The Lady Is Innocent (The Star Elite Series)

by Rebecca King

  He made their life together sound so perfect, so idyllic, that a part of her wondered what was wrong with her. If he didn’t care about her, he was a long way toward it. After all, he had brought a house, and land, with a view to settling down together. That was a big commitment and had to be supported by real affection, didn’t it?

  But the logical side of her asked her if she really did want to hear him say that he didn’t love her deeply just yet, but it would all come in time. Men like Pie were honourable men. Men who felt they had to protect those weaker than them; in his case, Florrie. She didn’t want him thinking that her latest problems with her aunt, finding the body, and their intimacies, meant that he had to spend the rest of his life ‘doing his duty’ and protecting her.

  “I need some air,” Florrie sighed, moving out of his grasp and walking toward the door in more purposeful strides.

  “I’ll come with you.”

  “No!” She snapped and turned to look at him somewhat awkwardly. There were so many things she wanted to ask; to say, but she couldn’t put a voice to any of them. “I thank you for your offer but, if I may, I should like some time to think.”

  “About what?”

  But the question echoed around the empty space Florrie had just left. Pie stared at the door for several moments and realised that things were worse than he had feared. He had expected to have to persuade her a little, but hadn’t expected her outright aversion to the thought of getting married to him. He could almost feel his dreams slipping away and there wasn’t a damned thing he could do about it.

  He didn’t need to think twice, and stalked toward the door after her.

  By the time Florrie made it to her room, tears were streaming down her face. She closed the door behind her and moved into the room but then stood there, not sure what to think or do. She wanted to run back down stairs, throw herself at him and tell him that yes, she would marry him, but the other part of her didn’t want him feeling obligated to offer for her because he had helped her out of her woes, and they had been intimate. She wished she knew which way his affections lay but knew there was no possibility of her ever finding the courage to ask him.

  She squeaked in alarm when the door was suddenly thrust open and Pie walked in.

  “I just want to know one thing,” Pie demanded, slamming the door behind him. “If you had no intention of ever getting married, why did you sleep with me?”

  Florrie stared at him. She couldn’t tell him. She couldn’t lay everything open to a man who didn’t feel the same. “It just happened,” she finished weakly.

  “It just happened. You seduced me,” he accused, pointing one long finger at her. “You gave me your innocence. Do you really think I would just take it and walk away saying ‘thank you very much, until next time?’ He scoffed and glared at her. The sight of her tears unnerved him but he refused to pay any attention to them right now, not when he needed to get to the root of her hesitation. He desperately wanted her to be honest and answer him.

  “I-it was a mistake,” she said hesitantly. He knew she was lying from the look in his eyes.

  “You know damned well that I don’t believe that. You knew exactly what you were doing. What I want to know is why you chose me? Why, Florrie? Tell me?”

  “Just leave it, Pie. I am tired and want to go to bed.” Where she could have a good long cry and try to work through her misery, she thought morosely to herself.

  “I am not going to leave it.” Pie snapped. He had to fight the urge to shake her. His disappointment at her refusal to marry him, and he was taking it as a refusal, irritated the hell out of him. Did she not realise how much he was prepared to change to be able to have a life with her? Did she not realise how much he adored her? He frowned at that and stared at her in consideration for several moments.

  She wiped at the tears in her eyes and jumped when Pie handed her a handkerchief. “Thank you.”

  “Talk to me, Florrie. Tell me what upsets you so?”

  It was his gentleness that did it. She hiccupped a sob and buried her face in his handkerchief. When he tried to draw her into a hug, she moved away and put several feet of distance between them.

  “Tell me, Florrie. I can’t read your bloody mind.”

  Florrie knew that he would continue to badger her. She had nothing to lose really. She loved him; adored him, but knew that there was little likelihood of anyone as wonderfully handsome and charming as Pie ever being interested in someone like her. Tomorrow she would leave and not look back. Right now though, she had her heart to break just a little bit more.

  Drawing her shoulders back she turned watery eyes on him and stared at him almost defiantly.

  “I thank you for your kind offer, but I am afraid that I cannot possibly accept your hand in -,” she sucked in a breath and fought to keep the quiver from her voice, “- matrimony. I have to go to Norfolk to start my new life and hopefully there, I can forget you and move on with what is left of my life. I shall always remember this place with fondness, in spite of all of the adverse things that have happened here. But, more importantly, I shall always remember you,” she whispered. She made no attempt to swipe at the tears that flowed this time. The sadness on his face broke her heart even more. “The devil of it is, that after everything that has happened, I wouldn’t change a single second of the time we have had together.”

  “Then why won’t you stay and spend your life with me?” Pie demanded feeling thoroughly confused. She had to feel something for him or she wouldn’t be this upset. So what was wrong with her?

  “I am afraid that isn’t possible. You see, I happen to love you so very much and I cannot bear to see the disappointment in your eyes as we spend our lives together and you realise you are with someone you cannot possibly hope to have the same feelings for.” She hiccupped and let the silence settle between them. In all honesty she couldn’t bring herself to say anything else. Her heart had risen to her throat and now threatened to choke her.

