A Seduction at Christmas

by Cathy Maxwell

  One of the Irishmen, the one Nick was beginning to recognize as the leader, said, “I don’t understand why people can’t mind their own business.” He heaved a heavy sigh. “Well now, she might have stepped out. Find her. Holburn didn’t come home last night. I’m thinking wherever she is, he is.”

  “We’d have to search the city,” one of his men protested.

  “Do you want your money?” the leader countered. “But first, let’s cover the building. You two knock on every door. Bring her to this room if you find her.”

  “What are you going to do?” one of his men asked.

  “I’m going to drag that body up here and store it in the tart’s rooms. Who’d have thought the old man would break his neck so easily?”

  Nick had finished buttoning his breeches. He pulled on his shirt. Fiona came from behind the curtain with his boots. She set them on the floor beside him. A nervous Tad pushed her hand with his head, wanting reassurance.

  “Mr. Simon was the man trying to stop them,” she whispered. “He was my landlord.”

  “There is nothing we can do for him now.”

  She nodded, a worry line between her brows.

  He reached for her hand, lacing his fingers with hers. “Courage, Fee. I’ll not let harm come to you.”

  Before she could reply, there was a pounding on their door. “King’s men,” an Irish voice announced. Tad growled. Fiona bent to restrain him but Nick caught her arm.

  “Don’t. Let him bark,” he ordered, his voice barely a whisper. “Make them believe no one is here.”

  Unrestrained, Tad bounded toward the door.

  Fee moved closer to Nick. “Do you believe they are really the king’s men?”

  Nick almost laughed. “The king wouldn’t hire the Irish to sweep the streets. They think that phrase will convince people to open their doors.”

  The Irish pounded again. Tad leaped up the door as if he could charge through it.

  “Do you hear that dog?” an Irish voice said. “Sounds like he could tear right through the wood, don’t he?”

  Tad growled, this time the sound more menacing than when he’d threatened Nick.

  “I killed a dog like that once,” a companion answered. “Damn cur tried to take me leg off.”

  “Ah go on,” his companion countered. “That dog is probably a wee thing. Not more than yea high.”

  “Keep searching,” their leader barked. There followed the sound of footsteps going down the stairs and more knocking on doors.

  Nick crossed to the door, the better to hear what was going on. It didn’t sound as if anyone was on their floor any longer. He glanced at Fee. Her body was as tense as a bow string. Deep circles beneath her eyes were another sign her nerves were stretched taut. “They haven’t caught us yet,” he reminded her. He was actually enjoying himself. It had been a long time since he’d felt so alive.

  She nodded. She was obviously not enjoying herself so much.

  “How do you think they knew who your neighbor was?” he asked, his voice soft.

  “Hester hired the room at the Swan in Annie’s name. I don’t know how they could have discovered where she lived from there.” She pressed her lips together and then asked, “But the more pressing question is, why does someone want to kill you?”

  “That is a very good question, and one I shall ask Ramigio when I see him. Or Belkins,” he added thoughtfully. “He seems to have taken advantage of the assignation with Annie to set up a trap. I was surprised when Belkins came to me about the ring.”

  “The ring?” she asked.

  “A gold signet ring that Ramigio stole from me nine years ago. I’ve sent men all over the world searching for him and the ring ever since. Belkins came to me yesterday saying he’d met Ramigio by chance. The Spaniard wanted to return the ring and, knowing how angry I was, wanted Belkins to set up a meeting. He wanted it to be someplace private.”

  “And you were wary,” she said, considering the matter. “That’s why you jumped out from behind the door and grabbed me.”

  “I wasn’t expecting you,” he answered. “Or I wouldn’t have been so rough.”

  She shrugged, dismissing his apology, her mind focused on the mystery. “And after all the time that had passed, you weren’t suspicious of Lord Belkins’s story?”

  Nick shook his head. “Of course, I was. Then again, no one outside of the family knows about the ring or that I’ve been searching for it.”

