A Persistant Attraction (29 page)

Keep him talking.
“Why did you ask for money when all you really wanted was to hurt me?”

“Oh I wanted the money too. Reconstructing myself after nearly dying didn’t come cheap. If I could have you and a thousand pounds all the better. But I’ll settle for your utter humiliation.”

Amanda opened her mouth to ask another question but the door creaked.

“Drop the gun, Linton.”

Amanda turned. Rhys stood in the doorway, two pistols in his hands.

Walter laughed. “You drop your guns, or I’ll kill your precious Ice Princess.” Walter kept his gun trained on Amanda. D’Eglantine drew a weapon and pointed it at Rhys.

Amanda’s heart beat so fast she worried her fear would kill her before Walter did.

She watched Rhys, praying he had a plan to get her free.

The standoff lasted a few more seconds, then Rhys fired his guns in rapid succession.

D’Eglantine crumpled to the floor, taking a bullet to the head, but Walter dodged just in time. Rhys leapt between Amanda and Walter as Walter fired.

Walter’s bullet hit Rhys. He collapsed on top of Amanda, shielding her from further fire. Walter drew a second pistol.

Amanda tugged at her bonds, desperate to find a way to save Rhys and herself. Then a shot went off. Mouton staggered then fell as blood seeped through his shirt to cover his chest.

Amanda turned to see Farrington standing in the door. He rushed in and pulled Rhys off of her. Rhys moaned and stirred but never fully roused as Farrington laid him on his side.

“Are you injured?” Farrington asked Amanda.

Amanda shook her head. Farrington reached to untie the ropes binding her wrists, but she pulled away. “See to him first. I’m fine. Really.” Farrington looked dazed as if he couldn’t quite comprehend what she was saying. He wasn’t behaving like the polished man she’d met in London.

He bent over Rhys and peeled back his blood-covered shirt to find the wound.

Amanda held her breath. Rhys had risked his life to save her as she’d once done for him.

She didn’t care what he’d done, how he’d deceived her. The thought of him dying without knowing how much she loved him threatened to rip her heart in two.

Farrington exhaled long and loud. “The bullet grazed his side. He’s lost a lot of blood but his pulse is strong. He should be fine.” Amanda exhaled slowly. “Thank God.” She felt relief, but with it came the full realization of how close they’d both come to death. She began to shake and tears poured down her cheeks.

Farrington ripped a strip of cloth from his shirt and wrapped it around Rhys’s wound.

“This should keep the bleeding under control until we get him back to the house.” As he spoke he turned to Amanda. His eyes widened at the sight of her tears. She saw a flash of raw pain before he managed to cover it. He quickly moved behind her untied her wrists. Then he pulled her into his arms. “It’s all over now. Truly it is.” With gargantuan effort, she forced herself to staunch her tears. There would be time for weeping later. Now they had to get Rhys patched up. “We would both be dead if it wasn’t for you.”

Farrington shook his head. “No doubt you would have found a way to save yourselves. You both seem to have an indestructible quality a man like me has to admire.”

He was once again the cool, controlled man she’d met weeks before, but she refused to let him diminish his role in the rescue. “You saved us, and I will not hear otherwise.” He started to protest again, but she held up her hand. “No more. We need to find a doctor and get Rhys back to the house.”

Farrington nodded. “See if you can rouse him while I make sure these two are dead.”

Amanda stroked Rhys’s hair. He stirred but didn’t awaken. “Come back to us, my love.”

Farrington knelt beside her as she held Rhys’s hand. “They’re both dead. Let me look at your wrists then I’ll fetch the authorities and a doctor.

Amanda didn’t want to release Rhys’s hand, but Farrington refused to accept her assurance that she was fine. While he examined her wrists, she asked him how he’d found them.

“I’ve been tracking d’Eglantine since he left France. I tried to get a message to Stanton, but it missed him in London. I followed d’Eglantine here. I’m sorry I wasn’t faster.”

“Rhys and I are alive. That’s what matters. Thank you again.”

“I owed Rhys. I owed him a hell of a lot.”

Amanda nodded.

