Wolfishly Yours (17 page)

She shivered again. He leaned down close to her ear and whispered, “I know I affect you.”

Her voice quivered as she replied, “You do make my stomach turn on occasion.”

Gray let the back of his curved fingers slide slowly up her back. Her breath hitched in her throat. “Admit it. You like me.”

“I like stray dogs, but only after they’ve been bathed and prettied up.”

“You can bathe me any time you wish,” he said as he brushed the heavy mass of her hair over one shoulder. And lowered his lips to touch the other. “As long as I get to return the favor.”

“You can fasten me back up now,” she said. But he let his lips brush across her shoulder and up the side of her neck. “Stop that,” she warned, swatting at him like he was a pesky fly.

He held tightly to her hips as she tried to move away. He fastened the lowest button. The one just above her bottom. “Are you wearing drawers?” he asked, letting his fingers skim the small of her back.

She sputtered.

He couldn’t keep from chuckling. “I didn’t think so. I like the thought of you naked beneath this gown.” He liked it way too much, but they weren’t married yet.

Just then, the door flew open and banged against the opposite wall. Gray spun with Livi in his arms, putting his back to the newcomer to keep whoever had just entered the room from seeing her state of undress. “Oh, no,” Livi muttered. “Fasten me up. Quickly.”

“Fasten what?” a male voice asked from the doorway. An American voice. Gray looked up to find a blond-haired man standing there, and another just behind him. They could be twins, except for the fact that one of them was obviously older by a few years.

“Fasten your lips together,” Livi shot back at the newcomers.

“You know them?” Gray mumbled to her as he reached the top fastening. So much for kissing his way down her body.

“Yes, I know them,” she remarked. “Better than I’d like some days.”

The younger of the two men leaned casually against the doorjamb as the other stepped into the room. The woodsy scent of them reached Gray’s nose, and he knew immediately who they were.

“Care to explain to me what we just walked in on, Livi?” the oldest of the two asked. “You can tell us before or after we rip his tail off. Or he can tell us after we’re done with him, when he’s begging our forgiveness for defiling our sister.”

Livi stepped in front of Gray like he was a child that needed protecting. “You will do no such thing, Armand.” She sniffed and raised her nose higher in the air. “He was simply fixing my gown.”

“Fixing to take it off you seems more like it.”

That was true.

“Now that you have your clothes on, you can introduce us to the man who was taking them off you,” the younger of the two growled.

“Armand, Etienne.” Livi sighed heavily. “This is Grayson Hadley.
My
betrothed
.” She emphasized the last. Both the brothers’ eyes opened wider at her pronouncement.

The American Lycans looked at one another. “Then I suppose we don’t have to kill him,” the one she’d called Armand said.

The other one smirked. “But we
do
have to hurt him.”

Gray shoved Livi to the side and ducked as the first fist flew. Then he collapsed atop a settee that broke into splinters beneath him as Livi’s oldest brother tackled him.

“Armand!” Livi screamed. “Stop it this instant!”

“Stay out of this, Liv,” Etienne warned as he jumped into the fray and sent his fist crashing into Gray’s jaw.

Gray landed one solid punch to the younger brother’s stomach as the older brother’s fist connected with Gray’s right eye.

“Good heavens!” Lady Sophia’s voice came from the threshold. “What is going on in here?”

Through his good eye, Gray watched the Mayeux brothers jump to attention at Lady Sophia’s entrance.

It was barely morning, and yet Livi couldn’t remember a day ever starting off so poorly. She wasn’t sure whether she should bark at her brothers, rush to Gray whose lip was bleeding and eye was purpling, or beg Sophie to forget the entire exchange. If only the floor would open up and swallow her whole, she could escape all of this madness. Though she knew Gray would heal shortly, he did look the worse for wear at the moment. She couldn’t keep herself from crossing the floor and dropping to her knees beside the rubble that had once been her grandfather’s settee.

“Are you all right?” she asked, wishing she had a handkerchief or something of use to offer her bleeding fiancé.

Fiancé?
She still wasn’t sure how that had even happened; but it wasn’t in anyone’s best interest to divulge that fact to her brothers.

