Pursued By The Viscount (16 page)

Those things aside, William had progressed very rapidly to being the happy little boy he had always been. These past two mornings, he had even demanded a walk to the park to play with the other children, as he had always done in the past.

Rachel doubted William had forgotten the experience, or Brooketon, but the resilience of the very young seemed to have allowed him to move past it.

She was not so lucky and still woke every night in a panic, sure that William had been taken from her again. Only a visit to the nursery to watch William as he slept reassured her that it was not so.

It was at those times Rachel most longed for Lucien. To have his strong arms about her, his presence beside her, as reassurance all was now right with the world.

She had kept the promises she had made when she prayed that day. Had attended church on Sunday and would do so again this following Sunday. Had been kind to everyone. Had visited her parents with William and inwardly forgiven them for something that had been beyond their control. She had even managed to forgive James after a fashion. Not his brutality, but at least she now knew the reason for it. Stanforth was a little harder to forgive, but it was hard to hate a man who was dead and buried.

But through all that, she had longed for Lucien. For the man who had disappeared so completely from her life, she had started to wonder if their affair had ever really happened.

 
Seeing Lucien again tonight was enough to tell Rachel her feelings for him had only grown stronger in his absence.

“I believe it was mentioned this afternoon when Brooketon joined Julian and me for tea,” Thea answered her.

Rachel sighed. “But you did not feel it necessary to inform me?”

Thea raised her brows. “Your complete disinterest in the viscount this past week did not indicate you had a wish to know of his whereabouts, this evening or any other.”

Rachel was not uninterested in Lucien. How could she be when she longed, ached for him? She simply had no idea how to get past the rift that now existed between the two of them. Or if Lucien wished to do so. Nor did she desire to trespass where she was no longer wanted.

“I believe you might take this opportunity to at least thank him in person for his assistance in returning William to you,” Thea advised as there came a break in the recital and everyone stood to retire to the adjoining room for refreshments.

“I sent him a note. He did not even bother to reply.” She frowned, too shy to so much as glance in Lucien’s direction as he and the duke waited for Thea to join them.

Her friend sighed. “I believe you and Brooketon are at cross-purposes, and if one of you does not soon step down from your stubborn stance, you will lose each other by default.”

“We never had each other,” she said heavily.

Thea came to a halt before they reached the two men. “Rachel, I am going to talk to you with complete honesty. For your own good, you understand? Brooketon, like Julian, prefers to give the appearance of a man in complete control of his world. And to a certain degree, they are. But emotions, affairs of the heart, are not easy for men like them. They simply do not understand them, tend to take things at face value. Julian is different now, of course.” She gave her husband a loving smile, a smile he returned with the same open affection. “But that is not the case with you and Brooketon. I know he has assumed you have no desire to see or speak to him again. Pride is a wonderful thing to have.” Thea squeezed Rachel’s hand. “But not if it robs you of the man you love.”

Was it pride holding her back from going to Lucien?

There was absolutely no doubt now in Rachel’s mind that she did love him. So much, she ached to see and be with him again.

She straightened her shoulders. “I will join the three of you for refreshment.”

“Oh no, love.” Thea smiled to take the sting out of her words. “In this you must go to Brooketon because you want to, not because it is socially polite for you to join us.” She gave Rachel’s hand another squeeze before departing to take her husband’s arm and allowing him to escort her through to where refreshments were being served.

Rachel felt very conscious of the fact there were now only half a dozen people left in the room, and two of them were herself and Lucien.

Could she take encouragement from the fact he had not followed the Blackmoors through to the adjoining room but lingered where she was?

She had to take encouragement from somewhere, so it might as well be that.

Lucien felt himself tensing as Rachel crossed the room toward him. She looked very beautiful this evening in a pale gold silk gown, a matching ribbon adorning her hair. She was pale and slightly thinner than he remembered, which was perhaps to be expected after the events of a week ago, but still strikingly beautiful.

“My lord.” She curtseyed.

“My lady.” He bowed.

Inwardly, Lucien chafed and roiled against their formality. He’d had his lips and hands on this lady. On every part of her. Inside as well as out. For the two of them to be behaving as casual acquaintances was unacceptable.

“Did you enjoy the recital?” she enquired with that same politeness.

“Tolerably.”

She nodded. “I was surprised to see you here this evening.”

“Not as surprised as I,” Lucien drawled. The evening had been tedious in the extreme. If not for it allowing him to gaze his fill of Rachel without her being aware of it, he would have left almost as soon as he had arrived. “Her Grace informs me that William has made a full recovery from his ordeal.”

“Yes.” Her expression brightened at mention of her son. “I cannot express how grateful I am to you and Blackmoor for all the help you gave me that day.”

His mouth thinned. “You already said that in your letter.”

“A letter to which you did not reply.”

He raised dark brows. “It seemed to me it was written in such a way as not to require one.”

Rachel frowned as she chewed on her bottom lip. This stilted conversation was intolerable to her, painful after the intimacies the two of them had shared. But, despite what Thea said, it was surely indicative that Brooketon considered their affair over?

As if she had needed any confirmation of that fact when Lucien had made no effort to see her this past week, and his manner this evening was so cool and formal.

Thea was wrong. Sometimes pride was all one had left.

“If you will excuse me? I believe I have had enough entertainment for one evening.” She gave another curtsey before turning to go in search of her hostess. She really could not spend another minute here, pretending her heart was not breaking.

