Love and Let Spy (Lord and Lady Spy) (23 page)

“You will only be in my way. I do not need an impediment.”

“Harsh words, if I really believed them. But I can help you. If nothing else, I can protect you.” Of course, he hadn’t protected her last night. But he would not think of that now. Perhaps, if he could save her from these assassins intent on killing her, he could make amends for his own behavior.

She’d reached the stable and gestured toward the stalls. “Do you want to choose, or shall I?”

He ignored the question. “It will take me a few moments to speak with Edgeberry’s butler. I will ensure footmen keep watch on the house all night and escort the ladies wherever they wish to go. And we cannot go without giving your aunt and my mother some sort of explanation.”

“You give them an explanation, then,” she said, turning to him, her pistol in her gloved hand. Bloody hell! She was pointing it at him. “I said you are staying, and if I must ensure you stay, I will.”

***

Jane hated to make threats. She always made promises, but pointing the pistol at Dominic was definitely a threat. She would not shoot him, not even in the foot. Still, she had to find some way to keep him here. She could not allow him to risk his life in London with her. As soon as she’d seen him in the stable, she’d known he would be difficult. She’d thought that telling him about Tueur would help him to understand. Apparently he had some misplaced sense of chivalry. She didn’t need his chivalry. She much preferred he choke her than kill her with his kindness.

He looked at the pistol and then looked at her. His dark eyes told her nothing, except there was no fear in him. “Go ahead and shoot me then,” he said. “That’s the only way you will keep me here or stop me from following you.”

She wanted to curse him aloud. She’d known he would not be easily deterred. The man was extraordinarily vexing. She should shoot him for that reason alone.

“I wouldn’t even blame you for shooting me. I deserve it after last night.”

Jane rolled her eyes. “You deserve it? Because you kissed me senseless? Because your touch made me want to do things I have never considered doing with another man? Risking what I have never been willing to risk before?” She lowered the pistol and stepped closer, trying to force her point through his thick skull. “We were both experiencing intense emotions, and yours triggered a memory. I have seen it before. Do you think what happened to you as a child makes me want you, the man, any less?”

She had said too much. She could see in his eyes the complete shock and disbelief. He really did think it mattered. He really did think his past defined him. If she’d believed that about herself, she couldn’t have rolled out of bed in the morning.

She would have to change the way he thought about himself. But not today, not when she had to stop the Maîtriser group from overthrowing the government. Her love affair would have to wait until King and Country were safe again. Unfortunately, she had forgotten that she was dealing with an extremely obstinate and clever man. She’d lowered her pistol in the heat of her speech, and he took advantage of that now. He leaned forward and swiped it from her hand.

“No!” Damn this man who was neither friend nor enemy. She forgot to keep her guard up with him.

“I ask you to give me half an hour. That is all,” he said.

“I am not negotiating with you!”

“I have your pistol.”

She all but rolled her eyes. “As though you would shoot me. I can fetch another in London. You go to the house and arrange your footmen. I will be gone by the time you return.” And they would see if he could catch her.

“In that case, you leave me no choice.” He pocketed the pistol and reached for her. She was ready this time, and she kicked him soundly in the shin. But he was still stronger than she and quicker than she anticipated. Added to that, he was her betrothed. She couldn’t exactly stick her dagger in his belly or break his nose, as she would have done with an actual attacker.

“Release me, or I promise you will regret it.”

He’d all but carried her into one of the stalls. A brown horse blinked at her then continued to graze on feed. A line of rope hung just outside the stall, and he quickly went to work. She did not make it easy for him. She wiggled and darted, but he had too much experience in dealing with recalcitrant animals. He tied her quite easily, her arms locked at the wrist and held above her head. He allowed her some give, probably because he did not want her to stretch her wound, but she was secure. For the moment. She was cursing at him, and she saw him reach for his handkerchief, obviously considering gagging her, but deciding against it. Good. She would scream, and the grooms would untie her.

“I’m going to tell the grooms to stay out of the stable.”

“I am going to make you extremely sorry,” she said.

“I know you will.” And then he leaned forward and kissed her forehead. She tried to smash his nose with a violent jerk of her head, but he moved back too quickly. “I will return in a half hour.” He walked away.

“Griffyn!” she yelled. “Griffyn! Come back here!” No answer. Torture would be too good for the man. But he’d underestimated her. She could escape any situation. She needed only to locate the knots and…she looked up. The knot securing her arms was far out of her reach. She would have to manage the ones around her wrists. That would be difficult with her wrists pressed together. But Griffyn was not cruel. He had not tied her as tightly as he might. She worked her wrists, pulling and stretching, until she found a knot and began to work on it. If only she could reach her knife. But this would have to do. It would be time consuming, but standing here, waiting for him, would drive her mad. She should be on the way to London by now.

When the Maîtriser group was defeated, she would delight in overturning their betrothal. She did not care that such a thing would harm her reputation. If this was what men were like, then she could do without them. She didn’t want to marry anyway. She didn’t want children either.

At least, she never had before… But seeing Saint with child, seeing that children were a possibility for another agent, had made an impression. Now she found when she thought of babies, she did not feel quite so panicked. She actually felt a little pull of longing.

The horse she was sharing quarters with finished eating then and looked at her curiously. “Hello, horse,” she said. “Stay over there.” It was a large horse. She could barely see over its shoulder.

She started on the knots again. She worked the knot as best she could, then realized her gloves were making such a manipulation impossible. She struggled to remove them just as the horse grew braver. It took several steps closer. “I do not have carrots or apples or sugar or whatever it is you want from me,” she told the horse.