  “Except for the men you’ve hired to do the search,” she pointed out.

  That was true. Nick was slightly annoyed to have to admit it. “Of course they knew. But they were tasked to keep their mission confidential.”

  “Then how could they ask questions to find the ring?” she wanted to know. “They would have to say something to someone.”

  Her logic irritated him. “Of course they had to ask questions,” he muttered crossly. Wanting to put her off, he reached for his boots, sitting in the rickety wooden chair beside the table to pull them on.

  But Fee wasn’t one to be deterred easily. “So, all of London could have known about you hunting this Spaniard for your missing ring?” she surmised, coming up to stand by the table.

  “No,” he insisted. “The men I hired were ordered to keep quiet.”

  The corners of her mouth lifted in doubt. “That’s rather naïve of you to think they would, isn’t it?” she said. “It’s been my experience, there are no such things as secrets. Most men I know would babble anything if it made them appear important. Carrying out the confidential business of a duke would be one of those things.”

  Nick opened his mouth to tell her she was wrong…and then realized she was right.

  He turned his attention to his boots while he considered the implications of this perspective.

  “The question is,” Fee continued as if he wasn’t ignoring her, “why would the Spaniard attack you now? What has changed?”

  That was the crucial question.

  Nick set aside his annoyance with her. He stood. “I think I’d best see Belkins and ask him.”

  She nodded. “He is the key.” She glanced at the front door. “I wonder how long we have to wait for Thomas and his men to leave.”

  “Thomas?” Nick asked.

  “Their leader,” she said. “His name is Thomas.”

  “How do you know this?” he asked.

  Fee shrugged. “His men call him by name.”

  Nick had been toying with an idea but now he made his decision. “You are coming with me.”

  “Coming where?” she said in surprise.

  He took her arm by the elbow. “With me, to my home. You have a good mind for details, and I don’t remember much from last night. I need you, Fee.”

  Her head tilted up to him before she glanced down to his hold on her arm. He resisted the urge to rub his thumb against the inside of her elbow. He was wise.

  “I’m not like Hester,” she said carefully.

  Nick grinned. “I’ve already figured that out.”

  “How?” she wondered.

  “Your stiffness, your unwillingness to take advantage of the situation.”

  “I wanted to ransom you for five hundred pounds,” she reminded him.

  “And a ham-handed attempt it was, too. Come on, Fee, did you really think you could untie one hand and I would sign your letter?”

  “If you wanted to be free you would have.”

  He laughed quietly. “Fiona,” he said, enjoying the lyrical sound of her name as he let his gaze drop to her lips, “there are ways around you.”

  To his delight, her face turned a becoming shade of red. He drew her to him. He couldn’t help himself. She was absolutely delicious. In fact the idea of tying her to a bed had great merit—

  Hurried footsteps tramping on the stairs brought his attention back to the danger they were in.

  Tad had been watching their banter with a dog’s interest. He now came to his feet and stared at the door.

  “I have something,�
�� an Irish voice yelled in the hallway. More booted feet sounded on the stairs.

  “What is it?” Thomas asked.

  “I was asking around for Annie Jenkins,” his man reported. “I told her Annie’s hair was red and she corrected me. Said Annie Jenkins has yellow hair. Thomas, are we searching for the right woman?”

  Thomas’s response was to swear.

  “What do we do now, Thomas?” one of the men asked.

  Nick let go of Fee and moved to the door to listen closer. He noticed she followed him. Good girl. He needed the sharp wits she had between her ears.

  “I’m going to go see our client,” Thomas said. He sounded anxious. “I’ll see what he is willing to do. This job’s already been more trouble than we bargained for. And I’ll tell him we’ll need more money for our trouble.”

  “How much more?” one of his men asked.

  “Double the price. Every time I turn around we’re having to cover our trail with another body.”

  There was a murmur of agreement.

  “What shall we do in the meantime, Thomas?”

