The Earl's Desire (8 page)

She jerked, the thumping of her heart intensifying. She twisted about, searching in every direction. The noise had come from within the woods.

Without thinking, she darted in. She raced past trees and branches that whipped at her face and arms, but she ignored the pain. She ran until she came out into a clearing, paused to look about her surroundings, and broke into a run again, still looking around wildly.

“
My lord!” she shouted, her eyes wide in shock once she saw Merrick sprawled on the ground, one arm covered with blood. “My lord!” She raced to him, kneeled beside him, and lifted his torso up so that his head rested on her lap. “You’ve been shot!” she said, her voice hoarse. She touched his injured arm gently and felt the sticky red stain on her hand.

“
Chris,” Merrick said, trying to control the pain shooting through his body. “Help me up.”

“
Hold on,” she said, and hastily, with hands that shook, she began to undo the cravat about her neck. Once she had managed to free the scarf, she wrapped it around his injured arm. “That should stop the bleeding,” she said, looking at him as she quickly tied the end in a tight knot. She moved to touch his pale face and felt his cold sweat against her palm.

“
Come, help me,” Merrick said, putting his arm around her shoulder.

She nodded and helped him up. “Can you walk?”

“
It’s only a flesh wound. I’ll be all right,” Merrick said, and they struggled their way to the horse.

“
Mount up,” he said. When she looked at him in confusion, he grabbed her and tossed her onto the saddle. Then he seated himself behind her and kicked the stallion to start trotting toward home. It was going fast, and she had to hold on tightly to the saddle so that she wouldn’t fall.

“
I must admit ’tis the very first time I have ridden a horse,” she said breathlessly and almost screamed when she felt herself slipping. He caught her in time around the waist and pulled her back up, clamping his left arm around her waist so she wouldn’t fall again. After that she didn’t much mind the speed the horse was traveling nor the distance from the ground. She felt safe in his arms.

The feeling of Christine sitting so intimately close to him bothered him. His nose was very close to her as he bent down, urging the stallion to go faster. He could smell the fresh innocent smell of the youth and simply wanted to snuggle his face against that delicate neck and bury it there.

Damnation!

He kicked the stallion’s side, urging it to go faster. In response, the horse lurched forward, throwing Christine backward, colliding against Merrick. The contact caused his heart to beat faster, and the thrilling sensation in his nerves was—
God! So damn good!

There could be nothing better than this, he thought. Christine chose that moment to wriggle her body to find a more comfortable place on the hard saddle, involuntarily rubbing her back against his chest and her backside against his private parts.

Damnation!
Merrick almost screamed out in frustration.

Finally, Huntingdon Hall was in sight. He had never been so pleased to see his home before. The stallion trotted toward the stable, and Jacob rushed to them.

“
How was your ride, my lord?” he asked.

Christine clambered down from the saddle. “Mr. Jacob, stop asking questions. Can’t you see his lordship is hurt? You must get help, fast.”

Jacob looked shocked and very concerned and was ready to take action when Merrick said, “No, Jacob, I’m fine.”

As Merrick got down, Christine was by his side, ready for him to lean on her. He scowled at her and walked off, one hand holding on to his injured arm. He was halfway to the Hall when she caught up to him and pulled his arm over her shoulder, half trying to carry him, half dragging herself along with him.

The housekeeper was at the door and shrieked with dismay once she saw them. “There is blood. Quick, Master Chris, bring his lordship to his room. We must get it looked at.”

In the bedroom, Merrick sat on his bed, and Christine was beside him. “Are you in much pain?” she asked.

“
No, Chris, I’m not in pain,” he said, his face passive.

She bent down to untie her scarf from his arm; then she unbuttoned his shirt and helped him off with his coat and shirt.

“
Oh!” She gave out a loud sigh. His bare skin looked so muscular and smooth. She had that urge to touch it again.

“
What’s the matter, Chris?” he asked, putting his fingers under her chin and nudging her face up.

She stared at him, drowning in those teal-blue eyes of his. She had the urge to kiss those firm lips even though she didn’t know how. She, however, could never allow herself to forget that she was in fact pretending to be a male—and besides that, their statuses in life were very different. He could never love a woman so far below him. Furthermore, she had heard one of the maids say that he was already in love with another woman named Anne Wilson, a very beautiful lady from London. Christine could never compete with a woman like that.

She looked at his wound and was relieved to see that it was indeed superficial.

“
I’ve told Jacob to fetch the doctor. Master Chris, would you come here and help me clean his lordship’s wound,” the housekeeper said as she placed a jug of hot water on the table.

“
I think somebody shot him,” Christine said more to herself than to anyone else.

Mrs. Ross gasped and almost dropped the cloth she was dipping into the hot water.

“
Chris!” Merrick warned.

“
But it is true, is it not? I heard a shot.”

“
It was an accident. Somebody must be poaching in the woods again,” Merrick said.

Christine took the cloth Mrs. Ross had soaked in the water and began to clean away the blood on Merrick’s arm. “Poaching?” She looked at him and then turned to look at the housekeeper. “Mrs. Ross, what do you think?”

“
I don’t know, Master Chris, but it could be. What with them hunting and killing those foxes and all, there’s bound to be accidents sooner or later.”

