by Dahlia Rose
Garrick made a frustrated sound in his throat. He was not a patient man in the least. He saw something he wanted and he took it, and that included women. He would have to dust off his charm from his younger days and put it to good use. This was a new kind of adventure, and he found that he was looking forward to the chase.
Chapter Two
Kaila had breakfast in her room and was told by the matronly old cook called Mrs. Habersham that Garrick said she could wander the mansion. She had her own bathroom in her chamber, and one of the staff brought her water for the day. They were treating her like an honored guest, and it amazed her. She quietly thanked the young boy who had brought into the water and poured it into the tub and the pitcher, and he flushed red in response. He was the cook’s son, and he told her shyly that he was fourteen. No one was looking at her with distaste or even acted like she was beneath such luxuries. It made her wonder even more about the handsome Lord Garrick, whom even the cook called by his first name.
She picked her simple blue dress to wear for that day and decided to use the half-waist corset that laced in the front. That would ensure that she wouldn’t need to be unlaced later on. A flush of heat made her face warm when she recalled Garrick’s quick work of unlacing her corset from the night before.
In her wandering, she walked in the garden and spoke to the gardener, who gave her a rose. She wandered the mansion and found the library, and much to her delight, it was filled with books. In the duchess’s home, she’d had to read in secret, because the other servants hated that she was taught and well read. Here she picked out a book of Lord Byron’s poems she had never read and a book that had stories of Greece and the myths of the gods. With the two books in her hand, she went back to her room to read by the window. She forgot about time until lunch was brought outside her door, and then she immersed herself in the books again. A knock on the door made her frown, and she cracked it open to reveal Garrick’s face.
“Do you plan on hiding out in here and not having dinner?” he snapped.
She glanced at the window and was alarmed to see the sun was already setting. “I’m sorry, my lord, I mean Garrick. I was reading and lost track of the hours.”
His lips twitched with a smile. “That’s a first—a women losing track of time in a book rather than in dress fitting and hen chatter.”
“That is not all women, sir,” Kaila replied primly.
“Well then dinner will be cold, so hurry along and I’ll see you in the dining room.” Garrick said.
“You want me to eat at the table with you?” she asked.
“Did you think you were eating in the stable with the horses? Mrs. Habersham has long gone to her home.” Garrick voice’s held impatience. “You need to stop thinking of yourself as a servant and begin to understand that here you are a guest. I have no inclination to lord over my staff or you, so make haste because I’m hungry.”
She watched as he turned on his heels and strode down the hall. She shook her head, wondering if she could ever get accustomed to being, as he said, a guest. How did he expect her to act after spending years being taught differently? Kaila quickly asked again, and this time she picked the simple white dress to wear again she put on her half-waist corset that laced in the front. It was that or the one she came in, and she certainly didn’t want to ask Garrick to work on her laces.
She came downstairs and found that Garrick was already seated at the table. He had fixed himself a plate from the meats and potatoes placed on the table and waved her forward silently to make her own meal. Kaila did so, taking a piece of chicken and a slice of the mutton and two potatoes.
“Vegetables too, they are good for you,” he said.
Kaila pursed her lips and did as he asked. She was moving to sit on the opposite end of the long table, and he used his foot to kick the chair closest to him out.
“Sit here.”
Kaila sat down and placed her place in front of her before muttering, “How rude.”
“What’s that?” Garrick asked.
“I said you’re rude.” She lowered her gaze. “I’m sorry I spoke out of turn.”
“Don’t be sorry. I am rude, mean and generally boorish,” Garrick replied. “Would you like some wine?”
She looked up at him in amazement and saw him grinning. He was so unusual she didn’t know what to expect from one minute to the next.
Kaila shook her head. “The duchess never allowed me to have wine.”
“Well you’re under my care now, so you can have a glass if you want,” Garrick told her.
Why not? she thought. She’d always wanted to taste wine and see why people drink it, so she nodded and he filled her crystal goblet. Kaila took a taste, and the flavor of grapes and something flowery burst on her tongue. She took another sip and looked at him with a wide smile.
“This is very good. It’s like drinking a garden in the spring.”
Garrick laughed out loud. “Well that’s a new way of saying it. Usually people say it’s a bold flavor or rich.”
“That’s people who want to sound like they know what they’re talking about,” Kaila pointed out. “I’ve seen it at the duchess’s dinner parties. I think it tastes like spring time.”
“I agree with you on both points.” Garrick smiled. “Eat your dinner.”
The silence between them was companionable as dinner went on. Kaila had only nibbled on her lunch and found she was hungry enough to take a second helping. She drank two glasses of wine, and it made her feel warm and a little bit happier.
“I’ve heard stories about you,” Kaila piped up.
He looked at her with those ice-blue eyes, and she shivered. “Stories like what, exactly?”
“Some say you are not right in the head after you were gored by a wild boar,” Kaila explained. “They say you lived too long with savages and you don’t know how to be around civilized people.”
“I’ve met more civilized people in the bush of Africa or in the desert sand than those in London who call themselves such.” Garrick took a sip of his wine. “Go on, little flower, what else do they say?”
