One Rogue Too Many (26 page)

***

Gabby blinked, unable to believe what she was holding. The surface was worn smooth, but there was no mistaking the heart-shaped rock.

Flashes of that day made her quiver. Anthony flinging away her gift. His sneer. But there was more to her memories this time. His mournful gaze fixed on the ground. His fist shoved into his pocket.

She licked her lips. “You kept it?”

He gently took the rock and cradled it in his palm. “Yes.”

A thousand thoughts swirled in her head, disputing what she’d always considered the truth. “But I saw you throw it away.”

“You saw me pretend to throw it away.”

She blinked back tears as the hurt she’d known that day returned in a flood. “But why?”

He sat up halfway and captured her face. His eyes drilled into her. “I never wanted to hurt you. I swear it. But Drew would have harassed me the whole ride back to school, and I didn’t want him teasing you for the kindest gesture anyone had ever shown me. I’m sorry, Gabby. More than I can ever say.”

“Why didn’t you ever tell me you’d kept it?”

“When I saw how stricken you were, I hated myself. I meant to tell you I’d kept it, but by the time I saw you next, it had been months. You seemed to have forgotten everything, and I would have felt daft bringing it up. I thought it had only been important to me. I didn’t see the truth until now.”

She hadn’t forgotten, but she had learned to cover her hurt feelings with happy chatter.

His thumb traced the curve of her jaw, sending warmth radiating down her back and spiraling in her lower belly. His touch drove away the doubts that had plagued her for too long. He’d kept her gift. All these years, it meant something to him.
She
meant something.

“Do you always carry it with you?”

His Adam’s apple bobbed as he rubbed the rock between his thumb and finger. “I’ve kept it in my pocket every day since you gave it to me. It was a little piece of you—of your heart. You were the closest I ever had to family that cared about me.”

His image blurred like a watercolor painting. How long had he felt unloved and alone? Probably most of his life. The thought made her want to weep.

“Anthony,
I
love you.”

He shrugged and slipped the rock into his pocket. “I know.”

Did he really? Had he felt so unloved in his life that he didn’t believe her?

“I don’t think you do.” She placed a tiny kiss on his lips. “I love you. There is nothing you can do that will drive me away, so stop trying.”

“I haven’t been trying to drive you away.”

“Haven’t you been? You ignored my letter, pretended you’d never received it. You hid the fact that you had kept my gift. You don’t have to be afraid I’m not going to love you back. I have loved you all my life and I’ll never stop.”

He blinked, perhaps shocked that she saw through his bravado. Why had it taken her so long to notice his vulnerabilities? Because she hadn’t been seeing
him
, not really. She had looked at him with a girl’s eyes and placed him on a pedestal next to God himself, then suffered when he hadn’t lived up to her expectations. Suddenly, her world felt right. Anthony wasn’t above her and out of her reach. He was here, flesh and blood, flawed just as she was, and she loved him even more.

Cupping his face, she leaned toward him. “From this day forward, I take you as my husband. You are mine and I am yours forever.”

A broad smile broke across his face. “You do realize you’ll have to wait until we are in Scotland before we can be married.”

“Not in my heart.”

When she pressed her lips to his, a loud crash of thunder rattled the windows. Or perhaps it was simply the effect of his kiss. Together, they were combustible. He could anger her beyond reason or incite her passion until she couldn’t think, but sometimes not thinking was the biggest gift someone could be given.

Their mouths moved together hungrily, driven by a need for more. She’d meant every word. She was his. Surrendering to the desire that had been pulsing inside her for years, she parted her lips and welcomed his tongue. Each languorous sweep was incredibly erotic as they shared every breath and thundering heartbeat.

She buried her fingers in his golden hair. The skies outside were dark and furious, but he was her sun. How could she have ever thought herself capable of turning away from him?

He held her tight against him and wriggled them around until she was beneath him. His lips touched the corner of her mouth, her chin, and her neck.

“I love you too,” he murmured, his breath hot against her skin.

Her heart nearly burst. Although he’d said the words in the past, it was different this time. He’d risked everything to have her.

