Beatrice (15 page)

When the
heavy thumps restarted on the front door, Beatrice stopped suddenly
in the hallway. Here she was, at twenty four years old; an owner of
her own home, frightened into living behind locked doors by one
rude, persistent, and vile little man. What chance would she have
in life if she was ever challenged by something that threatened
her? How would she fare, holding her own against spiteful gossips,
if she was cowed by an ill-mannered oaf like Hargraves?

She had
never shied away from anything in her life, yet here she was
practically willing Ben to be there to act as a buffer between her
and the unpleasant side of life. He had already done so much for
her over the last few days; far more than even her uncle had ever
bothered to do. Although Ben had said that he didn’t mind, she
didn’t want to become the kind of woman who ran to the man in her
life for answers and direction on how to live. This was her house;
her home; and she had to be the one to defend it.

“I am
independent woman,” she muttered aloud.

“Pardon?”

She
turned to Maud. “Do you know what? I am sick of living behind
locked doors because of that man. I am a grown up; a woman, and
should be able to make my own decisions about what happens in my
life. I should be able to walk around my own garden without the
threat of him turning up to threaten me off. I have had enough of
this.”

She
marched toward the kitchen door with the determination of a general
marching off to battle, only to turn around and retrace her steps
back into the sitting room. The iron poker was heavy in her hand,
but even that didn’t stop her from heading toward the back door,
the knob of which was now rattling as Hargraves tried to get
in.

“Beatrice? What are you doing?” Maud demanded as she hurried
after her.

Beatrice
ignored her. She slid the bolt back with a loud snap and yanked the
door open with the same hand, while the other hand held the poker
aloft. She stepped outside, and saw Hargraves’s eyes widen as she
charged forward and almost walked into him. Given that he was in
her way, she gave him one almighty push and watched him stumble
backward with is eyes locked firmly on her weapon.

“Now, I
have told you time and again that I do not have anything of yours,”
she shouted as she stomped toward him. She had no idea where the
raw fury came from but nothing, and nobody, was going to stop her
now. The red mist of anger had descended from somewhere and would
not be appeased until this man was out of her sight.

“You’ll
listen to me,” Hargraves spat.

She
swung the poker at him, and watched him stagger back several
paces.

“’
Ere, missus, I ain’t here for no trouble,” Hargraves snapped
in a voice that was the complete opposite of the urbane gentleman
he purported to be.

“You are
nothing but trouble and should go back to the slums where you
belong. I don’t know who paid you to get your hands on that plant
but, whatever it was, it wasn’t enough to take me on I can assure
you. If you think for one second that I am some helpless female you
can bully then you can think again.” Her voice was as cold as an
arctic frost.

She
watched Hargraves’ mouth flap open and closed several times as
though he was trying to say something but couldn’t get the words
out past his fear.

“Keep
walking,” Beatrice growled when he stumbled back several paces then
stopped. When he hesitated, she swung the poker in a wild arch;
mere inches from his chest. To her satisfaction, it was enough to
propel him backward as instructed.

Hargraves looked down at the soot mark across his chest and
took several more steps backward as he glanced around in search of
an exit.

“Listen
to me here and now. I do not have anything that belongs to anybody
else. You have no business demanding anything from me, or trying to
break into my home. Go back to your boss and tell him that if he
wants something from me then he should get off his backside, and
come and see me himself. If he isn’t prepared to do so, then I
strongly recommend that you quit. I can assure you right now that
if I see your face at my door again – or my window – I will
personally drag your worthless carcass all the way to the police
station. Do you hear me?” She knew she was shouting, but the
ability to release the stress and fear she had felt over the last
few days was immensely satisfying.

For one
brief moment she thought that Hargraves was going to challenge her
but, when she lifted the poker again, he flicked one startled look
at Maud, who stood several feet behind her armed with an iron
skillet and, within seconds, was gone.

She spun
around when someone started to clap, and lowered her poker arm when
she saw Ben grinning at her.

“Christ,
you are feisty,” he drawled and threw Maud a look that told her to
make herself scarce. “Remind me never to get you angry at me.” He
eyed the iron poker in consideration. “Is that always your weapon
of choice, or do you usually go for random objects around the
house?”

In spite
of her temper, Beatrice felt her lips start to twitch, but she made
no attempt to apologise for her behaviour.

“He
makes me so mad. He was trying to open the door when we wouldn’t
answer it. He just doesn’t get the hint.” As she spoke her voice
grew quieter. By the time she lapsed into silence, she took a deep
breath and felt the last of her anger fade.

“You are
fierce,” Ben murmured gently before he caught her lips in a kiss
that robbed her of all sense and reason.

The kiss
they had shared before he had left last night had seared her to her
soul. It had claimed and possessed her, and rendered her
speechless. This morning though, their embrace was driven by an
entirely different sensuality. As soon as his lips touched hers,
passion flared to life and swept them along on a tide of desire
that neither of them could ignore. He captured the back of her head
with one large hand and held her still while he deepened the
embrace. However, this was Beatrice, who wasn’t prepared to be
docile and complaint.

He
groaned when she grasped his jacket with tight fingers and drew him
even closer, and it fuelled this new side of her which refused to
be supplicant. She copied his movements and returned the force of
his kiss with equal ardour at the same time that she slid her
fingers into his hair and tugged him even closer. His height meant
that she had to stand on tip-toe, but even that small movement drew
her tighter against him and brought her lush curves into contact
with his solid masculinity perfectly. He held her steady with one
long arm around her waist and backed her up several paces until her
back was to the wall of the house. Once she was held firm, he
captured her face in both hands and gave himself over to
desire.

