Kane Samantha - Brothers in arms 1 (6 page)

The woman, Tony couldn’t even remember who it was, had been pathetically grateful.

She’d called Robertson a drunken lout and then, in front of him, had offered herself to Tony and Jason. They’d declined, but Robertson had stormed out in a violent temper.

Since he had acted normally the next time they met, Tony had assumed the incident forgotten. Oh God, he’d waited until the right time, and he’d taken it out on Kate.

Kate waited, her heart breaking, barely able to breathe, unable to move, as she waited for Tony and Jason to make their excuses and leave. She knew that having been the plaything of a large number of their acquaintances would surely turn them from her. It made her completely inappropriate as a wife, for either of them.

“Oh, Kate, darling,” Tony whispered, guilt and anger and frustration filling his voice with gravel. “We are not Robertson. We don’t want to own you, Kate,” he said finally, shaking his head. “We told you that already. We want to marry you.”

Kate shook her head with her eyes closed tightly. Didn’t he understand? She was used goods, and she was damaged, she knew, inside. She could never love, never trust, again. She opened her eyes, and when she spoke, all the pain of what might have been was in her voice. “Isn’t that the same thing? You’ll make demands, and try to force me to be who you want, instead of who I am. I can’t be who you want, what you need.”

Jason’s stomach was churning with guilt and rage. He hadn’t been here to protect her. That was his job, to protect the woman he loved and he hadn’t done it. His self-disgust made him lash out at Kate. “How do you know what we need? Do you think we forced you tonight? Are you saying you didn’t want us? That we forced ourselves on you? That you didn’t like it?”

“Of course not!” Kate’s tone became as angry as Jason’s at his deliberate misunderstanding, and Tony, only half dressed, his torso still bare, stepped between them.

29

Samantha Kane

“Please, both of you. This is hardly the time to let angry words rule.” He turned to Jason. “Let her explain. She has some valid reasons for the way she feels, you must admit.”

Jason refused to be pacified. “Not when it comes to us. We’ve done nothing but love her! She certainly didn’t mind when I told her what to do tonight, when I demanded she come again, or when I ordered her to show me how she could fuck you.

She can’t change the rules when it suits her.”

“Oh!” Kate seethed. “That is just like a man, to reduce everything to sex. You’re just mad that I got mine, and now I’m telling you to leave instead of throwing myself at your feet for kindly fucking me, thanking you so much, my lord.” Kate mockingly curtsied to Jason.

“Kate,” Tony warned.

“You’re damn right!” Jason shouted. “I’ve confessed my undying love, and now you’re trying to tell me it was just a fuck. Well, I refuse to believe it! Damn it, I love you!

I need
you
, I need to protect you now.”

Kate took a moment to calm down. When she replied, her tone was calmer. “I didn’t say that, and it wasn’t. I’m saying that I’m just rediscovering myself and learning to stand on my own again, and I don’t want to jeopardize that. You can’t protect me from what’s already happened. Don’t you see?”

Jason was visibly trying to collect himself, as Kate had done, when the parlor doors flew open. One of the doors hit Tony as it opened, and he fell back with a surprised shout. A young woman, her white dressing gown flying around her, rushed into the room. She immediately swung at Jason with the large fireplace poker in her hands.

“What the devil?” Jason shouted, as he grabbed the poker in mid-swing and yanked it out of her hands.

“Leave her alone!” the girl shouted in a panicked voice, throwing herself in front of Kate, facing Jason with a murderous expression on her plump, otherwise sweet face.

Her brown hair was escaping its braid, somehow emphasizing her youth.

“Veronica!” Kate gasped, grabbing the girl’s arm. “It’s all right, I’m fine, darling.”

Her assurances had little effect on the girl, who had just noticed Tony coming out from behind the door, gingerly fingering his right cheek.

“Both of you stay back, or you’ll regret it!” she warned them, oblivious to the emptiness of her threat.

Tony smiled weakly. “Miss Veronica, I presume. You’re damn lucky you didn’t knock me out with that door, young lady.” He sat down unsteadily, inadvertently minimizing the fear clearly written in her pale face.

“Very,” Kate said quietly, coming to stand in front of her, her hands firmly on the girl’s shoulders. “I’m all right. They were not hurting me.”