  “Watch this building. We know Holburn hasn’t gone home. In fact, when the duke didn’t return last night, our client assumed we’d done the job until I told him differently.”

  “You should have kept quiet,” one of the men said. “Then we could have collected our money and been gone.”

  Thomas acknowledged the truth of his words with a heavy sigh. “Except the cold-hearted bastard had another job for me to do. It wasn’t much. I took care of it.”

  “So how do we find the duke?”

  “He’s going to be with the girl,” Thomas said. “Find the lass and we find our duke. Liam, you stay in her rooms. John, you watch the door downstairs. That way if she returns, one of you can come fetch me. I’ll be back in an hour.”

  With that, they all went off in their different directions.

  Fee whispered in Nick’s ear. “What do we do? We’re trapped.”

  Nick shook his head, knowing there was a way out. He took her hand and led her to the bedroom. Seeing the direction he was going, she leaned back. He gave her hand a tug. “It’s not what you think,” he whispered. Then he couldn’t help but lean close to her ear to say, “Not that I would mind. But when I take you to bed, I want to enjoy myself.”

  Her eyes narrowed at the comment. “That won’t happen,” she assured him.

  Nick smiled. He knew it would happen. He’d be certain of it.

  He brushed the curtain aside and walked to the window. “This is the way Tad enters and leaves the building?” He looked to her for confirmation.

  “Mr. Simon didn’t know I had a dog. Well, he knew but we pretended he didn’t,” she confessed.

  “That was kind of him,” Nick murmured as he opened the window, more interested in escaping than in the landlord.

  “He was kind,” Fee said. “He didn’t deserve what they did to him.” There was a catch in her voice.

  “Fee, don’t think about it,” he warned. “Don’t give in to fear—”

  “Fear? I’m angry. Furious. How dare they do that to him?”

  Nick smiled. “We’ll make them sorry they did.”

  “Yes,” Fiona answered.

  “But first, we’ve got to escape.” He turned his attention back to their escape. The shed against the building that Tad used had a flat roof. Someone had placed a crate on that roof right beneath Fee’s window to create a step up to the ledge. From this bird’s-eye view, the shed appeared to have seen better days, but Nick suspected if it held Tad’s weight, it would hold theirs—at least long enough for them to reach the ground.

  “Pack your belongings,” he ordered. “And be quick about it.”

  He didn’t wait for a response but went into the other room and took the liberty of opening the chest on the floor. A black wool dress that had seen better days and the muslin dress she’d worn last night were folded neatly on top of some household items. He took the two dresses and returned to the bedroom. Tad padded alongside him.

  Fee had spread a swath of blue and green plaid on the bed and was placing a hairbrush and some other toiletries on the center of it. She didn’t have much to pack, although he noticed the hairbrush was made of solid silver and she handled it as if it was of great personal value.

  “You could sell that brush for a pretty penny,” he said as he handed her the dresses.

  He was not surprised when she said, “It was a gift from my parents. I’ll never part with it.”

  Her words confirmed his suspicions. Fiona was more than some country girl from Scotland. Her speech, her manner, her intelligence spoke to Quality. There were times when she had more bearing than a duchess.

  But he knew better than to question her. She didn’t trust him. Later, he would learn her story. “I’m sorry to be uprooting you like this.”

  She shook her head. “You didn’t ask these men to chase you. And I’ve been ‘uprooted’ before. I will survive.” She said the last more to convince herself than to speak to him.

  “You needn’t worry, Fee. You are under my protection now. I won’t let any harm come to you.”

  “Perhaps you are the one I should fear most,” she murmured, tying a knot in her plaid.

  She was right.

  He’d not deny she attracted him. His fascination for her was more than just because she was a lovely woman. Or that she reminded him of the Oracle. He actually respected her. She had a good mind and a steady nature. The ransom trick had been silly, but he could see where such a wild gamble might have worked on a man other than himself.

