Her Every Pleasure (4 page)

But now, of course, she recognized her captor as the stranger she had seen last night lighting candles in the ruined church. At least she hadn’t been found by the masked men who had attacked her carriage. Under the circumstances, she supposed it could have been worse.

“Care to tell me what you’re doing in my barn?” he asked in a low, cultured murmur.

“Sleeping—obviously,” she retorted.

“Trespassing.”

“No! I haven’t done anything wrong!”

“Attempted murder?”

Well, he had a point there.

“You startled me,” she conceded with regal hauteur, chagrined by her powerless position.

“Obviously,” he drawled back at her.

“Humph,” she answered, quite unused to being treated this way, but on the other hand, “startled” was an understatement.

He had terrified her, waking her from a deep sleep that way, and she had reacted accordingly. At least now, finally waking up, she had a clearer sense of her situation. “Would you mind getting off of me, please?” she asked through gritted teeth.

His lifted his eyebrows politely. “Are you ready to put down your knife?”

Sophia wasn’t sure, but she knew when she was being mocked. “There is no need to be rude.”

“Sorry, I haven’t had my coffee yet, and it’s been awhile since anyone’s tried to kill me.”

“If I had
wanted
you dead, you would
be
dead!” she informed him fiercely.

He let out a low, charming laugh, as though she had said something clever.

Sophia narrowed her eyes at him, then looked away in simmering mutiny, refusing to acknowledge the fact that up close, her captor was sinfully handsome. Especially when he laughed.

“Now, young lady, hear me well. You had better drop your weapon,” he advised her, taking a no-nonsense tone. “There is no need to resort to violence, all right? I am not going to hurt you. But if you try to stab me again, I may dangle you off the hayloft by your feet till you behave.”

Her gaze flew to his again as she gasped. “You wouldn’t dare!”

“Meow.”
The tiny orange kitten chose that moment to intervene, mewling at the man and rubbing its sides back and forth affectionately against his big shoulder.

He glanced wryly at the baby cat, as though he realized with some chagrin that its adoration of him did not make him look exactly scary. But maybe he did not want her to be scared of him, after all, for he began having a conversation with the kitten. “No, I brought you your milk,” he chided, as if he could understand its pitiful cries. “What else do you want? It’s your own fault you missed breakfast. You were hiding here with her. Not that I blame you, understand.”

Sophia pressed her lips together, determined not to smile, but when the man turned from the kitten and looked at her again, he knew perfectly well that he had charmed her. That cobalt sparkle in his eyes beguiled her; she turned her face away to hide the twitching of her lips.

“These cats,” he murmured softly. She could feel his gaze traveling down the curve of her neck. “They bully me so.”

She swallowed hard, striving to ignore the silken warmth of his breath against her neck and the curious sensations that his big, muscled body roused atop her. The feelings were not entirely unpleasant.

“Why don’t you find these kittens new homes if they are such a bother?” she suggested tartly, still refusing to look at him.

“But they were born here. I am only a gentleman-tenant.”

Gentleman?
The word got her attention as it signaled his honorable intent. Slowly, cautiously, Sophia met his curious gaze from the corner of her eye.

“I will free you if you promise not to kill me,” he offered in a sardonic murmur. “I give you my word as a gentleman that you will not be harmed.”

What choice did she have?

Sophia said nothing, but gave him a hard look, then uncurled her fingers and let her knife plunk down onto the floorboards in a gesture of good faith.

“Ah,” her handsome captor said in a husky tone of approval. “How novel. A woman of sense.”

With extreme caution, Gabriel loosened his grip around her delicate wrist by degrees. Freeing her knifehand was easy, however, compared to the self-restraint it took to ease his weight up off her warm, slim, nubile, young body. Every male atom of his being cried out to lower his head instead and claim her lovely mouth.

Of course, that might have got him stabbed. Even a harlot wanted a man to wait until he was invited.

With a heave of effort, Gabriel backed away from the raven-haired temptress; she did the same, both of them kneeling on the floor with its thin scattering of hay.

