Trials of Artemis (15 page)

"Gideon!”
she said. “That is Sabrina Bittlesworth's little brother and if you hurt so
much as one hair on his head I swear to you that I will open up those boxes he
brought down here and I will have at you."

When
he looked at her this time he at least wore a more rational expression than
before. "The Bittlesworths only have two sons and I know both of
them."

"Justin
is their half-brother."

"I
see. And what is Justin to you?"

"Family,"
Jack said staunchly.

Gideon
had been propelled out onto the lawn with a fury greater than any he had ever
known. It was a miracle beyond reckoning that the young man in front of him
wasn't lying as a bloody mess at his feet.

"Stand
up," he said to the boy who was cowering against the wagon as though he
knew exactly what kind of violence Gideon had been capable of. Justin very
slowly stood to his full height, looking like a wary fox ready to bolt at the
first howl of the hounds. Tall. Taller than Robert and Charles and younger than
Gideon had first guessed. He could see some of the Bittlesworth features in the
boy's face and that at least bore out Jack's claim about his parentage.
"What is your business here?"

"De-delivering
items to Jack, er, the countess. Milady."

"What
items?"

At
that the young man seemed to bristle. "Her property."

Jack
sighed. "It's alright Justin. My weapons, Gideon. He brought my
weapons."

Gideon
felt his world tilt slightly. "He brought your what?"

"My
weapons." She was at the edge of the wagon peering in with the expression
most women used when gazing at babies. "Bows, swords, knives, staves,
chains. And guns, of course."

"You
have chains?"

"Have
you ever seen chain fighting? It's quite spectacular. I'm not nearly as good at
it as George but I could at least give you a passable demonstration."

"Why
do you have weapons?" he asked, still feeling dumbfounded.

She
smiled up at him as though he were daft. "Why do
you
have weapons, Gideon?" Turning her attention to Justin she
said. "Let's get these in the house and then we can settle you in."

As
the young man moved the wagon away to the front door of Kellington, Gideon held
Jacqueline where they stood. "He is not staying here."

Rather
than arguing with him as usual his young wife slipped her arms around his
waist, leaned into him until their bodies were aligned from chest to thigh, and
looked up beseechingly into his eyes. "Please?"

Oh
bloody hell. He'd known this day was coming from the beginning but he hadn't
thought she would figure it out this fast. Brilliant woman, his wife.
Brilliant, warm, soft, beautiful... He felt his cock twitch and harden as he
looked down into her forest green eyes.

"Kiss
me, Gideon," she said. As his lips descended to hers, he admitted to
himself that the bloody bastard was staying.

Jack
was so excited that she could barely contain herself. Her weapons had arrived!
She thought she would at least need to wait until the Bittlesworths got home
from tour and then politely ask Sabre in a letter if she wouldn't mind terribly
sending someone whenever it was convenient. But her adorable little sister had
cut through all of that by appealing to the one person who could execute the
plan without anyone else's approval. And although he said he would do anything
for Jack, she knew it was really that he would do anything for Sam. Justin was
a full year younger than her little sister and had worshipped the ground Sam
walked on for as long as anyone could remember. It was sad in a way since it
was unrequited love, and even if it weren't, it wasn't as though their father
would let Sam marry the bastard son of a viscount
.

When
Gideon started kissing her she had put all of her joy from this unexpected
delivery into her kiss and he had responded to her enthusiasm with a searing
intensity. Within moments Jack had forgotten all else in the world other than
Gideon's taste, his heat. She wanted to crawl inside him, crawl all over him.
Her body pressed itself even more flush to his of its own accord. One of his arms
wrapped around her and his hand stroked her bottom, then pressed her closer
still where they joined.

He
finally tore his lips away, panting. "We need to stop."

"Why?"

"Otherwise
I'm going to make love to my wife on the gravel of the front drive. As well as
being uncomfortable it is likely to generate a great deal of talk."

"Let
them talk."

"We
can do this later, Jack."

She
gave a frustrated growl. "Whenever later comes we either argue or find
some other reason to avoid it."'

He
rubbed his nose against hers. "Try not to be impatient."

When
she looked up at him she assessed that he was the good Gideon again, not the
arrogant, autocratic, moody Gideon. She decided to tell him the truth. "I
don't want to lose you."

He
looked surprised. "I'm a bit large to be misplaced."

She
snuggled into his chest and said irritably. "You know what I mean."

He
kissed the top of her head. "Yes I do know what you mean, but what I don't
know is what put that thought in your head."

She
paused, not sure if she should tell him all but decided that it was usually
best to be forthright. "I heard some of the servants talking. They said
that you had dismissed your mistress but they didn't know why since it was
obvious we weren't... having relations."

Gideon
had gone very still. "What else did they say?"

"One
of them was of the opinion that... relations were very important to a man and
that any woman who hoped to keep her husband in a marriage had best please him
in bed."

"I
see."

"I'm
sorry Gideon, did I make you angry?"

"No.
In fact, would you like to hear something amusing?"

Jack
pulled back and looked up into his face. "What's that?"

"The
morning you rode hell for leather across Mayfair to face me down? I assumed the
footmen had mixed up the letters and you had received the one intended for my
mistress. It was her dismissal but still, what fiancée wants to hear about her
future husband's mistress at all?"

"You
dismissed her with a letter?"

"Which
included a diamond bracelet."

