Blood Lust (21 page)

“My dear,” she said, “it is past time we ended the formalities between us. From now on, please call me Jane and I shall call you Katherine.”

Katherine forced another painful smile. “I should be delighted, Jane.”

The woman leaned closer. “I abhor most women, you know. However, once in a while, a female comes along who knows what she is about. I sensed that in you. You are a woman determined to live as she pleases. I do not know your husband, but whatever manner of man you have married, a woman of your passionate nature will not settle for less than a zealous lover.” There was something seductive in the look she case Katherine that made her suddenly uneasy. “It’s another thing we have in common.”

Katherine nodded as if she agreed with the woman, but for the first time she felt wary. She had done it, formed a friendship with a woman who preferred the company of men. It was odd, but in the past few moments, Katherine could swear Jane had begun looking at her with the same sultry glances she usually reserved for her unwitting male prey. Surely she was imagining Jane’s thinly veiled sensual scrutiny. Surely the whispered stories Katherine had heard about woman taking woman as lovers weren’t really true. Suddenly, however, she wasn’t so sure.

Jane glanced over her porcelain shoulder. “My escort is walking this way. I believe he has plans for me that will require the balance of the evening.” She threw the young man a seductive smile, then returned her attention to Katherine.

“You must come to tea,” she said with a seductive lowering of her lashes. “Perhaps this upcoming Tuesday?” She smiled. “I promise I shall have all the juicy gossip on your ex-betrothed’s hasty marriage to Elizabeth. You may count on hearing every sordid detail, right down to the wedding night.”

Tea with Jane Roberts. And Benjamin would be the topic of discussion. It was the chance she had been seeking, the perfect opportunity for her to ask questions, though the notion of an afternoon spent with Lady Cromwell made her decidedly uneasy.

“I shall be delighted, Jane.”

The woman smiled with satisfaction. Katherine said nothing as Lady Cromwell waved and strolled off to meet her lover. A few moments later, Damien arrived with Lord and Lady Chastain in tow. Stanton had introduced them, as she would have a proper chaperone. Fortunately she and Lady Chastain had liked each other at once and even her marriage to William had not altered that friendship.

They left the soiree half an hour later, all of them exhausted from their evening.

All the way home, Katherine thought of her upcoming meeting with Jane. She decided that telling William would not be the wisest move.

Chapter Fifteen

The moonlight shown brightly on this clear night, peeking through the trees outside the bedchamber, reflecting off the paving stones, reflecting the carriages as their occupants returned home. William paced the floor, stopping to peer into the darkness, waiting.

Katherine had not returned from her evening with Damien and Lord and Lady Chastain. It was close to two in the morning. Damn her - where was she?

William turned and retraced his steps, listening for sounds at the entry, worried about her, though he knew she was safe with his friend. At least the man who had been watching the house had apparently ended his surveillance.

Another half hour passed before he heard Damien’s carriage approach. Then he heard Katherine climbing the stairs. A wave of relief rushed through him, followed by unexpected anger. Opening the door between their two rooms, he stormed into hers.

“Was there something you wished to discuss, my lord?”

The softness of her voice drew his attention toward her. She was starting to undress from her evening out.

“You know damn well there is. I want to know what you’ve been up to that kept you out until this late hour.”

“Late evenings are part of society soirees, my lord. Surely you remember that?”

He tried not to notice how enticing she looked, but his body had noticed and the blood lust began to pulse through his veins.

“You are suppose to be married. Did no one ask about me, your husband?”

“They did indeed, my lord.” She sat down on the stool in front of her dresser and began to pull the pins out of her hair.

“As we agreed,” she continued, “I told them that you were a bookish sort, far more at home in the country than in the city. I told them I had, however, convinced you to host a ball at the end of the month in celebration of our marriage and then they could meet you. That should take care of their curiosity, at least for a while.”

“Yes, the promise of a ball will take care of their curiosity for a while. Perhaps by then I’ll have enough evidence to confront Lady Cromwell. If I do she’ll be forced to admit to Benjamin’s guilt and to my innocence.”

Katherine pulled her long hair forward over one shoulder, then pulled the bristles of her brush through it, past the tip of a breast. His gaze fastened there. He jerked his eyes away.

“Once my name is cleared,” he said, “I’ll be able to leave. You can invent some sort of tale of my abandonment and then you can start the annulment proceedings. Damien can guide you, grease whatever palms he feels is necessary.”

Katherine said nothing, for what seemed like forever, then she simply rose from her dressing stool, crossed the room, and turned her back. Wordlessly asking for his assistance to unfasten the row of tiny buttons.

“I see no reason to hurry,” she finally said, waiting for his fingers to do their work. Beneath his hand, he could feel the smoothness of her skin. Inside his breeches he was hard as a stone.

“Perhaps,” she said, “I shall grow accustomed to the notion of being married.” His head snapped up. The last button popped free and his fingers went still. “Once you have left the country and I am alone, I shall be allowed all manner of freedoms. A married woman who behaves with discretion may do nearly anything she pleases.”

“Parading around as a husbandless wife wasn’t part of the bargain. You agreed to an annulment, Katherine.”

“True.” She dramatically sighed, turning to face him. She held up the bodice of her unfastened gown, her breasts nearly spilled over the top as she did. “But if you have no wish to marry someone else, why would it matter? As your wife, I could move freely about without fear of scandal.”

“And do what? Sleep with whomever you wish? Take a number of lovers?”

She shrugged her shoulders. “I enjoyed our lovemaking. It taught me that a woman has needs the same as a man. A woman desires to be kissed and loved.”

“Stop.”

“She needs to feel the pleasure that a man can give her.”

