by Lydia Dare
“Do you have need of a napkin?” she scolded.
Gray chuckled behind closed lips.
“And what are you doing here?”
Wes shrugged. “I heard the family had rushed off to Bath, and Maddie was feeling lonesome…” He took another bite of his apple.
“Maddie!” Sophie shrieked. She rushed forward and grabbed his arm. “Maddie’s here?”
“She’s waiting in the parlor,” he said from around a mouthful of apple.
“Do chew with your mouth closed, Weston,” she admonished.
Gray piped in, “I believe Wes is impervious to your nagging, since he’s already married.”
Wes chuckled.
“If you’re quite all right, I’ll leave you to go and see Maddie,” Lady Sophia said, crossing her arms and glaring at them both.
“Please do,” Gray said with a shrug. “My injuries require no tending.” It was mainly his pride that was injured, after all.
As soon as she quit the room, Gray rose from his seat and clapped Wes on the shoulder. “I have never been so happy to see anyone in my life.”
“Do I smell Lycans about?” His twin sniffed at the air and turned up his nose.
“Two of them,” Gray grumbled.
“And I heard a rumor that you were getting married. What the devil has gotten into you?”
“You seem well suited to it,” Gray reminded him.
“Well, Maddie is the exception to the rule.” Wes looked a bit uncomfortable. “Who’s the chit?” He tossed his apple core into a nearby rubbish bin.
“She’s not just some chit,” Gray growled.
“Allow me to try again, then. Who is this love of your life?” Wes sweetened his voice into a much-too-honeyed sound.
Gray wouldn’t really call her that, either. “Her name is Miss Liviana Mayeux.”
“She’s the chit with the Lycan bite on her inner thigh?”
“It’s not a Lycan bite, you arse.” Gray fought the smile that wanted to tug at his lips.
“Oh? Has someone other than you been nibbling on her thigh, then?” Wes grinned unrepentantly. “You sure you want to nibble on someone’s leftovers?”
“No one has been nibbling her thigh,” Gray insisted more forcefully.
But Wes had never let Gray cow him before, and he shrugged off the irritated sound in his brother’s voice. “Not even you?”
“Not yet,” Gray groused. “Who told you about her thigh?”
He shrugged. “Dash. We arrived this morning at Cait’s invitation.”
“You did?”
“Mmm. Missed you by about an hour and got the whole sordid story.” Wes shivered dramatically. “Dash is making you come up to scratch, huh?”
Gray nodded. He wasn’t really marrying her because Dash bade him to. Well, he was, but he was quite happy about the prospect. And Dash’s order did make him feel better about doing it so quickly.
“Did those Lycans toss you into the settee?”
“They tried.” Gray stiffened his shoulders.
“By the looks of the furniture, they succeeded,” Wes laughed.
“There were two of them,” Gray began to explain, but he quickly realized it wouldn’t matter what he said. Wes knew Gray’s heart almost as well as he did. They’d always been that way. Twins to the very soul.
“Tell me where things stand,” Wes prompted.
Gray began to tell him the entire tale. When he was done, Wes nodded. “Thank God I’ve arrived,” he said, adjusting his trousers and then flicking his nose in a very dramatic way. “Those American Lycans have nothing on us Hadleys.”
“They want to take her home. And I want to marry her.”
“We’ll work it all out,” Wes said, clapping Gray on the shoulder this time.
“I’m glad you’re here.”
“Me too, although I’m a little worried about there being so many of us about with a full moon approaching. Do you think Bath can stand so many Lycans?”
“I suppose we’ll find out.”
Twenty
“Livi?” Sophie said from the threshold, making Livi nearly jump from her skin.
Livi spun on her heel to find her friend standing just inside the drawing room with a pretty, petite blonde at her side; and Livi touched a hand to her pounding heart. “Bon Dieu, you took five years off my life.”
“I had been calling your name.” Sophie stepped farther into the room, an apologetic expression on her face. “I told everyone else to leave you alone, but Lady Madeline Hadley insisted on seeing you.”
