by Pamela Cayne
“King, you’re acting all nickey, and if you don’t stop, I’m going to hit you worse than Shade ever could. Now be the fighter I fell in love with and turn around.”
Lady’s words, though spat at him like a fishwife’s curse, did two things. First, a rush of warmth reached into every cold and cobwebbed corner of his body. The second, and more likely to ruin him as a bruiser, was that his knees went weak.
“Fine, act like I’m nothing and throw it all away,” Lady said, her voice sharp enough to spill blood. As he leaned on the counter, feeling his body acclimate to the joy his heart was pumping through his veins, King could hear her stride back into the other room. He knew she was gathering her things to leave, and short of their working environment, she was planning never to see him again.
Quicker than a jab to the face, King found strength he’d never had before, and was able to dash into the other room and grab Lady from behind. He wrapped her and the sheet she was wearing into his arms and started spinning her in circles. He was laughing and yelling and, if one tear escaping could be called anything, crying.
“King, put me down. Put me down!” He felt her struggle and immediately put her feet back on the ground, but as quickly, spun her around to face him and grabbed her in a fierce hug.
“Say it again,” he demanded, breathing her in, feeling the shape of her in his arms. “Say it again.”
With an exasperated snort, she pulled out of his arms and flung the sheet off much the same way he thought he must have looked earlier. He also wondered if he had looked that angry. Then, with a deep breath, she stilled and looked him straight in the eye. Stark naked, her hair a glorious mass of curls and tangles, a small, secretive smile on her face, she looked like a warrior goddess from a Greek myth, and King’s knees went weak again.
“King, Henry, whoever you decide to be,” she said gently and reached up to hold his face in her hands. “I love you. I think I have since you first kept me from falling, but certainly since that first kiss when I tasted the life I was missing with you.”
“Oh, God, Lady, I love you too. I don’t care what you’ve done or where you’ve been because it’s made you this.” He laid his hands over hers. “I love you now,” he said and turned his head to lay a kiss in the palm of her hand. “I love you then,” he said and turned his head to kiss the other palm. “And I love you always.” He slid his hands up her arms to her shoulders and pulled her close, kissing her lips as tenderly as he knew how.
“You had me so scared,” he said against her lips. “When I said I loved you, you were looking at me like you were going to laugh at me, walk away or both.”
Lady laughed lightly and pulled back far enough to look King in the eye. “I was in shock. I didn’t think we could find something like this, not ever. I had developed feelings for you, but I never even imagined they’d be returned.”
“When?” He felt like he had when he’d won his first fight, honestly earned his first coin. “When did you first know you loved me?”
“Absolute certainty? The day you came over to my house and gave me the bird.”
King smiled and pulled her into his arms, resting his cheek on the top of her head. “I knew there was a reason I rescued that little bird,” he said, as much to himself as to her.
“The little bird is glad you did,” Lady said. “So when did you know?”
“When I knew bone-deep?” he asked and she nodded against him. “Tonight.”
She pulled away only enough to look at him, the furrow to her brows making her smile a question. “I knew I cared for you, I knew I wanted something better for you, I knew it was killing me to watch what you endured and not do anything, but I had no idea what love was until you came to me tonight and showed me.”
“Oh, King,” she whispered and kissed him, then nestled into the curve of his neck and held him tight. They stood there for a moment, holding each other, and King could have stayed like that forever.
“King?”
“Mmm?” He could tell what she wanted to say wasn’t going to be good. He rocked her gently and prayed the outside could stay there for a little while longer.
She stepped back, then led him by the hand over to the bed and indicated for him to sit. He did and watched as she dressed quickly, then sat beside him. “I don’t think it’s a good idea to hide me away right now. You said yourself that when I run—when we run,” she added when he held up his hand, “we need to be prepared for Mr. Adams to chase us with everything he’s got. I’m ready for that, but I still don’t know what’s going to happen with Nessie. I’m still trying to get her to come with, but there’s a good chance she won’t, and if she chooses to stay, I need to make sure she’s safe and taken care of before I can leave. I can’t do that if we’re hiding.”
“Lady, about Mrs. Nesbitt...” King gathered his courage to tell Lady about her dearest friend, news that would probably hurt her deeply but might help make her decision. “I think she’s working more for Mr. Adams than you.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, I’ve seen her at Mr. Adams’s, have seen her sneak out of your house and get into his carriage. I think she’s spying on you for him, and if you tell her our plans, she’ll alert him.” He waited for her denial, her tears, and vowed to do whatever he could to help her through this.
Lady smiled and King felt like he’d been hit in the head. He looked at her, the questions swimming through his muddled head obviously clear on his face.
“Oh, King, she’s not. Well, she is, but she isn’t.” Lady cupped his cheek with her hand. “Mr. Adams did put Nessie in my house to spy on me, but he didn’t know we’d been friends long before. We plan what she tells Mr. Adams so he feels like he’s in control but in truth, he knows nothing.”
King thought that through, tried to remember every time he’d thought she was reporting on Lady to Mr. Adams and what had happened around those incidents.
“I suppose if she was on his side, she would have mentioned something about us to him,” he said.
