Enemy of Mine (9 page)

“A little ice does a world of good with a sore knee like this. This will sting, my lady.”

As the doctor applied the cloth to her wound, she thought he hadn’t been lying. Erva was sure he was trying to be gentle, but whatever the ointment he’d put on the cloth cut through her skin to her bones. She hissed and clenched her hands in her skirts, turning her head more into Will’s shoulder. Instantly he laid both his large hands on her arms, one soothed her with a gentle caress, the other just held her in place.

“Terribly sorry, my lady, but that part is all done,” Dr. Goodfellow said cheerfully. “Now to bandage the wound.” Which he did in expert time. He was a field doctor for an army, after all. Erva was sure that her little cut was the least of the injuries he’d ever seen.

The diminutive doctor finished with a smile. “So, does the lord and lady prefer brandy?”

Neither Will nor Erva answered, not knowing why the question was asked in the first place.

Dr. Goodfellow snorted a laugh. “’Tis for the pain. I think it best to have two or three glasses of whatever spirits the two of you enjoy.”

Erva nervously giggled, waiting for Will to say something, because something needed to be said about the doctor seeming to think they were a couple. She couldn’t talk, because...honestly, she didn’t want to. Will chuckled much the same way, but he didn’t say a word.

“I also think it best if the lady remains off her leg for the rest of the night. General Hill, would you mind carrying her?”

Erva wanted to protest, but before she could, Will said, “It would be my honor, doctor.”

“I know you like to visit your boys late at night like this, but for tonight I would take the lady home and make sure she rests.”

Talking about her as if she weren’t there was really starting to piss her off, but again, before she could protest, Will said, “Of course, Dr. Goodfellow. Would you mind passing on a message for Private Lukas then? He’s the little lad, mayhap sixteen years of age with bright red hair.”

“Of course, sir, what would that message be?”

Will glimpsed at Erva but continued. “I—I’ve been teaching him to read. Every night we’ve been reading from an adventure storybook. Could you tell him I’m going to have to miss tonight?”

“No,” Erva finally interjected. Will’s nights had been filled teaching a young man how to read. He’d said it himself,
every night
he’d visit this Private Lukas. “You can’t do that, Will.”

He pursed his lips. “I feared your knee hurt you worse than you let on, and now I’ve seen the proof. Besides, the Private will understand.”

“But—”

“Erva, Private Lukas, I’m sure, would insist I take you home.”

At that Dr. Goodfellow snickered. “Oh, aye, he would.”

Erva kept her mouth quiet after that, understanding the innuendo, but not sure how to correct the assumptions. Or if she wanted to. She noticed Will did the same as well.

“I could help—”

“My lady,” The doctor interrupted. “You are most kind for thinking of the Private. And if it assures you, I’ll read to the young man tonight. I promise. In the meantime, I’d prefer you to rest. After a good night’s sleep, you can march around and have another shooting contest tomorrow. Lord, that was a sight I much admired.”

“You saw?”

The doctor nodded. “I had to climb to the top of this building, but I saw. I had to see for myself, the woman everyone within the bulwark was speaking of, the beautiful Lady Ferguson, General Hill’s lady.”

Neither Will nor she said anything for a solid beat, didn’t correct the good doctor. She would be lumped in with Will’s other mistresses, and for the good of her own decency, Erva wondered, if she should say something.

But she didn’t. She might have even tucked herself more into Will’s solid body. His hands held her arms, but one slid down to rest beside her bum, almost touching her derrière. She wished he would.

Where had that thought come from? Yeesh, she had to really watch herself around Will.

The doctor gave a few more eighteenth-century prescriptions of drinking alcohol and insisted on an activity that was exhilarating, but wouldn’t move her knee much—he’d said that with a wink at both Erva and Will. Then Will lifted her in his capable arms and strode back to the waiting carriage. What did carriage drivers do while waiting, Erva wondered? It appeared that the man wasn’t reading a book, but just lingered. That must have been boring, then she decided to ask the man what kind of books he might like to read, to help him pass the time. But then again he might not be literate, as Will was trying to banish from a sixteen year-old soldier. God, she was happy that the military in her time enlisted boys who were eighteen. Suddenly she remembered that seventeen year-olds could enlist with a parent’s permission. Sometimes the difference between a couple centuries wasn’t so vast.

Not so different indeed, Erva thought, as she glanced at Will’s handsome face in the pale light from the moon and stars. What a day this had been. She’d gotten to meet him. She’d gotten to meet him! One of her rebellious and overly curious hands threaded a finger through his long hair, somehow still tied at the nape of his thick neck. His black hair was as soft as she had hoped it would be and shone silver in the night sky. He stumbled, but caught himself and her, then managed to peek at her. Not saying a word, he kept marching forward, then swallowed. Even with his high collar Erva could make out his Adam’s apple bob. God, how could that be so wildly erotic?

He kept hold of her as he entered the carriage, while telling the driver to take them home, not letting her feet touch the ground even for a second. Gently, he placed her on the cushioned bench seat, tucking her into a corner, then he finally sat beside her as the horses began to walk.

