Fangs for the Memories (23 page)

Jane frowned. “You mean other than your brother thinking
New York
was
London
?”

“Right.
But you didn’t notice anyone odd around?
Other than my brother.”

Jane started to shake her head,
then
stopped. “There was this… No, it wasn’t anything.”

Sebastian leaned forward, his eyes intent. “What?”

“It was just this guy.” She gave a slight laugh. “It was nothing. He was just odd—nothing scary or anything.”

“You’re sure?”

She nodded. Who would be around—watching them? Was this part of what Rhys was trying to forget? Was this part of what she’d forgotten? A tingle of uneasiness played over her skin.

But Sebastian sagged back against the chair, looking relieved.

“Is there something else I should know about?” Jane asked, again watching his reaction closely.

“No.” He sat up again. “No. I just don’t think it’s a good idea for either of you to be out in the city right now. You’re new here. Rhys isn’t thinking clearly. I’d hate for you to end up in a bad part of the city or something.”

She supposed his worries made sense.
Although Rhys seemed to know his way around just fine.
Another odd factor in his memory loss.

“You seemed almost relieved that Rhys is still experiencing memory loss.” Why would Sebastian want Rhys to continue to believe he was someone else?

“No,” Sebastian said immediately. “No. That isn’t it. But I—I didn’t want him to suddenly remember everything out on the streets. He could be confused and upset. I’d rather”— he sighed, looking shaken—“I’d rather he was here with me. So I can help him.”

Jane eyed him suspiciously for a moment,
then
decided it was unfair not to believe Sebastian’s words. Rhys was his brother, after all. He had every right to want to be there for him.

“I know you want to help him,” she said, reaching out to pat his hand. “So do
I
. That’s why I’ve decided to go ahead and call another doctor.” She pointed to the phone book. “I know you have a family doc—”

“No!” Sebastian declared, reaching to snatch up the phone. “No,” he repeated more calmly when he saw Jane’s startled expression. “Dr.—No—is a very renowned physician. Rhys couldn’t possibly do any better than him.”

“Dr. No?”

“Yeah, he’s Asian.”

She regarded him closely for a moment, trying to decide if he was serious. He looked back at her with sincere eyes and a stony set to his jaw.

Finally she sighed. “I understand you want your doctor, a person you trust. But he hasn’t come to examine Rhys yet. That doesn’t seem very professional to me.”

“Well, he is very busy. Because of how renowned he is. But I’ll call him again.
Now.”
Sebastian stood, waving the phone in determination.
“Right now.”

He headed to the kitchen, pausing to give the phone another resolute shake in the air, then closed the door behind him.

She stared at the door,
then
turned back to her breakfast, taking a bite of her toast. Sebastian had to be up to something. No one had all the answers like he did, even if they were very weird answers.

She finished her toast, and was taking a sip of tea, when Rhys walked into the room. His furrowed brow relaxed once he saw her—almost as if he was afraid she wouldn’t be there.

Silly man.

“Good morning.” She smiled.

He smiled back, and again, she was struck by the sheer beauty of his features. Her heart skipped against her breastbone.

“I was disappointed you weren’t in bed with me when I woke,” he said, sitting at the table across from her. “I had plans for you.”

“You did?”

He
nodded,
his smile widening. “I did promise to taste you all over, and I know I missed a few places.”

She stared at the sexy curve of his lips,
then
looked up to his eyes. They sparkled with desire and a hint of amusement.

Oh, he knew exactly what he was doing to her. Her skin tingled at every minute spot that those talented lips had touched.

“You are very bad,” she told him, her eyes drifting back to his mouth, wondering exactly where he wanted to taste her now.

“
Mmm
-hmm,” he
agreed,
the sound low and velvety.

She shifted in her chair,
then
shifted again. Finally, she crossed her legs.

“So what are you doing?” He reached over and pulled the thick phone book across the table toward him. His eyes skimmed over the columns of names before she could grab the book back and flip the pages closed.

“A physician?”
He frowned up at her. “Are you feeling unwell?”

“No,” she said, but didn’t get to say anything more before Sebastian came back into the room, announcing as he entered, “I reached Dr. No. He’ll come tonight.”

Rhys looked at his brother and then to Jane. Both of their shocked expressions made it clear that he was not intended to hear about the doctor’s visit.

“What’s going on?” he asked.

Neither Jane nor Sebastian said anything for a moment. Then they spoke at the same time.

“It’s—”

“I—”

They looked at each other, and both fell silent again.

“Jane.” He reached out to grasp one of her hands. Her fingers were cold. “Is the doctor for you?”

Her eyes held his. Then she slowly started to shake her head. “N—”

“Yes,” Sebastian said abruptly. He stepped farther into the room. “Yes. Since—since you mentioned she might be pregnant, Jane decided that she should see a physician.
Just in case.”

“Then why didn’t you come to me?” Rhys asked her. Jealousy tightened his chest. Why would she go to Sebastian?

Jane opened her mouth to say something, but Sebastian cut her off before she could utter a sound.

“She didn’t want you to worry.”

Rhys frowned at his brother. He was acting very strange.
All agitated and—shifty.

Something wasn’t right here.

“Jane, do you mind if I talk to my brother alone for a moment?” Rhys asked.

She narrowed her eyes at Sebastian, but then stood.
“No, not at all.”