30

The Courage To Love

Veronica began to shake. “I heard you shouting, and men’s voices, and I thought…”

she didn’t have to complete the sentence. Kate pulled her into her arms, rubbing her back soothingly.

“I’m so sorry, darling, don’t be afraid. It’s all right. It’s just Jason and Tony. They’ve come back.”

Veronica began to sob. “I’m sorry, Aunt Kate. I was afraid for you. After what happened before, I couldn’t bear it if they hurt you again.”

Jason was standing frozen, the enormity of what Robertson had done to Kate coming to him in a wrenching flash. The bastard had destroyed not just Kate, but her young niece as well. He was paralyzed by her tears, completely at a loss as to how to help.

“Veronica,” Tony said quietly, not moving from the chair, “please believe that neither Jason nor I would ever hurt your aunt. We love her very much, you see.”

“No, no,” Jason stammered. “We would never hurt anyone. We want to marry her.”

Veronica pulled out of Kate’s arms, and turned a stunned face to Jason. “What?”

she whispered.

Jason started nodding his head rapidly. “Yes, we want to marry her. But she refuses. We love her, she loves us, please make her see reason.”

Instead of pacifying the girl, his words ignited her rage once again. “Now? You want to marry her now? Where were you a year ago? When she walked about like a zombie and didn’t speak for three weeks? Where were you when the nightmares began, and I had to hold her until the screaming stopped? Now, when she’s found her feet again, when she feels human again, you’ve come to take over. Well it’s too late, too late I tell you! She won’t have you, and neither will I!” By the end of her tirade, Veronica was shouting, her small finger punctuating each sentence with a sharp poke in Jason’s chest, forcing him back until he fell into the dilapidated chair beside the door. His unceremonious collapse surprised both of them.

Veronica backed away, her breathing harsh in the still room. She looked at Kate briefly, and saw she had her eyes closed as if in pain. Tony was looking at her stoically, but she could see the tears swimming in his eyes. She finally looked back at Jason, and he was staring at her in painful astonishment.

“Good God,” he whispered brokenly. “What have we done? What have we done?”

“Please,” Kate whispered without opening her eyes, “please, just leave.”

Jason silently retrieved his boots, and put them on with shaking hands. Tony stood and shrugged his jacket on over his bare chest.

Veronica suddenly noticed the state of dishabille prevalent in the room. “You haven’t a shirt on,” she told Tony, her puzzlement apparent. Then she looked at Kate.

“You’re wearing it.” She turned to see Jason pull his last boot on. Then she turned back 31

Samantha Kane

to Kate. “Why? Why would you let them?” Her question lacked accusation, even anger.

It contained nothing but curiosity.

Kate finally opened her eyes, and Veronica saw why clearly written on her aunt’s face. “My God, it’s true. You do still love them, even after they deserted you.”

Tony quickly turned to face Veronica, his face set in hard lines. “We did not knowingly desert your aunt, Veronica. We were stupid, stupendously, infamously stupid, and for that you may hate us. But we would never knowingly leave her to suffer as she did. If I could bear her suffering I would. If I could turn back time and make it all go away, I would. All we can do is promise never to leave her again, to protect her, and you, for the rest of our lives. Please believe me, Veronica, whether or not your aunt accepts us, you will never be alone again.”

And for the first time in a very long time, Veronica believed. And she longed for that security from the deepest, darkest part of her soul. And she would have it, even if it meant manipulating Aunt Kate to get it.

32

The Courage To Love

Tony saw the change in Veronica, and he felt the spark of hope in his chest flare. He turned to Kate. “May we please call on you in the morning, to discuss this?” He tried to sound calm, but realized even as he spoke that his voice was pleading, desperate.

Kate relaxed. She would be at her shop in the morning. It would be almost impossible for Jason and Tony to find her, to talk her out of her decision. She was not so confident they couldn’t if they had enough time.

Veronica’s next words, however, turned her relief into shock.

“Oh, don’t bother,” she said nonchalantly, wiping her cheeks dry while casually strolling over to the settee before gazing at them innocently. “Aunt Kate will be at the shop tomorrow before the sun rises. And I doubt she’ll be back here until it sets. She’s been working far too hard these last few months. You know the new shop, just over two streets?”