  Pie’s world rocked. Thoughts whirled and collided in a confusing jumble that he struggled to make sense of yet, in the thick fog of almost overwhelming consternation, stood the words he had needed to hear. He knew in that instant that everything was going to be alright between them. He only just stopped himself from rolling his eyes and shook his head instead.

  “How long have you known?” He asked quietly, trying to harden his heart against the sight of her tears and failing miserably.

  Florrie’s eyes met and held his. “Almost from the first, I think.”

  “Thank God for that,” Pie sighed and ruefully smiled at her.

  She stared and watched him approach with a silly grin on his face and relief in his eyes. She didn’t know what to make of the sudden change in him and watched warily as he walked up to her and drew her unresisting body into his arms.

  “Th-thank God?”

  Her lips were captured for several long moments with a very thorough kiss that stole all thought from her mind. She struggled to catch her breath and clung on to him for dear life while he plundered her senses until she relaxed, and allowed him the liberty to take what he wanted.

  Eventually he eased his hold enough to be able to look down at her.

  “Marry me, my darling?” He whispered, his eyes held hers with a tender determination that made her thrilled and wary at the same time. “I love you more than I have ever loved anyone. You have turned my life; me, on my head and there has not been a single thing I have wanted to do about it. I want to spend my life with you by my side. I want to be able to set down roots for the first time in my life. I want you,” he whispered, placing tender kisses along her bottom lip. “I adore you. You are my heart and without you, I have no reason for being.”

  “Me?” Florrie whispered, not daring to hope that he meant it. She leaned back to stare into his eyes but could see nothing but pure love shining back at her. Her heart, and her defences, melted.

  This warrior; this uniquely strong and determined man had captured her heart. She knew
he would look after it wisely and would protect it, and her, with his life. She would be a very lucky woman indeed to be able to spend the rest of her life doing the same thing for him.

  She leaned back and stared at him with a slight frown. “Do you promise that we can to and spend at least some time in Norfolk? Silas has written to me about the repairs but I should like to see them for myself.”

  “We can go there on our honeymoon,” Pie replied, dropping kisses on her neck.

  “Are we allowed to go on a honeymoon? Don’t you have work to do with the Star Elite?”

  “I have to have time to recover from my encounter with Beaulieu. My ribs need to heal before I can consider going back out again,” Pie sighed, nuzzling her neck and revelling in her shiver of awareness. He slowly began to back her toward the bed.

  “I am afraid I am going to need someone to help me regain my strength, and will need plenty of bed rest,” he murmured gently.

  Florrie glanced down when the back of her legs met the slightly smoky scented bed. She glared at him jokingly. “Are you planning to take advantage of me?”

  “Of course my darling, whenever you ask.” He held back when she tried to kiss him. “But you have to marry me first.”

  Florrie stared at him for a moment, and pursed her lips as though considering his worthiness for several moments.

  “If I must,” she sighed, giving him her most put-upon look.

  “Oh, I insist upon it.”

  “I love you,” Florrie gasped as he eased her down onto the bed. She frowned up at the canopy when Pie didn’t follow her down and turned her head to one side to look at him as he lay beside her. Her hand was captured by his and they lay side by side for several moments.

  “I love you too, my darling. I know that it is going to be difficult with me going off for several weeks at a time but I will always try to be here whenever you need me. Wherever I am, whatever I am doing, my heart and soul will always be with you.”

  Florrie felt tears sting her eyes and knew she was going to cry again but they were immediately snatched away with a gasp of surprise when Pie suddenly drew her closer until she lay over him. He rearranged her limbs until she was straddling him.

  “You know, there are a lot of things we can teach each other. I have never found anyone I have even remotely considered wanting to spend my life with. You need to show me how to be a good husband to you and a good father to our children. I need the loving guidance of these delicate hands to show me the way.” He held her hands in his and kissed the back of each finger.

  “I don’t know, I have never found anybody who has ever made me want to consider marriage,” Florrie sighed. “Until you.”

  “Then we will teach each other.”

  “What are you doing?” She demanded, watching his hands slide up her thighs, taking her skirts with them.

  “Giving you lesson one.”

  “Lesson one?” She swallowed when he started doing delicious things beneath her skirts.

  “How to look after your wounded husband. Especially when he cannot move well enough to be able to accommodate your wifely needs.”

  “But I am not your wife yet.”

  “Well, now is the time to practice my darling.”

  EPILOGUE

  The church bells peeled loudly in the crisp morning air. Loud cries and cheers broke the silence as the doors to the church opened to reveal the new bride and groom.

  “Ready?” Pie asked, gazing tenderly down at his bride as they made their way slowly toward the large crowd gathered outside.

  She was still floating on a cloud of euphoria and, at that moment, could deny him nothing. “For what?”

  “Staring our new life together as man and wife?”

  They shared a secretive smile. Any answer she may have given was swallowed by the loud cries of congratulations that rent the air. Rice and petals showered over them as they emerged amid the flurry of congratulations, hugs and teasing laugher from the assembled Star Elite.

