by Candace Camp
He grinned and bent to nuzzle against her ear. “It seemed right enough last night.”
Megan blushed. “I was…not using reason last night.”
“Then do not use it now.” He kissed her earlobe and the sensitive spot on her neck right below it, returning to take the lobe between his teeth and nibble tenderly.
Megan let out a low moan, and her knees sagged a little. She curled her hands into the front of his suit jacket, unconsciously turning her head to the side to give him better access to her throat.
He lifted his head. “I have an idea.”
Megan looked up at him somewhat dazedly. “What?”
“Come. I’ll show you.”
Theo took her hand and led her down the hall, stopping in the library to pull the afghan from the back of the comfortable leather couch there. Tucking it under his arm, he whisked Megan out through the conservatory and onto the terrace.
“What—where are you—Theo, what if the men who tried to break in are still out here somewhere?”
“Shh.” Theo silenced her with a quick kiss. “They are long gone by now. I’m sure of it. Coffey would not risk being found in our garden. Now, come…”
He wrapped his arm around her waist, pulling her down the steps and along the path into the garden. They wound through the garden and finally reached the rose arbor.
Latticework frames arched over an earthen pathway, and rose bushes, years and years old, grew up and over the latticework, thick with flowers of all sizes and colors. In the day it was a cool, pleasant retreat. At night it was dark, lit only by the pale moonlight filtering through the climbing roses.
Theo laid out the afghan upon the earth floor, and he pulled Megan down upon it with him. Petals were scattered all over the earth around them, and their heady aroma filled the air.
They knelt, facing each other, and Theo reached up to take the pins from Megan’s hair, letting it tumble in soft curls around her shoulders. He slid his hands into her hair, and leaned forward to kiss her, his lips soft and tantalizing on hers.
“Is this all right?” he asked, his voice husky with desire.
“It’s perfect,” Megan answered, sliding her arms around his neck.
And so they made love there, amid the rose petals, the moonlight dappling their naked skin, their sighs and moans lost in the soft darkness, their passion flowing, circling ever higher, until at last they were lost together in a final, shattering explosion of pleasure.
Afterward, Theo wrapped the thin blanket around them, and they lay together, legs entwined, Megan’s head cradled on his shoulder, as they talked and dozed, sated. Megan did not know what lay in the future, or even what the morrow would bring, but there and then, cocooned in the soft summer night, she knew she had never been happier.
* * *
MEGAN WENT DOWN to breakfast late the next morning. Indeed, she realized, with a glance at the clock on the sideboard, that it was closer to luncheon than breakfast time. She flushed, remembering the reason that she had slept so late that morning—she had gotten little sleep the night before, slipping in the back door of the house with Theo only a little before dawn.
She found no one but Theo in the breakfast room, and he rose with a smile, his eyes lighting up.
“Hello,” he said, coming around the table to pull out her chair for her. Bending down, he murmured in her ear, “I have been hanging about drinking coffee until I am sure the servants think I am mad, hoping that you would come in.”
Megan smiled to herself and cast a glance toward the sideboard, where a footman stood ready to serve her tea.
Theo went back around to sit down across from her. “I told the twins to go ahead with their lessons alone this morning,” he went on. “I think we have too much to do today for you to work with them.”
Megan nodded and took a sip of tea. “We need to talk to Mr. Coffey.”
“And I would like a closer look at the basement of the museum.”
“Yes.” Megan got up to browse through the chafing dishes lined up on the sideboard and chose what she wanted. When she returned and set her plate on the table before her, she went on, “Most interesting of all, perhaps—we need to interview Lady Scarle.”
Theo grinned wickedly. “Ah, yes. I thought that would be the highlight of your day.”
Megan nodded as she tucked into her eggs with gusto.
“The only question is, what shall we do first?”
They discussed the matter as Megan ate and had still not made a decision when another of the footmen came to the door and paused on the threshold.
“My lord?”
Theo glanced up at him, something in the footman’s voice alerting him. “Yes? What is it?”
“There is…a person here who claims to know you,” the footman said carefully.