“Are you comfortable, my lady—Erva?”

His arms were at the ready, probably to lift her and settle her in a more restful position, if she asked. Instead, she stared into his bright blue eyes. She’d never been taken care of by a man before. Well, her father had, but of the men she’d dated, especially her ex-husband, she had been the one that had provided, cared for them. She’d been the one that had doted, because...she thought she had to earn their love.

This—this was completely foreign to her. Well, that wasn’t quite the truth. It resonated of her father adoring her, propping her up on fluffed pillows, of feeling like a princess. Her heart squeezed in her chest. She hadn’t had to cover up the fact that she had a brain; she had shown off her gun skills and hadn’t been met with angst; she’d gotten hurt, and Will hadn’t tried to blow it off as her ex would have done. Will pampered her. He cared.

All day Erva had been herself, and he seemed to like it. Like her.

“My lady?” Will asked, tilting his head slightly to the side.

Without considering the ramifications, Erva followed her impulse. She leaned forward and captured his lips with hers. Finding his face with her hands, she pulled him closer, savoring the feel of his daylong whiskers against her palms. One of his hands found her corseted waist and gripped her. Erva caressed her lips against his again and again, but he never moved. Save from his hand on her waist, he didn’t move an inch, especially not his lips.

She pulled away mortified.

Chapter 9

W
ill couldn’t believe what had just happened. Erva had kissed him. Passionately! And like an idiot he’d sat there as a statue would. When she’d distanced herself from him at the banquet at the mentioning of Misses Emma and Lydia, he’d been sure she’d thought him a cad of a man. But that kiss...Lord, it would wake the dead.

That was exactly what he had been. Dead inside.

God,
he
was the Sleeping Beauty, wasn’t he? He wanted to laugh at being the damsel in distress, but there was no denying that Erva was saving him. Being kissed by the charmer had woken him from a slumber, from his melancholy that had nearly killed him.

And he would not let it ruin his life now. Not while she was so close and willing to kiss him.

Though he felt like a fool, he fought through it to catch her slender, soft face in his hands and returned her rapturous kiss as best he could. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d kissed a woman. Had it really been his wife’s lips that he’d last held with his own? It had. He might have had a few odd sexual encounters since then, but he hadn’t kissed a soul since Julia, a decade ago.

He bumbled at Erva’s lips, probably hurting her. She pulled away and stared at him. Hungrily he huffed, wanting her more than he’d ever wanted anything. Then she rammed her lips against his again. This time their lips melded, caressed at a fevered pitch. Her tongue slid between his defenses and touched his own. It was his undoing. He clutched at her waist, her shoulder, trying to pull her closer, taste more of her. His cock had been somewhat active all day, but in an instant he was fully erect, all his blood rushing to his too sensitive member. He ached for her.

Pulling and tasting, pushing and kissing, Will clumsily kept the kiss escalating. The carriage took a corner too fast, scooting Erva closer, but he’d been asserting his chest against her gorgeous breasts at the same moment. The impetus of the carriage and his own landed him on her in a most abnormal position, her hip against his stomach, her waist twisted so her chest met his. She kept kissing him though. Her little tongue darted in and out of his mouth. He knew she had to be uncomfortable, so he found her hips, shifted, and with a bump on the road, settled himself between her legs. How he’d gotten there was as good a guess as anyone could give, but he didn’t care. It was where he wanted to be. Erva mewled and arched into his erection all the more.

Will only had one knee on the bench and tried to take a little weight off Erva with one arm on the seat too, the other he thought might go exploring over her body, when the carriage decelerated rather quickly and knocked him asunder. He skidded to a stop against the opposite bench and tried to sit up.

Erva sat up too. She pressed her dainty fingers to her lips, eyes wide. “What did I do?”

“Well, I did have a hand in things too.” He caught himself saying, like an arrogant arse.

Her gaze flickered to his with more than an ounce of recrimination. God, why had he said something so asinine?

“What did I do?” she repeated.

The carriage door suddenly swung open, and she lunged for it. Even while the driver begged his forgiveness for the horses acting wildly on the drive tonight, Will heard a little grunt of pain she emitted in her haste.

“Erva, please,” he called after her limping form as she tried her best to run from him.

“I’m sorry,” she said over her shoulder, holding her skirts in her fists as she hobbled along.

Will finally extracted himself out of the carriage and tried to catch up with her.

“Erva, your knee...”

“I’m okay.”

“Oh kay?”

She faltered in her steps, but then rushed on. “I’m fine, I mean.”

“Erva—”

“I’ve got her, my lord,” a maid said as another sidled up to the other side of Erva. The maids looked almost identical—tall, slender, with dark red hair peeking from white ruffled caps. The maid who had spoken to him nodded to the other. “We’ve got you, my lady. No need to run around on that leg of yours. Doctor’s orders, you know.”

How odd they knew what the doctor had said. Well, Will reasoned, the doctor must have said something and the news of it spread like wildfire, the way gossip only can.

