if hes wicked (27 page)

her side. The taste of that fear stil lingered, however, and she was more than wil ing to wash it away with the passion he could stir to life inside her.

By the time he finished kissing and nipping at her breasts, she was squirming beneath him, her need strong and greedy. She sighed with pleasure

as his warm mouth trailed down to her stomach and his clever fingers teased and stroked her womanhood until she ached. Her passion abruptly hesitated

when she felt the warmth of his mouth replace his fingers, however, shock pushing aside the need that had possessed her.

“Julian?” she squeaked and tried to move away from him.

“Hush,” he said and gripped her by the hips to hold her in place as he kissed her and licked her. “You wil like this.”

Chloe wanted to argue with that command but her passion was already returning, flowing through her hotter and stronger than before. She closed

her eyes and let herself be swept away by the magic of his intimate kiss. When she was sure she was going to shatter into smal aching pieces if he did

not join with her, she tugged at his shoulders. He slowly kissed his way back up her body and when his mouth touched her, he thrust inside her.

He rode her hard and Chloe reveled in it. She wrapped her arms and legs around him and hung on tight as he drove them both to the release they

craved. Her body stil trembling from the strength of her release, she barely flinched when, a few moments after, he cleaned them both off. He crawled

back into bed and pul ed her into his arms. Chloe rested her head on his chest and could hear his heart begin to slow its frantic beat.

Embarrassment over the intimacy they had just shared tried to creep over her, but she pushed it aside. Despite his year of debauchery, she

doubted Julian was given to strange or forbidden practices in the bedchamber. Chloe was determined not to shy away from anything that brought them

both that sweet pleasure they could find together.

“Rest, Julian,” she said and kissed his chest. “I can stil feel the hint of concern in you. Put it aside for now. You wil need your strength in the days

to come.”

“True, if only because my house is now overrun with females.” He grunted and then chuckled sleepily when she pinched his waist.

Chloe peeked at him a moment later and saw that he was asleep. She settled herself against his chest again and closed her eyes. She had

forgotten to tel him about Jake, but there would be time for that when he woke. Chloe’s last clear thought was that she was glad his family was safe with

them now, but she hoped their presence would not rob her of the pleasure of sharing Julian’s bed.

The branch creaked under the weight of the gently swaying body. Chloe could see it so clearly she was surprised that the tree in front of her held

nothing on its branches. She wrapped her arms around herself in a vain attempt to stil the shivers rippling through her. It was too late to save Beatrice.

What she saw now was more a knowing than a vision. Whatever or whoever sent her the dark, chil ing visions just wanted her to know where to find the

body this time. She was not meant to save the woman.

“Chloe, dear, are you il ?” asked Lady Evelyn as she stepped up beside Chloe and lightly rubbed her back. “You look so pale.”

“Do you know if there is a large oak tree around here?” she asked Lady Evelyn instead of answering the question about her health. “One with big

fat roots that run partly above the earth and trap two pale rocks within them? It sits upon a smal hil and I think there is a smal rose planted at its feet. Is there something like that around here somewhere?”

“Oh, my, you have had another one of those dreadful visions, have you not? Another warning?”

Seeing how frightened Lady Evelyn looked, Chloe took the older woman’s hands between hers. The doubt the woman had felt about Chloe’s gift

had rapidly disappeared when a day after arriving at Colinsmoor her servants had arrived with her baggage and a tale of someone breaking into her

home. There had been a battle between the intruders and the servants that had left two of her footmen badly injured. Chloe had seen belief in the woman’s

eyes after that. It was a shame that only two days after that she was going to have to reveal more proof to her.

“It had naught to do with you or your daughters or anyone here,” she reassured the woman. “And it was not truly a vision, only a knowing.” That was

mostly the truth even though she did not usual y have a moment of knowing something complete with an image. “I fear I just saw Beatrice hanging from a

tree.”

