The door drew closer and closer. A tall, dark form stepped in their path.
“Release her,” Riel said through his teeth.
Relief shot through Lucinda.
After an indecisive moment, Fredrick thrust her free and she staggered into Riel’s hard, solid body. “Keep your trollop,” Fredrick spat. “No doubt she is soiled goods.” His narrowed, pig’s eyes glared at her. “Or if she isn’t yet, she will be soon.”
Fear curled in Lucinda’s stomach.
Hatred blazed from Fredrick’s eyes, and she pressed backward, unconsciously seeking Riel’s protection. His hands curled around her arms, securing her close against him. He said, “Is that a threat, Fredrick?”
The stocky blond man took a step backward, evidently not liking the look on Riel’s face.
“She’s fast and loose. You know it and I know it, Montclair. Girls who wander about in gardens ask for the most base of attentions.”
In a flash, Riel put Lucinda behind him and had Fredrick by the cravat. He jerked the younger man up on his toes. Fredrick’s eyes fluttered wildly, and then narrowed with malice. “Release me!” he sputtered.
“I will release you when you understand one thing. Unless you like pain, you will steer clear of Lady Lucinda.”
“You’re threatening me bodily harm?”
“I am promising it.” Riel smiled. “And I also promise I will relish administering it.” He jerked Fredrick up a notch higher. “Is that clear?”
Purple flushed Fredrick’s face. “You will regret humiliating me. Both of you will!”
“I have not heard your answer.” Riel’s knuckles were white at the other man’s throat.
“I will not offer her another dance. You may be sure of that.”
Riel released Fredrick with a thrust, which sent him staggering back two steps. “I will hold you to it.”
Fredrick strode away, shaking with palpable rage. Others who had stopped dancing to watch the interchange began to whisper among themselves. A few ladies tittered, which likely did not improve Fredrick’s disposition.
Lucinda found herself trembling. Riel turned to her, and his hard look softened. “Are you all right, Lucy?”
“I…I’m fine.”
“You do not look fine.” Riel took her hand and led her to a vacant chair near the wall. He saw her seated, and when she refused a glass of punch, sat beside her.
Arms crossed, Lucinda watched Fredrick lurk near the alcoholic punch bowl across the room. “He’s horrible.”
“Forget him, Lucy.” Riel’s voice brought her attention back to him. “You are safe, and I will make certain you remain that way.”
“Thank you, Riel.” Tears prickled her eyes, but she blinked them back.
“You are sure you do not want a drink?” He put his hands on his thighs, as if ready to rise immediately to do her bidding.
“No.” She put her hand over his to forestall him. “I’m fine.” Then she realized what she had done. His hand felt very large beneath hers, and she felt the firm texture of his skin and the few short dark hairs that roughened the back of it.
“I’m sorry!” she whispered, snatching it back.
“You have not offended me, Lucy.”
“But it is most inappropriate.”
The black eyes smiled a little, holding hers. “I think we are beyond trivialities like that, don’t you?”
“It is not right for us to become too close.”
“We are bound together by your father’s covenant. We are…bound…to become close.”
Lucinda looked down, remembering their stolen kiss in the garden, and the chaste one in his house the other day. Alarmingly, she wanted to feel his arms around her again, holding her close to him. And she’d like to experience another of his kisses, too.
Hot color burned her cheeks, and she looked quickly away, hoping he would not notice. The music whispered to a halt, and matrons gathered up their wraps. Was it already time to go?
The band struck up a new, lively tune, and Riel’s hand closed over hers this time. “I believe this is my dance.”
“Of course.” Lucinda stepped into his arms a trifle too willingly. She relished the feel of being near him…of feeling his muscles play beneath her fingers, and she enjoyed the sure touch of his hands upon her, minimal as that contact was. They glided effortlessly together, and the soft strains of the music wove around and between them, seeming to knit them together as one.
