Storm on the Horizon (Fated For Love) (14 page)

Devon only grunted in response. Colton had no choice but to hoist him over his
shoulder and hurry for the back stairs. The other patrons in the room either had gathered to watch Olivia’s dramatic exit or were too inebriated to care what was happening. He slowly navigated the narrower back stairs, thankful they had only been one story up. Reaching the bottom, he went down a short hall to the servant’s hall where most were gathered by the door listening to Olivia’s tirade. He deftly made his way through the kitchen and out the back door to the alley.

Unfortunately, because it was a row of townhouses
, he would have to walk to the end of the block and up the street again to reach the front of the house. He cursed and adjusted Devon on his shoulder. His back was starting to cramp and his legs ached from the weight. Devon was not a small man, perhaps lighter from ingesting more alcohol than food these past few months, but still larger than most.

A hackney turned down the street
, and Colton pressed up against the wall in the shadows. As it rolled closer, he heard Dirks low whistle. He stepped out, and the hackney pulled up to him. Depositing Devon into the hands of his two crewmembers, he climbed into the hackney and sat beside Olivia. She smiled at him, and he couldn’t help smiling in return.

“
Was the slap necessary?” he asked.

“
Oh, definitely.”

When they reached the
ship, the heavens had opened and rain pelted them mercilessly. They hurried down the dock to where My Darling Emerald waited, the water growing more restless, and the sky rumbling ominously above them. Colton held Olivia’s hand and tugged her along while Dirk and Doolin carried Devon. They raced against the rain, only pausing when the crewmember on watch lowered the gangway for them to board. They hurried on board and into the shelter of the captain’s cabin. Dirk and Doolin tossed Devon on the bed and Colton thanked them for their help and bid them to find dry cloths and rest.

Olivia ignored her own soaked clothing and anxiously looked over her dear rascal of a brother. He looked wretched. He smelled of that awful smoke and looked as though he hadn’t bathed for days. His hair was matted and greasy, his shirt stained and wrinkled, and his boots were scuffed and dull.
She started to pull them off, and Colton stopped her.

“
You need to change first. You won’t be able to care for him if you catch your death.”

Olivia looked down at her dress. It was forever ruined and felt heavier than a rolled up rug. She nodded and picked up one of her other dresses. She went behind the dressing screen and tried to
reach the laces, but her fingers were cold and numb.

“
I’ll need your help,” she summoned him.

Colton came around the screen and untied the wet laces for her. He stepped back but didn’t move away as she pulled the dress down over her shoulders to her waist. Her skin was pale and damp and covered in goose bumps.

“Colton—?”

“
I’m right here.”

“
Oh.” She turned to face him, her breasts still covered by the bodice. Her chemise was soaked through. “Could you please fetch my bag?”

Colton did as she asked and returned to hand her bag to her. She smiled her thanks and turned away again.

This time he didn’t watch her. He moved back to Devon and set about removing his boots. Once finished with that, he started on his shirt. Olivia returned and began helping him.

“
It would be easier to just cut it off. We do have more clothes for him, after all.”

“
You’re right,” Colton agreed. He went to his makeshift cabin and pulled a fresh shirt and breeches from the trunk. He returned to find Olivia bathing Devon’s face with a wet cloth.

“
When do you think he will wake?”

“
I’m not sure. I’ve no experience with things of this nature. I’ve heard of it, but I’ve never seen a person go through it.”

“
Oh. I suppose time will tell.”

Colton pulled dry clothes from his closet and stepped behind the dressing screen to change. Once done, he and Olivia tackled the task of removing Devon’s clothes, Olivia taking the top half and Colton taking the bottom under the cover of a blanket. Once dressed in dry clothing
, they settled him more comfortably in the bed and turned down the lamp. Outside, the storm grew in ferocity, and occasional flashes of lightning would light the room.

Olivia was bone tired and wished for a warm place to lie down. She looked to Colton, who was also staring blankly at Devon, and wondered where they would sleep for the remainder of the night.

“Are there more blankets? We can make a bed on the floor so we can be right next to him in case he wakes up.”

Colton looked at her.
“You should take my bed in the smaller cabin. I’ll stay with him. There are hooks for me to hang a hammock.”

“
Oh... I thought... never mind.”

“
Olivia,” he said imploringly.

She hated the tone of his voice. It inferred far more than his words ever did.

“Whatever it is you’re going to say, Colton, just say it.”

“
What we shared can’t go on. We took advantage of our time here, but now it’s over. Nothing has changed. We will go back home and—”

“
And what? Go on as we were? I can’t do that.”

“
And I can’t marry you,” he blurted. His guarded expression crumbled into one of misery. “Don’t you see?”

“
No I don’t. You are the only one saying no to a future between us.”

“
No, Livie, I’m saying no to ruining your future. You will marry a titled man, live in a fine home, and attend fine parties. That is the life you are meant for. Every one see’s that but you.”

Olivia’s mouth moved
, but no words would come out.

“
It is the way it must be. I enjoyed are time together here, but there will never be more,” he said sternly.

Olivia felt like the queen of fools. Here
she stood practically begging to be his wife and all he could say was no. She wanted to scream out her frustration, to talk until her throat bled, but a movement on the bed caught her eye, and she looked at Devon. His eyes had opened, and he was looking up at the ceiling. She knelt down and took his hand.

