“I told you that I'm fine,” she hissed while hitting one of his arms that pinned her tightly against him. Garrett showed little interest in letting her down and her weight hardly seemed to be a burden for him as Katherine wiggled in his grasp to get free.
“Your ankle is probably sprained,” he warned her, unwilling to let her down as he waited for Kent to return. When she struggled again he looked down into her face, his hazel eyes deepening with concern. “I'm not releasing you, you could injure it further,” he said firmly, barely feeling her attempts at stopping him.
“Kent already examined it and told me that I was fine,” Katherine pointed out. She didn't care that she sounded pouty and maybe a bit like her sister at the moment.
Garrett finally was able to find an opening in the curtains covering the door and unlatched the hook that had held it shut. As the door opened, they both looked out on the Buckman's gardens. There would be some witnesses hiding along the pathways and hedges, but far less than if he were to take her back through the ballroom. “All Kent did was play with your ankles,” Garrett huffed angrily. “He's never been one for studying medicine. He wouldn't even know what he was looking for when he examined them.”
“You know Kent?”
“More than I wish to admit to at the moment.”
Katherine wanted to hear more about him but she fell silent as she saw Kent coming out from the shadows to bring them to the waiting coach. He helped lead the way out of the gardens and open the door to the small coach so that Garrett could set her carefully onto the cushioned seat. “Inform my mother and Katherine's sister of our departure,” he told Kent before stepping up into the carriage behind her.
“You can't take her back alone,” Kent protested before the door was slammed in his face and the coach began rattling down the street.
Chapter 8
Positioning herself in the far corner of the carriage Katherine covered her ankles and feet with her skirts before crossing her arms and looking decidedly unhappy.
Garrett knew that she was displeased about more than her ankle. “Do not touch me,” she warned him when he moved closer towards her.
“Don't be a child,” he told her as he reached out again only to have his hand slapped out of the way. “I'm trying to help you but I can't do that if you keep fighting me.”
She struggled fiercely against him as he tried once more to lift the hem of her skirt to see the ankle. From what little he had seen so far it looked severely swollen and bruised.
“I will not let you attack me again.” She swatted at him. “I will not let you kiss me again and I will not let you touch me ever again.” As she spoke her voice raised to a new fevered pitch with each syllable until she was nearly screaming and the light blue of her eyes flared to a silver flame and her quickened breath disturbed the stray hairs around her face.
Garrett realized that his original plan had backfired. Instead of her craving that emotional and physical high that their being together caused, she was now afraid of it and the loss of control that came with it. He was horrified that she would rather stay in pain than allow him to touch her. He wasn't sure how best to fix her fear of his touch but at present it stopped him from the only thing he wanted to do right then, help her.
“Fine.” Sitting back against the seat he watched her through slitted eyes as her breathing calmed slowly. Unable to fully relax she sat tensed as if he might strike at any moment and she would need to defend herself again.
“Would you allow me to examine your ankle if I promised not to touch you anywhere else?” he asked her, once her breathing had returned to normal.
Katherine studied him for a moment while she seemed to weigh her options. “Kent already looked at it.”
Of course Kent had. He would take any excuse to lift a woman's skirts. Garrett was usually inclined to think the best of his friend but at the moment he only wanted to focus on the worst. “Kent is not a doctor.”
“Are you?”
“Not exactly,” he admitted. “I did some training but between managing the family's properties and finances I haven't been able to devote myself to my studies enough to become fully trained.”
Katherine shook her head. “I don't see how doing a little training makes you any more qualified than Kent. He seemed very knowledgeable to me.”
“One difference is that I would never accost an injured woman,” Garrett insisted as he watched her smug smile falter.
“He was a gentleman,” she insisted despite the rise of color along her cheeks that seemed to insist that something else might have taken place.
“Katherine your ankle needs attention. Either I can take a look at it or I can send for a doctor once we get back to the townhouse. It's your choice.”
It appeared that Winnie's guess was correct. Katherine seemed almost frightened by the idea of a doctor coming by. Considering how often her mother had requested doctors to visit her at home it made sense that she would be nervous around them.
“If I tell you that I want you to stop, you will right? I mean, if I don't want you to touch me, you'll stop, won't you?” she asked cautiously as her foot began to inch out from under her skirts.
“Yes,” he told her earnestly as she then extended the swollen ankle.
Katherine was surprised to see how much worse it had gotten since she had first removed her shoes after the dance. The swelling along her ankle had increased dramatically and spread around her foot, a light shadow of bruising appeared along the edges and a few red marks showed where the ribbons of her shoes had started to rub sores onto her feet. As his fingers reached out to touch the area, Katherine tensed, expecting a new rush of heightened sensitivity along her skin.
When his hands landed carefully on her swollen ankle she could feel the light hum of her body reacting to his nearness again in a way that it had not done when Kent had touched her, which annoyed her. But looking at Garrett's face she could see no sign that it was causing a similar reaction within him. In fact he frowned grimly at the little red marks around her ankle.