Lady Madeline? Livi frowned at the blonde. “You’re—”
“Weston’s wife,” the lady confirmed. “And from all I’ve heard this morning, we might be sisters soon.”
Sisters? Livi had never had a sister before. What a very strange thought. She supposed if she did go through with this madness, the blonde would be her sister. “Word travels fast.”
Lady Madeline crossed the floor. “So do Hadley men.” She offered her hand to Livi. “Considering the whirlwind you’ve endured, are you all right, Miss Mayeux?”
“Livi,” Livi said. “If we are to be sisters, call me Livi.”
“Maddie then.” Lady Madeline smiled. “Are you all right, Livi?”
She wasn’t sure. Not at all. “More than confused,” she admitted.
“That makes two of us.” Sophie dropped onto the room’s still intact settee. “I’m not even sure what happened this morning. Between Lord Honeywell being tossed out in the street, Mr. Hadley’s insistence that he’s to marry you, and then your brothers appearing out of nowhere, I am nearly certain the world has been tossed on its side.” She frowned as though the day’s events had thoroughly taxed her, even though it was still morning.
“Life with Hadley men can be a bit unpredictable.” Maddie tugged Livi toward the settee.
“Most definitely an understatement,” Sophie replied.
“Perhaps.” Maddie shrugged. “But well worth it when you have the right one.” Then she gestured for Livi to take a seat beside Sophie as the lady assumed the chair across from them. “Is Grayson the right one for you?”
Livi choked on a laugh. That was the very question she’d been asking herself all morning. Though if she were being honest with herself, she’d wondered before today. But before she could say as much, Sophie slid forward on the settee.
“Maddie, it has been as though we have taken up residence in Bedlam. Not a single day goes by that makes any sense. If your Weston is truly like Lord Radbourne or Mr. Hadley, I don’t know how you can stand it.”
But Lady Madeline looked perfectly content, serene even. Despite the very poised lady she appeared on the outside, she must be a bit wild herself to live with a Lycan, to love a Lycan. Or did she know that her husband was a beast? Not every Lycan revealed his true nature to his mate. Livi leaned forward in her seat, hoping for a better glance at Maddie’s neck. Had she been claimed? The lady seemed so refined, so elegant. Livi wouldn’t be surprised if Lady Madeline had no idea who, or rather what, she was really married to.
“I love Weston with all my heart.”
“Yes,” Sophie agreed, “you announced that very thing to all the ton at your grandmother’s birthday ball a few months ago. I’ll never quite forget it.”
“If given the chance, men… like Weston can be quite charming.”
Men… like Weston? The way she said the words made Livi think the lady might very well know that her husband was a Lycan. Livi bit the inside of her cheek. She’d grown up with Lycans: her father, her brothers, her cousins… She’d never given any thought to marrying one herself. Until now. What would life as a Lycan’s wife be like? How would she face the night of each full moon—with dread or with anticipation? She touched a hand to her neck. Her mother wasn’t around for advice. And looking at the very refined Lady Madeline Hadley, Livi couldn’t imagine asking such a question of her would-be sister-in-law. Besides, she’d just met the woman. Even Livi wasn’t so bold.
She rose fr
om her spot on the settee, nervous energy coursing through her, and returned to the window she had been peering through as though the great outdoors held all the answers to all of her questions. “I’m afraid I’m terrible company today.” Livi leaned her head against the cool pane of glass.
“You needn’t entertain us, Livi,” Sophie said softly. “We only want to be of help.”
But Livi wasn’t certain that anyone could help, not if she didn’t know what she wanted. “Papa has sent for me. He wants me to come home.”
“And what do you want?” Sophie asked.
“That’s just it. I don’t have a clue. Since the moment I arrived in England I wanted to return home, but now…”
“Well, you don’t have to sail with the tide,” Maddie said. “Certainly your brothers can be coaxed into staying a bit longer in Bath. At least until you decide what you want.”
“Speaking of brothers,” Sophie cleared her throat, “both of yours are in town, Maddie.”
