Lady X (18 page)

“Hungry little wench, m’darlin lass,” he murmured as he got into position with his rod and whispered her name. “Exerilla…ye were made for me. Do ye feel what I feel?”

“I don’t know what you feel, but this feels right,” was all she could offer him.
They had now
. That was all she would have with him was now. In a few months, she would return to her time, and he would be stuck back here in his.

The thought made her desperate. His kisses blazed a path over her body. She was on fire for him and she wanted him inside of her, pumping away, making her all his. She was headed for heartache, because she knew
this was it.
This was the one.

Her rump once again in his hands; he raised her up and thrust harder and faster and sent her into a world of sensation. She pumped against him while hearing the low throttled growls of pleasure come from deep in his throat. She was emboldened to meet him thrust for thrust.

All at once, he stopped and pulled out. His words were edged with feeling and passion. “This way, lass.” He rolled her over and lifted her up so that she was on her hands and knees. Her rump was against his hard cock as he thrust into her again, until she exploded with the onslaught.

He didn’t stop. He was like a wild man as he yelled out her name, lunging into her. He was giving so much more than he took, as his hands fondled her back into passion once more. All at once, they climaxed together and sank onto the hearth rug in one another’s arms.

No one spoke for a moment until he said, “Did ye feel that, lass? Did ye feel that white lightning between us?”

“Yes,” she said and decided to leave it at that.

“I’ve never felt this way before,” he added and reached over to fondle her breast. “I doona want to let ye go. I want to take ye home with me and keep ye as m’own.”

She laughed. “I’m not a wind up toy.”

“Wind up toy?” He shook his head. “Ye say strange things, Exerilla Radley. I still claim ye as m’own. There be naught ye can do aboot it, but enjoy.”

“Ha! There will be no claiming, here. I am my own woman,” she said and eyed him a warning.

He laughed. “So ye are, and I like it. Want it or no, I claim thee for m’own,” he answered stubbornly.

She smiled and touched his cheek “Then I have the right, to do the same.”

“Aye, lass ye have the right. I give it to ye freely,” he said and kissed her long and sweetly.

* * *

Two days had passed since Hunter had seen her.

He thought he would go mad. Mary Horwich had taken Exerilla with her on an overnight trip to visit with a friend and do a little shopping.

At any rate, he had a job to do. Tomorrow he would see her, because he couldn’t bear another day without her in it.

No time to think this out. Night had already fallen and he had to concentrate on the job at hand.

He was energized and slightly confused by all that he felt because of the lass. He was also ready for the action he had promised his brother he would take.

As he sat his horse and waited, he couldn’t stop thinking about her. He had met his match in Exerilla Radley.

She was everything he could ever want and more,
and yet the question of her being human, remained.

When they had joined, he had felt a connection of something more than passion and more than what he had expected.

A bolt of light had engulfed him and he thought it was from
his
magic. He hadn’t been able to explain it, other than thinking something deep in his wizard’s soul had decided the human girl was his mate.

Her scent lingered long after he took her home and that scent was more than human. It tasted of his own brand of magic. He shrugged the notion off. He questioned himself for doubting her. She was a very special human, but human all the same. She could have magic inside her and not know it? It may have been shielded from him. He could still feel the sensation of floating when he escorted her home that afternoon, after they had made love. He didn’t want to stop. He wanted to bury himself deep inside her and never leave.

He knew he had to see her safely home. Somehow he had managed the strength to pull himself together.

He had escorted her back to Horwich and left her there. He could still feel the sensation of feeling momentarily stunned. He didn’t want to leave her and go. Not even for a night. It was as though an invisible thread, beautiful and bright held her to his heart and body. Breaking that thread had left him empty and lost.

During the past two days, he had visited Horwich House only to find that Mrs. Horwich had taken her off for a short trip to visit with a friend.

He had been devastated to find she wasn’t near.

She could not be with him forever. She was human--she would grow old and die and he would be lost. He had allowed this to happen.

Even so, he had decided he had to be with her for as long as time would allow. He could not do without her, human or not.

This evening, however he had to take care of business and put matters into motion. Jerry Swit had finally returned. He looked haggard and unhappy which was very much unlike himself. Something was wrong with him, as though he had been spooked.