His hand wrapped around her ribs, his thumb brushing the underside of her breast as his mouth slid down to her shoulder and along her collarbone. Scrumptious shivers raced down her back.

When he kissed the swell of her breast, she gasped softly. It was a most wicked place to be kissed, and she was certain it was wicked of her to like it.

Anthony drew back. His chest rose and fell in jerky motions. “Th-that’s enough of that, then.”

She smiled and urged his head lower. “It’s not nearly enough for me.”

He pulled back again and laughed, stirring a lock of hair that had fallen on his forehead. “Not for me either, Lady Bug. But a man must have some honor.”

She rolled her eyes. “That would make you the only man I know who has any.”

A dark scowl greeted her comment. “What is that to mean? Has another gentleman taken liberties?”

When he tried to sit up, she grabbed his shoulders to keep him close. “Not with me, ninnyhammer. But I’m not ignorant of the ways of men. Ladies talk.”

His frown disappeared and he returned to cuddling her.

She smiled, perhaps a bit smugly. He wasn’t as determined to release her as he’d indicated. “I know for a fact my brothers weren’t always on their best behavior with their future wives.”

Anthony kissed the tip of her nose. “It’s one thing to forgive yourself a misstep, but there are different sets of rules for one’s sister.”

“Good thing I’m not your sister,” she teased.

He laughed. “Yes, or this would be very awkward.”

She swatted him on the shoulder, chuckling despite herself. “And now you’ve spoiled the mood.”

Offering her a hand up, he settled on the couch beside her then bumped her with his shoulder. “Tell me the truth. You were drawing me as a jackass again, weren’t you?”

She wrinkled her nose and pursed her lips, trying not to smile as she recalled the caricature she had drawn the day after he snuck a frog into her bed. “No, but it would serve you right if I did, especially after insisting on upholding your honor.”

He hugged her. “Don’t be upset with me, sweetheart. Look at this place. I want everything to be perfect when we lie together our first time.”

She glanced at the dusty furnishings and cobwebs coating the ceiling with a dawning sense of disgust.

“You deserve flowers and pretty linens.” Lacing their fingers, he brought her hand to his lips to place a soft kiss. “You deserve the vows that will bind us together.”

“I already gave you my vow,” she grumbled, but with less conviction. He was right. She did want flowers, pretty linens, and candles, even though the only thing that should matter was love. Glancing up at the peeling wall covering, she admitted their surroundings mattered more to her than she’d first thought.

“As you wish,” she mumbled.

He chucked her on the chin. “I
wish
this room could be transformed with the snap of my fingers, but since it can’t, we should continue to the border as soon as the storm wanes. Only two more days and we’ll be married.”

Two days seemed like forever.

Twenty-six

Sebastian cursed the rain as he left the Red Stag Inn on a fresh horse. The storm had forced him to take shelter until afternoon, and even though he’d needed the sleep, the delay increased his frustration.

He had ridden hard for hours last night before realizing Ellis hadn’t taken the Great North Road like any other sane gent. Not that Sebastian should be surprised. Sebastian had rarely known the earl to do anything that implied good sense. Their first encounter at Eton had been a testament to Ellis’s lack of judgment.

Sebastian had been a new student and different from his classmates. He hadn’t come from generations of pampered aristocrats, and it showed in his manners and bearing. His father had been a soldier in the King’s infantry, where fancy words didn’t keep men alive.

Sebastian and Eve had been given all the advantages their father never had, but their sire’s influence had still been present in their home. No amount of instruction had been able to change the fact their father’s blood wasn’t blue and their attitudes were bourgeois.

Hard work and determination reaped rewards, and one couldn’t sit around waiting for fortune to fall into one’s lap. That little tidbit of advice from his father hadn’t made him many friends among a class of lads who’d done nothing besides enjoy a leisurely existence with the full knowledge fortune
would
land in their laps.