“You shouldn't wear shoes that do this to your feet,” he lectured as his fingers skimmed over each mark carefully.
“It is quite normal for ladies shoes to do that and they won't cause any lasting marks,” she assured Garrett, though it didn't seem to pacify him. “They are considered fashionable.”
“They should be considered dangerous.” After gently removing the shoe to better see her ankle, Garrett lightly grasped her foot. Rotating it in a slow circle he watched her face for signs of pain. Tears quickly sprang to Katherine's eyes and she bit back a soft cry as his fingers brushed a spot just beneath her ankle bone. Not wanting to cause her more pain, Garrett pushed gently on a couple of other spots that seemed equally sore.
“It's not broken.” Once again he touched the tiny marks left by her laces. “But you shouldn't wear something that leaves these deep marks.
Setting her bare foot down he reached for the other one.
“That one is fine,” she told him a little breathlessly but Garrett grasped it anyway, again removing her shoe to inspect each small bruise. The ankle was fine but similar red marks from her shoes had been rubbed into her skin. After running his finger along a sensitive spot on her arch he watched as she instinctively tried to pull it back. “Did that hurt?” he asked and seemed genuinely worried.
Katherine tried to pull her foot back from his grasp, unwilling to admit that she was ticklish but he kept a strong hold and was unwilling to release it. “No it doesn't hurt,” she finally told him, trying to pull it back again.
He grinned up at her as he began to understand what she meant. “Are your feet that sensitive?” he asked before lightly stroking his finger along the same spot and watching her foot jerk back from his touch.
“You said you'd stop if I wanted you to,” she reminded him and he released her foot immediately. “Now give me back my shoes,” she said motioning to the ones beside him that were too far for her to reach. Garrett shook his head and s
et them behind his back, even further from her. Throwing her skirts over her feet Katherine crossed her arms and looked at him with a disapproving glance, which only made Garrett grin more.
“You won't need a doctor, but it is badly sprained. You should take a few days to stay in bed and let it fully heal. After that you should be fine,” he told her as he leaned back away from her as if to prove that he would keep his promise and to try to make him appear trustworthy.
Katherine was not relieved at the news, instead she became upset, almost fearful. Bed rest might be something that her mother adored but she even hated the words and the helplessness that she felt when she heard them. However, Garrett had told her that no doctor was needed so she managed a smile and a small “Thank you,” for his sake.
She then fell silent, staring out the window of the carriage as she waited for them to arrive. Some of the buildings they passed seemed familiar and she was excited to see that she was getting used to the city and its layout. She knew that Garrett was watching her the entire time and wasn't surprised when he asked, “What were you doing with Kent when I arrived?”
Without looking at him she could sense the jealousy in his voice. “What I was or was not doing with Lord Kent is none of your concern.”
Garrett laughed as Katherine emphasized the word Lord. “So he did tell you about his title, I had wondered if he would use that to try and capture you.”
Feeling that she was being laughed at Katherine whirled back to scowl at him. “What do you mean 'capture me'?” she asked.
“Kent told me last week that he planned on pursuing one of the renowned Wellings twins that he had heard about. With your sister obviously spoken for, it appears that he has chosen you to go after. He had you pegged as his new conquest before even meeting you.”
It was clear that Garrett had hoped that the statement would help her see the callousness of Kent and warn her away from him.
It did take her by surprise at first, until she remembered that she had basically done the same thing to him. She was mostly interested in him because he was a young titled bachelor. Besides, they had enjoyed each other’s company once they had met. Unlike Robin's pursuit of Victor she liked the man too. Katherine decided that it was not right to ignore him as a potential husband just because he had sought her out before meeting her.
“By capture, do you mean that he wants to marry me?” she asked, still not looking at Garrett.
“That doesn't matter,” he tried to explain before Katherine cut him off.
“He seemed like a fine gentleman to me, and if he wants to marry me then I have nothing against him.” Looking straight at him she smiled broadly. “I might want to marry him as well; he is titled, after all. And as I told you, I need a titled husband.”
Garrett frowned at how easily she was able to look beyond his fault. “I can assure you that he is not a 'gentleman' as you put it. I've known the man to drink himself into a stupor, to gamble much of his money away.” Trying to shock her, he added, “Also he has kept more than his share of mistresses. Even a few were at the same time.”
“Does he have a mistress right now?” she asked.
“Not at present, however...”
Katherine interrupted him then. “Why should I judge him for his past actions? Since I have met him he has been nothing but courteous to me.” Her mind flashed back to how he had touched her calf a little too familiarly but she threw aside the thought in her search to make him the saint and Garrett the sinner. “So far he has not attacked me, the way you have,” she added to drive the point a little deeper.
“Then you have not known him long enough,” he assured her with a soft growl.