His lordship had watched him as he scarcely ate before announcing that he was off for town. Hunter looked at Jacob who shrugged his shoulders as they finished dinner quietly together.

His lordship waited only a bit before he headed out and it didn’t take him long to find Swit sitting on the front steps of the Mermaid Tavern.

Hunter tethered his horse to the hitching post and sat with him. “Ye doona look happy, man.” He saw Swit’s hand on his gun and added, “Ye will never have it cocked in time.”

Swit had already relaxed his hand when he recognized the voice and shrugged, “Eh, tis you then? Couldn’t quite tell in the dark. What in thunder brings you out this evening? Thought you and Jacob were going to settle in for a night of cards.”

“I might ask ye the same thing, but I don’t have to…I actually know.”

“What do you think you know?”

“That you have been playing spy for the enemy.” Hunter’s voice was grim and hardened. He allowed no room for dissembling.

Swit released a long breath of air and sounded beaten. “Are you working for the someone else then?”

“Not exactly. I am working for m’own end, and have m’own rules,” Hunter answered on a warning note.

Swit peered through the darkness. “Never say you want to be paid for your silence.” Clearly he was shocked by such a notion.

“Doona be daft. What ye will give me are the names.” Hunter’s voice was unflinching and certain.

“What are you asking me to do?” Swit’s hand frazzled his hair.

“Who supplied Horwich with the billets he has been shipping off to the French army and Napoleon? Who?”

“Why should I tell you that?”

“Because I will help you out of this mess, if from this night on you make up for your lack of patriotism by working to help me.”

“I want amnesty,” Swit said.

“I can’t give you that. I really am working for myself, but help me and I won’t expose the part you played with Horwich in the past. Agreed?”

“Blister it, Hunter! I…”

His lordship cut him off. “The names, Jerry.”

“Why do you care so much?”

“It is a matter of honor, doona ye feel it? The soldiers fighting with Wellington shouldn’t be betrayed. My brother is on his staff and I mean to help him find out who is the traitor.”

“Ah, your brother,” Swit said with sudden dawning.

“The name of yer connection. Doona ye see it? He is supplying the French with our military secrets and falsifying intelligence arriving from our people over there. There are some looking at m’brother and pointing a finger in his direction. We canna have that now can we?”

Swit blew out a thoughtful whistle. “Right then. His name is Bellingham, but before you get yourself all excited, he got spooked. Says he won’t deliver anything more to us. Told Horwich to deal with someone else, and I swear I don’t know the name of the new man.”

“It doesn’t matter. What about the man on Wellington’s staff?”

“I’m not sure…”

“Right then. We are going to close down the entire operation. Who was yer French connection?” his lordship asked quietly.

“Now there is the rub,” Swit answered with a frown. “My business has been land smuggling. Most of my life, I have had to engage in such. I don’t like blabbing out names. Bad for business, you know.”

“I don’t care who ye smuggle brandy with. I want the name of the man who took the billets from ye on the French side.”

“That’s just it. He was just a middleman. His mainline is brandy. We’ve been partners up and down the coast, more years than you know and longer than I’ve known Horwich.”

“Jerry, I need the name,” his lordship returned grimly.

“No. He isn’t your man. What you need is to know who Bellingham was working with in Belgium and who his contact on Wellington’s staff is. Not your brother, so do process of elimination.”

His lordship mulled this over and Jerry added, “Can I have your word to keep me out of this muddle?”
 “Jerry, you deserve to be hung with the rest of them. Get in my way, betray me now, and any agreement we have will no longer exist.”

Swit eyed him consideringly and shrugged “Fair enough.” He sighed heavily. “The truth is I told Horwich I wanted out. I don’t hold with betraying my country. A little brandy. Aye, free trading we call it sure, but not this sort of thing.”

“Ye know more than ye are telling me,” his lordship accused.

“Here it is then, David was already smuggling brandy with his father, long before I met him. I liked working with the squire. He was no nonsense and oddly enough not greedy. He liked the blunt, but was easily satisfied.”

“Get to the point and no embellishments,” his lordship interjected.