“Rachel!”

She turned, her heart pounding rapidly, her palms feeling damp inside her gloves. “Yes?”

A nerve pulsed in the viscount’s clenched jaw. “You and I have some unfinished business.”

Her eyes widened. “We do?”

“Yes,” he bit out. “I believe I promised you a spanking for traveling to Dover in the dark and unaccompanied by even your maid.”

Rachel gasped at the same time as she glanced about them self-consciously to see whether anyone could overhear their conversation. The room was now completely empty apart from themselves.

She turned back to Lucien. “This is hardly the time or place for such a conversation, my lord.” She spoke quietly, while inwardly her heart was soaring at the thought of having Lucien’s hands on her again. For whatever reason.

He nodded. “Then I suggest we leave together and find a place that is suitable.”

“Such as?”

“My carriage will do to begin with.” He took a firm hold of her arm to pull her along beside him as he strode out of the room in search of her cloak and his hat and cane.

To begin with…?

To Rachel, the night suddenly seemed filled with possibilities.

Chapter 15

“Come here to me,” Lucien instructed the moment his carriage set off from the Pruitt’s, the two of them once again sitting opposite rather than beside each other, the interior of the carriage lit by a single lamp.

“Lucien, please—”

“My patience is very thin this evening,” he warned through gritted teeth. “Indeed, I am not sure I have any left after suffering your silence this past week.”

“But—”

“I will not ask again, Rachel.”

She eyed him warily. “What do you intend doing to me?”

Lucien could not mistake the trepidation in her voice. “Have I ever hurt you?”

“No…”

“And I do not intend doing so now either. Now do as I ask.” His voice hardened.

She rose as much as she was able within the confines of the coach before moving to sit on the plush seat beside him. “What now?”

He turned to face her, then gently lifted the hood of her cloak and unfastened the bow at her throat before pushing it back off her shoulders. The cloak fell onto the seat behind her. “You have told me how William is, but how are you?” he prompted gruffly. “No repercussions from last week?”

“A nightmare or two, but otherwise I am quite well.”

He gave a nod of satisfaction as he sat back. “Lift up the back of your skirts and lie facedown across my thighs.”

“I— No.” Rachel was completely flustered.

“No?” He raised dark and arrogant brows.

Her chin rose. “No. You cannot simply ignore me for a week and then expect me to obey your every command.”

“Is that what I am doing?”

“Yes.” She glared her impatience.

Lucien began to smile. “I am relieved to see she is still here. I was afraid she would not be.”

“Who is still here?” Rachel snapped her irritation with his puzzling conversation.

“The woman who made love to me so vigorously a week ago.”

Her cheeks became warm. “
I
am not the one who ignored my letter and did not pay so much as a social call this past week to see how I fared.”

His smile widened. “I have missed you, Rachel.”

“And do not think you can charm me— Umph.” Rachel’s snappy reproach was cut off as Lucien’s mouth claimed hers.

She melted against him as she returned his kisses with all the hunger of these past days and nights without him. Without the warmth of his arms. The heat of his kisses. The melting pleasure he evoked in her every time she was with him.

He kissed her long and deeply. Sipping, tasting, his tongue entwining with hers, sending quivers of arousal through her whole body even as his hands caressed and stroked her back and then her breasts.

“I know you will be anxious to see William before you go to bed,” he murmured when they finally broke apart. “That being the case, we will go to your home and finish this conversation there.” He knocked on the roof of the carriage and issued instructions to his driver.

Lucien’s sensitivity toward William warmed Rachel’s heart. “Conversation, my lord?” After the heat of those kisses, she could not see much conversation taking place once they reached her home.
 

He nodded. “After I have spanked your bottom, of course.”

“Can I not persuade you to forego the spanking and go straight to the…conversation?” she teased.

Lucien’s mouth tightened as he released her and moved back to his own side of the seat. “A lesson needs to be learned concerning disobeying instructions that are given for your own safety.”

Her eyes widened. “But you did not instruct me not to go to Dover.”

His eyes narrowed. “You knew well enough the danger involved.”

“My son was there.” How could Rachel not have gone to Dover? William had been there. And Lucien. The two men she loved most in all the world.

Lucien gave a shake of his head. “You will not sway me with claims of maternal love. You might have been killed, damn it.” A nerve pulsed in his jaw.

“So might you.”

“But I was not in danger of leaving a young child completely parentless by my reckless actions.”

Rachel gave a guilty start at Lucien’s harsh words. His own childhood must have been miserable, with a faithless mother and a father too weak to exert any control over her. He might almost have been an orphan himself, and it obviously angered him to think of William possibly having to grow up without his mother’s love too.

She placed her gloved hand over his. “And what of your own safety? Do you not think I would have felt…regret, if something had happened to you while you were attempting to return my son to me?” She balked at revealing the depth of her feelings for Lucien, at how vulnerable it made her feel, and how his death would have shattered her heart. To do so would place him in the embarrassing position of having to deny he felt the same way about her.

Lucien snorted. “You would have had to be alive yourself to feel regret. Going to the docks on your own that morning was reckless. Did you even think of what you would do if Stanforth had already been there?” He had found plenty of opportunity this past week to consider the possible consequences of Rachel’s actions. Each and every scenario had caused his stomach to churn and his blood to run cold.

She shook her head. “Thinking of what might or might not happen was a waste of my time and energy.”