Even Megan, unused to the subtleties of the English servant’s demeanor, caught the tone of disapproval in the footman’s voice. Whoever was requesting admittance was clearly someone whom the servant did not think belonged here—or shouldn’t be speaking to Lord Raine.
“Who is it?”
“I do not know, sir. He refused to tell me his name. He said that he wanted to speak only to you. He is…well, rather oddly dressed.”
“Indeed? You intrigue me, Robert. Show him in.”
“My lord…” He paused, polite distress clear on his face.
Theo said, “Perhaps I should go out to see him.”
The footman’s face cleared. “I think that would be best, sir.”
Theo glanced at Megan and smiled. “Care to come?”
“After that? You couldn’t keep me away.” Megan joined him.
They followed Robert’s rigid back down the hall and into the large formal entryway of Broughton House. A man and a boy stood there, with another of the Morelands’ footmen eyeing the two as if they might at any moment make off with some of the furniture.
The man and child were indeed an odd sight. They wore leather sandals on their bare feet, the straps wrapping up around their calves halfway to their knees. Above the sandals, their legs were bare to a bit above the knee, where the fringe of their brightly colored tunics dangled. The tunics hung straight from their shoulders, with holes for their arms, and were woven in a checkerboard fashion, each square containing geometric designs in orange and brown. The man wore a wide gold band around one bared bicep.
The boy looked to be about eight or nine. His skin was tanned, and his large, liquid eyes were a deep, dark brown. His thick black hair hung straight as a board down to his shoulders, with short bangs adorning his forehead. The man’s hair was also long, but was pulled up to the crown of his head and caught in a leather thong wrapped around it for three or four inches, with the rest of his hair spilling out from it. His coloring, however, was different from the boy’s—his skin several shades lighter, and his eyes not the color of chocolate but a light brown with an undertone of cinnamon. His hair, too, was lighter, with a hint of red, and it curled rather than hung straight. He looked to be perhaps twenty.
The younger visitor regarded Megan and Theo with stony suspicion. The older one smiled as he looked at Theo.
“Hello, Th—” His gaze shifted to Megan, and his jaw dropped. “Megan?”
Megan felt as if her stomach had turned to ice. She stared at the man, unable to speak.
“Bloody hell!” Theo rasped out. “My God—Dennis? Is that you?”
The man smiled a little crookedly. “Yes. It is I. I came because, well, you always said you would help me if I ever needed it. And I need it now.”
“Dennis!” Tears shimmered in Megan’s eyes, and suddenly her locked knees were able to move again. She flung herself forward, straight into her brother’s arms. “I thought you were dead!”
The young man wrapped his arms around her and squeezed her tightly to him. “Ah, Megan, it’s good to see you.”
Theo stepped forward, exclaiming, “So it was you in the garden last night!”
“Yes,” Dennis admitted, looking s
omewhat abashed. “I wanted to reach you without anyone knowing. But clearly you are a difficult man to sneak up on.”
For the next few moments, there was nothing but hugs and handshakes and claps on the back, along with amazed exclamations, while the two footmen looked on with great interest.
“But, wait,” Theo said at last, stepping back and looking at his friend. “What am I doing? You must be hungry. We were just finishing breakfast. Come in and eat.”
The four of them walked back to the breakfast room, Megan’s arm linked through her brother’s as though to make sure that he stayed right there with them. Her gaze kept sliding over to the boy who walked on the other side of Dennis and who regarded her with a solemn, unwinking gaze.
When they reached the breakfast room, Theo dismissed the footman, telling him that they would serve themselves, then closed the door. There was a moment of awkward silence as they stood, looking at each other. Then the boy tugged at Dennis’s tunic and said something in a tongue Megan did not recognize. Dennis responded, putting his hand on the boy’s shoulder, and turned to Megan and Theo.
“I am sorry,” he said, his words coming somewhat awkwardly. “I forgot—I wish to introduce you to my son, Manco. Manco, this is my good friend Theo. And this is my sister, your aunt Megan. You have heard me speak of them.”