Her gaze locked with his; the girl’s wary brown eyes tracked his movements as he rose slowly, moving carefully, not wishing to startle her again. He went instead to look after the kittens, giving her a moment to recover from their clash.

“You’re pretty quick with that knife,” he remarked, walking over with measured paces to see if there was any milk left in the bowl.

“Practice,” she answered in a low, rather defiant murmur.

Fiery, this one.

“I take it Derek sent you.”

“Derek?”

“My brother.” He crouched down and pushed the black kitten and the gray tabby away from the bowl so the little orange one could drink some of the milk, as well.

“Your brother,” she echoed slowly, tasting his words.

“The other Major Knight, my dear. The man who hired you to come here and, ah…serve me, I presume.” His glance flicked over her body. He couldn’t seem to help it.

“Oh, right. Derek,” she answered with a vague nod. “Of course.”

“He does tend to think he’s amusing.” Gabriel lowered his head, watching the kittens to try to keep his stare off her. “Unfortunately, it isn’t going to work. You are beautiful, God knows, but you can go back to London or wherever it was that he found you, for I…”—He faltered, then redoubled his resolve—“I do not require a bedmate at this time.”

A bedmate?

Sophia stared at him, her eyes wide, her whole body motionless with shock.

Was
that
what he thought she was doing here?

Zounds! He thought she was a hussy?

Her royal sire would be turning in his grave—and if Leon ever heard the cheeky blackguard imply such a thing, her old lion would pound him into the dirt!

Well, at least he would try. Even Leon might have a time of it with this one, she conceded, her gaze trailing over his formidable physique. The “gentleman-tenant” was a towering wall of muscle, six-foot-four at least, of pure iron. She could not believe she had attacked him and lived.

Still, she quickly realized that
his
explanation for her presence here was safer than the truth—especially since he claimed he did not need her “services” at this time.

Really, a girl could take insult at being so easily refused, she thought wryly.

“I see,” she replied, playing her cards close to the chest. Heart pounding, she hid her astonishment, still not quite sure how to react.

He really was very mysterious. Who was he, and why would his brother send him a girl? she wondered. The most puzzling part, however, was his refusal.

Alexa said all men wanted sex constantly, and she would know. Sophia shrugged it off and supposed she should count herself lucky.

Then his gaze flicked over her peasant disguise with a mildly pitying look that stung her royal pride. “You can keep the money,” he said gently, “whatever my brother has paid you. I’m sorry you’ve wasted your time.”

Her swift indignation over his low view of her gave ground to more practical worries as he continued. “I know it must have been a very inconvenient journey for you, coming all the way out here. Come,” he said, gesturing toward the ladder. “I will pay your ticket for the stagecoach back to London. We’ll need to hurry to get you to the coaching inn on time—”

“Wait!” she blurted out.

“What is it?”

She stared at him, tongue-tied. According to protocol, she had to stay put at
these
coordinates until her bodyguards found her!

Good God, she could not let him kick her out now. Those vicious creatures who had attacked her carriage last night might still be out there somewhere on the hunt for her. Last night, at least she had had the cover of darkness to hide her, but now it was broad daylight, and if she came across her enemies out on the road, she doubted her peasant disguise would be enough to save her. She didn’t even have a horse now on which to escape them if they spotted her. She still had her knife, but this large fellow had just reminded her afresh that, as good as she was with a blade, sheer male strength could still overpower her.

He had been watching the play of emotion on her face and now a curious frown had spread across his own. “Is something wrong?”

“Are you so eager to get rid of me?” she countered, attempting a smile.
Please don’t kick me out.

She didn’t dare go wandering down that country road alone. It would be extremely stupid to try it. She had to wait for her bodyguards to come and escort her on to the castle.

She was certain it wouldn’t be long. Last night, her men had been routed by the ambush, but by now, they would have regrouped.

Staving off fear, she insisted to herself that everyone surely had come through the ambush all right. If it turned out not to be so, she would deal with it when they were all reunited and she knew the facts. God knew, if there had been casualties, she had enough practice at grieving. She ought to be an expert at that by now.