Was Riel holding her a little too closely to him? Lucinda did not care. In fact, unable to help herself, she edged the barest fraction nearer. A whiff of the clean, masculine scent that was Riel filled her senses. The fine linen of his shirt felt thin, compared to the jacket he usually wore, and touching his shoulder felt almost as if no barrier existed between her fingers and his bare skin at all. Confusion and a flame lit inside her at the thought.
What was wrong with her? Had she lost her senses? She had felt none of this when dancing with other men, not even Jonathon.
Here, at last, was the magic and the excitement she craved. But it was with Riel. Her heart pounded faster, and for a second, she imagined the impossible…if Riel were her suitor. The breath caught in her throat. If he pursued her, would she deny him?
No. She felt his warm breath at her temple, and for one wild, fierce moment, she longed for him to be the man to court her. For him to be the man who pursued her with his whole heart, and with all of the strength and determination that were only Riel.
Lucinda shifted in his arms as panic slid through her. What was she thinking? She couldn’t have these kinds of feelings for him!
“Lucy?” He frowned. “Are you all right?” He looked over her head, apparently scanning the room. “Did you see Fredrick?”
Fredrick? That disagreeable young man couldn’t be further from her thoughts. Instead, the tall man before her filled every corner of her mind and heart. “No,” she whispered, and pulled back the instant the music stopped.
Riel watched her with a concerned, quizzical expression. That couldn’t be helped. Better that, than let him know what she’d truly been thinking.
“I…I believe I am tired. I would like to take my leave now.”
He inclined his head, still obviously trying to figure out what was wrong with her. He extended his arm. With grace, she accepted it, and felt the hard muscles of his forearm through the fine cloth. Lucinda said her goodbyes, and walked beside him for the door and down the steps to the lamp lit street. She felt intensely aware of the man at her side.
Fredrick bumped her arm hard, on the way down the stairs, and Lucinda almost felt grateful for the flash of rage she felt, for it turned her mind away from her disturbing guardian.
Fredrick disappeared into a carriage. The horses clopped down the street. A new thought entered her mind, and her eyes narrowed. Those women who had been abducted…had they spurned their suitors? Had they been raped by a malicious, rejected man such as Fredrick? She would put nothing past that man. Malevolence lurked in him. Fredrick was a man to watch.
* * * * *
A few more weeks whirled by, and once again, Lucinda tried her best to avoid Riel. Her burgeoning feelings for him would not do. In the mornings, when he came down for breakfast, she wanted to linger and talk to him. She did not. At supper, when he tried to engage her in conversation, she was polite, but left as soon as was decently proper.
She did not have any sort of romantic feelings for Riel Montclair. She needed to find an eligible man to marry, and fast. And her disturbing guardian was certainly not him.
At this rate, the Season would end before she found a husband.
Sophie didn’t talk much anymore, but one afternoon she patted Lucinda’s hand and urged her to come closer. In a breathy whisper, she said, “Have…you…fallen in love…yet?”
Lucinda’s mind flashed to Riel, but she struggled to banish that errant thought. She shook her head. “I don’t know what’s wrong, Sophie.” She thought back over the past two months. A few young men had shown interest in h
er in the beginning, but now, for the first time, Lucinda realized they had all faded away. She frowned. Even that nice Earl of Hart she’d met at that first ball.
“You…are frowning.”
“I’m thinking. A few men seemed interested in the beginning, but I haven’t danced with them in weeks. They’ve been at the balls, though. I’ve seen them.”
“Perhaps…they’ve found…another young woman?”
“Maybe. But all of them? I don’t understand it.”
“Has…Riel…scared them off?”
Momentarily taken aback, Lucinda considered the odd question. “I don’t think so. He did threaten Fredrick, but Fredrick is frightful. As far as the others…I don’t think so.” At least, she hadn’t seen Riel glowering at any of her suitors. But he had deliberately warned Jonathon off on multiple occasions over the last two years. To no avail, thankfully. Persistent Jonathon was well accustomed to having his own way. Riel didn’t scare him.
Sophie patted her hand. “The right one…will turn up.”