“God,
Beatrice,” Ben growled as he placed random kisses down her
neck.

The
sudden slam of the kitchen door was enough to warn him that this
was hardly the place to do the kind of things his body demanded,
but he knew that as soon as the opportunity arose, they were going
to take this mutual desire as far as it could go. He had never felt
this kind of passion with any woman before. This burning desire to
consume and plunder was something new to him, and intensely
addictive.

It went
a long way toward convincing him that she was indeed the woman for
him.

He tried
to draw back, he really did. He even got as far as to lift his
head, but the slumberous look in her eyes when he looked down at
her left him helpless to find any objection when she reached up and
recaptured his lips with hers. She copied his every movement, right
down to the letter, but her actions were tinged with the slightest
hint of innocent curiosity that nearly unmanned him. Even the growl
he couldn’t withhold seemed to encourage her.

Unfortunately, they were forced to acknowledge sense and
reason when they were, yet again, rudely interrupted.

“Ahem.”

The
rather discrete cough felt like a bucket of cold water, and was
enough to make them reluctantly draw apart. Although this time, he
did ease back from her hold, Ben didn’t let her go too far. He
lifted his head to look at the housekeeper, but she was busy
pegging the washing out and pointedly had her back toward them.
Still, it was a quite pointed reminder that this was not the time
or the place to allow the passion to get too out of control. They
were in plain view of the lane for heaven sakes; anybody who passed
would be able to see them. Right now, they had enough to contend
with, and didn’t need to give the gossips any fodder to work with
should anyone happen to be wandering by.

Besides,
although he adored this wild side to the woman in his arms, and
wanted to see more of it, he had just witnessed just how angry she
had been. He didn’t want her to make any decision on their future,
especially something as important as sharing his bed, while her
emotions were fuelled by temper. He wanted her decision to sleep
with him to be made logically, calmly and, if it was driven by pure
need, then fine.

“I am
sorry, I shouldn’t have gotten carried away like that,” Ben
whispered into her ear.

“It’s
not your fault.” She looked at him somewhat defiantly. “I am twenty
four years old, and a woman who is in charge of her life. I make no
apology for my behaviour this morning,” she declared firmly,
copying his words from only yesterday.

To say
that he looked a little stunned was an understatement, but he
didn’t appear to be angry as he stared somewhat blankly at
her.

It was
important to both of their futures that he understand, and accept,
that she would not want him to rule their household, and expect her
to meekly comply to his dictates. Some people’s marriages worked
like that, but hers wasn’t going to.

Being
able to should shout and rant at someone like Hargraves this
morning, and recklessly kiss Ben like she had done, had felt so
wonderful, so femininely powerful, that she felt rather proud of
herself rather than ashamed. If the need arose, she would have
absolutely no hesitation in doing the same thing again. Only, the
next time she kissed Ben, she would have to make sure they weren’t
standing in the middle of the driveway.

“I quite
liked it really,” she mused with a sigh before she turned around
and sauntered toward the back of the house.

Ben
stared at her in stunned disbelief. It was only when she turned the
corner of the house and disappeared from sight that he realised she
had left him all alone. He was aware that Maud turned to watch him
enter the house, but he was too busy wondering what had happened to
the old Beatrice to worry about whether the housekeeper was going
to lambast him for taking advantage of the lady of the
house.

“Beatrice? Stop right there,” he commanded in a voice that
was so stern and authoritative that even he didn’t recognise
it.

Beatrice
lifted her brows and turned to face him. It was only then that she
realised she had dropped the poker outside when he had started to
kiss her. She looked squarely at him, as though daring him to take
her to task for being so forward with him but, to her surprise, he
stalked toward her and dragged her back into his arms.

“You
quite
liked it? It wasn’t stupendous; wonderful; mind-blowing?” He
growled challengingly.

Beatrice
smiled up at him, not worried in the least that he was mad at her
given the twinkle in his eye.

“No, it
was wonderful; stupendous,” she assured him. “It is just that,
well, to me, this is rather mind-blowing.” With that, she captured
his head in her hands and dragged him down for a very thorough kiss
that left them both gasping for air and trembling with
need.

“Good
Lord,” Ben whispered when she finally allowed him to lift his head.
He stared down at her in stunned delight, but didn’t move. He was
vaguely aware that Maud had entered the sitting room to return the
poker, but couldn’t tear his gaze away from the molten heat in
Beatrice’s lambent gaze. Right at that moment he rather wished that
Maud was still poorly, or stuck at her friend’s house, because
there was nothing he wanted more right now than to spend time
getting to know this new, tantalising side of Beatrice.

The
sudden chimes of the grandfather clock in the hallway broke the
silence, and seemed to draw a line under the passion, for now.
Beatrice took several steps away from him while she steadied
herself. Eventually she turned to look at Maud. She struggled to
keep her mind focused on what she wanted to say, but the sight of
that poker bought forth the memory of Hargraves’ visit.

“Ben and
I are going to go out this morning. We need to go to the university
to make enquiries about that plant. Because of Hargraves, I really
don’t think you should be alone in the house, Maud,” she announced
and gave Ben a measured look as if to invite suggestions on what
the housekeeper could do while they were gone. “We are likely to be
gone for several hours. Do you want to go to your friend’s house
while we are away?”

“I don’t
think that it is wise for you to be walking the lanes at the moment
either,” Ben added. “If you need to go somewhere, we will drop you
off.”