Ravished (30 page)

"You do not need to make excuses for her," Gideon muttered.

"I just want you to realize that she probably did not hate you at all. She simply felt trapped and she took out her fear and frustration on you."

"She has certainly had her revenge on me, if that is what she was after," Gideon said.

"Yes, I know. You have been living in your own private corner of hell for six long years."

"That is a rather dramatic way of putting it, but not entirely untrue," Gideon said dryly. "I do know that I have been very much alone for the past six years."

Harriet smiled tremulously. "But not any longer. Now you have me."

"Now I have you." Gideon lifted his hands to touch her hair. "And I vow I shall take very good care of you, Harriet."

"Thank you, my lord. I promise to take excellent care of you, too."

"Will you, indeed?" His leonine eyes gleamed with a warm fire.

"Oh, yes. You are wrong to think that I am more fond of my fossils than I am of you." She stood on tiptoe and brushed her mouth against his. "It is true I am very attached to them, but I care far more for you, my lord."

Gideon smiled slowly. "I am very pleased to hear that."

He scooped her up into his arms as if she were as light as a feather. Gideon made her feel like a delicate princess from a fairy tale, Harriet thought.

He put her down in the center of his bed and lay down beside her. "Perhaps you will show me just which portions of my anatomy you consider equal to or more impressive than the old bones you collect, madam."

Harriet laughed up at him in the shadows. "It is a very long list."

"Then you can start from my toes and work up."

"With pleasure."

She pushed at him gently and Gideon obligingly rolled over onto his back. Then she knelt beside him and studied his large feet with a serious expression.

"I would have to say that I have rarely encountered fossil metatarsals of such size."

"I am flattered." Gideon watched her face in the firelight.

"And one seldom is lucky enough to find a tibia of such proportions." Harriet drew a ringer slowly upward along the inside of his lower leg. "Very impressive."

"I am relieved to hear I compare favorably in that portion of my anatomy."

"Definitely," she assured him. Her fingers drifted up over his knee and along the inside of his thigh. "And other than the femur of an elephant I once had the privilege of examining, I have never seen such a magnificent thigh bone."

Gideon sucked in his breath as her palm drifted higher, opening his black silk dressing gown to expose his thighs. "I am glad you appreciate it."

"I most certainly do, my lord." She bent her head and dropped a tiny, damp kiss on his upper leg. The crisp, curling hair tickled her nose. The masculine scent of him made her deeply aware of her own growing arousal. She touched his thick shaft. "Now we come to a most interesting discovery."

"Do not tell me you have found fossils of that particular anatomical item," Gideon said.

"No," Harriet admitted. "But this is certainly as hard as any fossil I have ever dug out of stone."

"Ah." Gideon breathed deeply as she caressed him.

Harriet saw that the muscles of his thighs and chest were rapidly growing rigid with sexual tension. Stroking him was like stroking steel. The power in him was mesmerizing.

"Had I ever discovered something of this nature," Harriet murmured as she circled him with her fingertips, "I would have most certainly written it up for the
Transactions. "

Gideon's laugh was mostly a groan of rising frustration. "I do not think I am going to survive this lesson. Come here, madam. I am going to bury a certain portion of my anatomy in your heat before it solidifies into a permanent fossil due to sheer frustration."

Harriet smiled as he reached for her and pulled her across his body. She found herself sitting astride him. The feel of his strong thighs cradled between hers was exciting. She could feel his manhood throbbing beneath her. It made her vividly aware of her own power as a woman.

She leaned forward, pushing his dressing gown aside so that she could splay her fingers across his wide chest. Then she dipped her head and brushed her tongue across his flat nipples.

"So good," Gideon breathed. "So damn good."

He put his hands on her knees and moved his palms slowly up the inside of her thighs. He found her softness, drawing forth the liquid heat. Then he slowly slid one finger inside her, testing her readiness.

"
Gideon
." Harriet arched her head back, her whole body taut as it reacted to the delicious invasion.

"Put me inside you," he whispered in a low growl. "Put your hands on me and guide me into you."