“Right . The point being, the squire and I managed quite well until David met up with Bellingham.”

“Och aye! We have established Bellingham from the Home Office works with ye…”

“Hold on, I’m getting to it
. Certes
! Let a man work his way into it.” Swit grimaced at him and continued. “You see it wasn’t so simple at first. Bellingham came to David as a representative from the Home Office. They wanted us to run our messages to a courier for Wellington. French excisemen look the other way when their boys smuggle brandy out, you know.” He eyed him then. “It wasn’t until late in the game that I realized Bellingham was altering the messages that Wellington would receive. I came to understand that he was helping the Frogs, he was. I don’t hold with that. So, you have to consider how many men on Wellington’s immediate staff? One of them has to be the traitor. Find him, and you clear your brother. You don’t need my Frenchy.”

“Aye then, Jerry, your game is played,” his lordship cautioned.

“Mine yes, but you had better watch your back. Horwich wants you dead. Has a fancy for that pretty Radley chit and means to have her one way or another. He told me to try and push you overboard the other night.” He grinned. “I told him, you never gave me your back.” He scratched his head. “I know I said that at one time, that I wanted to bed the lass. All this business. I don’t know. I’ve lost interest.”

“I will see him rot in hell before he ever touches a hair on Miss Radley’s head,” snapped his lordship.

Swit eyed him interestedly then and said, “Aye. Mayhap we’ll all be meeting in hell one day.”

~ Nineteen ~

SIR JACOB UNDID his cravat and threw it across the room, aiming poorly at the dresser table and missing it.

His companion eyed him thoughtfully and patted the bed. “Come Jacob, tell me what is wrong.”

“You know what is wrong, so don’t patronize me,” Jacob retorted irritably. “I can’t do it. I simply cannot offer her a life that would be a lie. I like Exerilla too much for that.”

“You would be saving her from a life of drudgery at the Horwich House. She can never hope to make a match with no dowry and no entre to the Haute Ton,” Lucas Osgood cajoled as he put both hands behind his head and moved into a reclining position against the large pillows against the headboard of his bed in the inn’s largest bedroom suite.

Sir Jacob removed his waistcoat and hung it over a chair. Out of the corner of his eye, he glanced at Lucas and thought how devilishly attractive he was. “You always patronize me.”

“I am sorry, Jacob. I did not realize I was doing that, but think about it. You will give Exerilla Radley a good life.”

“No, I would be giving her an empty home. She deserves to have a man she can love and one who can love her back.” He sat on the bed beside Lucas and said on a groan, “I can’t do what you ask.”

Lucas’ expression turned ugly, “You are just a boy without sense. You need to prove your manhood to the world, produce an heir. You can do that much and we can proceed comfortably together without anyone wiser.” He took Jacob’s hand. “Don’t you want to move forward with me?”

“You have no cause to ask that,” Jacob answered quietly.

“I am some years older. It may be that you have had a change of heart, of taste?” Lucas said not quite meeting Jacob’s eye.

“You know very well how I feel about you,” Jacob looked steadily at him.

“Then it is settled. It is for your sake, after all. My life is something I long ago camouflaged in subterfuge. People think I am a hardened bachelor, a libertine that goes about ravishing women and breaking their hearts. It was my only safe way out, to make everyone think that of me. You, on the other hand, fair of face and nature will never be thought a heartbreaking rogue. You must marry and Exerilla Radley is in need. She likes you and you have developed an easy friendship.”

“But,” Sir Jacob said. “We
are
friends. I cannot do this to her.”

“Think about it, Jacob, my sweet love,” Lucas said as he tugged on the hand he held and pulled his lover closer.

“Yes, Lucas, for you, I will think about it,” Jacob said softly.

* * *

Baudali watched David accost the pretty human, Exerilla as she attempted to walk down to the Horwich stables. Everything about this human male seemed aggressive. Horwich would be of no use to him. He was flawed, off balanced and behaving erratically. In fact, Baudali thought him mad.

Baudali’s dark cold eyes perused Exerilla Radley. Something about her still disturbed him, yet he could not penetrate through to her thoughts and he could not see past the human glow that surrounded her.