“I am honored,” the boy replied formally, his words slightly accented, his manner stiff.
“Your son?” Megan’s eyes began to fill again with tears as she looked at the boy. She felt as if her insides had been turned into mush. “Oh, my.” She blinked away the tears and bent to look the boy in the eye. “I am very happy to meet you, Manco.”
She turned back to Dennis. “I—I cannot take this in. Da and Deirdre will be so thrilled. Oh!” She turned to Theo, then back to Dennis. “We must tell them at once! We must go to them! You have me so rattled, I am scarcely able to think.”
“Da is here? And Deirdre? What of Mary Margaret? And Sean and Robert?”
“They are still in New York. Only Da and Deirdre and I came to England. Mary Margaret and Sean are married. Oh, Dennis!” Megan raised her hands to her face. “I can scarcely believe that you are alive. We thought you dead ten years ago. All this time…”
Guilt covered her brother’s face. “I know. I am sorry. I hope you can forgive me. I wasn’t sure what had happened. I feared you would all think I was dead. I wanted to let you know, to send you word, but—well, I could not.”
“Why?” Now that the shock was fading somewhat, Megan’s temper began to rise. “Do you realize how we all felt? How we mourned for you?” She fisted her hands on her hips and glared at him. “And all the while, you were fine. Fit as a fiddle and raising a family. And not bothering to even drop us a line?”
He began to grin, and Megan scowled at him.
“What? Do you think that’s funny, then?”
“No, no,” he hastened to say. “It is just—seeing you with your temper up—it is just so wonderful. I have missed you, Megan.” He reached out and took her hand, squeezing it. “I will explain it all to you, I promise. But first…” He glanced toward his son. “Manco is tired from our journey. It has been very long, and he has had no time to rest or play.”
“I do not need to rest,” the boy put in, his chin tilting up proudly.
Dennis smiled down at him. “You have been strong, Manco, and I’m proud of you. But you need to eat, and then I think it might do you good to run around a bit and be a child for a little while.”
“Yes, please, have something to eat.” Theo gestured vaguely toward the sideboard. “I shall send a servant for my brothers. They are a bit older than your boy, but I am sure they will be happy to see him.”
Theo stepped out to send a servant to fetch the twins, and Megan guided her brother and his son to the sideboard, helping them pile up plates of food. Manco looked rather distrustfully at the strange foodstuffs, but he sat down at the table and picked up a piece of bacon, sniffing it, then taking a bite. He smiled and finished it in two quick bites, then settled in for some serious eating.
Dennis, too, tucked into the food, and for a few minutes there was nothing but silence as they ate. The quiet was interrupted by the clatter of feet, and then the twins burst into the room.
“Robert said—” Con began, snapping his mouth shut when his eyes fell upon Dennis and Manco.
He came to a dead halt, and his twin stumbled into his back, letting out an exclamation of irritation before his eyes, too, fell on the visitors, and they widened.
“Hullo,” Alex said at last. His gaze swung toward his older brother. “Robert said you wanted us.”
“I did, yes.” Theo carefully kept his lips from twitching into a smile at his younger brothers’ amazed expressions. “Constantine, Alexander, I would like to introduce you to our visitors. This is Miss Mulcahey’s brother, Dennis, and his son, Manco.”
“The one who’s dead?” Con blurted out, then clamped his lips shut, looking abashed. “I—I mean—”
Dennis eased the moment by smiling. “Yes, I am the one who was dead. Only, as you can see, I wasn’t very much so. How do you do, Master Moreland?”
“Very well, thank you,” Con returned politely. “I am Con and this is Alex.”
Both of them stepped forward to shake Dennis’s hand manfully, then turned toward Manco.
The boy, younger and quite a bit smaller than the other two, had crossed his arms across his chest and was staring balefully at Con and Alex. His chin lifted proudly. “I am Manco.”
Alex and Con nodded. They glanced at Megan, then back at the boy.
“We thought you might show Manco around the house and grounds,” Theo suggested. “Show him some of your animals and toys.”