But Sophie’s comments made Lucinda think. During dessert at supper that night, she asked Riel, “Do you find it strange that few men are pursuing my hand?”
He relaxed back in his chair. “Have you shown them the cut of your tongue, Lucy?”
“No!” She sent him the frown he clearly desired. “Sophie asked if you’ve scared them off. Have you?”
She could not read his black gaze. “What purpose would that serve me? You remain my responsibility until you marry.”
“What if I never marry?” she asked, just to be difficult.
“Then we will grow old together.”
Disconcerted, she pushed her dessert plate away. “Then I had better make my selection soon. A man of your age may soon find his choices dwindling.”
“I will never marry.”
This statement took Lucinda aback. “Never?”
Riel remained silent.
“Why?” she pressed, feeling both surprised and a little bewildered.
With a restless movement of his shoulders, he looked out the window. “The sea is in my blood. It is where I belong.”
Lucinda couldn’t believe it. Warmth lived inside Riel. And tenderness. He’d shown both on numerous occasions to both herself and Sophie. “Don’t you want a home? Or children…” Her voice faltered.
She’d been about to say he’d make a wonderful father. Warmth burned her face when those dark eyes held hers. Pain lurked in them. “I will never have a family or a home. The sea is where I belong.”
Unexpected pain sliced through her. “How you must itch to get back, then.”
He did not deny it. Sophie had said the sea had called him from a young age. Its siren song must be strong indeed, for him to forever swear off home and hearth. Who could possibly match the great, restless mistress of the sea? Anguish licked through Lucinda.
Blinking quickly, she said, “Then I had better marry soon, so you can speedily return to your first love.”
Riel’s fist clenched. “It is the way things must be, Lucy.”
Why, then, did pleading soften his eyes—as if he silently begged her to understand something deeper? But what? Why would he possibly say words that weren’t true?
“Then I must find a man to marry soon,” she managed. “Perhaps Jonathon will ask for my hand and give us both what we most urgently desire…a severing of our inconvenient relationship.” Lucinda bit her lip. Did she truly mean what she had just said? No. Not at all.
“Jonathon is not the man for you.”
Lucinda blinked in further surprise. This was the first time Riel had voiced a blunt objection to her relationship with the Duke.
“Riel, you will not interfere in our friendship.” Especially since Riel clearly would never pursue her for himself. He loved the sea. She should feel grateful that he’d skewered her fledgling fantasies. He was all wrong for her, anyway. She’d known that from the start.
“If I discover proof he’s a rake of the first order, I will end your friendship.”
She gasped at his pure, high-handed gall. “Jonathon is not in the least bit unsavory! He is above reproach, unlike you! He’s lived as a gentleman his whole life. You’ve lived as a pirate for half of yours. You know nothing of what it means to be a gentleman.”
“I know what it is to be a man. An honorable man. Your Jonathon will measure up to my standards, or you will cut him from your life.”
“I will not.”
His lips straightened into a thin, grim line. “We will see.”
Balling her hands into fists, Lucinda exclaimed, “What will you do? Forbid me to see him? It will not work. What’s more, I will lose all respect for you!”
“Lucinda.”
She jumped up and fled from the room.
Chapter Twenty-One
At the ball the next night, Lucinda refused Riel’s request for a dance. For one thing, she could not stand the torture of being in his arms, nor the ache of being near him. For another, she’d thought more about why so few men pursued her. It might be because Riel kept staking claim to her last dance. Maybe. Intentionally or not, Riel was sending them the wrong message. She needed to find a husband.
Really, only Jonathon pursued her, and much as she’d argued with Riel about it, she did not anticipate Jonathon asking for her hand in marriage. She just resented Riel’s high-handed temerity in threatening to cut off their relationship.
Riel could think about that while she danced her last dance with Jonathon later this evening.
“A frown is creasing your lovely brow,” the Duke of Warrington said now, as they danced the first waltz of the evening. He leaned close and whispered in her ear, “Perhaps in lieu of a dance, you will stroll with me in the garden.”