“With Grandmamma, I know. They haven’t been chasing your skirts, have they? I will flay Robert if he’s made a nuisance of himself.”
“I have managed the two of them all of these years, but my life would be much easier in helping Livi assimilate into society if the brothers Hayburn kept a more respectful distance.”
“I’ll talk to Grandmamma.” Maddie nodded in agreement. “But in the meantime,” she dropped her voice to a whisper, “we should figure out how to delay Livi’s brothers from marching her across the Atlantic.”
Sophie glanced around the room that was now empty, save for the three of them. “Why are you whispering?”
Maddie’s eyes locked with Livi’s, and in that moment Livi knew without a doubt that Madeline Hadley was quite familiar with Lycans’ abilities and their limitations. “My brothers,” Livi whispered as well, “have excellent hearing. We probably should speak softly, so as not to be overheard.”
Maddie’s green eyes twinkled. “How might we distract your brothers, Livi?”
***
“So,” Armand Mayeux began as he leaned against the kitchen doorjamb, “with the full moon upon us, how do you English boys usually spend the moonful?”
Gray glared at his would-be brother-in-law. Blast the man for showing up in Bath at the exact wrong time. “By retreating into the forest, like any proper Lycan.”
“You hide?” Armand chuckled as his brother joined him in the threshold.
“I don’t think I’ve ever heard ‘proper’ and ‘Lycan’ used in the same sentence before,” Etienne added.
“Oh? And where do you uncouth American boys spend your moonful?” Wes rested his hip against corner of the cook’s preparation table, a threat in his voice if Gray had ever heard one.
“Wherever we feel like it.” Armand shrugged. “Exploring the Vieux Carré on four legs is more fun than on two sometimes. Etienne,” he gestured to his brother with a cock of his head, “enjoys paying the sisters of Ursuline a visit from time to time. But when we’re particularly wild, there’s nothing quite like playing with a few alligators.”
Sisters of Ursuline? Nuns? They frightened nuns? Gray somehow managed to keep his mouth from falling open.
“Alligators?” Wes gaped openly.
“Do you mean to say,” Gray began, “that you terrorize nuns?”
Etienne snorted. “Not in the least. You’d have to be in New Orleans to appreciate it.”
Armand pushed away from the door and walked farther into the kitchen. “And if we were in New Orleans, we would take you out to the bayou and welcome you properly into our pack.”
“I have a pack of my own, but thank you for the thought.”
The younger American Lycan smirked from his spot just inside the doorway. “Still, tradition is tradition. You think you’re worthy of Liviana. A little test of your mettle would be expected back home.”
“Our father would never forgive us,” Armand added, “if we just handed our sister over to you without knowing you’re deserving of her.”
Wes arched a brow at Gray, a devilish gleam in his eye. Then he pushed off the edge of the table, hung his arm around Gray’s shoulder, and squeezed tightly. “I think we should take the brothers Mayeux out to tour the good city of Bath, don’t you?”
That was the last thing they needed to do. The brothers Mayeux could probably scare up enough trouble of their own without any help from the Hadleys. “I believe I have plans today,” Gray managed to grunt.
“What sort of plans?” Wes said with a laugh.
“I’m not certain yet. I’d have to check with Mother and Lady Sophia to see what they have in mind,” Gray said, hating his own words even as they left his lips. They made him seem like the worst sort of pansy.
“Such a good little lad, tending to his mother,” Etienne Mayeux teased, punching his brother in the shoulder in jest. Then they both laughed at Gray’s expense.
Heat crept up beneath the collar of Gray’s jacket, and Wes shot him a disappointed glare.
“Fine,” Gray capitulated. “A tour of Bath. Where shall we begin?”
“The front door might be a good place to start.” Livi’s brothers moved into the corridor and started in that direction.
Gray and Wes followed, but from a distance. What the devil were they getting themselves into? As they approached the drawing room, Wes paused at the doorway for a moment. Then he stepped over the threshold and crossed to where Maddie sat in a high-back chair.