“Ah, bah,” he said out loud. He didn’t have time for this.

He couldn’t dally over nuances, though his twin, his
good
wizard brother always cautioned that an entire story lived in the nuances.

June 18
^th
was quickly approaching and he required a ready step by step to be inaugurated into his plan if it was to be implemented successfully.

Confident, that he had the perfect plan, he was not overly concerned. He would need to show some patience and restraint. Timing he told himself over and over, was everything.

He knew just what he would do with the little human woman, Exerilla. The only thing he had to decide was
when
. She was his for the taking, his for the taunting, and even his for the killing, whenever he chose.

Perhaps Baudali would snatch the human away just a night or two before Waterloo. This would leave Hunter MacTorry to face him on the battlefield under the worst circumstances, with two to save instead of one. He would taunt Hunter; tell him to pick one to save either his brother or his lady love. He would then, of course kill them both. He smiled at the thought. Hunter’s mother had rejected him, and he would kill her sons for that rejection.
She
should have been his and now he would be rid of all that was linked to
her
. Hunter looked the most like
her
. So much more than Ferrell did. Hunter had
her
blue eyes and the same strong will and he would see him dead for it!

The notion made him smile broadly and he waited, watched and listened as Exerilla wagged a finger at David.

David reached out and grabbed Exerilla’s arm. She snatched it away with more than normal female strength.

David frowned but dismissed this and said only, “My, the little tart is strong.”

“You are a bully, and bullies usually go down hard. I’m waiting for that day David and hope it will be a long time before the dust settles and you are able to get up.”

“Do you still let
him
kiss you?’

“I don’t know who
him
is supposed to be, but it doesn’t matter. I don’t kiss and tell,
but I will tell
you this. You don’t have a rat’s ass of a chance in hell of getting a willing kiss from me…ever!”

“
Foul mouthed tart
. I will have anything I want from you. Who is to stop me?” he reached for her and pressed her hard against his chest.

She wasn’t sure what she should do. She couldn’t use her witch’s strength without giving herself away. She came down hard on his boot covered toe with her own hard heel.

He jumped and yowled in pain and then he reached for her shoulders and shook her. “I will have you, when you least expect it! I will be waiting for you! I will throw you on the ground, rip off your clothes and treat you like the harlot I know you must be!”

“Oh, is that what I am? A harlot? Let me tell you about myself. This
harlot
is dangerous to your well being. I would be careful, if I were you, because harlots are street wise and know just how to take care of themselves!” She said as she pulled away and ran toward the stable. She knew he wouldn’t chase her. That would not work with the huge ego he carried. He wouldn’t want the groom and head groom to see him chasing her.
Servants talk.

For the moment she was safe from his further advances and hateful self. She had a problem remaining at Horwich House. Being in David’s vicinity was beginning to look and feel threateningly uncomfortable at the very least.

Baudali had watched and listened to their interaction. He had heard her words and David’s threats, but he had been unable to hear
her
thoughts. He had been able to enter David’s mind and hear his awful twisted plans, but something was blocking the woman’s thoughts. He shrugged. Now and then, he came across a human like that, who could unknowingly shield their thoughts from him.

It seemed that she had made an enemy of sorts in David Horwich, who might even be suspected, when she vanished. That was good. If need be, it would win him time and confuse and delay Hunter MacTorry’s reaction.

* * *

At that moment, Lord MacTorry reined in his horse and looked past the field toward Horwich House. He could fit in a quick visit if he hurried. He wanted to see her, but
needed
was an even better word. He needed to see Exerilla with every fiber of his being! His days away had served to make him all too aware of what she meant to him.

A vision in green, wearing no hat, and wildly careening like a young hoyden over her fence presented itself and tickled him with pleasure.

She was riding Jack and the old gelding was giving her a speed, he had never thought the aged horse capable of delivering.

He chuckled and then something in her seat and the way she held herself, made him realize she was distressed.

The notion did something to him. It was as though his heart moved in his chest. His entire system trembled with uneasiness. The blood skittered fervently through his blood. She seemed disturbed, hurting, and all at once,
so was he.

Within the flash of a moment, without further thought, he put his horse into gear and took off across the field.