It breathed warm air on her, sniffing at her gown. Its teeth closed on the fabric of her gown and tugged.

“Step back, horse!”

It raised its head, looked at her, and when she could not back her command with any action, it took her riding habit in its mouth again. Oh, this was humiliating. She could not even fend off a horse.

“That is not food,” she told it, twisting away. “Stop. Boo! Boo!”

The horse looked up at her curiously.

“She’s not scared of you.”

Jane looked up at the thin, white-haired man standing in the stall doorway. He did not appear surprised to see a woman tied inside it. He did remove his hat out of—she assumed—respect. In her current position and with her riding habit now dirtied with horse saliva, she was hardly worthy of it. “I realize that,” she said. “But as you can see, I have no other means of dissuading her.”

“I do see that.” He held out an apple, and the horse took it, munching happily. “I’m Old Connor.”

“Jane Bonde. Would you mind untying me, Mr. Connor?”

“I would not, Miss Bonde, but I’m afraid Mr. Griffyn would have my head. I will stand here and make sure Little Molly doesn’t accost you any further.”

Little
Molly?
Good God. She could not imagine what Big Molly would look like. “I assure you no harm will come to you if you release me, Mr. Connor.”

“It’s Old Connor, miss. No
mister
.”

“Fine. But you can hardly leave a lady tied in a stall.”

“I don’t ask questions, Miss Bonde. I’ve learned to trust Mr. Griffyn over the years. He and I didn’t always see eye to eye. But he’s a smart man, and he has his reasons for what he does.”

“He can have no reason for tying me. It is unpardonable!”

“Oh, I don’t know about that.” He scratched his head. It was still bare as he continued to press his hat to his chest. “I’ve known him since he was a boy. He doesn’t generally act rashly. Taught him everything he knows about horses. He learned everything he could, taking it all in slow and deliberate like. He knew he wanted a free hand in this stable, and he made it so Lord Edgeberry couldn’t refuse. The stable and these horses have prospered because of him. But for all that, I think he needs the horses more than they need him.”

So she wasn’t the only one who knew of Dominic’s trauma. She wondered if he’d spoken of it to this man, or if Old Connor, like she, was merely deducing. Old Connor looked back. “Here’s the man now. I’ve been keeping Little Molly away from her, sir.”

“Thank you.” Griffyn moved into sight. He’d changed and was now dressed in riding boots and coat.

“I see you rushed back to untie me,” she said. “You look quite fashionable. Now, release me.”

“One moment.” He moved out of sight, and she heard him speaking quietly to Old Connor. The nerve of the man. Really! The nerve. How dare he leave her tied here while he had a leisurely conversation?

Finally, he returned, leaned up, and began to unravel the knots. She looked up, but when she looked down, she saw his gaze was on her. She also realized his body was pressed against hers. She took a shaky breath as heat flooded through her. Desire so strong she felt dizzy ripped through her. She wanted him to press her up against the wall of the stall and kiss her until she forgot everything but the feel of his mouth. “You’re touching me,” she murmured, wishing her voice did not sound quite so seductive.

“I don’t mind it so much at the moment.”

Her arms sagged, and he took her wrists in his hands and began on those knots.

“Would you like me to stop touching you?”

She knew what he meant. His body was still pressed against hers, though such intimacy was not necessary to release her hands. She wanted to say yes, but she could hardly catch her breath. She closed her eyes, trying to calm her mind, control her desire.

Then her wrists were free, and she opened her eyes again. He’d stepped back, and she resisted the urge to grab his coat and haul him up against her again. Instead, she swept from the stall without looking back. She would not allow desire to sway her from her purpose. She would not allow Dominic Griffyn to sway her. He might follow her now, but she would lose him at the first opportunity.

Thirteen

It was not changing his clothing that had taken Dominic the additional few moments Jane seemed to object to. He’d written to Edgeberry to come to Kenham Hall immediately and to bring additional footmen. Dominic hadn’t liked leaving his mother and Lady Melbourne alone at Kenham Hall, but he saw the logic in going straight to the threat, rather than waiting for this Foncé to come to them. Jane was no fool, nor was she a coward. He might have wished she had less bravery. Time and again he’d watched her dive into danger without a second thought, and he wondered how she’d survived as long as she had. He wondered if she would survive until the wedding.

And then, as he rode beside her on the road to London, he wondered when he had started to think of marrying her as inevitable.

It should not have been inevitable, despite the efforts of his mother and Jane’s uncle. They had done nothing indiscreet, not in public at least, and engagements could be called off. Such a thing was not done without consequences. He did not mind consequences, except for the embarrassment they would cause his family. He felt as though he was embarrassment enough at times without contributing more. He knew his mother did not see him that way, and he did not think his half brothers did, but Edgeberry was altogether different. The marquess would have preferred the bastard son of his wife respectably married and out of the public eye.

If Dominic called off the engagement, he would not only ruin Jane’s reputation, he’d be quite prominently in the public eye. Everyone would assume there was some mark against Jane’s character, and she would be virtually unmarriageable. Dominic did not want to marry, but he’d known when he accepted the betrothal that such an outcome was likely. He would not be the source of dishonor for any lady. He knew only too well the pain that came with Society’s derision.

Jane would have to call it off, and while he did not think she had any such qualms about doing so, he also thought if she truly considered her options, she might decide marrying him was the best choice from a long list of undesirable choices. She had to marry someone. Why not him?

Because
your
touch
made
me
want
to
do
things
I
have
never
considered
doing
with
another
man? Risking what I have never been willing to risk before?