A crooked grin settled on Gray’s face. “Worried about me again?” he whispered, squeezing her hand in the process. “I’ll be fine. You know I will.”

From the doorway, Sophie huffed indignantly. “Mr. Hadley, what have you done now?”

Gray pushed up on his elbows and gestured to Armand and Etienne with a tilt of his head. “Perhaps you’ll notice I’m the one bleeding, my lady.”

“Probably well deserved,” the tutor muttered under her breath, though everyone in the room heard her.

Armand dusted his hands on his trousers and winced under Sophie’s scrutiny like a dog caught in the act of doing something he shouldn’t have. “Please forgive me. Armand Mayeux at your service.”

“Mayeux?” Sophie asked. “You’re Livi’s brothers?” She glanced at the pair and then at Livi as though seeking confirmation.

“I’m Etienne,” her other brother said, reaching the threshold where Sophie stood before Armand could do so. “And you are…?” He leaned casually against the doorjamb. He might as well lick his lips to complete the lascivious look that reflected in his eyes. The reprobate.

“She’s my friend,” Livi announced as she scrambled back to her feet. “I do hope you’ll treat her with more respect than you’ve shown my betrothed thus far.”

Etienne’s blue eyes flashed to Livi. “She’s much prettier.”

Livi scoffed. “So you only go around pummeling my friends who aren’t attractive?”

Gray snorted at that, but Livi glared at him. This was all his fault anyway. If her brothers hadn’t caught him practically undressing her, they wouldn’t have taken it upon themselves to crash him into their grandfather’s furniture.

“She is much more our type,” Armand replied. Then he cast a scowl in Gray’s direction. “Besides,
she
wasn’t attempting to seduce our little sister.”

Sophie gasped. “Well, I should hope not.”

“But,” Etienne bowed before her, “you may feel free to seduce me, Miss…?”

“Lady,” Livi stressed. “Lady Sophia Cole and she’s much too refined for either of you mutts, so leave her be.” Sophie could barely manage Gray and Lord Radbourne as it was, depending on the day. She would be completely out of her element with Livi’s wild brothers.

Sophie gestured to Gray on the ground and the smashed settee beneath him. “It looks as though a dockside brawl has transpired in here.”

Etienne smiled roguishly. “Attended many dockside brawls, my lady?” Then he winked at Livi and said, “Perhaps she’s not as refined as you think, Liv.”

Armand reached for Sophie’s hand and then brought it to his lips. “Apologies, Lady Sophia. We were simply welcoming Mr… What did you say his name was?”

“Hadley,” Sophie supplied with a frown as she extricated her hand from Armand’s grasp.

“
Oui
, Mr. Hadley,” Armand continued. “We were simply welcoming Mr. Hadley into our family. We Mayeuxes can be more impulsive than I’m sure you’re accustomed to over here.”

Impulsive? Livi snorted. Perhaps wild, barbaric, or ferocious were better words to describe her brothers.

“
Oui
,” Etienne chimed in. “We’ve had our fair share of dockside brawls over the years. So if you like that sort of fellow…”

“Etienne!” Livi stomped her foot. “Leave my friend alone.” Then she turned her gaze to her oldest brother. “Not that I’m not happy to see you. Well, mostly. But, Armand, why
are
you here?”

Armand shrugged slightly. “Father sent us to retrieve you.”

“He did?” Livi’s stomach flipped at the thought of going home, of leaving England and all its rules and social nonsense and… Gray. Her eyes flashed to her newly betrothed as he rose from the rubble on the floor. She’d never see him again if she left. But wasn’t that what she wanted? A return to New Orleans’ bayous and swamps? The smell of Cook’s beignets in the morning and crawfish in the afternoon? The warmth that she’d missed ever since her arrival in England? Life with Papa and her brothers, day in and day out? For things to be the way they once were? “But I thought…”

“He realized his error in sending you away just after your ship sailed,” Etienne continued. “He even told Father Antonio to bugger off and mind his own business where you’re concerned.”

Sophie gasped, which Livi could only attribute to her brother’s crass language.

“Home just isn’t the same without you, Liv,” Armand added. “Like all the sunshine in New Orleans left when you did.”

