street. I took her home that day and haven’t seen her since.’

  Dawn sank her small teeth into her lower lip and gazed at him, wondering.

  ‘That’s why I say you don’t trust me, Dawn,’ he said and gave a mirthless grunt of laughter. ‘You believe me to be lying, don’t you?’

  ‘If you had been open and told me about her, perhaps I wouldn’t have doubts,’ Dawn retorted.

  ‘You want me to discuss my mistresses with you?’

  Dawn snapped her eyes to his. ‘Mistresses?’ she echoed waspishly. ‘How many have you got?’

  ‘Now? Not a single one...believe me, I’d know if I had because I’m sorely in need of some female attention,’ he muttered sourly.

  ‘Some female attention?’ Again, Dawn sharply returned to him some of his own words. ‘Well, don’t let me detain you, sir. Go and find it,’ she said icily and turned her back on him.

  He tipped up his head to smile ruefully at the ceiling. ‘It was badly phrased. I’m in desperate need of you, Dawn. I want your attention. And well you know it.’

  She spun back to face him. ‘And for how long would I be your mistress before my devotion to Lily made other female attention seem preferable to “snatching time for us” as you call it?’

  ‘The fact that you bring that up makes me wonder if you really like me or know me at all,’ Jack said quietly.

  ‘The fact that you promised to give me carriages and anything I want in return for sharing a bed with you shows how little you know me! I don’t want any of it,’ she said heatedly, tears glistening in her eyes.

  ‘What do you want, Dawn?’ he asked quietly.

  ‘Jack Valance...’ she murmured after a tense pause. ‘Not a viscount, not a fortune, not a mansion...just you and what you promised me years ago.’

  ‘What makes you think that I’ve gone back on that promise? I told you that you had my heart. Do you believe me lying about that, too?’ He came closer to slide a hand over her tear-wet cheek. ‘Give me something. Have I got your heart? Have you room for me in there as well as for Lily?’ He dropped his head, looking bashful. ‘I’m not complaining, I swear. I understand how you feel about her...how you love her. She is a dear little thing. And you are wonderful to care for her the way you do. She’s the luckiest child to have you in her life.’

  Dawn started to shake her head, grinding her forehead against his shoulder. ‘She’s not lucky at all to have a grandmother like me. If I’d been less selfish, her mama might still be alive to love and care for her.’ Dawn looked up at Jack through blurry vision. ‘At times I feel so guilty,’ she said in choked tones. ‘I owe it to Eleanor to care for her daughter and love Lily as she did. And it is an easier task than ever I would have thought it could be.’ Dawn paused to compose herself and Jack allowed her those silent moments, simply caressing her gently. ‘Before all of this horrible time I would visit my stepfamily perhaps a few times a year and gladly return home afterwards, feeling I had done my duty. In truth I found it tiresome to be a grandma at my young age...vanity no doubt played a part.’ Dawn hesitated, feeling ashamed of what she must admit to; it still gnawed at her conscience, making her feel wretched. ‘I should have gone earlier this time to see them. A week earlier when I was supposed to. But I was happy with my friends and found a reason to stay in London to enjoy myself. During that missing week Eleanor became gravely ill. By the time I turned up and got the doctor to her my stepdaughter was beyond saving.’ Dawn tried to stop a sob from escaping, making herself hiccough. ‘I can’t put from my head that Lily’s mother might not have died if the doctor had just been brought earlier to attend to her. It’s my fault she suffered so. She lost her life because I wasn’t there when I was most needed. I will make it up to Lily, I swear...’

  That was all Jack could bear to hear. He hugged Dawn, rocking her gently against the strength of his body. ‘Don’t ever say that it’s your fault. It isn’t, I swear to you, it is not. Mansfield is to blame for the tragedy. The responsibility was his to care for his wife and her daughter. Nobody could have guessed the extent of his evil nature or his neglect. The local magistrate was astonished to hear that such an upright chap, as he termed Mansfield, was so arrantly corrupt.’