“I know that whatever caused you to flee London is none of my business, but I must beg you to give Stanton a chance. He’s one of the most honorable men I know, and he loves you, even if he doesn’t know how to show it.” Amanda wanted to ask Farrington how he knew Rhys’s feelings when she didn’t know them herself, but before she could, Farrington rose. “I’ll ride back to the house and summon help. Take my pistol just in case you have any more trouble.” Amanda accepted the weapon and let Farrington go without questioning him further.

A few moments later, Rhys stirred again. Amanda called his name several times until finally, he groaned again and tried to sit up.

“Lie still. Farrington’s gone for help.”

“Farrington?”

“He tracked d’Eglantine here from France. He tried to send a message, but it missed you in London.”

Rhys nodded and managed to get himself to sitting position.

“I told you to lie back down.”

“I’m fine.”

“You’re not fine. You’ve been shot.”

“I’ve had worse.”

“Please lie down.” She put her hands on his shoulders, intending to force him back onto the floor. His eyes widened.

Heat raced between them, as it always did when they touched. His skin burned through the thin fabric of his shirt. She wanted to bend forward and run her tongue along the smooth column of his neck, but she pulled back. She couldn’t let herself get caught up in his sexual spell again. He was in no condition for such sport. “You’re injured. You need to rest until a doctor can examine you.”

“I told you. I’m fine. We need to talk.”

“Not now.” After seeing him nearly killed, she had no defenses left.

“I have a message from Cassandra.”

“What? When did you speak to Cassandra?”

“Miss Halverston and I assumed you’d fled to Devon. I went there searching for you.

When I got to Northamberly, a missive had arrived from her saying you were here.” If Elise had not yet known where Amanda was when Rhys spoke to her, then he must have left London in the night just as she had. Her treacherous heart raced at the thought that he’d been so eager to find her. “What is Cassandra’s message?”

“She said you should give me a chance to explain. She doesn’t want you to make the same mistake she almost did.”

Amanda’s heart accelerated. Cassandra had run away from Mark thinking he did not want her. Yet the man loved her so much Amanda hadn’t understood how Cassandra could question what was between them. Mark hadn’t seduced her because of a bet, rather their affair had been Cassandra’s idea from the start. “Mark didn’t place a bet on my sister’s honor.”

Rhys scowled. “That bet has nothing to do with my desire for you, Amanda.”

“Why should I believe anything you say?”

“Give me a chance. Please.”

The look of agony in his eyes and his pleading tone did her in. “Fine. I’ll listen. But only if you lie down while you speak.”

Rhys obliged her, settling back into the hay. For several long seconds, he said nothing, knowing how much rested on his saying the right thing. Pain seared his side, but he ignored it, pushing it away from him. His injury was insignificant compared to his need to have Amanda believe in him. They’d both survived when the odds were against them. He wasn’t going to lose her now.

Finally, he took a deep breath and began his tale. “I met an informant at my club on the night of Lady Leighton’s party. As I was leaving, I heard your name being bandied about. Stupidly, I went to investigate and found Walter proposing a contest. He challenged others to attempt to seduce you before he could. When he saw me, he insisted I sign the book, and several others cheered me on.” Amanda frowned. “You didn’t have to let him goad you.”

“If I’d refused, he and the other men in the room would suspect that I truly cared for you. I didn’t want him to gain another weapon to use against me or to put you in further danger. Never did I think to win money by seducing you.”

“What
did
you think to win by your actions?”

“At first, a fun diversion. A liaison with such a passionate woman as you might help me forget the hell of the last few years. You seemed determined to discover what bedding a man was like, and I couldn’t stand the thought of some cad touching you, taking advantage of you. But I quickly realized I was in over my head. Within days after we struck our bargain, I could no longer deny that I was falling in love with you.” Amanda’s heart pounded. Her instincts screamed at her to accept his words. Deep inside she knew he was telling the truth. She needed him with every fiber of her being and she knew that if she left him again, something inside her would break. But before she could let go of the last of her defenses, she had to know that she would not spend the rest of her life living in a dead woman’s shadow.

“I love you.” The words escaped before she could stop them.

Rhys leaned forward, ready to embrace her, but she pulled back. “Wait.” He frowned. “What’s wrong?”

She took a long, deep breath. “I have to ask you a difficult question.” He grew even more pale, and Amanda nearly let her fear get the best of her, but she pressed on.