“
Devon? It’s me. We’re taking you home now. We love—”

He ripped his hand from her.
“I don’t want your love,” he said vehemently. “Your love means nothing to me now.”

Olivia stepped back slowly. Her chest hurt so much she couldn’t breathe
, and the tears in her eyes scalded. She looked up at Colton, and he met her gaze. He looked startled, too. She shook her head, confused, crushed, devoid of warmth.

“
No one wants me.” She ran from the cabin, the door and walls a blur of wood beyond the stinging tears. She slammed the door of the small cabin and collapsed against it. Her chest hurt unmercifully, her heart, it was breaking all over again, and she couldn’t stand the pain. She had never felt so alone before.

Devon writhed on the bed in delusion, panting, and moaning.
“I won’t love you,” he cried.

Colton was torn. Devon looked ready to leap off the bed but Olivia...
he wanted to go to her. The utter sadness he saw in her face annihilated him. He couldn’t take it anymore. All the pain he had caused her, compounded by this moment.

“
I won’t love you, Lydia. I don’t want your love. You mean nothing to me now,” Devon growled, although his eyes had closed now.

Colton’s hands were shaking
as he left the cabin and stood outside her door. He could hear her sobbing, painful, and deep, sobs of misery that tore at his soul. He couldn’t do it anymore, not if he was causing her this much pain. He never wanted to cause her pain; he only wanted to bring her joy. He thought that by giving her the chance to make a respectable match he was doing that, but instead he was hurting her with his refusal. He wouldn’t do it anymore.

“
Olivia.” Her name ripped from his throat, his own emotions making it difficult to speak.

He tried to open the door but he met resistance.
“Olivia, let me in.” He heard her gasp, heard the hiccups as she tried to draw breath.

“
Olivia, please,” he begged. He heard sliding on the floor and then the door gave way.

He found her sitting against the bunk, similar to how he found her that first day. Her curls obscured her face
, and she was shaking uncontrollably. He sat down beside her and pulled the blanket from the buck. He wrapped it around her and pulled her into his lap. He was surprised that she didn’t resist him.

“
I’m so sorry, Olivia. I only wanted to do what is best for you, but it seems I can’t.

“
Why does everyone think they know what is best for me? Can’t I be trusted to know what is best for me?” She hiccupped.

Colton ran his hands slowly over her back.
“It is because we love you that we only want the best for you, even when it means denying ourselves. But I promise from now on I will listen to what you want, and give it to you, if I can.”

She slowly lifted her head from his shoulder and looked up at him.
“Who is this
we
who love me?”

“
Your mother and father and brother and I.” He smiled. It was the first time he had ever said it out loud, and it felt extremely good.

She blinked slowly.
“Are you saying you love me?”

His smile broadened.
“Yes.”

She shook her head as if to clear it.
“As in, like a sister?”

“
Most definitely not,” he chuckled softly. “As in I want to make love to you every day for the rest of my life. As in, I want to see you grow round with my child and build a family with you, and see your beautiful face every morning over the breakfast table.”

She scooted back farther, her face expressing supreme disbelief.

“Since when?”

“
Since you were fifteen and used my tender heart to practice your wiles on. And on your sixteenth birthday when you fell off your new horse, and I carried you six miles back to the house. When you were seventeen and you practiced waltzing with me on the back terrace because you claimed your dancing instructor had horrible breath, and that Devon purposely stepped on your toes. And most definitely, when you were eighteen and you entered your come out ball. Do you remember that? I had been away quite some time and had not seen the goddess you had become. You knocked me off my feet and from that moment on, and I haven’t been able to have a platonic thought about you, Lady Olivia Louise Brennton. I tried to be honorable, and do right by you, but there is just nothing left in me.”

She remained speechless, her mouth slack and eyes wide and sparkling.

“All that’s left for me to do is ravish you here on my ship while you brother is incapacitated. I will thoroughly and irrevocably compromise you, so that when we return, your parents will have no choice but to marry you to this lowly sea captain.”

“
Oh my,” she finally said.

“
That’s all you have to say?” He smiled and quickly kissed her on the nose.

“
Well, no, actually. That is the most wonderful thing you have ever said to me.”

“
Which part?”

“
All of it.” She moved closer to him and wrapped her arms around his neck. “Especially the part about ravishing me,” she smiled and leaned in to kiss him.

Colton groaned
, and she pulled back.

“
What is it?

“
It’s almost dawn, Olivia, much as I would like to, we need what little rest we can find. We will set sail tomorrow morning if possible. And there is also your brother to care for.

Olivia nodded.
“I can wait, Colton. Just knowing that you do love me, and you do want me is enough right now. I will admit that sleep sounds wonderful right now, more so than ravishment. But not by much,” she added with a coy smile. They stood up and made their way back to Devon. Colton brought the mattress from the bunk and made a cozy little bed on the floor so they could be close by in case Devon awoke. They climbed under the covers and held tightly to each other until exhaustion claimed them.

Olivia had never felt
happier; this was the most romantic thing to ever happen to her.

Olivia woke as dawn tried to seep through the thick layer of clouds. Colton was gone, and by the feel of it, the ship was moving again. She sat up and found land to be growing more distant behind them as they headed for home. Elation suffused her.

Devon began to grumble, as the light grew stronger. He tossed his head side to side and slung his arm over his eyes.