The wine made her bold. “The ladies who come to call on the duchess say you live alone because you have some kind of perverse room in your cellar. For your sexual deviance. One Lady Daimler said she has used it with you a lot, and it’s quite different and enjoyable.”
Garrick’s laughter filled the room, and he wiped tears of mirth from his eyes. “That one is new.”
She peered at him over the top of her glass. “So none of it is true?”
“Do you want to go to my cellar and find out?” He raised his eyebrow at her.
Kaila shook her head vehemently. “Certainly not! I’ve seen what that’s about when the… The Duchess cried when it happened each and every time. I want no part of it.”
“That’s not lovemaking, Kaila,” Garrick said quietly. “That’s abuse at the hands of an evil, perverse man who takes pleasure in the pain of his wife and more enjoyment in scaring you.”
“Even so, I think I’ll not be seeing your cellar,” she announced.
“Good choice—it’s damp and dark down there. I wasn’t looking forward to it if you’d said yes.”
She smiled. “I think you put on a show to make people stay away.”
He inclined his head. ‘Either that or I am the ogre they say I am.
“I’ll be here until my passage is secure back to my island home, so I assume I will find out,” Kaila replied. She put her hand over her mouth and giggled. “I’m sorry, I’m not usually this loose with my tongue. I think it might be the wine. I can usually keep my thoughts in check.”
“Please don’t keep that lovely device in check on my account,” Garrick replied. ‘I rather like your lips and such. Would you like to play some cards in the parlor room after we clear the table?”
“I don’t know how to play,” she admitted.
“I’ll teach you. I’m quite good at educating waifs,” Garrick said with a small smile.
&nb
sp; “I’m sure.” Kaila picked up her plate and with deftness balanced it with a few others on the table in a neat stack in her hands. Maybe it was because of the wine, but she found herself wondering what exactly he meant
An hour or so later they were sitting across from each other with a small card table in the middle. He was teaching her a card gambling game from the Americas called poker, and she had won a few hands.
“Three queens, I win again.” She clapped her hands in delight.
“It’s beginners luck—no use getting all excited,” Garrick grumbled. But when she looked at him his eyes were amused.
“Are you upset because you haven’t won any of the hand we’ve played?” She took a sip of wine from the glass close by. Garrick brought the wine from dinner in with him and poured them both another glass.
“I’m not bothered by it since the stakes are so low,” he replied. They were playing for cherries, and his bowl was half empty while hers was overflowing. “Plus if you keep eating the winnings, what will we play for?”
“Well, I don’t have anything of value.” Kaila chewed her lip. “What should we play for if not cherries?”
“How about a kiss?” Garrick asked easily. “If I win I want one kiss; if you win you can have anything you want.”
“What if I asked for a boat that would be mine even in the islands?” Kaila asked. “Or maybe I would ask for a genie to grant my every wish?”
“The boat I can do, the genie proves you have read too many books,” he replied.
“You would do that all that for one kiss,” Kaila said. “You are putting a lot of worth on just a peck from me.”
‘I don’t think so. Your kiss is worth more than you think.” Garrick’s voice was deep.
“Since I’ve never been kissed, I doubt that very much,” she said.
“Now it became even more valuable: a first kiss from sweet lips.”
Kaila pondered for a moment. What could one kiss hurt? Besides, she was winning, so it was more than likely that he would lose anyway.
She came upon her decision with a wide smile. “I agree to your wager.”
Garrick took the cards from the table and began to shuffle them with precision. He dealt them both five cards and put the rest of the deck to the side. Kaila picked up hers and studied the cards carefully before discard the three she didn’t want and asked for three more. She noted that Garrick only took one with a raised eyebrow, and he said nothing.
“Are you ready to show your hand?” Kaila asked.
“You go first,” Garrick encouraged.
She placed her cards on the table and said triumphantly, “Two pairs.”
Garrick placed his own set of cards on the table. “Four aces.”
He’d won! Kaila looked at the cards. “Did you cheat?”
Garrick looked offended. “Did I accuse of cheating when you were winning? And I’ll have you know any man who would say that to me would be called outside for such a disparaging comment.”
“I’m sorry, but it seems rather strange you begin winning right now,” Kaila pointed out.
“Well, the stakes changed, and I had more invested—like a boat and a kiss,” he said.
She sighed and leaned over the table with her lips puckered. “Here is your kiss, take your prize.”
Garrick looked at her. “That is not a kiss—you look like you sucked on a sour lemon. We’ll do it right. If you please, would you stand?”
Kaila did as she was told, and when Garrick stood in front of her she felt a shiver run through her at his presence. He was so tall, she automatically felt shy and put her head down. Garrick countered by lifting her chin with one finger until she met his blue gaze. She suddenly felt…breathless.
“Put your hands on my chest,” Garrick said softly.
Kaila’s hand crept up to his chest, and she could feel the heat of his skin through the crisp white shirt he wore.
“That’s good,” he said, and his words rumbled and reverberated in his chest, causing her fingertips to move reflexively. “Tilt your head up just a bit more.”