Lady Evelyn sighed with relief and then shook her head, her expression one of remorse. “I should not feel good about that. It was just that I was so

relieved that you had not seen some dark fate for me and mine again.” She grimaced. “I never liked Beatrice or trusted her. I certainly wil not pretend a

grief I do not feel. Yet—” She hesitated.

“Yet she gave us Anthony,” Chloe said quietly, final y releasing the woman’s hands.

“And tried to kil him. No.” She held up a hand when Chloe started to speak. “You are right. It was Beatrice’s body, her womb, that birthed that

bright little boy. Al her other crimes aside, one must be grateful for that one good thing that came of her short, misspent life.”

“So, do you know where that tree might be?”

“Yes. It is about an hour’s ride from here, mayhap less. Since I am most often a passenger not a rider, I am not good with the distances from one

place to the next. It was Julian’s favorite place when he was a boy. When Beatrice was with child Julian confided in me that he hoped to be able to show

his son his favorite place someday. When he thought his son dead, he planted a rose there. I am surprised it has survived.”

“Oh, that is rather sweet.” Then a horrible thought struck Chloe. “Nay, please do not tel me that he has taken Anthony there today?”

“No, no. Be at ease. Anthony was playing some game with the girls in the long gal ery when I last saw him. That was but a few moments before I

came out here and found you.”

Chloe slumped a little in relief. The mere thought that Anthony might see something so horrible had terrified her. What made it truly chil ing was that

someday he would have to be told that that woman hanging from a tree had been his mother. It was one of the things many people would say she should

never tel him, but she would not keep it a secret from him. Too many people would know and could accidental y tel him, if nothing else.

Shaking off that moment of fear, she asked, “Do you know where Julian and Leo might be, then?”

“In Julian’s office,” replied Lady Evelyn. “They returned from their search for signs of Arthur just a little while ago.”

“Since they have not spoken to me, I have to assume that they did not find Beatrice’s body. There would have been a smal uproar since they

would have brought the body here.” She sighed. “I had best go tel them that I think I know where at least one sign of Arthur’s presence is.” When she

realized Lady Evelyn was walking beside her as she started back to the house, she said, “You do not need to come with me, m’lady. I did not mean to ruin

your walk in the garden.”

“S’truth, talk of Beatrice’s body hanging from a tree did briefly dim the beauty of the garden, but I do not flee that. No, I have a sudden need to see

my family, my girls, and my darling grandson. Al of them. Even poor Mildred.”

“Is Mildred unwel ?” Chloe had seen little of Julian’s aunt and wondered if the woman was one of those who felt it was almost a lady’s duty to be

weak and ailing at al times. Somehow she doubted it, but there seemed no other reason for the woman to spend so much time in her room.

“No, just sad. She has to know that al this wil end with Arthur’s death. It wil pass, for she lost her love for her husband a long time ago.”

“Oh. Wel , that loss and the understanding that there wil never be a chance to make it right may be what has made her so unhappy.”

“True, but I think it is time for speaking bluntly to the woman. She is usual y much stronger than this. Cheerful even. This is so unlike her.”

“Is it possible that she somehow thinks she bears some blame for al of this? That mayhap she feels she should have seen what Arthur was doing

and warned someone?” When Lady Evelyn just stared at her, Chloe felt a blush creep over her cheeks. “It was just a thought.”

Lady Evelyn kissed her on the cheek. “And an excel ent one. That sounds very much like Mildred. Now I know what to say to pul her out of this

melancholia.”

Chloe watched as Lady Evelyn hurried up the stairs with the energy and grace of a much younger woman. She thought of the vision she had had of

the lady embracing a man on a beach and smiled. It was going to be interesting to see just what sort of man caught the woman’s attention.

Straightening her shoulders she went in search of Julian. She was feeling uneasy, for it seemed as if her visions were coming from Arthur’s

twisted mind. It terrified her to think that she might have become tied to him in some strange way. If that was true, then they needed to find Arthur not

simply to stop him from kil ing anyone else but to preserve her sanity. She could not endure many more of these visions of death, not when they came so

frequently and clearly.