Wes leaned over the back of her seat and whispered into his wife’s ear. Her face colored prettily as she looked at him with a scolding glance and swatted at his arm. Something tingled along Gray’s spine. Envy? Perhaps. Lady Madeline touched Wes with such kindness and looked at him as though she considered him before all else.
Gray could only hope to have such a love affair with someone someday. He glanced over at Livi, who still stood facing the window. Lady Sophia made a noise in her throat and motioned for him to go to her. And then she turned and set about entertaining Armand and Etienne for a moment. Such a lovely lady she was.
“I believe that Wes and I are taking your brothers out to see a bit of the city,” Gray said from a pace behind Livi.
“A bit of the city?” She snorted without even glancing at him over her shoulder. “You don’t know my brothers quite as well as I do. If their outing doesn’t involve liquor and wenches, I’ll kiss your…” Her voice trailed off on the last.
“Kiss my?” Gray prompted, instantly intrigued about what she almost said. He wrapped a lock of her hair around his finger and gave it a gentle tug.
“Kiss your anything, if I’m wrong.” She made a snuffling sound in her nose again. “I know my brothers much better than you do.”
“I’ll take you up on your bet,” Gray teased.
“It wasn’t a bet. It was a warning.” She shot her brothers a dark glance. But they were totally absorbed in listening to Lady Sophia at the moment. “My brothers can outdrink you, out-whore you, and outtalk you.”
“I like it when you use risqué words,” he growled at her. “Can you do that after we’re married? In the bedchamber?”
She bit back a smile. “I’m not one hundred percent certain there will be a marriage.”
Oh, but she knew they would marry. Unless her brothers forced her to leave England. “My pack alpha and your grandfather said it would be so. I’m taking them at their word.”
She rolled her eyes. “Don’t look so overjoyed by the idea of our impending nuptials.” She poked a finger into his chest. “I can still change my mind.”
He grabbed her finger in a tight grip and held it to his chest. “But you won’t,” he said softly.
“Don’t count on it.”
“I count on one thing, Livi,” he said, his voice almost so tender that it made him uncomfortable. “You want me. You’re just afraid to admit it.” He searched her face as he talked, but she didn’t look at him. Her eyes drifted all around the room. She looked everywhere but at him.
Finally, s
he sighed heavily. “Just where are you taking my brothers. A club? A brothel? A gaming establishment? Tell me so I’ll know where to send the coach to pick them up in the morning.”
He tweaked the end of her nose. “I’ll see them home safely tonight.”
“A word of warning, Grayson,” she started. Then she shook her head as though she didn’t want to continue.
“Out with it, Livi,” he said.
She looked over her shoulder toward her brothers once more. “They look innocent enough. But the things they have seen and done. It’s enough to make me nervous. They are worse than they look.”
“I think Wes and I can handle them.”
Wes called from across the room, “It’s too bad Archer’s not here to accompany us.”
“Such a pity,” Lady Sophia mumbled.
Gray laughed. “Bath will be better with just the four of us.”
“You will behave yourself, won’t you, Weston?” Lady Madeline asked. She pouted up at Wes in a way that Gray found more than endearing. It was still a bit difficult to believe that Wes had captured the privileged duke’s daughter and that the two of them were as happy as could be.
“He’ll spend the entire night counting the minutes until he can return to you,” Gray informed her. The bad part was that it was the complete truth. Wes only had eyes for Lady Madeline. Always had and always would. He’d wanted her since he’d met her for the very first time. And now he had her. Gray looked again at Livi. Would she ever gaze at him with the unabashed want that was written on Lady Madeline’s face when she looked at Wes? Probably not. There was always room for hope, though.
Perhaps he could take her brothers out and at least win them over to his side. For he feared that they could and would snatch Livi right out of his grasp, if they felt like he wasn’t a fitting match for their sister. But what on earth would they consider fitting? They wouldn’t hold it against him for being a Lycan, would they? Certainly not, when they were of the same breed.
“Whores or drinks?” Livi asked quietly from beside him. She didn’t look at all pleased.