Yet it was Father’s strange spells at the most inopportune moments, believing he was still at battle, that set the Thornes apart. Apparently, his father was the talk of the
ton
, because every boy at Eton had heard tales of his madness. Sebastian’s teeth ground together as he recalled the taunts, and he still wanted to fight, but how could he defeat a memory?

There were three boys in particular who’d tormented him. Bullies, all of them. It soon became clear Sebastian wouldn’t be rid of them until he fought his way free.
Hard
work
and
determination
reap
rewards
. He’d known he would suffer a beating against three of them at once, but he’d planned to get in enough licks to prove he was not a victim. He had been holding his own, too, until Ellis interfered.

Sebastian had been knocked down for the fourth time, but he was struggling to his feet when the bloody earl entered with fists swinging. He took out the leader in one lucky punch and soon the others turned tail. Within moments, Ellis was a hero and Sebastian became a weakling in need of protection.

When the taunts and beatings continued, Sebastian knew the only way to escape was to prove himself superior to Ellis. So, he’d set on a course to challenge the earl and come out the victor. As Sebastian grew in size and strength, the mocking and fistfights had ended. His rivalry with Ellis had become a game in time, more a source of amusement for Sebastian. Until Lady Gabrielle’s hand became the prize.

If Sebastian could have caught the earl’s coach before dawn and rescued Lady Gabrielle, no one would have been wiser. Now there was no hope of keeping her abduction a secret. Her family was likely cancelling their wedding, which would make Sebastian a laughingstock again.

Worse. A bloody cuckold!
Abandoned at the altar just like his sister.

Perhaps he wasn’t the most upstanding gentleman in London, but Eve was a saint. She deserved better than life had doled out, and Sebastian couldn’t fail her.

Ellis’s coach must travel through Penrith to reach Gretna Green, and Sebastian would be waiting. He would rescue Lady Gabrielle, save her reputation, and somehow convince the
ton
she had eloped with
him
. He didn’t know what reason they would supply since their wedding had been only a couple of days away, but his future wife was a clever girl. She would help him create a believable story.

First he must deal with Ellis, however, and Sebastian hadn’t yet discounted a lead ball for the earl.

***

Night fell, but the carriage didn’t stop except to change horses and allow Gabby a chance to freshen up from time to time. At their last stop, Anthony had procured a basket of food, and she was greedily devouring a chicken leg. The savory meat was like a taste of heaven after the meager meal she’d had much earlier in the day. Juice dripped on her décolletage, and she felt a warm flush rising into her cheeks.

Anthony wiped the juice with his handkerchief and chuckled. “I had hoped your dowry would offset the cost of feeding you, but I don’t suppose there is much chance your brother will allow us to have it now. Abduction is a messy business.”

She laughed, forgetting to be embarrassed by her poor manners. “You could hold me for ransom.”

He hugged her and placed a kiss on her forehead. “A ransom implies I’m willing to give you up, and I’m not.”

She was unwilling to be given up, too. The warm glow that had enveloped her earlier that afternoon had settled in her heart. “Then I shall try not to drain the coffers with my appetite, but I can’t make any promises.”

“Fair enough.”

She captured her bottom lip between her teeth and studied him. Dark shadows had formed under his eyes, and his movements had grown more sluggish throughout the journey. How long could he go without sleep?

“You look exhausted. And you’ve barely eaten anything,” she said.

“I ate.”

Not enough for a grown man. Their hurried pace was taking a toll on him. And she could use a bath.

She packed the remainder of her meal into the basket and wiped her mouth. “We’re taking a room at the next inn.”

He shook his head. “We have to keep going if we want to reach the border before nightfall tomorrow. We won’t be able to evade your brothers much longer.”

“What makes you think they would bother giving chase?”

He scoffed.

“I’m serious,” she said, facing him. She’d been giving their situation thought this evening. “If Lizzie helped you make arrangements to whisk me away, she wouldn’t hide it from Luke. Well, perhaps she would hide
her
part in everything, but she wouldn’t want to worry Mama.”

“And you believe your sister told your family we eloped rather than the truth.”

She caressed his jaw, stubble rough against her palm. “We
are
eloping.”