She saw him and he felt a wave of pleasure as an immediate smile altered the look of distress that had been on her face only moments ago.

He wasn’t sure what was happening to him. Perhaps this was what his father called
bonding
, when a wizard meets his true mate.

He had no time to think, he reined in his horse as she slowed to a trot and rode up to him.

“You are back,” was what she said for when she had returned with Mary it was to find that he had gone off somewhere.

She tickled him, “So I am. Did ye miss me, lass?”

She met his gaze and he knew he had never before known such a woman. Would never again, know such a woman. She surprised him with an open, honest response, “So much.”

“Is that why ye were riding to the devil?” he teased in a light hearted manner, hoping to find the source of her earlier displeasure.

“Ha, I wasn’t
riding to
the devil, I was riding
away
from the devil,” she said and sighed. “David Horwich just won’t stop. He says I am going to be his, one way or another, and I am heartily sick of him.”

“I’ll have his head I will if ever he lays hand to ye, lass.”

She frowned and added, “And then there is Sir Jacob. If I didn’t know better, I would say he has been trying to fix his interest with me. Impossible to imagine, because I thought we were friends and that he
had no
interest …well, suddenly his attentions have become very marked and very uncomfortable.”

“Upon my soul! Jacob?” his lordship was in fact stunned by this last piece of information.

She eyed him, and a playful light came into her eyes, “It might be nice to be married to Sir Jacob. He is such a good young man, warm hearted and it would get me out of Horwich House.”

He turned shocked blue eyes to her, “Exerilla…”

She laughed right out loud, and he reached for her chin and held it as he gritted his teeth, “Do not trifle with me, woman.”

The smile in his bright blues belied any doubts she had and she sighed, “Life is so complicated right now.”

“Aye, that it is.” He dismounted and reached up for her, “Coom sweet lass, walk with me a spell.”

She immediately threw her leg over her ladies’ pommel and slid down into his arms. He held her, put his head down to rest his chin near her face. “Lass, lass, what ye do to me, I canna explain it even to m’self.” He pulled the horses along, and she watched as he deftly situated their steeds so that he could hold her undetected by any passerby.

He wanted to kiss her right there and then. He wanted to throw off her clothes, let magic do it for him this time, so he could get at her quicker. He wanted to lay her in the grass on a bed of wildflowers and bury himself deep inside. He wanted to take her and make her his own. She was his, and he knew in that moment, he wanted the world to know it as well.

What was he going to do?

He had meant his kiss to be a gentle thing, but somehow he lost control and the fever called Exerilla. A fever that pumped blood to his heart and turned his brain into a firestorm took over. He couldn’t think any longer. All he knew was that he had to taste her over and over again.

Life with Exerilla had become an all consuming need for Hunter MacTorry.

“I was lost without ye, love,” he said quietly.

“I had no choice. I had to accompany Mary, but Hunter, I was a mess and I missed you so very much.”

He crushed her in his embrace. He only knew he wanted this to go on forever.

* * *

She only knew she wanted this to go on forever.

She was an immortal, and it hurt to think that one day in the near future she would have to walk away from him. That knowledge made her response desperate as she clung to him and her kisses were an all consuming response to his.

Suddenly she felt the cool wind between them and he was setting her away from himself. “Och lass, I have to stop now or I’ll be laying ye down right here, and that, m’own sweet darlin’ just wouldna do.”

Why not
? She would lay with him anywhere.

He seemed to read her face and laughed as he touched her chin and dropped a light kiss on her lips. Even that quick, simple kiss sent a rush of feeling through her and when she opened her eyes, she saw that his were closed as well. She wondered at it. She was curious as to what he was thinking and feeling.

“I doona want ye to worry, m’sweet. I mean to make David Horwich grovel in the dirt for any discomfort he caused ye.”

“Oh no, no, please don’t get into a fight with him. That will only make things worse,” she worried.

“Never ye mind, I will do what needs to be done of that ye can be certain,” he had her chin in one hand, his other hand at her back pulling her closer, “it will not cause ye any trouble. I will not let him tarnish yer name, and he will not be bothering ye any longer.”