Kate was too stunned to speak. How could Veronica tell them where she’d be? And where the shop was? Did she know what she was doing? They were former cavalry officers, it wouldn’t take them long to locate her shop now that they knew it was near here. She blushed. They’d also wonder why it was not in a more fashionable location.

As if reading her thoughts, Tony asked, “In this neighborhood?”

“Oh, yes,” Veronica continued blithely. “That was Kitty’s idea, and I must say I agree with it. After all, the ladies of the ton shunned Aunt Kate socially. They’d hardly deign to patronize her shop. But the merchants’ and lawyers’ wives around here are more than willing to buy very fashionable gowns from her at much reduced prices, which also keeps their husbands happy.” Veronica yawned widely. “I’m spent, Aunt Kate. I’m sure you can show your guests out.” She stood and walked over to the door, where a hugely smiling Tony stepped out of her way. As she passed him, she winked, then she looked at Jason. “Sorry about the poker, Lord Randall. But let’s let bygones be bygones, shall we? Good evening, gentlemen.” And out she went, closing the door behind her.

Kate was leaning against the wall, unsure if Veronica’s attitude was a betrayal or merely the resiliency of youth. She was lost in these thoughts, and therefore Tony was able to take her by surprise. He pressed his length against her and, taking both her hands in his, placed a kiss upon her neck. When she turned to stop him, he touched his lips to hers and, caught off guard, she melted. He deepened the kiss, only pulling back when Kate was openly seeking his mouth, her tongue tangling with his.

“We will make you ours, Kate,” he whispered, “just as we are already yours. We will never leave you again.” He pulled away and walked out the doors without looking back.

33

Samantha Kane

Jason walked up to Kate and taking her right hand in his, raised it to his mouth and placed a tender kiss upon her palm. Holding her palm against his cheek, he told her, “If I were to kiss you as Tony did, I’d never leave tonight. When it comes to you, Kate, I find I no longer have the strength to resist.” He turned his face and kissed the palm again, then lowered her hand to her side. “Sleep well, my love, and dream of us and the nights to come.”

He turned slowly and made his way out of the room. Kate heard the front door open and close, and only then did she move. She turned down the lamps and, taking her lone candle, climbed the stairs to her room. She crawled into bed still wearing Tony’s shirt and fell into a deep sleep, filled with erotic dreams that made her toss and turn.

When Kate awoke the next day, she felt as if she’d been run over by a runaway mail coach. She rose, and as she was walking to the nightstand, saw herself in the small mirror. She realized she was still wearing Tony’s shirt and stopped, the events of last night crashing through her mind. She clutched the shirt in both fists and raised the hem to her nose, inhaling deeply. It smelled of Tony and Jason. It smelled of sandalwood and musk and linen water. Immediately her nipples pebbled beneath the shirt and she felt a throb begin in her pussy. She imagined the feel of both men’s cocks filling her as they had last night and she nearly moaned with the wanting.

Before she could chastise herself for her wayward thoughts and body, Veronica rapped sharply at her door.

“Aunt Kate? Are you awake? It’s past your usual time. Shall I send a note to Mrs.

Jones?”

Kate was forcibly returned to the present.

“What time is it?” she called out through the door.

“It’s half past seven,” Veronica called back. “For heaven’s sake, can I come in or shall we keep screeching through the door?”

“Oh, come in I suppose,” Kate told her irritably.

Veronica opened the door and Kate’s irritation increased. She was already dressed and looked quite chipper and fetching. Her own years weighed heavily on Kate when Very looked her best.

“Oh dear,” Veronica said, clucking her tongue. “Having a bad one, are we? Let me help you get dressed. Here now,” her voice echoed from out of Kate’s dressing closet,

“shall we wear the blue today, then?”

Kate stomped over to her washstand. “I am not a doll to be dressed by a child, Very. I shall wear the green, and I shall put it on myself.” She splashed water on her face, and heard Veronica sit down on the bed. When she finally looked up, it was to see the girl frowning at her in the mirror.

“The green makes you look bilious.”

34

The Courage To Love

Kate set her teeth sharply. The green did make her look bilious. “Maybe I feel bilious.”

“That’s no reason to look it.” Very seemed satisfied with her logic.

Kate sighed and counted to ten. “Very well, the blue then.”