Lady nodded. “We never would have made it this far if she hadn’t been protecting me the whole time.”
“Well, we can put her in hiding with you, then.” He was desperate to get Lady safe, and if it meant bringing Mrs. Nesbitt along, that was an easy price to pay. “I think you two can talk even more if we do that. It’ll keep you both safe and...away from him.”
“King,” she said and kissed him on the cheek. “My love.” She picked up his hand and kissed the back of it, then kept holding it. “The hiding right now isn’t the only thing. Don’t you think it’s foolish to come this far and not finish the tournament, not when staying a few days will help us buy that new life, a life with some security instead of always running? If we keep acting like normal, you’ll fight and win, gaining the champion’s purse, and I’ll get enough jewels to help us and Nessie both, depending on what she chooses. If I go into hiding, Mr. Adams will tear down London looking for me, and not because he cares for me, but because he doesn’t like to lose. You know that’s what he’ll do. How will you be able to concentrate on winning the final round with that happening, and that’s if he doesn’t pull you from the fight and make you look for me?”
“But what if he—”
She pressed two fingers against his lips. “He won’t. He likes the idea of what will happen after the fight too much to push me before then, especially since he’s got the girls here to service him. If he gets his blood up before then, I carry opium with me. I’ve also placed some heavy candlesticks and vases in certain places around the house if I can’t slip the drug into his drink. He will never touch me again.”
King took her hand and held it in his, setting them both in his lap and not looking away from the way they looked clasped together. He couldn’t look her in the eye when he told her his worry.
“This is Mr. Adams. He’s used force on
you before, and I know he would do it again, possibly with Shade to help or just beating you so badly you won’t be able to fight back.” He looked into those beautiful blue eyes and said, “I’ve seen it happen before. I’ve cleaned up after him before.”
Lady didn’t say anything and King could see the fight going on behind her eyes as he felt it going on behind his. His gut was telling him to run, but his head was telling him they needed to see this through. When he realized she was right and that they should act normally, he wanted to rage, to curse, to cry.
“You swear you can handle him?” he asked and she slowly nodded. “Then I’ll find some way to distract him after the fight and you get home as soon as you can. We’ll meet in the alley behind your house.”
“King, if you can’t distract him...”
“I’ll do everything I can, I promise, but I also promise you this—as long as we get out with our lives, everything else can be dealt with. We’re going to do what we have to—both of us—but we will get out, Lady. I swear.”
“Happily ever after.” Even though it seemed a little forced, she smiled, and he loved her even more for it.
“Very happy.” He pressed a soft kiss to her lips. “We either take Mrs. Nesbitt with us or find her safe haven. But if I hear anything out of the ordinary before then, I’m coming in and getting you out, no matter what. Understand?”
“Yes.” She looked like a woman well pleased. “And thank you. It’s nice to have somebody caring for me.”
A loud bang out on the street caused both of them to start and look toward the door. King glanced at floor of the kitchen where a faint light was shining through the bottom of the door. “It’s near dawn. Time to get you home.”
He dashed out into the Red Door, and came back with a patched black cloak. “It might be a little chilly outside,” he said and swirled it around her shoulders before fastening the tie at her throat. He had trouble letting go, knowing what he would be sending her back to. She must have sensed his worry, because she clasped his hands like the two of them were exchanging vows.
“King, for the first time in years, I have felt warm and safe and alive, and it’s all because of you. I wake up in the morning happy, knowing it’s another day I get to see you, instead of feeling like the fog is going to smother me, and wanting it to. I know whatever happens, whatever we face in the days to come, we will make it. We will make it because of this,” she said and gripped his hands tightly. “He may try to end us, but he won’t. He can’t. He may think he owns my body, but you own my heart, and that, my love, makes all the difference.”
Using their clasped hands, King pulled her into his arms and held her in his embrace, kissing her with all of the fear, passion and love he felt for her, and she returned him equal measure. If they could make it a few more days, they would have it all.
King slowly ended the kiss, framing her face in his hands and leaning forward until their foreheads were touching, their eyes were locked.
“Tomorrow night,” he vowed.
“Tomorrow night.”
* * *
The championship bout was less than an hour away and Lady was both calm and nervous. Calm because a few hours after that, it’d all be over and she’d be free of Mr. Adams, free of the life she had led for nearly half of her years. The nerves came from anticipating the next few hours and knowing how much was at stake. Including the woman standing beside her. Almost thirty-six hours of trying to explain to her, convince her, beg her, and Nessie still hadn’t answered.
Lady faced the pier glass in the foyer and tied the black satin ties of her cloak into a secure bow, then draped the heavy velvet so it overlapped in the front. “Only a few more hours.” She didn’t look at Nessie as she spoke.
“I know. I saw your little bird all packed up, along with your bag in the parlor.”
“Then you saw the other bag too.”
“Saw that too.” Nessie grabbed a small sable brush. “Though I don’t know why.”
“It’s for you. I still want you to come with me. Be free of this,” she said while Nessie was brushing the nap of the velvet like she was grooming a cat.