“The man is near at hand. I know it,” said Julian as he poured himself a brandy. “I swear I can almost smel the bastard.” He handed a drink to Leo

and took a sip of his own.

Leo took a drink and then nodded. “I know exactly what you mean. It is no longer just you and Anthony in danger, either. I stil think that Arthur now

plans to eradicate your whole family. And his own. From what that fel ow Jake said when we talked to him, Arthur and Beatrice had become far worse in

the last few weeks before you banished them than they had ever been before. He felt sure that the only thing that kept him and the other servants from

being kil ed was that the pair spent so much time in London. Others share his opinion.”

“It has al fal en apart on him, al his plans turning to dust, and now he strikes out in pure fury. We are dealing with a madman now and not just some

coldhearted bastard who wanted to be earl and was wil ing to kil off a few heirs to gain the title and the wealth that came with it. I just know it in my gut. I also do not like how Chloe is having one dark vision after another. It is almost as if my uncle is sending them to her, and that is a damned frightening

thought.”

“It wil be over soon.”

“Are you certain of that?”

“As certain as one can be of anything. He is losing or has lost al of his al ies, the ones who were just fooled into fol owing his lead and the ones

who were being threatened into helping him. Simone has disappeared again and is rumored to be back in France, so he has lost al the aid and money

she could give him. I think he had promised her something and could not get it. Perhaps the information he wanted the good doctor to get for him. That

means he has not only lost her help but could wel have someone hunting him down to make him pay for that failure. The people she works for do not

tolerate failure. You stil live and so does Anthony. He has lost the prestige he had gained through deceit or, again, blackmail. He has also lost the running of this place and the money that put into his pocket. Arthur could now be thinking of kil ing as many of you as possible before he just disappears.”

“I should have just shot him when I discovered he was cuckolding me instead of going off to sulk in the stews as I did. No one would have faulted

me for that, and then this trouble would not be haunting us now.”

“You would have been banished from England no matter how justified anyone thought you were. That justification would simply have saved you

from hanging. And then you would have been of little use to your family or your tenants.”

Julian took another sip of the brandy. “Or to my son.”

“Exactly. Now, what we need,” Leo began and then frowned when there was a knock on the door. When he bade the person enter he was a little

surprised when Chloe came in. “Is there a problem, cousin?”

“Ah, aye, I believe so,” she replied as she walked up to stand at Julian’s side. “Do you recal where your favorite tree is?”

Although it seemed an odd question for her to ask, Julian nodded. “I have not been to it for a while. It might have been taken down by a storm for

al I know. It was very old.”

“It stil stands.”

“Have you been to see it?”

“In a manner of speaking. I did not have a vision but I did have a strong knowing.” She swal owed hard as the memory of what she had seen turned

her stomach a little. “I saw it clearly. Worse, I saw what was in it.”

Julian set down his drink and took her into his arms. “You have seen something dark again. Was it Arthur?”

“It had to have been his doing, but it is not him. I fear Beatrice is now hanging from your favorite tree.” She nodded when he stared at her in shock.

“She is dead and I suspect your uncle did it. That would mean he is close at hand just as you have suspected.”

Julian cursed and then sighed as he stared at the body of his late wife. If one did not see the contortion of her face, she would look almost

peaceful as her body swayed gently in the breeze. Hanging was a gruesome way to die, quite often no more than a slow strangulation, and Beatrice’s

once lovely face revealed every torturous moment.

“We had better cut her down,” he said as he dismounted.

“I can do it, m’lord,” said Jake, who had ridden with them, a spare horse trailing behind him. “I can get up in that tree easy as you like and cut her

down.”

“Thank you. I would appreciate it.”

As he stood watching the thin man nimbly scramble up the tree, Julian sensed Leo coming to stand at his side. “Not a pretty way to die.”