She reached down with trembling fingers and found him. Then she levered herself upward on her knees and sank back down very slowly. He entered her carefully, letting her set the pace.

She felt herself being stretched and filled. It was an exquisitely thrilling sensation. It always was. She took her time guiding him into her so that she could savor every inch of him.

And then Gideon was all the way inside and they were bound together in the way only a man and a woman could be. Harriet surrendered once more to the unique joy of being in Gideon's strong arms.

She did not think of Bryce Morland or of the terrible things he had done to Gideon for a long, long while. When Harriet awoke some time later and did remember the dreadful tale, she discovered that Gideon was sound asleep beside her.

Harriet thought about waking him to remind him again that he was not to deliberately provoke Bryce. But Gideon was sleeping so peacefully that Harriet decided to wait until morning.

When she awakened again in the morning, however, Gideon was gone.

Chapter Fifteen

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Tattersail's was already crowded when Gideon walked into the yard that morning. Not that the place was not usually busy, especially on sale days such as today. As the exclusive auctioneers of the finest bloodstock in London, it attracted the gentlemen of the
ton
the way candy attracted children. There was an unceasing competition among all who could afford it, as well as many who could not, for the most spectacular mounts.

Part of the yard was covered with a roof that was supported by a classic colonnade. Gideon propped a shoulder against one of the tall columns and watched idly as a hunter was led past the crowd of potential purchasers. He was not here to buy a hunter.

A handsome pair of bay coach horses was displayed next. They were beautifully matched in color, but Gideon did not think they looked particularly deep in the chest. Looks meant nothing in a coach horse. Stamina and wind were everything. Besides, he was not in the market for coach horses today, either.

Gideon lost interest in the bays and studied the crowd. He was almost certain he would find his quarry here. Some subtle inquiries at his club last night had revealed that Bryce Morland would be attending the auction this morning.

A moment later Gideon picked him out of the throng. Morland was standing at the far end of the colonnade, talking to a plump man in an ill-fitting coat.

Gideon unpropped himself from the column and started in Morland's direction.

At that moment a groom appeared with the next offering, a beautiful little dappled gray Arabian mare. Gideon hesitated, a sudden image of Harriet seated atop the pretty little gray appearing in his mind.

He stopped and took a closer look at the mare. She had a sleek, compact build that promised strength and endurance. The small ears looked sensitive and alert. The intelligent eyes were wide-set in the mare's beautifully sculpted head. Harriet would appreciate intelligence in a horse.

Gideon was studying the animal's dainty feet when Morland spoke behind him.

"Not exactly your style, is she, St. Justin? You'd do better with one of those great, hulking brutes you usually favor. Something you cannot crush when you climb on top of her."

Gideon did not look at him. He kept his attention on the mare. "I am pleased you are here today, Morland. I wanted to have a word with you."

"Did you? Most unusual." Morland's tone was taunting. "You have barely spoken to me at all in the past six years."

"We have not had anything to discuss."

"And now we do?"

"Unfortunately, yes. I am going to give you a warning, Morland. I trust you will pay attention to it."

"And if I do not?"

"Then you shall find yourself dealing with me." Gideon liked the saucy arch of the mare's tail and the proud way she carried herself. Something about the horse's air of vitality and enthusiasm reminded him of Harriet.

"Are you by any chance attempting to threaten me?" Morland asked mockingly.

"Yes." Gideon studied the mare's sturdy hindquarters. Plenty of strength there, he decided. She could go the distance. "I want you to stay away from my wife."

"You bloody son of a bitch." Morland's voice lost its taunting quality. Now it seethed with rage. "Who the hell do you think you are to issue warnings?"

"I am St. Justin," Gideon said softly. "The Beast of Blackthorne Hall. As you are in part responsible for that title, you should be wise enough to respect it."

"You are threatening me because you know that if I set out to take your little Harriet away from you, I can do it. You know full well she would come to me if I but beckoned her with my little finger."

"No," Gideon said, his eyes still on the mare. "She would not go to you."

"If you are so certain of that, why bother to issue threats?" Morland demanded.