“I said stop, damn you!” he gripped her arms and dragged her against him. “I don’t believe this! Are you telling me that after I am gone you intend to take a lover?”

“Of course! What did you think I meant?”

“What did I think, what did I think!” he bellowed. “I thought that you would have our marriage annulled, then you would live with your brother until you found a good and proper husband who would treat you with respect.”

“I have a good husband, William. I am perfectly satisfied with the man I have married. The fact that he doesn’t want me. . .”

“You know that is bloody not true! I’m hard as a stone right now! Christ, if I had my way, I’d rip the clothes from your body, I’d drag you over to that bed, spread your legs, and bury myself within you. I’d take you hard for the rest of the night and every night until I had my fill. I’d make damn sure I satisfied those damn needs you were discussing so freely. You wouldn’t have to worry about another man in your bed, and if you took a lover, I’d vow to shoot the two of you!”

She stared at him with astonishment for several moments, her cheeks flushed. If she had meant to shock him, he had neatly turned the tables. He wasn’t a proper gentleman anymore and he wanted her to know it.

She licked her lips. “Kiss me William. I want to do those things you said.”

William groaned. The woman was killing him! “Can’t you understand, I am doing you a favor. If we make love, you might end up with a child. I don’t know how to be a husband, much less a father. As my father’s heir I was expected to do it, but things have changed since then. I am not the man I once was and I never will be again.”

She shook her head. “You don’t see yourself the way I do. You would make a wonderful husband William.”

“If I told you all the things I have done, if I could let you see the man I really am, then you would understand.”

Her hand found his cheek. “Tell me. Tell me what has happened to you to make you feel this way.”

William swallowed hard. Dark images began to appear, sobs of pain, screams of agony, cries for help. He fought against them, trying to block them out. “I can’t.” He turned his head away, missing the gentle touch as soon as it was gone. “Don’t ask me again, Katherine. Not ever.”

She looked at him, feeling tears come to her eyes. They were for him, he realized, not for herself. Something tightened within him. She was standing there holding up her gown, looking at him with desire and pity, and it was ripping him in two.

“Make love to me William. Let me help you forget.”

Ignoring the increasing pressure in his chest and the look on Katherine’s face, he stepped away, desperate to put some distance between the two of them. “Get dressed,” he commanded. “In case it has slipped your mind, you are standing there half naked. You’re acting like a whore and it does not become you.” That wasn’t the truth. She was desirable and beautiful and he wanted to make love to her. He wanted her in his bed and not just for tonight.

Tears welled up in Katherine’s eyes and her bottom lip trembled as she turned and walked away. He told himself to leave her, not to torture himself by listening to the rustle of fabric, not to allow the image of her smooth bare skin to invade the corners of his mind.

She finally emerged from behind her dressing screen in a simple white night gown that was every bit as enticing as her gown. She looked small and fragile an embarrassed as he had never seen her before. He had done that to her.

He told himself to leave, that it was better to put an end to the fierce attraction between them. Instead his legs began to move, he walked across the room in her direction. He knelt beside the bed, reached for her small hand, and pressed the back against his lips.

“If we had a marriage in truth,” he said, “I would cherish your passion, your desire. It is a rare and beautiful quality in a woman, one any wise husband would treasure.”

She turned her head so that she could see him, her hair spilling across the pillow. Some of the color returned to her cheeks. “I am your wife. You are my husband.”

He shook his head. “I am not your husband, Katherine. I will never be your husband. Once I was your lover, but I was also a fool.”

Turning before she could say anything more, something that might convince him to stay, William crossed the room and opened the door to his bedchamber. He’d be glad when this whole affair ended.

John Stanton paused, descending the wide marble stairs. His mansion was in the finest area of London. It had been his grandfather’s lavish gift to the woman he married. It was John’s home now, his place of solace, of refuge, though at the moment it sounded as if it were being invaded.

“Please, I must see the earl.” A small cloaked figure stood inside the doorway. “I know I haven’t an appointment, please, tell him I am here.”

“I’m sorry, Madam. Lord Stanton is extremely determined when it comes to his privacy. Perhaps if you will give me your name.”

The visitor made a noise of despair that sounded close to a sob. “Tell him it is Elizabeth. I believe the earl will come if you tell him Elizabeth is here.”

John’s heart quickened. He rapidly descended the last of the stairs and stepped into the marble-floored foyer.

“It’s all right. Elizabeth is a friend. She is welcome here. I’ll speak to her in the drawing room.”

She stared at him, her face well-hidden by the hood. “John,” she whispered hysteria in her voice, “please you must help me. I am so frightened. I don’t know what to do.” It was the first time she had ever used his first name and it told him how near to panic she was.

“It’s all right.” A knot of worry balled up in his stomach. Resting a hand on her wrist, he guided her into the drawing room. “Once you tell me what has upset you so badly I’m certain we’ll be able to straighten things out.”

He took her cloak and tossed it over a chair, then seated her on a gold-fringed sofa.

Elizabeth gripped her hands in her lap. They looked slender and pale, and he noticed that they were trembling.

“
I know this is a terrible imposition, but I had to come. I didn’t know where else to go.”

“Where is your father?” he asked, knowing they had always been close.

Her eyes clouded with tears. “My father is dead.”

John’s jaw went tense. “I’m sorry Elizabeth.” he squeezed her hand. “Sit here a moment. I’ll be right back.” Moving to the sideboard, he poured her a small glass of sherry, then returned to the sofa. “Drink this.” He pressed the stemmed crystal into her trembling hand. “Just a sip or two will make you feel better.” When she accepted the glass, he sat down on the sofa beside her.