Manco looked scornful at that suggestion. “I am not a little boy,” he enunciated carefully. “I am a prince.”
“A prince!” Alex and Con chorused in disbelief and exchanged a glance. Megan started to step in to try to save the deteriorating situation, but Dennis spoke before she could.
“His mother is one of the Chosen. His grandfather is a high priest, his uncle the ruler of the village,” Dennis explained. “He will likely assume one of those positions when he is grown.”
“Oh. Where do you live?” Con asked.
“Why do you wear those clothes?” Alex added.
“Boys, don’t be rude,” Megan cautioned.
“They’re not rude, just curious,” Dennis said easily. “We are from South America, where your brother Theo and I went.”
“Up the Amazon?” Alex looked intrigued.
“Yes.”
“The jungle?” Con added. “Are there parrots? And jaguars?”
Manco unbent a little. “Yes. I have seen many of these. You have not?”
“No. But we do have a boa constrictor,” Con offered.
“Would you like to see?” Alex asked.
“Very well.” Manco turned to his father, offering him a short, formal bow, then followed the twins out of the room.
Theo and Megan turned to Dennis expectantly. He sighed and ran his hands over his face.
“I hardly know where to begin,” Dennis sighed.
“How about with what happened to you?” Theo asked. “I thought you were dead when we left.”
“I was near enough to it,” Dennis agreed. “I don’t know exactly what happened. The last thing I remember was fighting with Coffey.”
“Then he was the one who stabbed you?” Megan asked.
Dennis nodded. “Yes. I could tell that he wanted the things we had discovered in the cave. I could not keep watch on him, because I was tending to you. I was busy with the villagers, too. Trying to find out everything about them.” He paused, then added a little sheepishly, “And talking to Tanta.”
“Who?”
“The woman who healed you, Theo. She was one of the Chosen—a sort of priestess and healer. Only the best and most beautiful are admitted into their company, and they remain there at the temple until they marry
, usually to a priest or warrior. I—she was beautiful. And I spent too much time with her.” His expression turned grim. “Time I should have spent paying attention to what Coffey was doing.”
“Did you catch him trying to steal something?” Megan asked.
“Yes. I found a sack beside his belongings, and I saw that there were goblets and bowls in it. I heard him in the inner cave, and I went in there to confront him. He—when I saw him, I realized how far gone he was in his desire for their gold. He had draped that golden cloak about him, and when I walked in, he was trying on a magnificent mask. It was gold, a jaguar mask, with an elaborate headdress attached to it. The eyes were emeralds. I told him to stop it, to take it all off. I told him he would anger the villagers, that they would hurt him for mocking their religion. He looked at me and said he was not mocking it.”
Dennis gave a little shiver. “Even now, it unnerves me. It was so eerie, looking at him in that unearthly mask. He scarcely even sounded like himself. I went forward to jerk that mask from his head, and that is when he picked up the knife and attacked me. I was so stunned, I didn’t move quickly enough. He had slashed me before I knew what he was about. Of course, I fought back. We stumbled back into the main cave in the course of our struggle. You came to.” He nodded toward Theo. “You tried to help me, but he pushed you away and you fell. Hit your head or passed out from your illness, I’m not sure. He had cut me several times. I was growing weaker. I stumbled and fell, and he was on me. He stabbed me, and that is the last thing I remember. When I woke up, he was gone. So were you. Hell, I wasn’t even in the cave anymore. I was down in the village. The villagers had carried me there and tended to me. They saved my life—pulled me back from the very brink of death.”
“I thought you were already dead,” Theo repeated. “God, Den, I’m sorry. I—when I came to, Coffey told me you were dead. You looked gone, and I never doubted him. I was so weak. I didn’t want to leave your body. I wanted to take you with us, but he insisted that we did not have the time. I regretted it a thousand times that I let him rush me off. I should have stayed. Or taken you with me.”
“It is just as well that you did not,” Megan pointed out crisply. “Mr. Coffey would have finished Dennis off if you had taken him with you.”