Her heart warmed at the sentiment. What a lovely thing to say. And her brothers weren’t exactly known for their poetic words.

“Well,” Gray began with a bit of a growl to his voice, “I’m sure we’ll visit you on occasion.” He tucked Livi’s hand in the crook of his arm as though she was a possession he wished to keep.

She glared at him. Was he trying to incite her brothers to more violence?

“Or,” Armand growled in response, “perhaps you can visit her on occasion after we bring her home.”

“As she’s to be my wife, I think I’ll have a say about where she lives.”

“Well, maybe she won’t be your wife, then.” Etienne added his growl to the mix. “There’s no reason for her to marry some arrogant Englishman.”

This was beyond the pale. Livi couldn’t even think with all the growling and wolfish angling for dominance. “Out!” she ordered.

“You heard the lady,” Gray added.

Livi yanked her arm from his grasp. “You too, Grayson.”

Gray’s dark eyes fell like those of a chastened pup. “Livi,” he began softly.

But she stomped her foot and pointed to the corridor. “I can barely think with all of your grumbling and barking. Go away, all of you.”

Etienne offered his arm to Sophie. “My lady?”

“And,” Livi ground through her teeth, “leave Lady Sophia alone unless you’d like to lose every tooth you possess. I hardly think she’ll find you attractive then.”

Her brother dropped his arm. “I didn’t miss your bossiness.”

“And I didn’t miss your idiocy.”

Sophie glanced toward Gray. “Come along, Mr. Hadley. I should take a look at your eye and that lip of yours.”

“I’ll be there in a moment.” Gray tipped Livi’s chin up so she had to meet his gaze. “I’m not through with you. I don’t believe I ever will be.”

The intensity of his stare made Livi’s stomach drop to her toes. She didn’t think she could ever forget him, even if she did return to Louisiana with her brothers.

It wouldn’t be so bad, marrying him, would it? She could lose herself in his dark eyes and never wish to be found, but… Livi wished he hadn’t been ordered to marry her, that he’d wanted to marry her of his own volition. “You should let Sophie look at your injuries,” she said, turning away from him.

“I’ll heal just fine,” he protested.

But Livi didn’t respond. She strode across the room, stepping over what had once been a settee to peer out the window.

***

Gray slinked from the room, his eyes downcast, and his spirits even lower as he followed Lady Sophia and the Mayeux brothers into the corridor. He glanced back at Livi only to find her staring out the window as though she wanted to block out the rest of the world. He started back over the threshold, but Lady Sophia caught his arm.

“I’m not sure of all that happened in my absence, but I do think you should give her some time, Mr. Hadley.” Then her gray eyes widened a bit in surprise. “Your eye looked so much worse in the parlor. It appears nearly healed in this light.”

Gray shot his soon-to-be brothers-in-law a quelling glance. “Yes, well, we Hadleys heal quickly.”

“I’d wager we Mayeuxes heal even faster,” Etienne, the young brother, announced with his chest puffed up with pride.

“For heaven’s sake!” Lady Sophia rolled her eyes. “It’s hardly a competition.” Then she sighed and returned her gaze to Gray. “Follow me into the kitchen, Mr. Hadley. Let me see what is to be done with the rest of your scrapes.”

“Should we follow you as well?” Etienne asked.

“Absolutely not! Lord Holmesfield is recovering from an illness, and the last thing he needs is to have his rest disrupted by the three of you assaulting each other with pots and pans to determine which of you is the strongest male specimen.”

“It wouldn’t even be a contest,” Etienne returned with a devilish twinkle in his eye, at the same moment that Armand said, “Our grandfather is ill?”

Lady Sophia nodded once toward the older brother. “When he’s feeling better I’m sure he’ll wish to meet both of his grandsons.”

“Whether we want to meet him is another thing entirely,” Etienne grumbled.

But Lady Sophia paid him no attention as she continued, “In the meantime, I’ll send Flemming to see you both settled.” Then she moved to walk down the corridor and they fell into step behind her, despite her previous instruction for them to wait.

Gray barked, “She didn’t say ‘heel.’ She said ‘wait.’” He rolled his eyes at them in what he hoped was a most annoying manner.