Lucinda’s heart beat more rapidly. It was tempting, if for no other reason than to confound her guardian. She glanced across the room. He danced with a tall, slim brunette who pressed a little too closely to him. Lucinda looked away. Soon she would be freed of his guardianship. She tried to ignore the anguish that squeezed her heart at that thought. He loved the sea. Fine. She must get on with her life, as well.
Tonight, she’d taken bold measures to ensure it. Lucinda had renewed her acquaintance with Donald Tinsley, the Earl of Hart, and would dance with him twice later on. He’d seemed quite pleased that she’d sought out his attention.
She looked up at Jonathon. “I’d best not. The Baron may call you out.”
Jonathon’s eyes narrowed. “He doesn’t like me, and hasn’t since the first.”
“He thinks you’re a rake of the first order. If he finds proof of it, he’s threatened to cut you out of my life.”
“Really.” Jonathon’s lips thinned. “We will see about that.”
Lucinda squeezed his shoulder. “Don’t worry, Jonathon. I won’t let that happen. We’re friends, and we will remain so, because I wish it. Riel has little say in the matter.”
Jonathon smiled. “You are both feisty and beautiful, Lucinda. No wonder no other woman attracts me like you do.”
“You are a flatterer,” she retorted with a laugh. “But I appreciate your kind words.”
“You think I don’t mean it?” For once, Jonathon actually looked serious. “I have met no other woman who has held my attention for as long as you, Lucinda.”
“I will take that as a compliment. I think.”
Jonathon laughed, and pulled her a little closer as they approached Riel. Lucinda lifted her chin as they sailed by. Riel Montclair must learn that he was not lord over her life. And as soon as she married, she would be freed from him forever.
She need only find that right man. Certainly, he was not Riel Montclair. Once again, she tried to ignore the ache of pain in her heart.
Lucinda also tried to block from her mind the image of her guardian’s black eyes watching her. A part of her did feel like she belonged to him…that she should heed his words. Well, she would, if he was reasonable. If not, well then…
The ball progressed
as all others through supper and dessert, and then more dancing continued. The partnering of the players varied, though, like colors on a loom. Lucinda had warned Amelia to steer clear of the malevolent Fredrick, but Amelia had already come to that conclusion on her own. Right now, her friend danced with young Timothy Fenwick. Was that the second time this night?
Lucinda took a breather as the dance ended, and Amelia headed for the chairs as well. Lucinda noted Timothy gazing after her friend like a lovesick puppy dog.
“Is Timothy courting you?” Lucinda asked as her friend sat, waving her fan before her damp face.
Surprised uncertainty flickered in Amelia’s eyes. “I don’t know.” A small pause elapsed. “He’s gained two inches this past year.” She glanced at the tall, blond-haired young man, who now danced with a pretty red-head. “He still sometimes looks like a mournful puppy to me.”
“Does he still smash toes?”
“Once or twice every dance.” Amelia glanced ruefully at the dried patch of spilled punch on her dress. “Perhaps we are a matched pair.”
After the dance, Timothy approached and asked a bit hesitantly if Amelia would like a cup of punch.
“Thank you.” Again, Lucinda noted the uncertainty in her pragmatic friend’s eyes. “I would love one.”
With a quick grin, Timothy hurried away.
“He’s kind of cute with you,” Lucinda offered.
“Do you think so?” A frown touched Amelia’s brow, and then eased. “Tell me all about your latest suitors.”
“I don’t have any to speak of. Jonathon is certainly not serious. I’ve danced twice with the Earl of Hart. He seems nice.”
“What of the Baron?”
“Riel?” Pain crept into Lucinda’s heart. She didn’t want to dwell on her conflicted feelings for her guardian. “I’ve told you he drives me batty. Did you know he threatened to cut Jonathon out of my life? Yes, that’s right. He said he will, if he finds proof of unsavory, rakish activities. The gall of that man.”
“I think you should be careful of Jonathon, too.”
Surprised, Lucinda said, “But he’s your cousin.”
The Pirate's Desire Page 27