"Still,
that seems rather cold."

"You're
defending her? How interesting. Typically I wouldn't do something like that by
letter but... it didn't seem right to see her in person again since I was
engaged. I wouldn't have wanted a story to get back to you about me seeing my
mistress."

Jack
looked up at this considerate, complicated man who was her husband.

"And
another thing," she said, furrowing her brow. "You sent your mistress
diamonds and I received yellow roses?"

Gideon
laughed and gave her a quick kiss on the lips. "You can have all the
diamond bracelets you want."

"I
can run them up and down both arms?"

"If
that is your desire. Perhaps you will start a fashion."

"A
fashion that would bankrupt half the
ton.
"

Gideon
laughed and kissed the top of her head. "Since I think I can walk again,
shall we go investigate your boxes?"

"And
Justin can stay?"

"Yes,
Justin can stay. But if he grabs you again like he did this morning I won't
make any promises about his continuing health."

Jack
pulled his head down for one more kiss. "Thank you, Gideon."

By
the time they entered Kellington the footmen had already taken his wife's boxes
up the stairs to her room. The young man who had brought them was nowhere to be
seen. Gideon summoned Dibbs over to him.

"The
boy is to be a favored guest, as he is a friend of the countess. Ready a room
for him in the east wing. Have the grooms see to his horse and wagon."

"As
it pleases you, my lord."

It
didn't please Gideon at all but Jack was holding his hand and smiling up at him
as though he had set the moon. Hopefully keeping the boy on the opposite end of
the house would forestall any untoward behavior. He would hate to have to kill
the lad.

Once
in her sitting room Jack immediately fell to opening one of the crates on the
floor. Seeing her struggle Gideon helped her to pry off the lid. Pushing aside
the packing she reverently pulled out a long, cloth wrapped bundle.
 
The cloth was quickly unwound and tossed
aside, revealing a wooden bow. She sat on the floor running her fingers over
it, and then sighting up and down the length of it.

"No
warping," she said with a sigh of relief. "I had oiled it as best I
could before packing it away, but you can never be sure."

"How
long was it in storage?"

"Twenty-six
months."

"That's
a rather exact number."

She
arched a brow at him. "Send something you hold dear to Quince's house for
safekeeping and we'll see how closely you track the passage of time."

"
Touché.
"

"You
don't have to stay if this bores you."

"On
the contrary," he said, lounging on the settee and watching her sitting on
the floor with her boxes. "I find myself intrigued."

Over
the next half hour Jack continued unpacking and unwrapping her collection. That
seemed like the only potentially accurate term. She had three short bows,
including a recurve that she described in detail before even having it out of
its wrapping, two crossbows, two staves, four swords, he wasn't sure how many knives,
two tightly wound chains with a purpose he couldn’t divine, two sets of dueling
pistols, a hunting rifle, and two large pistols that looked to have come from
the military. He was, honestly, floored.

"What
on earth do you plan to do with all this?"

"Get
back into practice, as a start. I should probably think about having some
cabinets built," she added while looking around the room. She had talked
about building shelves for her books, but he realized that had been an idle comment
compared to the light of purpose he saw in her eyes regarding what to do with all
this. He had assumed that her passion was books but it was now apparent that
those were a hobby.

"I
find it confusing that you didn't express your interest in weapons before
now."

"You
don't talk about weapons," she said haughtily, "and you use
them."

"But
you didn't even have weapons with you when you came here."

She
looked at him for a moment and then disappeared into her dressing room. He
heard her moving items in her trunks and when she reemerged she was wearing a
belt over her dress that held five sheathed knives. She was also carrying a
small wooden box that she set it down on the table in front of him and opened,
pulling back the fabric cover inside. "Blowgun and darts," she said.

Gideon
leaned back and looked at his wife. She was smiling and flushed with delight
over her collection the way most women might be over their wardrobe. He
realized that he really didn't know her that well.

"I
stand corrected,” he said, not sure if he was amused or terrified. “If you
don't mind I will go back to my study and finish my work."

"It's
almost time for luncheon,” she said. “Won't you join us?"

Gideon
flinched at the thought of his wife lingering over lunch with the lad who had
brought her beloved collection. "Sadly, I cannot. The Prime Minister isn't
known for his patience and I must get this letter en route to London within the
hour." He bowed over her hand and turned to go.

"I'll
have them send a tray in to you," she called after him.

He
stopped to look back at her. "My thanks."

And
so he left her standing in her bedroom with weapons belted over her pale peach
morning dress and more weapons strewn on the floor around her. His new wife was
beyond unusual. Had her parents noticed her martial tendencies? How had she
managed to procure such things? Surely her father wouldn’t have purchased them
for her, and she had no brothers. Archery was an acceptable hobby for a woman,
but did she actually practice with the swords and guns? He shuddered to think
it.

Jack
rang for her maid and sent instructions to Mrs. Gladstone that all of them
would have luncheon in their rooms. She didn't want to completely curtail her
friendship with Justin but she had seen the look on Gideon's face when she had
suggested that they would be lunching together. Hurt and fear that he had
quickly covered over with a polite mask. Although she still had more to think
about in regard to Gideon she knew she didn't want to ruin what progress they
had made by being insensitive. Now with free time, she began organizing her
weapons in her dressing room. Mary would, no doubt, be convinced that her
mistress was crazy.