“I just don’t know if I can.” Nessie picked a bit of fluff from the fur edging. Lady couldn’t believe their everyday primping of her during such a serious talk, but she’d tried and tried having this conversation directly and it hadn’t worked. If this seemingly casual conversation could break through Nessie’s shell where the practiced ones could not, she’d stand here all day and be brushed. “It’s all I know.”
Lady turned and faced Nessie. She took her friend’s worn, rough hands in hers and squeezed. “But it’s not all you have.”
“I’ll think about it. That’s all I can promise you.” Nessie pulled her hands free and fussed with Lady’s cloak. The part making Lady nervous was how Nessie wouldn’t meet her eyes.
“Nessie, is there anything—”
“You’re sure?” she asked, not letting Lady finish her question. “You’re absolutely sure you can’t stay with Mr. Adams, that you need to leave with King?”
“I’m sure that I need to leave,” Lady said firmly. She didn’t move, didn’t force Nessie to look at her or grab her hands to still their nervous fluttering. “I don’t want to hurt anymore and King makes me forget that I ever was. He makes me happy, Nessie.”
Nessie finally stilled and met Lady’s eyes with her cloudy green ones. The tears pooling made them glow like jade. “That’s all I want too.”
Lady pulled Nessie to her in a quick, fierce hug. “Think about it. And if you can’t, we can take you somewhere safe, away from Mr. Adams’s wrath when he discovers me gone. Know you have enough to do whatever you choose to do without me. That bag I packed for you has a little something in it for you to get your happy ending too.”
Nessie pulled free and started to say something to Lady but couldn’t do more than open her mouth before there was a knock on the door.
“It’s time.” Lady smiled ruefully. She opened the door and looked at Shade, Mr. Adams’s carriage visible in the street behind him. “It’s time.”
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Lady kept her cloak securely fastened until they were well into the warehouse. The crowd was full tonight for both the final bout of the consolation tournament and for King and Jonathan’s match. There was a buzz in the air, worries that a few zealous and incorruptible authorities were waiting until this final match to make a bust, hoping to get a goodly number of important people. It would certainly solve their problem of how to keep Mr. Adams away from her, but it was by no means a guarantee. The authorities could break in anytime, and then they’d have to deal with that scenario. Mr. Adams carried bribe money in one pocket and a knife in the other, so he was certain not to be nicked and, as always, he had his carriage right outside the door, ready to leave at a moment’s notice. Shade would get Mr. Adams to the carriage and safely away at the cost of anybody who stood in his way. Lady knew, as much as she was sure Mr. Adams would protest, Shade would make certain she would be one of the discarded. It would be uncomfortable being arrested, being pawed, if not worse, by the officers, but it was a thousand times better than the alternative. King would get her out, and then they’d be gone.
After taking a small walk around the outer edge of the crowd, Mr. Adams led them to their customary spot near the edge of the fighting ring. At that point, Lady pulled on the bow of her cloak and turned her back to Mr. Adams. He pulled the black velvet off her and she smiled at the stillness she sensed behind her.
Her dress was made of white lace, almost virginal if viewed from the front with its long sleeves and high neckline. However, upon closer inspection, there seemed to be no lining to the close-fitting dress, nor undergarments. The blush color peeking through the lace appeared to be skin, and without the strategically placed lace roses, darker colors would certainly be visible. Th
e back of the dress, however, was a different matter.
From shoulder blade to shoulder blade, from the base of her neck to the pinkie’s width of cleavage showing below her waist, Lady’s back was bare save a crisscrossing of thin satin cording. It started at her bottom and worked its way up to lace through the band of her neckline, securing it closed with a bow. With her hair pulled up into a sleek knot, held by two jeweled picks, and paste earrings that looked like large teardrop diamonds, there was nothing to take away from the image of all her skin, either coyly appearing through the lace or boldly beckoning from the back.
“Can I fuck you now?” Mr. Adams asked in a quiet voice and Lady knew this was another of his stunted compliments. She looked at him over her shoulder and admitted to a mean joy in his greedy eyes and slack mouth. He was staring at her back as if he heard two voices, one telling him to indeed fuck her now and the other telling him how nice it would be to wait, to have all these men watch as he fucked her after the fight. Enjoy the sight while it lasts, Mr. Adams. It’ll be gone quicker than you think.
“Now, Mr. Adams.” She waited until he made eye contact. “You could, but think of how much fun it will be later, after you’ve won the tournament and the owner’s purse. Every man here will want to take you out to celebrate, buy you drinks, but we’ll be right there—” she pointed to the center of the fighter’s ring, “—having our own celebration, then back for dinner at my house where you’ll be eating caviar off my nipples. How’s that for a perfect evening?”
He glanced down to her back and lower to where the lacing started, and she watched as the voice telling him to fuck her now almost won. Then one side of his mouth quirked up and he gave one harsh laugh, almost like a cough. He met her eyes and it was like he was acknowledging that she was right. He waved to one of the young boys he’d hired to be runners for the crowd and gave him her cloak and a shilling. “Go put this in the carriage right outside the door. Shade there will make sure you get the right one,” he said and pointed to his guard.