“Yet you seem to jump at her commands. Bit of a lapdog, aren’t you?” the younger of the two teased.

Lady Sophia took Gray’s shoulder in her hand and turned him toward the kitchen. “You go that way,” she said with a ladylike shove. Well, as ladylike as a shove could be. Then she gestured to a sitting room not far away and said to Livi’s brothers, “You two may wait here.”

Armand started back toward the drawing room where Livi remained.

Lady Sophia heaved a sigh. “Leave her be for a moment,” she warned, her voice soft but steely.

Just then, the butler rounded the corner and sucked in a breath.

“Oh, Flemming,” Lady Sophia said, relief in her voice. “Do prepare rooms for Lord Holmesfield’s grandsons.” Flemming looked down his nose at the two of them. He would have an apoplectic fit when he saw the broken settee that littered the drawing room floor. “And there was a tiny accident with the settee,” she tried to explain.

“Accident?” the butler said. Then he straightened his jacket. “I certainly hope no one was injured.” Though the look on his face said the opposite. The old man would probably be overjoyed if someone was injured, especially if it was Gray.

“In fact,” Lady Sophia chimed, “the Mayeux brothers might like to help you clean up that mess after they get settled in their chambers.”

Amid their protests, Sophia turned away from the American pair and ushered Gray quickly down the corridor. “There, that might give Livi some peace for a few moments,” she said, almost as though she spoke to herself.

“Should I return to her?” Gray asked, looking over his shoulder in the direction from whence they’d come.

“Definitely not,” she scolded as they stepped into the kitchen. “I think you’ve done plenty this morning.” She pointed to a chair beside a small table. “Sit.”

“But—” he started to argue.

“I said sit, Mr. Hadley,” she spoke over him.

Gray sat, but he wasn’t happy about it. “If I could just talk to her…”

“You’d make things worse.” She clucked her tongue at him as she spun away to retrieve a dampened cloth beside Cook’s cutting board. “You need to give her a few moments to collect herself. As do her brothers,” Sophia said as she crossed the floor and lifted the bit of cloth toward his eye. But then she stopped and tilted her head as though to peer at him from a different angle. “I could have sworn you were bleeding.”

“Must have been the light in the drawing room,” he murmured.

She leaned against the table and glared at him. “You Hadleys seem to be made of stronger stuff than I realized. What is it with the three of you?”

“I’m not certain to what you’re referring,” Gray prevaricated.

“The whole lot of you is impermeable to injury. Or you’re really fast healers.” She narrowed her eyes at him. “Is there some family secret of which I’m unaware?”

Gray nearly tripped over his own tongue. “Secret?” he repeated.

“Yes, there’s something odd about all of you.”

“I’ll be sure to tell Mother you said so,” a voice said from behind her. At that moment, Gray’s twin, Weston Hadley, stepped fully into the kitchen. He was the mirror image of Grayson, aside from the scar on his face and the grin he’d sported since the day he’d married Madeline Hayburn.

“Weston!” she cried. Then she punched her hands to her hips. “Were you eavesdropping?” Gray nearly expected her to stomp her dainty little foot. But the glare she gave Wes was good enough.

Wes ambled slowly toward the table and plucked an apple from the bowl in the center. He took a bite and wiped his chin with the back of his hand.

“Do you have need of a napkin?” she scolded.

Gray chuckled behind closed lips.

“And what are you doing here?”

Wes shrugged. “I heard the family had rushed off to Bath, and Maddie was feeling lonesome…” He took another bite of his apple.

“Maddie!” Sophie shrieked. She rushed forward and grabbed his arm. “Maddie’s here?”

“She’s waiting in the parlor,” he said from around a mouthful of apple.

“Do chew with your mouth closed, Weston,” she admonished.

Gray piped in, “I believe Wes is impervious to your nagging, since he’s already married.”

Wes chuckled.

“If you’re quite all right, I’ll leave you to go and see Maddie,” Lady Sophia said, crossing her arms and glaring at them both.

“Please do,” Gray said with a shrug. “My injuries require no tending.” It was mainly his pride that was injured, after all.

As soon as she quit the room, Gray rose from his seat and clapped Wes on the shoulder. “I have never been so happy to see anyone in my life.”