“I would never ask you to forget Therese and what she meant to you, but I need you to live in the present, with me. Do you think that’s possible?” Rhys’s lips curled into a smile and he had the gall to laugh.

Anger hammered at Amanda’s chest. “I don’t see anything funny about my question.”

Rhys shook his head. “Not your question. Your assumption.” She stared at him, bewildered.

“I loved Therese like a sister. In fact, she reminded me very much of my older sister who is the only member of my family who ever showed me affection.”

“But you said you cared deeply for her.”

“Yes, I did. As a friend.”

Amanda’s cheeks heated. She felt like a fool. All this time she’d been jealous for no reason. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t apologize. I understand why you thought what you did. But I love you, Amanda. In a way I’ve never loved a woman.” He pulled a dented ring box from his waistcoat pocket. “I had this made for you. I intended to give it to you when we returned home from Lady Morgan’s ball.”

Amanda reached for the box. She couldn’t breathe. Her lungs felt as if they were being crushed under the weight of the emotion Rhys’s explanation had stirred in her. He loved her. He really, truly loved her.

She knew now she shouldn’t have listened to the hurtful words of those damn rakes at her aunt’s party. She’d doubted her ability to entice a man like Rhys and had been

looking for an excuse to run ever since she realized she loved him. Cassandra was right.

She’d been on the verge of throwing away something wonderful.

She opened the box and gasped. The ring inside was perfect, exactly what she would have picked out for herself.

“Amanda, will you marry me again? For love this time, not because we must prevent a scandal.”

She looked up and met his gaze. If she’d had any more doubts about Rhys’s feelings, the look in his eyes would have banished them. Never had she seen such vulnerability in those sapphire depths. He looked as if every façade, every deception he’d ever created had been ripped away.

She smiled, and his eyes brightened. “Yes.”

She’d intended to say more, to explain that she’d wanted a true marriage from the beginning, but he crushed her to him in a kiss that consumed them both. The ring box dug into her chest where their bodies pressed together.

He reached between them, took the box and set it aside. She tried to protest, but he began undoing her bodice, and she quickly forgot that she wanted him to put the ring on her finger.

His mouth descended to her breast. She moaned and writhed against him. He flinched as her arms came around him. Suddenly, she remembered his injury. “Your side.

You need to be resting.”

“I’m fine,” he mumbled as he laid kisses across her now bare abdomen.

“What if Farrington comes back?”

“I don’t care,” Rhys growled, shoving her dress down her arms and bending to take her nipple into his mouth once again. When his tongue flicked across the sensitive bud, Amanda forgot all the reasons they shouldn’t be touching each other and gave herself up to passion.

Rhys replaced his mouth with his skillful finger and rose up to claim her lips once more. He nibbled at her bottom lip then caught her gaze before the next kiss. “I love you,

Amanda. I’ve loved you since I first saw you in your sister’s drawing room, and I will never let you run away again.”

She smiled. “I can’t imagine why I’d want to.” He pushed up her skirts and she fumbled with the fastenings of his breeches. She no longer cared where they were or who might find them. She had to have him inside her.

When she’d freed his cock and he’d fought his way through the layers of her petticoats, he rolled to his back and brought her on top of him. “If you don’t mind, I’m not quite up to being on top this time.”

She pushed his shirt up and examined his wound. The bleeding seemed to have stopped, but she did not want to hurt him, no matter how lust-crazed she was. “Are you sure you can do this?”

His eyes sparkled. “I can’t not do it.”

She rose over him and slid down onto his shaft, moving slowly, torturing them both.

When he was fully sheathed, she forced herself to stop. “If I’m on top, you can’t pull yourself from me when you come.”

Rhys frowned. “Do you want me to?”

Amanda shook her head. “No, but you always have before.”

“I wasn’t going to risk a pregnancy unless I knew you were committed to our marriage. I was an unwanted child. I know how much it hurts.” Amanda smiled. “No baby of ours could ever be unwanted, Rhys.” Instead of answering with words, he thrust up into her. She gasped, and her control broke. She began riding him fast and hard. Her heart beat so quickly, it threatened to burst the confines of her chest. She could scarcely breathe, but she refused to slow down.