It was not long before an elderly man came in through the door and said, “Well, let me see what I can do. How are you feeling, my lord?”

“
Fine, Dr. Bennett, I don’t think I needed you here. It’s only a flesh wound, after all,” Merrick said with tight lips.

“
Flesh wound?” The doctor pushed his spectacles up the bridge of his nose and inspected the wound. “Ah, I see it is just superficial. But it is rather quite deep. Have to do it properly, you know. Don’t want you to get infection, do we?” He opened his case, then started to clean the wound. “How did you do it, my lord?”

“
If you mean did I shoot myself, nay, Doctor, I did not,” Merrick said through gritted teeth.

“
Poacher, Doctor,” Christine interjected.

The doctor stopped what he was doing and turned to look at her.

“
Who are you, boy?” he asked curiously.

“
My ward,” Merrick supplied. The doctor nodded and resumed with his work. Fifteen minutes later, he was finished.

“
That should be fine now. I’ll come back in two days’ time and see how the wound is doing… Pretty boy,” he mumbled to himself. “Now, my lord, no hard work for a week,” he stated.

“
No physical work?” Merrick snapped. “Surely you must be joking, Doctor. I’m not going to be a vegetable for a week.”

The doctor looked taken aback.

“
But surely ’tis for your own good,” Christine said. “I agree with the doctor.”

Dr. Bennett looked at her again. She blushed and bowed her head.

“
Now there is something you don’t see every day, eh?” Dr. Bennett beamed at Mrs. Ross.

The housekeeper cleared her throat. “If there is nothing else, I’ll take these and get them cleaned up.” She gathered up the mess of bowls and cloths and left the room.

“
Remember what I told you: no hard work for a week,” the doctor said and turned to Christine. “And you will nurse him for me. I want you to report to me if he is not following my orders. Now, I know he doesn’t generally take orders, but this one is an exception.” He smiled at her.

“
I’ll show you out, sir,” Christine said, still blushing profoundly.

“
Nay, I know my way out.” He waved his hand and left the room, muttering along the corridor, “Pretty boy indeed… never seen the like in…”

“
Merrick, you must put on a shirt—you might get a fever,” Christine said, heading for the wardrobe. A few seconds later, she came back with a clean shirt in her hand. “Here, you must put this on.”

“
I don’t need it—I won’t get a fever,” Merrick said.

“
Merrick?” She frowned at him. “Really, this is very important.”

Merrick stared at her in surprise. Few people ever argued with him
. Clearly, the boy doesn’t know any better.

“
Chris, leave now. I have some business to do,” he told her and stood up, dismissing her.

“
But at least put this on first.” She held the shirt up to him.

The boy is very stubborn, he thought
.
He snatched the shirt and put it on and just to please her. Still frowning, he left the room to work on his accounts in the study.

SIX

“I’m leaving for London tomorrow, Chris,” Merrick announced, then sipped the red wine as he watched his ward eating her cottage pie with enjoyment, licking the fork and her lips with her small tongue. He thought she looked quite enchanting wearing that new shirt and blue cravat that Paris had taken many minutes to arrange on her person. Just ripe for the plucking, though any such thought was against God’s rule of nature. He couldn’t take his eyes off her. Not now and hadn’t been able to for the last two weeks. It was hell!

Christine looked up, and her heart did a startled kick at the thought of being without him. “Why are you leaving?” she asked, knowing already that he wasn’t going to take her with him. London, she thought. He was going to London. He was going to see Lady Anne Wilson.

He put his wineglass down. Christine didn’t know that his hand was gripping the stem of the glass and that it would break any second now if he were to apply more force.

“
Parliament,” he said curtly. “And then the season.”

Aye, the season, with balls and parties and
women
, he thought. That would certainly take his mind off the more sinful things that had been keeping him awake at nights. And yes, Maria—beautiful Maria, his mistress. She would no doubt take his mind off this sinful lust he had toward his own ward.

“
Oh,” Christine said, turning back to her food.

“
If you’re lonely, your family can visit you. They can stay as long as they like. When I’m gone, you’ll be the master of the house, so feel free to do as you please,” he said.

Christine nodded. “Thank you. How long will you be away?”

“
Until summer, and then there will be guests coming here. I’ve planned a summer house party.”

No doubt, she thought, his intention was to bring Lady Anne here so that he could propose to her.

“
You will look after yourself, too, won’t you?” She watched him pour himself another glass of wine and down it. “You might get all hot like the other time if you drink too much.”

Merrick started coughing, his face turning red.

“
Are you all right, Merrick?” She ran up to him and put a hand on his back, ready to thump if Merrick needed it.

Damn him!
Merrick thought. Those hands, God, those small, gentle hands on his back. They felt so good.

Christine lowered her head toward him, her nose inches away from his high forehead. “Are you better now?” she asked, smiling at him with bright eyes.

Merrick glanced up, saw her so near, and sucked in his breath. He wanted to kiss those lips. He gritted his teeth at the stupid urge. Had his prime male instinct gone haywire?

He could feel the warmth near him, and God, how he wanted to feel even more. He knew then that he had made the right decision to go to London early, whether there was Parliament or not. He was not going to go through this torture of self-doubt, this insanity, anymore.