The Secrets of a Lady (17 page)

“I was a young girl,” she explained, hoping her tone made it seem like her infatuation was unimportant now. “And she knew best, after all.”

“What do you mean?” His voice was suddenly strained.

She watched him with intent, but still couldn’t read his expression. “You married Luci, didn’t you?”

He winced as he looked away, pulling the curtain back to allow the city lights to brighten the carriage a fraction. For a long time he didn’t say anything.

Though she’d just shared the most intimate of experiences with the man beside her, the thought of entering the blazing light of the house with him was a bit daunting. Surely people would look at both their mussed appearances and wonder what they’d been doing.

He accentuated the comment with a sigh as he finally stepped out of the coach and into the cool night air. Instead of allowing the footman to help her out, he extended his own hand.

With hesitation, she took it. She was nearly shattered by the electricity that rushed through her when they touched. Somehow it surprised her she’d still feel such heat between them after they had purged their more animal instincts. From all she’d heard, the passion between two people often faded once they had been intimate. Noah certainly seemed to lose interest in his paramours soon enough.

Griffin led her up the walkway in silence but the moment they entered the house, he released her and walked away down the hallway. Instinctively she followed him.

“I’m sorry if my actions interfered with your plan tonight,” he said, his voice clipped as she came into the leather and cherry wood room he called his office. “But I felt I was protecting you. You may explain that to your brother if he’s angry, or send him to me. I’ll gladly tell him exactly why I couldn’t stand to see you in danger one more moment.”

The answer was so important that she could barely hear it over the rushing of her blood in her ears. If he was sorry, she wasn’t sure she could bear it.

Griffin paused with his hand on a crystal decanter at the bar beside his desk. “I
should
say I’m sorry.”

“But…”

Turning, he looked at her with a gaze that was both even and so heated that her knees went weak. “I wanted you then. God help me, I want you now. Wrong or not.”

“I told you Griffin.” She stepped toward him and placed her hand on his face. The beginnings of stubble were rough on her palm and she longed her rub her cheek where her hand now lay. “What happened between us was fate. Don’t blame yourself for that.”

With a deep breath, Griffin covered her hand with his. “I’ll order one of the maids to bring bathwater to your room. The ache will ease if you soak for a while. Now go.”

Audrey took a step away with a broad smile. Even if Griffin didn’t believe in fate, she did. Fate had brought her to him once, and she had no doubt fate had much more in store for them before this assignment was through.

Chapter Twelve

Audrey sat on the window seat in her chamber staring out at the London streets below. Carriages swarmed around corners and in and out of alleys as the cream of the
ton
made their way home from Hyde Park. With a sigh, she stepped away from the window and let the curtain fall to close out the scene from her view.

What had happened after Griffin had dragged her away? Had her brother and Hannah searched frantically for her? Had Ellison carried out some kind of plot?

There had been no news of an assassination, so she assumed Noah had done his job to keep Ellison and his men from following through on any kind of major plan. But that was only a guess, and there was so much at stake that she was wary of going by instinct alone.

Noah was probably furious, and after she gave her explanation… that Griffin had carried her back home like a ruffian… he’d be even angrier. And what about Douglas?

A man like Douglas Ellison probably wasn’t used to being deserted by a woman, nor having his lady abducted. She only hoped she could repair all the damage done by Griffin’s actions. And her own.

“It was worth it.”

She sat down at her dressing table to brush her still damp locks of hair before lifting them into a simple bun at the nape of her neck.

Griffin was right, a warm bath had soothed the painful sting between her legs. Of course, now that the pain was forgotten, all she could concentrate on was the memory of the pleasure she had experienced in the carriage. Nothing she’d been told had prepared her for how wonderful making love had been. Especially making love to the man she had loved almost her entire life.

Outside, the sound of a carriage coming to a stop on the drive and the bustle of rushing servants caught her attention and pulled her away from her scandalous thoughts of Griffin’s touch.

Finishing her hair, Audrey straightened the plain, gray gown she’d changed into after her bath and hurried downstairs. Even before she made it to the foyer she could hear Griffin, Noah and Hannah talking.

Audrey stepped from the last stair. Before she could interrupt, Griffin answered, “An arrow whizzed by her head, Noah! She could have been killed! I did what I thought was right under the circumstances.”

Her brother pursed his lips, though his cheeks paled a shade. “Why didn’t you find me? We could have evaluated the situation and decided our best course of action. Do you know the kind of explaining I had to do with Ellison?”

Audrey rushed two steps forward. “Was Ellison very angry?”

Noah turned from Griffin to look at her with wide eyes. Without a word, he grabbed her into a fierce hug.

“Is this true, Audrey?” Hannah reached out to touch her arm as Noah released her. “Were you nearly get hit by an arrow at the reenactment?”

Casting a sidelong glance toward her brother, Audrey nodded. “I believe it was a misplaced shot by one of the revelers. I don’t think I was its true target.”

“But you can’t be certain, can you?” Griffin’s sharp tone forced her attention to him. The anger he held just beneath the surface was evident in his every movement.

“We’ve talked about this,” she said, lowering her voice a notch to counteract the two men and their yelling. “I don’t feel you should have hauled me away from my post.”

Griffin took a step back as his face twisted. “But are you sorry?”