  ‘But I never liked him... I should have guessed at his fiendish nature and might have done so had I paid more visits and more attention.’

  Jack enclosed her face between his palms and gazed into her eyes. ‘Listen to me... Mansfield was the root of all the trouble. Nobody else could have averted what happened; not you, not William.’ Jack eased Dawn back from him and placed his lips against hers. ‘You are the most wonderful woman any child...any man could have in his life,’ he said huskily. ‘I want you in my life, always, as my wife and the mother of my children. God willing, we will have some brothers and sisters for Lily to mother as she grows. She will be happy...and so will you, Dawn, I’ll make it so, I promise, if you’ll only say you’ll marry me.’

  Dawn closed her eyes, a feeling of peace rippling through her as he, in one anguished-sounding speech, put all her demons to rest. At that moment she loved him more than she thought it possible, but she felt too enervated to tell him so. She slipped her arms about his waist, resting against him, and he allowed her that quiet time without badgering her for an answer.

  ‘Say you love me,’ she whispered.

  ‘I love you... I’ve always loved you. Through some long hard years I’ve loved you and will carry on doing so until the end of my days. Thoughts of you kept me going in that confounded gaol...’

  Now it was Dawn’s turn to comfort. She tightened her arms about him and rubbed together their cheeks. ‘No more thoughts of that...it is in the past...nothing can hurt you now.’

  ‘You can...if you don’t say you love me and will be my wife.’

  ‘I think you know that I would adore to be your wife and I’ve always loved you, Jack Valance...even when I was married to my husband I couldn’t forget you...’

  ‘Don’t speak of him...please.’ Jack stopped her reminiscence of Thomas Fenton by brushing a thumb on her lips. ‘I know he treated you well...and I’m glad. But don’t speak of him—those years he had with you should have been mine.’

  ‘No more jealousies...for either of us.�
� Dawn placed a comforting kiss on his cheek. ‘I have already forgotten Pauline,’ she teased. ‘Now it is just us...alone together in the peace and quiet. No hubbub...’

  He chuckled. ‘And the hubbub to which I referred, and which I assure you will soon start, is Sarah’s wedding. She has plans for a lavish celebration despite her future husband looking quite startled by the idea of marrying amid society in Mayfair.’

  ‘And will you indulge her?’ Dawn asked simply.

  ‘Yes...of course...if it is still her wish after William has done his best to persuade her a quieter affair might be just as nice. Whatever they decide, I believe I can make William happy, too, by putting him at the helm of a trader docked at Liverpool. We have already briefly spoken of it...’

  ‘You can’t separate the newlyweds so soon...’ Dawn sounded scandalised.

  ‘Sarah will go with him,’ Jack explained. ‘She’s already made that clear. She’s a good sailor and a seafaring husband is just what she needs. She would accompany her father on his voyages.’

  ‘Good for her,’ Dawn said simply.

  ‘And now enough of others,’ Jack said, his voice sultry and his eyes slipping over her with passionate intensity. ‘Will you marry me, Dawn? Will you let me finally keep that promise I made to you to come back and make you my wife?’ He gave her a sweet seductive kiss, adding with wry persuasion, ‘We can marry tomorrow if you like...or this evening if you wish it to be sooner. I got a special licence this afternoon.’

  ‘You are very sure of yourself, sir, and of me.’ She suddenly became shy and serious. ‘Of course I will marry you, Jack. I was beginning to think you might never ask.’ Then flirtatiously teased him, ‘But tomorrow would suit me very well. I think I might like to be your one-night mistress.’

  ‘I think I might like that, too...’ he said wolfishly. ‘One night...’ He glanced at the fading light beyond the window. ‘And it’s still young...plenty of time yet.’ He suddenly swung her into his arms. ‘You know one night doesn’t mean one time, don’t you?’