  He picked up her plaid bundle. “I won’t ask you to do anything you aren’t willing to do, Fee. It’s the best I can offer, because you and I are going to be lovers. It’s that simple.”

  Fire flashed in her brown eyes. “Nothing is that simple, Your Grace.”

  He grinned. “It is now.” He changed the subject, holding up the plaid bundle. “Are these your clan colors?”

  “Yes,” she said proudly. Her chin lifted as she added, “It’s a rebel plaid, Your Grace. You might not want to be seen carrying it through the streets.”

  God, she intrigued him. “I’ll take my chances.” He crossed to the window. “Tad, jump,” he ordered.

  “That’s not the command,” she informed him, even as the big dog leapt out the window.

  Nick gave her a conciliatory smile.

  Her answer was a glare.

  “He likes me,” Nick offered.

  “Don’t assume that just because my dog does, I do.”

  Nick laughed. “When it comes to you, Fee, I don’t assume anything.”

  He threw his leg over the sill, hoping he had as easy a trip down as Tad had. He wrapped one arm around her plaid bundle. “I’m going first, Fee. That way I can help you down safely. That is, if you wish to follow.” He jumped.

  Chapter Seven

  Holburn had jumped carrying all her possessions in the world.

  Fiona knew exactly what he was about. He’d arranged matters so she had no choice but to do as he said. There were murderers at her door and her dog was outside with him. Her only option was to obey—especially since his plan made sense.

  That didn’t mean she had to like it.

  In less than twenty-four hours, Holburn had gone from being the object of her girlish dreams to the most arrogant, insufferable, always-in-charge man she’d ever met, and she’d met a good number of them.

  Then again, would she have found him so attractive if he’d been anything less than what he was?

  Holburn was more than an overadmired and cosseted nobleman. He was a loner. An outsider.

  So was she.

  She knew her own failings, understood her distrust of others. But what drove him?

  He could be charming when he chose to be, but there was also a darkness about him. He was searching for something more than a mere ring.

  And he wanted them to become lovers.

  “Fiona,” the duke’s hushed voice came
from a point below the window. “Hurry.”

  She glanced toward the curtain separating the two rooms. If she could think of a way past the Irishmen guarding the building, she wouldn’t go with Holburn.

  It was that hard to trust.

  The air in the room seemed to close in around her, making breathing difficult—

  She went to the window. Holburn waited with outstretched arms. His breath made small frigid puffs in the air. On the ground, Tad looked up excitedly at the window, overjoyed they were following him.

  And then, all doubts fell away from her. A quiet voice came into her mind. Go with him. No one spoke aloud and yet she “heard” this voice clearly.

  For a second, she thought it was her mother. They’d been close…but her mother had not come back to her from the dead.

  Fiona shook her head to clear it. She was not one given to fanciful thoughts, but she was bone-tired. Life had been very hard, and that was one more reason to go with the duke. Yes, he was intense in his wants and needs. He obeyed no rule other than his own. Then again, he was a duke. He didn’t need to.

  She sat on the sill and swung her legs around because she had no other choice. Cold air swirled around her ankles and up her dress.

  From this vantage point, the drop to the roof appeared more daunting. She didn’t have a shawl or coat and she’d sold her bonnet the week before for food. A shiver went through her.

  “Come along,” he prodded. “It’s cold out here.”

  “I know that,” she answered.

  “You’re afraid,” he announced.

  “What?” she demanded, even though he was right.

  A grin spread across his face. “You haven’t jumped because you are frightened. Don’t be. I’ll catch you and help you down. It’s only six feet.”

  “More like ten,” she informed him. “And I am not afraid.”

  “Then prove it. Jump.”

  She really didn’t like him. At all.

  But she jumped. She used her hands to push off the edge.

  Holburn caught her before her feet could hit the ground. He didn’t even lose his balance on the edge of the shed’s roof. “There you are,” he said, setting her on her feet.