If You Were Mine (15 page)

“
His wife?” Peter’s brow rose in alarm.

“
Rupert told her I had wed another as soon as we departed for
Norfolk,” Dominic bit out, fighting to reign in his temper at the
web of lies and destruction Rupert had left behind him.

“
What?”
Peter stared at Isobel in
shock prompting Isobel to carefully explain Rupert’s satisfaction
in telling her of Dominic’s betrayal.

“
How in the hell do you think I could have quite casually
married anyone else?” Dominic’s voice was chiding, and he shook his
head at her regretfully at her lack of faith in him.

“
I had no reason to doubt him. Given your distant behaviour
the day you left for Norfolk, I knew something was wrong. I just
didn’t know what, and you didn’t seem to want to take me into your
confidence,” Isobel’s argued. “Rupert’s story seemed all that more
plausible and made your promise to offer assistance should I need
it, seem feebly offered.”

Dominic
shook his head, his gaze meeting Peter’s steady stare. He knew
Isobel had faced her ghosts head-on in an effort to help them. In
reality she had imparted little that would help them in securing
his arrest. However it did give everyone a better understanding of
what she had been through, and what ghosts she had to vanquish to
recover completely.

“
We thought you were dead,” Peter broke the silence. At
Isobel’s startled jump, he continued. “We were told you were dead,
and shown your grave.”

“
You were?” Isobel finished weakly turning her horrified gaze
towards Dominic.

Dominic
reached into his pocket and pulled out the thin gold chain that had
been the evidence used to convince them of her demise. “Why was
this on another body by the side of the road in
Newisham?”

He
watched carefully as Isobel stared in horror at the necklace
dangling from his fist. With a trembling hand she reached out to
touch the necklace that had once been so dear to her. Dominic
watched as her trembling hand hesitated mere inches from the
delicate object before dropping back into her lap with a thump. She
knew something, he was sure of it. His eyes met with hers
questioningly. He was unsurprised when her gaze slid away from his
guiltily. He knew her well enough to know that she was hiding
something.

“
Who gave it to you?” Isobel whispered, staring at her once
adored necklace with something akin to appalled horror. He noted
she didn’t ask where they had found it.

“
The magistrate gave it to us when we found your grave. It was
the only item found on the body of a badly beaten woman found by
the roadside. It was what convinced us that it was you they had
buried. It was once your most treasured possession was it not?”
Dominic was aware that his tone had become brisk, and did little to
hide his disquiet. He had never quite managed to banish the grief
of kneeling beside her grave. Suddenly, he was so very angry at the
misunderstandings of the past and after everything, her apparent
reluctance to trust him.

“
I-I don’t know,” Isobel said, breaking her fascinated stare
and looking at the floor. She jumped when Peter sat forward in his
seat.

“
Please Isobel, is there anything you can tell us that might
help, anything at all? Any snippets of conversation overheard.
People you met, anything?”

Isobel
frowned as she searched her memory. “I was kept locked in my room
upon first arriving in Gosport. I was only called down to listen to
one of Rupert’s rants, before I was sent back up to my room. I
didn’t even meet DeLisle as he was due to arrive the day after I
escaped. Once I got away from him, I kept moving and made sure I
stayed out of sight. I didn’t make eye contact with anyone, and I
am fairly positive nobody was following me.” There had been times
in the first couple of weeks of her flight that Isobel could quite
believe she was the only person in the whole world still alive.
Sometimes, she went two or three days without seeing anyone other
than sheep or cows.

“
Not until I met Dominic that day in the village,” she said,
glad to be able to turn the conversation away from the necklace and
toward the reassuring bulk of Dominic. She watched as he placed his
tea cup down upon the table beside the necklace with too much care.
She quickly looked away from the necklace that had once been so
dear to her – it made her feel far too uncomfortable. It reminded
her so much of what she had not told them.

Suddenly, she yawned loudly. “Oh please excuse me. That was
so rude of me.” The room began to swirl around her as tiredness
settled around her shoulders once more. “I suddenly feel so very
tired.”

“
You must be exhausted,” Dominic replied studying her pale
features with a frown. “It is the longest you have been up since
you arrived!” His brief smile didn’t reach his eyes as stood
up.

“
I do feel tired but also livelier than I have felt for a long
time. It feels good to be up and about.”

She was
swept high into his arms and only just managed to say a quick
good-bye to Peter, before she disappeared out of the
door.

“
You know you will have to allow me to walk the stairs by
myself sometime. At the rate I am putting on weight, you will be
lucky if you can get me off the ground, let alone up a flight of
steps.”

“
Well, manners dictate that I shouldn’t mention it, but now
that you have ...” Dominic shot her a teasing smile as he nudged
the door open with his foot before placing her carefully beside the
bed. “I am sure that I can manage a few more pounds before I need
to call a footman to help me.”

Isobel
thwacked his arm and shot him a mock glare. Dominic’s green gaze
caressed her moistened lips for several moments. Briefly, his eyes
touched hers as he breathed her name before gently placing a ghost
of a kiss across her lips.

“
Dominic,” Isobel moaned softly as his hands encircled her
waist, pulling her tighter into his embrace.

It was
all the permission Dominic needed, and he drew her even closer
until there wasn’t a breath of air between them. Slowly he devoured
her mouth with his. His hand snaked into the soft curls of her hair
holding her still as his lips plundered hers ruthlessly. Teasing
and tasting her; demanding her total compliance and accepting
nothing less than her absolute surrender.

Gasping
for breath, Isobel found her mouth suddenly released only for hot
molten kisses to be trailed down her neck. Tipping her head
backwards, she shivered with delight as his tongue dipped into the
hollow at the base of her neck before trailing back upwards to nip
at her ear. “I know your secret.” He whispered softly. Isobel
froze.