"Because I do not want her to be bothered by you, Morland." Gideon signaled to the groom who was leading the mare. "Now, you must excuse me. I am going to buy a horse."

Gideon strolled away from Morland without having once looked at him. He was well aware that that silent insult would be more grating to Morland than the threat itself.

Gideon returned home that afternoon to tell Harriet about the mare, only to learn that she had gone off to tour Mr. Humboldt's Museum. He would have to wait to surprise her with the announcement of his gift. It annoyed him. He realized he had been looking forward eagerly to her reaction.

Gideon scowled at Owl. Owl scowled back.

"Mr. Humboldt's Museum?" Gideon repeated.

"Yes, my lord. She seemed quite excited about the whole thing. Lord knows why. I cannot imagine anything at all exciting about a collection of moldering old bones."

"You shall have to accustom yourself to Lady St. Justin's enthusiasm for such matters, Owl."

"So I have concluded."

Gideon started toward the library and then paused. "Did she remember to take her maid or one of the footmen with her?"

"No. But I saw to the matter, sir. Her maid is with her."

"Excellent. I knew I could depend upon you, Owl." Gideon continued to the door of the library. "I am expecting a visit from Mr. Dobbs this afternoon. Please show him in when he arrives."

"Yes, my lord."

Dobbs arrived fifteen minutes later, dapper as always. He swept off his crushed hat and seated himself across from Gideon in his customary overly familiar manner.

"Afternoon, sir. I have the guest lists you requested." Dobbs presented a sheaf of papers. " 'Tweren't possible to get all of 'em. Some had been lost or destroyed. But I managed to get a fair number."

"Good. Let me see what we have here." Gideon spread the guest lists out on top of his desk. He scanned the long lists of names of people who had been invited to various houses that had experienced robberies during the Season.

"Won't be an easy task to sort out the names of persons who was both invited to those homes and who also would have reason to know about them-caves, sir." Dobbs gestured toward the lists. "Hundreds of names to go through. The Fancy likes to give big parties."

"I can see it will take some time." Gideon ran his finger down one list. "I have a hunch our man is a fossil collector."

"Don't have to be a fossil collector, m'lord," Dobbs said. "Could just as easily be someone who was raised in the Upper Biddleton area or who had cause to visit there."

Gideon shook his head. "A casual visitor would not have been familiar enough with the caves to know about the cavern where we found the goods. Whoever chose that cave knew the place well. And the only reason anyone ever goes into those caves is to search for fossils."

"If you say so. Well, then, I'll leave these here with you and wait to hear from you concerning our next move."

"Thank you, Dobbs. You have been most helpful." Gideon glanced up as the little man got to his feet. "How did you manage to get so many lists?"

Dobbs's gnomish face crinkled into a grin. "Told 'em I wanted the lists as part of my reward for returnin' the stolen goods. They was all quick enough to hand 'em over."

Gideon smiled. "Much cheaper than paying a cash reward, of course."

"The Quality is quick enough to pay a fortune for a good horse or a fine piece of jewelry, but they tend to be downright close-fisted when it comes to paying for services from folks like me." Dobbs clapped his squashed hat on his head. "But as I'm workin' for you this time, I expect I'll get my reward. I checked around. Yer reputation for that sort of thing is sound. Everyone says you pay yer bills and don't try to dodge the tradesmen."

Gideon raised his brows. "Always nice to hear one has a good reputation in some quarters."

"In the quarters where I live, a reputation for settling accounts fair and square is the only kind of reputation that matters."

Mr. Humboldt's Museum was overwhelming and well worth the price of admission. His collection of fossils, skeletons, stuffed animals, and odd plants filled his entire townhouse from top to bottom. Not a single room had been spared. Even his bedroom contained exhibits and crates full of dusty skeletons, marine fossils, and other assorted items.

Harriet was thrilled when she realized the size of the museum.

"Just look at this place, Beth," she said to her maid. She stood staring at the row of rooms on the ground floor that were filled with treasures. Visitors wandered freely from one to the next, examining and exclaiming over the skulls of rhinoceroses and the lifeless bodies of stuffed snakes. "It is wonderful. Absolutely wonderful."