“What happens next?” she asked. She wondered why her voice sounded so husky, and she licked her lips.
Garrick groaned and said in a rough voice one simple word. “This.”
His lips covered hers, and she was surprised at how warm yet firm his mouth was as it moved on hers. Her lips began to tingle, and then the sensation traveled down her body, followed by a warmth she couldn’t explain. Instinct caused her to open her mouth, and again another groan escaped his lips before he buried his tongue between her lips. She made a small whimper of surprise, and then that began to feel so good. The heat he created felt like it was seeping into her bones and melting her from the inside out.
He pulled her tighter against him, and his kiss became more fevered. Garrick molded her body to him while he feasted on her mouth, tasting deep and sucking on the fullness of her bottom lip before sinking back into the recesses of her mouth. His hand cupped her hips, and she felt the hardness of his arousal against her. This brought her back to reality, because she’d see what the member men carried between their legs did to a woman. It made the duchess cry. Kaila began to struggle and broke free of his grasp.
“No, don’t!” She backed away from him, suddenly scared of what could happen.
“I won’t ever hurt you, Kaila. Don’t be afraid.” His voice was hoarse. He held out his hand and made a step toward her and she took two back, looking around wildly for an escape.
“You want to bed me, to hurt me like—like…” She couldn’t even finish the words as fear clutched her chest.
“No, that man is vile, never compare me to him!” Garrick snarled. He stopped and took a deep breath and stepped away. “Look, I’m stepping away from you. Kaila, let me show you what real passion can feel like. I swear an oath to you. I could no more harm you any more than myself.”
“I-I want to go to bed, please let me go!” She felt tears fall from her eyes.
Garrick sighed and walked to the other side of the parlor to some bookshelves. “You like to read; I want you to understand that all men are not like Duke Carrington. I will leave this book right here and go to my rooms. You can pick it up and go to bed. Lock the doors if it will make you feel safe. I’ll not make any unwarranted gestures toward you in any way. But I want you to say yes to me, Kaila, one day soon. You will come to me and ask me to love you.”
With those words he strode away and did not look back. She stood frozen, listening and waiting for him to come back until it was obvious that he was not. Kaila touched her trembling fingers to her lips and recalled how her body felt under the onslaught of his mouth. She wished she had someone to talk to about such things. She picked up the book and didn’t even look at the title as she rushed upstairs to bed. She locked the door and leaned against it, holding the book tight against her chest.
As she undressed and got ready for bed, she found that sleep wouldn’t come easy that night. So she took up the book and read the title, For the Love of One. It was not a book or author she’d ever heard of, but she began to read and was soon engrossed in the words. Kaila read well into the night until exhaustion finally won and she fell asleep. In her dreams Garrick kissed her and she stayed in his arms.
Chapter Three
When she awoke the next day it had to be well past eleven. She instantly got out of bed thinking that she would be chastised for not being up before her mistress. The she realized where she was, in Garrick’s manor, and then the kiss flooded back into her memory and heat flooded her cheeks. What was she thinking agreeing to a kiss as a wager? Yet why did her body betray her when she thought of him and his lips? Why did her breasts feel as if they swelled in her nightdress, and then the book said it was all okay? It was about the things that men and women do in their bedroom. Most of the things she read she didn’t even think were possible, much less right. The book certainly didn’t reflect what she saw when the duke took to the duchess’s bed. Everything had her so very confused
she wanted to cry.
Instead of eating in her room, she decided to find the kitchen and maybe sit with Mrs. Habersham. She dressed quickly and went downstairs and found the older woman stirring a big pot of stew that made her mouth water.
“Well Hello, Kaila. You’re finally up, I see.” Mrs. Habersham smiled brightly. “Would you like some porridge?”
Kaila shuddered, thinking of the lumpy, sticky mess the cook served where she used to live. “No, thank you, I don’t like the texture.”
Mrs. Habersham tsked. “You’ll not have a problem with my porridge. It’s smooth, and I make it with fresh cream and fruit.” She placed a bowl in front of Kaila. ‘Try it, and if you don’t like it I’ll make you some eggs.”
Kaila nodded and took a spoonful from the plate. She expected it to be just as bad, but found that Garrick’s cook was right. She could taste the fresh cream and fruit, and it was delicious.
“It is very good, thank you, Mrs. Habersham.” She smiled and took another bite. “Is Garrick in the library?”
“You should call me Dottie, my dear. Mrs. Habersham makes me sound too old. No, he left this morning early on horseback,” the cook replied. “His face was as frightful as a storm. I wouldn’t want to be dealing with him today.”
She sighed. “I’m sorry.”
Dottie looked at her in surprise. “Whatever for, luvvie?”
“It’s my fault that Lord Hadley is so upset,” she replied and found herself blurting out the entire story to the kindly older woman.
“Ahhh, so you got scared and ran,” Dottie said knowingly after hearing the story. ”It’s certainly not your fault. You are new to the urges of a man.”
“I’ve seen those urges, and they don’t look like something I want to deal with,” Kaila said woefully. “Do you like it when your husband touches you, or is it a burden like the duchess had to endure?”