Alas, the keeper of kittens seemed all too eager to be rid of her. “I’m sorry, my dear. I’m flattered by your, er, enthusiasm, truly, but this is just one of my daft brother’s practical jokes,” he said in chagrin.

“You really find me that unappealing?” she exclaimed.

“No!” he vowed, sending her a searing glance. “It isn’t that at all.”

Sophia furrowed her brow. There had to be some way that this stubborn chap could be persuaded to let her stay for just a few hours.

Unfortunately, she couldn’t tell him the truth.

Though he now seemed more trustworthy than he had at first, keeping her identity a secret was one of Leon’s strictest rules. Her guards were risking too much for her sake for Sophia to repay them by ignoring the procedures she had promised to adhere to.

Oh, dear. What was she to say?

He was looking at her curiously. “Are you that eager to…bloody hell, Derek told you about the Kama Sutra, didn’t he?”

“The what? No—I mean—that is to say—” Her cheeks blazed crimson. Oh, for heaven’s sake!

“Because I don’t do that sort of thing anymore. I mean, there’s more to life than mindless pleasure, isn’t there?”

Sophia wanted the earth to part and swallow her like one of Greece’s countless little earthquakes. She cleared her throat and cast about for her dignity. “I assure you, sir, I respect your wishes and will do my best not to molest you. But you see, I only just got here, didn’t I? And it’s such a long, inconvenient journey back to London, as you said. I just woke up. I scarce know where I am.” Lord, this conversation was a chess game. “Would you mind terribly if I stayed here, please, just for a little while longer? To make myself ready for the day?”

“Here?” He glanced around warily. “What, in the hayloft?”

“Yes.” She nodded earnestly. “I won’t cause any trouble! Y-you have my word.”

“Why? Why would you take a job like this out in the middle of nowhere anyway? You can’t lack for customers.” He suddenly narrowed his eyes. “You’re on the run, aren’t you?”

“What?”

He moved closer. “Have you done something naughty, my girl? Is somebody after you?”

She blanched. “Of course not, why would you think such a thing?” she evaded. Of course, she had done nothing wrong, but someone was certainly after her.

If only she had some clear idea who!

The blue-eyed man was studying her shrewdly. Then he pointed at her. “You’re a Gypsy, aren’t you?”

“Yes,” she assented.
Whatever you say. Just don’t kick me out of here yet.

Somehow, she felt safer just being around this large and solid man. The kittens seemed to feel it, too, tumbling around at his feet.

“I get the feeling you’re hiding here.” He folded his arms across his chest. “Have you committed a crime?” he asked softly.

Her eyes widened. “No!”

His piercing cobalt stare seemed to probe her very soul. “I won’t harbor a fugitive from the law.”

“I haven’t done anything wrong!” Sophia exclaimed, becoming truly rattled.

He appeared unperturbed by her vehement denials. “Your people have a certain reputation, I’m afraid. As thieves,” he clarified crisply.

“I am not that sort of—Gypsy,” she asserted in dismay.
Only some sort of harlot for sale, apparently, in your view.

He scrutinized her for a long moment, his eyes narrowed. “Very well,” he said guardedly. “I shall take you at your word. But you had better not be lying to me. If there is one thing I despise above all else, it is a lying female.”

Oh, blast.
Raking her fingers through her tousled hair, she heaved a large sigh and dropped her hands onto her lap again. “I understand. So, is it all right then if I stay here for a little while?”

If he would just leave, maybe he’d forget that she was here.

He frowned, studying her.

She held her breath as she waited for his answer, her heart pounding at the prospect of being forced out onto the road with unknown enemies after her blood.

“I won’t cause any inconvenience—sir—I swear,” she assured him, reminding herself to use a deferential tone like a humble country girl. She gave him a wide-eyed look of genuine desperation. “It’s just that right now, I really have nowhere else to go.”

Ah, damn.

Those big brown eyes could have melted hearts of stone. Gabriel looked away.

Tossing her out on her shapely arse, however, proved beyond his power.

“Very well,” he mumbled. “Come inside and have some breakfast, then.”

“No, that’s all right, I don’t wish to be a burden—”

“Have you eaten?”