  “Well, we certainly know how to do things in style, don’t we?” Hugo declared, shaking his head at Pie and Florrie.

  “What do you mean?”

  “Well, we arrive for one wedding, then have two but don’t go home until we have had three.”

  Florrie released Harriett from a hug and turned to her new husband.

  “Who is next?”

  Jonathan scoffed and sidled closer to Rupert, who looked absently into the church as though he was staring through the gates of Hell.

  “I am only going back into one of those places in a box,” he declared flatly.

  “Never say, never,” Florrie warned. “I said I wasn’t going to ever get married only three weeks ago. Then I met him,” she nodded toward the strapping frame of her new husband and threw him an adoring smile. “When love takes over, there is nothing you can do to stop it and nothing you won’t do to be with the person you love.”

  “Here, here,” Pie declared, dropping a quick kiss on his wife’s lips to the delight of the cheering crowd.

  He had no idea who they were, or whether they knew that he and Florrie were going to be their new neighbours, but their enthusiasm and clear delight in the proceedings was infectious. Everyone in the congregation was smiling. He glanced around the crowds in much the same way as he had done three and a half weeks earlier and considered the changes.

  This time there was no sinister stranger lurking in a threatening way. There were no wayward aunts, gambling debts or slightly awkward first meetings. It felt as though he had known Florrie all of his life, and had already started to pick up on how she was feeling, or what she was thinking. At any other time he would have been unnerved by it and more than willing to return to his life in the shadows. Now? He couldn’t wait to get started on the rest of his life.

  With Florrie by his side, or at home waiting for him, he felt as though there was nothing he couldn’t do. He felt invincible and, for the first time in his life, as though he had real purpose in the work he was doing for the Star Elite. He had a reason now to clear the country of murderous foreigners, and a real purpose behind wanting to protect England’s borders, and fight for king and country. Providing his wife and children with a home they could live in that was safe from threat was only a small part of it.

  He was grateful that life had brought together this small group of fighting men. Together they had formed an elite fighting unit who had fought adversaries, and protected each other with a fierceness that had kept them all alive. Over the course of time their unit had grown in numbers, and was becoming even stronger by the close bond that was growing between the ladies. Pie shared a secretive smile with Hugo, and knew that his boss and friend understood. To Pie it felt as though he had just joined a secret club, and it was a club that he knew he was going to remain in for the rest of his life.

  “So,” Florrie whispered, smiling up at her husband as he drew her closer.

  “What?” Pie smiled, wishing they could begin the celebrations early.

  “Who do you think is going to be next?”

  “Well, the numbers are growing smaller. We have Stephen, Rupert and Jonathan.” He nodded toward Rupert who was smiling at a flirtatious maid and shook his head. “Stephen is still undercover.”

  “That leaves Jonathan.”

  “Never say never,” Pie mused ruefully. “I don’t believe I have ever thanked you, darling.”

  “Thanked me? Whatever for?” Florrie gasped, staring up at him with nothing short of adoration in her eyes.

  “Making my life complete,” he slid an arm around his wife’s back and glanced at the waiting carriage. “Come on, if we are quick we may be able to catch a few minutes alone together before the celebrations begin.”

  “I hear that Harriett found a box of wine in the cellar yesterday. It is an excellent vintage apparently.”

  Pie groaned and ushered his wife through the waiting crowd. He laughed as he dodged rice and petals and hoisted his wife into the waiting carriage before jumping in be
hind her. The door had no sooner slammed behind them that he hauled her into his arms and captured her lips in a very thorough kiss.

  Jonathan fought the urge to roll his eyes and shared a worried look with Rupert. The last thing he would ever admit to anyone was that he wanted what Simon, Hugo, Archie, Jamie and Pie had with their wives. He had been shocked as well as pleased at the speed in which Pie had fallen for Florrie, and even more delighted to learn that Florrie had the same depth of feeling for Pie. They were like book-ends already and he struggled to think of a couple who were more destined to be together.

  Their happiness made his own situation even starker than it usually was and, in turn, that made him even more determined to put plans into motion to ensure that he had a chance of securing the hand of the woman whom he wanted to make his wife.

  He had loved Catherine Baird for the past several years, but his work with the Star Elite had taken him away from her. He had returned to the large sea town he called home as often as possible, and had discovered that as yet, she had never married or had children. While he loved his work with the Star Elite, to his disgust, he had been unable to find a reason to approach her before his duties had taken him away again. He knew now that with Pie needing time to recover from his injuries, he would be less likely to get time to return home for at least several more weeks.

  The image of Catherine’s beautiful face swam before him teasingly and he wondered if he was just holding on to an unattainable dream. Still, it was the dream that had kept him alive over the past several years. He couldn’t give up on it now.

  He followed the group as they made their way through the gathering toward the carriage and watched as the bride and groom departed. It had been agreed that first thing in the morning, everyone would depart and leave the newly married couple to begin their life together. Pie had already said that they were going to go to Norfolk as soon as he was able to undertake the long journey. Until then, they would stay at Crompton. The papers hadn’t gone through yet but that was just a formality. As far as both Pie and Jamie were concerned, Pie already owned Crompton.