“
Pardon?” She willed herself not to look guilty, and remained
still as the white-hot haze of passion dwindled rapidly.

“
You need to trust me Isobel,” Dominic chided, staring into
her eyes meaningfully before casually releasing his hold on her. It
was almost painful to tear himself away from her lush bounty. He
kept his face carefully bland, and he turned to sit on the side of
the bed, staring into the fire as he willed his body to cool.
“Think on it. If our marriage is to be a happy one, there has to be
trust.” He knew she understood, and bit back a curse of frustration
when she stoically remained silent. Who was she
protecting?

Isobel
watched as his gaze hardened, and a muscle ticked steadily in his
jaw as the silence lengthened. He was angry at her. Very angry. She
raised her chin defiantly, and met his stare with a bland look of
query.

Disappointed she wasn’t willing to take him into her
confidence, Dominic heaved a sigh and stood.

“
I need to discuss several matters with Peter, and will be a
while. Sleep well,” he muttered, closing the door with a firm click
behind him.

He
wouldn’t return that night, whatever the personal cost to his
libido. She needed to decide if she would trust him implicitly or
not. A surge of anger swept through him as he considered the
different people she could be protecting, and what kind of hold
they had over her to make her so willing to go against the
protection of her brother, and future husband, to protect their
identity.

For one
thing was certain, it was definitely a man.

CHAPTER EIGHT

She
loved him wholeheartedly, and always had, Isobel mused several days
later as she stared out over the snow laden landscape despondently.
Since she had recounted life with Rupert, she certainly felt less
burdened by the stark memories of her experiences at his hands.
What bothered her more than anything was that for the second night
now, Dominic had not returned to the master suite to share the vast
expanse of bed with her. When they did meet up downstairs, he was
always formally polite, yet distant. As though disappointed with
her, and waiting.

She knew
he wanted her to tell him her secrets. Inwardly she knew she ought,
but loyalty to the man who had helped keep her alive and the
trouble she could bring him, kept her stoically quiet. Still, the
distance between herself and Dominic was something she couldn’t
stand for much longer. She wasn’t even certain she was relieved
that there had been no further mention of marriage between them. He
hadn’t pushed, or asked, or pestered. She wasn’t sure she liked it.
With a frown she contemplated her relationship with him.

From the
first time they had met at Willowbrook, her heart had been lost to
this handsome rogue whose persistent charm, and wry humour, had
captured her wilful soul and held it captive. It seemed such a long
time ago.

When
they first met, they had been fortunate enough to be able to spend
a considerable amount of time together. Albeit chaperoned in one
form or another. Either Peter, her Aunt Elspeth or one of the staff
were in attendance whenever they had found themselves together. To
the point that she considered she would scream if she wasn’t
allowed any time alone to talk to him. They had often shared
conspiratorial smiles of sympathy when their precious time together
had been interrupted. She had been heartened that he was seemingly
experiencing the same frustration at their lack of ability to be
alone together. Like a giddy young woman, she was soon eagerly
waiting for the time they would meet again.

He had
been visiting his uncle only a few miles away when he had answered
Peter’s invitation to dinner. Having recently returned from France,
both men had parted company to deal with urgent family matters.
Peter had returned to Willowbrook, and Dominic to Leicestershire to
deal with family business in Leicestershire. Several weeks later,
they had both been eager to catch up, and Dominic had readily
accepted Peter’s first of many invitations to dine at
Willowbrook.

For
several weeks he had taken every opportunity to call upon her at
Willowbrook, blatantly seeking her company to view the estates and
tour the house. Peter, bless him, had indulged the budding romance
while doing his best to protect his sister’s reputation as best he
could. Whilst not actively encouraging the relationship, he did
little to stop their closeness, and on several occasions had
actually created an opportunity for them to meet
himself.

Several
weeks later, they had just finished the last of their sumptuous
dinner when Dominic had broken with convention and requested a
private interview with Isobel. At Peter’s nod, he pushed away from
the table and moved to help a surprised Isobel out of her seat,
swiftly escorting her into the drawing room next door.

Isobel’s
heart thundered in her chest as she had followed him out of the
room. Was he about to ask her to marry him? Wildly possible and
impossible scenarios flew through her mind as she meekly followed.
Leaving the door slightly ajar, he moved to join her before the
window and allowed a few moments of quiet to settle between
them.

“
I wanted to speak to you before I go, Isobel,” he began
quietly, his eyes serious as they met hers.

For a
proposal, he was being rather stern, Isobel mused.

“
I am going away for a while.”

Isobel’s
stomach lurched sickeningly as his words sank in. She fought the
urge to cry as her heart broke just a little as her hopes were
dashed.

“
For long?” She tried to maintain a polite conversational
tone, careful not to betray the hurt his words caused
her.

“
Several months, I am afraid.” Dominic’s words fell like lead
between them, his own face solemn.

“
Are you travelling abroad?” Isobel wondered if he intended to
return. He seemed strangely vague. Not that he had to answer to her
in any way, Isobel sternly reminded herself. He was quite a free
man to do as he wished, but some inner voice of caution warned her
that he wasn’t being entirely honest with her.

“
No, my dear.” Dominic knew she was confused and worried, and
hated not being able to reveal everything to her. After all he had
every intention of taking her to wife. He just couldn’t do it
yet.

“
This is strictly between us.” He waited until he received her
nod of agreement before continuing. “Peter and I have been asked to
undertake a secret mission by the Prince Regent himself. There is a
group of smugglers running rife along the Norfolk coast. People are
dying as the gang is becoming more and more ruthless. Something
needs to be done.” Dominic squeezed her hands and gently tugged her
closer, pleased when she didn’t protest at his familiarity with
her.