Rhys squeezed her fingers gently before releasing them and watching her leave the room. Once the door was shut behind her, Rhys turned back to his brother.

“What the hell is going on here?”

Sebastian tried to gather his wits and come up with a plausible story—quickly. He should have come up with a better lie, but his first thought had been that Jane was going to tell Rhys the truth. And he had to stop her. Rhys didn’t need to know that the “doctor” was for him. He was afraid Rhys might remember he was about two centuries past needing medical attention.

“What do you mean?” Okay, he was definitely stalling.
Stalling’s
good.

“Why did Jane come to you to help her find a physician?”

“For the very reason I said. She didn’t want to worry you.”

“Is there something I should be worried about?”

Sebastian hesitated again. “She—she’s worried that she can’t have children.”

Rhys stared at him. “Why?” he finally asked.

“It runs in her family.”

“Barrenness runs in her family?”

Sebastian nodded. “Her moth—no—her
sister
is barren.”

“She doesn’t have a sister.”

Shit. “Oh, well, she must have said her mother’s sister was barren. Yeah, that was it.”

Rhys studied him, his eyes full of
skepticism
. “What does she expect this doctor to tell her? It’s too soon to know if she’s with child or not.”

“I think she just wants to make sure she is healthy. As healthy as she can be to carry your—babe.” Sebastian tried hard not to roll his eyes. Why was he doing this, again?

Rhys considered that. “I suppose if it makes her feel more relaxed,
then
it can certainly do no harm.”

Sebastian nodded, relieved that he seemed to be accepting the story. But, man, he was only keeping this shit up for a few more days. If Rhys got his memory back after that, and he was too stupid to realize he needed Jane, that he could find happiness with her, then that was his own problem. Sebastian was sick of making up these cockamamie stories. He had far better things to do.

“Speaking of the possibility that she is already with child…”

Sebastian fought back a groan, knowing what was coming.

“Did you arrange the special license?”

“Yes. It’s in the works.”

Rhys nodded. “And you will get the vicar to come here to perform the ceremony as soon as it is ready?”

“Absolutely.”
Right after he found someone to pretend to be Dr. No. And again, why was he doing this?

The suspicion finally left
Rhys’s
face, and he actually smiled. “Good. Now, please excuse me while I go join my betrothed.”

“By all means,” Sebastian said,
then
sneered at the closed door after his brother exited. Rhys better appreciate this once he got his memory back. It wasn’t every brother who’d create fictional doctors and materialize “special licenses” just to get the guy laid.

Sebastian sighed. As Dickens wrote in
A Christmas Carol
, he was a martyr to his own generosity.

Jane paced around her room, wondering what Sebastian was telling Rhys. She could only imagine. And why on earth had he lied to Rhys and said the doctor was for her? As soon as he actually arrived, it wouldn’t take Rhys long to figure out that the doctor was examining him.

Once again she wondered which one of the Young brothers was the crazy one.

She sighed. It didn’t much matter how they got Rhys help, she supposed, as long as he did get it.

Again her resolve was laced with reluctance. She wanted him to get his memory back; she just desperately hoped he still wanted her afterward. That he wouldn’t think she took advantage of the situation. That he wouldn’t think she was awful and pathetic.

“You should have come to me,” Rhys said from behind her.

She spun to look at him. He stood in the doorway, looking so tall and broad.
And stern.

“I…” She had no idea what to say. What had Sebastian told him?

He pulled the door closed and strode into the room, stopping directly in front of her. “I’m to be your husband, not Sebastian. Your worries are my worries. Your problems are my problems. And we will work them out together.”

She stared up at him, her heart thundering at the possession in his amber eyes. She didn’t understand most of what he meant. But she still loved the protectiveness of his words.
The idea that he would be there with her—no matter how difficult things in her life got.

“You won’t go to him again?”

“No.” She wouldn’t. She hadn’t. She blinked. This was all so confusing.

“You will only come to me?”

She nodded.

He kissed her then. The pressure of his mouth as possessive as his words had been. She submitted, loving the power there, and the yearning she tasted under all his dominance.

He broke off the kiss, his chest rising and falling with his need. “And you will only come for me.”

Her passion-addled mind couldn’t quite wrap around what he was telling her. Then he slid a hand under the fold of her robe and cupped her bare breast, his palm slightly rough and burning hot.

She
gasped,
the sound more a hiss through her teeth.

He leaned down, his breath caressing her skin and stirring her hair like a warm breeze. “Tell me, Janie. Tell me no one else will ever touch you like this. No one else will ever know what it’s like to be buried deep inside you.”

Her breath hitched in her throat, and her heart threatened to hammer its way out of her chest. His demands were so thrilling, so arousing.
And so, so easy for her to agree to.

“No one,” she breathed, before she turned her head and captured his lips, kissing him with all the greed and hunger she felt for him, too.

His one hand continued to hold her breast, while the other slipped around her back and pulled her tight against him. Her hands sank into his hair, and they clung to each other, their bodies, their mouths, demanding things for each other that maybe neither of them could give when they finally fell back to earth.
Back to real life.

But it didn’t matter at this moment.

He finally broke his hold, but only to walk her backward across the room. When her heels bumped the rise of the step to her bed, he lifted her onto it. He followed her up, his mouth falling on hers, his kiss rough and hungry.

And then they were both falling, her soft mattress coming up to catch them.