Just inside the foyer the maids clasped onto each other’s forearms and quickly scooped Erva up between the two of them. Erva let out a small screech, but then clung to the maids. If her eyes had been large in the carriage, they were positively gigantic now as she looked up at the two carrying her.

“You.” Will heard her whisper. Then Erva looked at the other maid. “And you.”

“Yes, yes, we’ll have you right as rain by tomorrow.”

“Right as rain, that has to be an English expression. Who else would think rain was right?” the other maid said.

“A Scott. It rains a lot in Scotland too.”

Both the maids nodded and smiled at each other as they carried Erva up the main flight of stairs.

Will didn’t know why, but at that moment he felt he couldn’t approach Erva while she was with the maids. The one he recognized from this morning. Did he employ her? He tried to keep his servants at a minimum and tried even harder to know everyone he paid. But for the life of him, he couldn’t remember her name. Or the other one’s. Surely they must be sisters. So why didn’t he recall employing them?

He merely watched as the maids carried Erva up the stairs while talking about it raining in Paris too and how they wanted to go there soon. Will swallowed and glanced back down, surprised Paul had come to stand so close to him. He too stared at the maids and Erva.

“They smell fabulous,” Paul said.

“Pardon?”

“The new maids.”

Will grunted an acknowledgement.

“They smell like lavenders. They look even better. You know, they’re taller than I.”

Will glanced again at his man of business.

One of Paul’s dark brows arched. “I’ve always wanted to kiss a woman who was taller than I.”

Will smiled. “Which would you pick?”

“Ah, it would be cruel to pick just one.”

Will chuckled. He again checked the maids’ progress, and they just then walked out of eyesight. Sighing, he felt a bit disjointed and unsure what to do.

He’d kissed Erva. Better yet, she’d kissed him.

It had been clumsy, impetuous, and so perfect.

“The town is talking of you and Lady Ferguson. Already there are rumors that the two of you have been lovers for years.”

Will sighed again. He hated gossip. But he may as well be Don Quixote fighting windmills for all the good it would do to clarify himself to society.

“You like her?”

Will peeked at Paul. He thought of telling his best friend how in one day’s time he’d gone from feeling dead to suddenly more alive than ever before. He thought about telling him that Erva stirred emotions in him he’d buried long ago. He thought about saying something regarding her beauty, and how she had him stymied every time she’d opened her precious mouth. But his response was simply to blow out a puff of air on a groan.

Paul blinked then cocked his head. “You like her a lot.”

Will gave his friend a small smile.

“Oh,” Paul said, nodding as if he understood. With Paul, Will wouldn’t put it past the man if he did understand him and his less than communicative ways. “You know, she has money of her own right, or so the New York society says, so she’s not after your money.”

Will glared at Paul.

Paul let out his own exacerbated sound. “Well, forgive me, but most of the women who cross your path are after your money. I worried this morning that that was what she was about, just storming into your house the way she did.”

“No, I broke down her door. Remember?”

Paul grinned. “Rather splendid work. I’m sure she was impressed with that. And by the by, the carpenter’s repaired the door hours ago. Although it does still smell of paint.”

Will nodded. “Thank you for that.”

Paul didn’t say anything for a moment, and finally Will had to check his friend again.

“You keep staring upstairs.”

Will shrugged.

“You
really
like her.”

Sighing once more, Will finally turned to Paul. “Yes, I—I want her to stay longer than she intends.”

“Invite her then.”

Will narrowed his eyes, feeling particularly juvenile when he said, “I was thinking of something more manipulative to force her to stay.”

Paul silently chuckled. “Tying her to the furniture? Chaining her?”

“Seduction.”

Paul kept his smile, but it changed into something more lewd. “I see. So you were thinking of tying her to the
bed
.”

Will chuckled himself. “If she wants that sort of thing, then I’m game.” He nodded, then added, “Would—would you help me?”

Paul’s eyes narrowed.

“I mean.” Will chuckled. “I mean, I—I’ve never seduced a woman before. Would you tell me how? To do that? Exactly?”

Paul smiled. “I don’t think there is an exactness to seduction, but I’m more than willing to help you. As for my misinterpretation, if I had proclivities for men, I might try to seduce you.”

“I’m flattered,” Will said flatly.

Paul chuckled again, before growing serious. “Tell me, why do you think I could help you seduce the lady?”

Will rolled his eyes. “I wake before you, which means I’ve seen many a woman leaving your chambers. Clear evidence of your knowledge of seduction.”

“How do you know we weren’t...praying?”

“Ah, yes, I’m sure you were.”

Paul snickered. “All right, I’ll help. Let us remove ourselves from the foyer, and I believe we need brandy for what we shall discuss. A lot of it too.”

When Paul wrapped an arm around Will’s neck and half hugged him, half throttled him, Will couldn’t help but smile. Paul was shorter than he by almost six inches, so any embrace by the muscular man was more of a wrestling move than anything else.

“By the by,” Will said. “What accent do those two maids have?”

As Paul led him to the library, he shrugged. “I was wondering that myself. I know this sounds odd, but I thought they sounded Greek.”