The coach stopped and Katherine was relieved at the chance to open the door and escape, yet Garrett held her back and motioned to her bare feet. “I'm not giving you your shoes back and I am not letting you put any weight on that ankle until it is healed. Let me carry you,” he told her as he stepped out of the carriage and turned back to grab her, gently sweeping her up into his arms.
She wanted to point out that he had just promised her that he wouldn't touch her without her permission, but somehow she knew that arguing with him would be a waste of breath, so she allowed him to carry her into the house.
Once inside she felt him hesitate as he held her for a moment. “Set me down and I'll be able to walk to my room, it doesn't hurt that badly,” she lied.
Garrett hardly seemed to listen to her as he made his decision and ascended the first flight of stairs then began up the second. “My room is on the second floor,” she reminded him.
“Yes, but mine is on the third,” he told her. Even though he had not been staying with them at the townhouse, it made sense that he would have his own bedroom for when he visited London without his mother and her charges. Katherine had never thought about it until that moment and she felt unsettled to know that he was taking her to his room; especially when she didn't know if anyone else was at the townhouse right then or if they were alone.
“You told me that you would not take advantage of an injured woman,” she reminded him primly.
“That was before I told you that you aren't actually injured that badly.” There was a jovial nature to his voice that told her he was joking and she relaxed against him reluctantly. “I'm not using the room during this trip and you would be more comfortable there. You wouldn't have to share the room with your sister. Besides the bed is larger than the one down in your room and it has more pillows that I could use to prop your foot up with so that you won't bump it while you're sleeping.”
Wondering what her sister would say about Katherine staying in a man's bed for the night she thought again about rejecting him. “It's just a sprained ankle, I'll be fine. Besides I don't want Winnie to have to go up more stairs just to bring me tea,” she argued quietly, already knowing that he would shrug the comment off.
Garrett opened the door to the darkly designed masculine room and Katherine found herself immersed in deep plum colors and drifting towards a large canopy bed with similarly colored curtains. She had not wanted to complain about the firmness of the one that she shared with her sister below, but as Garrett laid her in the bed and she sank deeply down into the soft sheets, she sighed at the comfort that enveloped her.
Garrett seemed uncomfortable as he looked down at her before shifting his gaze to the side. “I'll try to find Winnie and send her in to help you prepare for bed,” he told her before leaving the room without glancing at her again.
Katherine knew that she should have thanked him before he left, but it just didn't seem right to thank a man for taking her to his bed. Moments later Winnie arrived with her usual tray of hot tea and honey. She didn't need to do such things herself but after the maids had gone to sleep she hated waking them up for something that she could do herself.
Katherine was disappointed when Winnie did not arrive with her brother again. “Where's Garrett?” she asked as offhandedly as she could manage.
Watching Katherine closely Winnie told her that he had already left. “He came to my room looking very worried and told me that you had been injured and to take care of you, but not to call a doctor.”
“I wasn't hurt very badly,” Katherine said avoiding Winnie's eyes that seemed to dissect Katherine's thoughts better than she should have.
“I don't think that he was really worried about your injury alone.” Winnie looked her over. There was a light flush along her cheeks that Winnie recognized from her own limited experience with men. “Did you let him touch something other than you ankle?” she asked conspiratorially with a light wink.
“No, of course not I just...” She felt the need to give in and discuss it with someone, since her sister was too preoccupied with Victor to listen to her. Katherine finally broke down as she looked into Winnie's hazel eyes, so much like her brother's. “Your brother thinks that there is something going on between us.”
“Oh,” Winnie didn't seem too surprised. “He's been asking me some questions about
you so I'd wondered if that was it.
Katherine explained that she had met Garrett in the alleyway at the inn, that they had kissed, that he had been chasing her ever since. She skipped over most of the details but gave Winnie enough to know what was happening between the two of them.
“I've told him that I don't think that there is anything special between us and he's not what I'm looking for but it hasn't stopped him from trying.”
“Trying what?” Winnie asked.
“I don't think he just wants me to kiss him, he says that he wants to court me,” Katherine said as she sipped at her tea, letting it soothe some of the confusion and drift her into a calm state.
“You're supposed to be a husband hunter, yet you are being hunted instead,” Winnie laughed, despite Katherine's frown. “You have to agree that it is quite funny to think of.”
Letting the humor slip past her barriers Katherine had to admit that she had not come to London expecting to be hounded at every chance by a waiting admirer. As Mrs. Brentley's unmarried charge it was her role to hunt down the men that she wanted.
Winnie stopped laughing and looked thoughtful for a moment before turning back to Katherine, “Why isn't he what you're looking for?” she asked quietly.
It felt odd to tell a sister why her brother wasn't adequate or right for her to marry. “Before I came here, I promised my mother that I would marry a titled man. My father does not have much wealth or influence which makes her feel unprotected. She needs me to marry well so that I can protect our family from any future problems.” Katherine stopped, worried that she might have told Winnie too much. She knew that Mrs. Brentley would not be comfortable knowing that her charges were indeed following their mother's wishes.
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