With a start, Audrey realized he was asking if she was sorry he’d made love to her in the carriage, just as she’d asked him earlier. Slowly, she shook her head.

“I am
not
sorry.” She accentuated each word so he would understand her. “I’m sure you did what you felt was right at the time.”

She turned to her confused brother and Hannah. “Noah, what did Ellison say?”

“He wanted to know where the hell you were.” Noah shook his head. “Since I didn’t know myself, it was hard to come up with a lie. I saw Griffin’s carriage was gone when I made my initial sweep of the area, so I told the man you’d gotten faint and gone home.”

Audrey nodded her head. “And he accepted that?”

“Reluctantly.”

With a sigh of relief, Audrey covered her heart with both hands. “This may take some work on my part, but I’m sure I can convince him I didn’t want to leave his side.”

Griffin let out a small snort behind them. “Has it escaped all of you that Audrey was nearly killed tonight? How the hell can you send her back into the line of fire with that man?”

As Noah turned to look at his friend, Hannah met Audrey’s eyes with a questioning stare. Doing her best to look innocent, Audrey quickly turned away. The last thing she wanted was for anyone to find out the intimacy she and Griffin had shared.

“How many times must I explain to you that my sister is a trained agent of the Crown?” Noah sounded like a schoolmaster lecturing a student. “I realize it’s hard for you to look at her and see her as such. You probably still see her as the little girl who used to shadow us everywhere…”

“No,” Griffin interrupted with a smile only she could interpret. “I certainly don’t see her as that. I know she’s a woman. But I’m not sure she can manage all you’re asking her to do.”

This time it was Audrey’s turn to protest. “Now wait just a moment. You don’t know anything about my ability to handle today’s event or anything else that has to do with my job.”

“I know you,” he said softly. His intense stare made her keenly aware of how well he did know her. All of her. Each and every inch.

With a blush, she continued, “You know me, but not as a spy. Griffin, my brother and I asked you to help us by allowing us to use your estate here in London. We asked you to accompany us to the events of the celebration to deflect suspicion from us. But we never asked you to get so involved.”

“You also never told me I would be forced to watch you curl up in the arms of a traitor. Or that I’d see you nearly killed.” His voice elevated once more. “Did you?”

Audrey turned her face, feeling his biting words as if he’d slapped her. Despite everything they’d shared that day, he didn’t understand her. Worse, he didn’t respect her abilities. That stung worse than any of his previous rejections.

“I see there’s no use in talking to you about this,” she said as she turned away. “Noah, I’d like to speak to you a bit more about today and the mission. May we go somewhere private?”

Noah looked from Griffin to Audrey with a pinched face. “Yes, of course. Griffin, you and I will continue this discussion
later
.”

Griffin didn’t answer, but turned on his heel to stalk away. As he mounted the stairs and disappeared from sight, Audrey let out the air in her lungs as a sigh.

Hannah looked from brother to sister with an arched eyebrow. “Noah, since you’ve already debriefed me, I’ll go upstairs. I can speak to Audrey when you two are through.”

Audrey grasped her friend’s hand with both her own. “Thank you. I appreciate all you’ve done.”

With a squeeze of her hand, Hannah walked away. Audrey turned to her brother with as much of a smile as she could muster after her unpleasant exchange with Griffin.

“Shall we go to the sitting room?”

“Perfect.” Her brother’s eyes narrowed with questions, but he took her arm nonetheless and led her inside. When the door was closed and Audrey was settled into a chair by the dying fire, Noah looked at her.

“What really happened today?” he asked, his voice low as he prepared a sherry for Audrey and a glass of port for himself.

Every muscle in her body tensed as she looked up sharply at her brother. If he had sensed the tension between Griffin and her, she didn’t believe he had guessed the true cause.

“It’s complicated, Noah.” She rubbed her eyes with her fingertips. How could she explain what she, herself, didn’t understand? “Griffin is desperate to protect me. He doesn’t think I’m equipped for this.”

Sitting down in a chair beside her, Noah handed her a glass and took a sip of his own drink. “And are you?”

With a tilt of her head, Audrey glared at her brother. “Tell me Griffin’s ramblings haven’t made you forget the past five years. They haven’t made you forget all my training or the fact that I
have
encountered dangerous situations before.”

“Of course not,” Noah said with a sigh. “But this is different. You’ve never had to play the pawn so fully before. And there’s never been an outside force distracting you.”

“Outside force?” She set her drink on the table between them.

“Don’t play me for a fool,” he said, looking down his nose at her with a half-smile. “I know Griffin distracts you. God knows you distract him.”

Audrey contemplated that fact for a moment before dipping her head to break her brother’s seeing stare. “Perhaps that’s true, but I’m a professional. I’m fully aware that my duty to my country must take precedence over anything else.”

Her brother leaned forward to rest his elbows on his knees. “Then explain today.”

Her eyes widening, Audrey burst out, “Griffin dragged me out of the park practically kicking and screaming. I would have been if I didn’t know it would focus even more attention on us than we were already attracting. What was I to do, put him in a death grip?”

Noah laughed. “That would have been interesting, but I see your point.” He paused. “There was no permanent harm done. Tomorrow you and I will call on Douglas Ellison and you’ll smooth things over. I’m sure he believes Griffin ravaged you in the carriage on the way home, but we’ll make sure that notion is wiped from his mind.”