Underground Captive (38 page)

    
             
Nicki didn't move.  She clung to King George for dear life and limb.

    
             
Jared looked at her smooth, shapely legs, exposed up to her thighs and a twinge of desire disturbed his loins, making his anger more pronounced.  "I said get down!" he snarled.

    
             
"I-I-I...." Nicki tried to speak but all she could do was stutter and cling tighter to King George.

    
             
Roughly, Jared loosened her arms from around King George's neck.  He reached his long arms up, placing his hands on her waist, and unceremoniously pulled her off.  She landed on the ground.  He reached down for her.  As though handling a rag doll, he pulled her up by the high collar on the dress she wore and stood her against the horse.

    
             
"Perhaps I should modify that statement I made when ye first arrived, Nicollette," Jared said through clenched teeth.   "My servants, my animals, all come when I sum
mon them, for which ye should be grateful.  Ye could have broken yer fool neck.  What the bloody deuce did ye think ye were doing?  Stay away from my horses.  Or I'll lock ye up again!  And this time ye'll stay locked away until I've completed my mission.  Whether 'tis one week or one year!"

    
             
Still not recovered from her unexpected wild ride, Nicki felt her knees go weak.  She raised her opened palms to his chest to steady herself.

    
             
Her trembling body pressed against his.  Despite the soft barrier of her hands against his chest, the cushioned roundness of her breasts pressed against him.

Anger turned quickly to desire.  With a sharp intake of breath he groaned as the muscles tightened around his loins.  He knew she was more frightened than he first realized.  He knew, too, that she was fighting to regain control.  Sympathy re
placed the anger brought on more by the fact that her foolish act could have killed her than by her attempted escape.  After all, he did promise Charles to keep her safe.

    
             
God’s mercy.  Why did she have to feel so soft, so....wonderful in his arms?

    
             
His heart went out to her.  She was so unhappy and he was truly sorry to be the cause of her unhappiness.  But he
couldn't
set her free.  His desire for revenge was greater than the feelings he had for her.

    
             
Automatically, his arms encircled Nicki's waist.  He pulled her gently into his embrace to comfort her.  "Ye're all right, Nicki.  Ye're safe.  'Tis over," he said, his mouth inches from hers.  He wanted to kiss those inviting, trembling lips.

    
             
Nicki pushed him away from her.  Tears stinging her eyes, her voice full of anguish, she looked up at him.  "It's not all right, Jared.  And it will never be over until you set me free!" she cried, rushing past him, running down the path.  She ran up the stairs, onto the gallery and into the house.

    
             
Pity and guilt enveloped Jared as he watched the door close behind her.  She looked so devastated.  He wanted to run after her and crush her in his arms.  He longed to hear her say his name with passion, not with the an
guish she just had.

    
             
But, nay, he chided himself, he couldn't even think that.  She was the sister of a murderer, his wife's murderer.   However, Nicki was guiltless.  He should stop using Ricard's actions as a defense.  A defense against what? Against loving her?

             
Loving her?  Nay! Nay, he didn't love Nicki.  He wanted her.

Clinging to that outright lie for the moment, Jared remounted King George and turned him in the direction of the stables.

             
Remorse lay heavy on his heart.  He had taken Nicki away from the security

of  her home and family, from all things familiar to her.  But he had no choice, he

told himself.  She had pulled his mask off his face and dis
covered his secret.  One

of his secrets.

          Nicki.  He sighed.  She'd wreaked havoc on his heart and in his life--in his very soul--since the day he met her.

    
             
He missed Scotland.  'Twas past time he returned to reclaim his birthright.  When he left for Lismore, he wanted Nicki by his side.  That could never be.  Patricia or Ricard didn't enter into the reason.  'Twas Nicki.  All Nicki.  For he knew she hated him.  Why shouldn't she?  How could he take her away from her father?

             
Jared thought of his own father and how devas
tated Duncan Fleming was when Edwina Fleming died.  Jared was fourteen when his mother died, two years older than Nicollette when her own mother had died.  But, unlike Charles who stayed at Crescent Wood without Marie-Claude, Duncan couldn't stay in Scot
land without his beloved Edwina.  He couldn't face his grief, so he took a young Jared to France, where they stayed three years.  But Duncan had a lust for wandering.  After going back to Scotland, he still hadn't overcome his grief and eventually brought Jared to the shores of America.

    
             
And to the circumstances in which Jared now found himself.

    
             
He knew how he missed his father after Duncan left for Scot
land that last time and what he felt upon learning of his death.  What must Nicki think of her father?  How she must miss him!

    
             
Jared guided King George to the mews and dismounted.  He gave the reins over to Keith, then made his way back to the house.  He needed to seek out Nicki.  But to say what?

    
             
She was hurting and there was nothing he could do to comfort her, save setting her free.  And that was out of the question.  Even if that thought did cross his mind, once or twice, he could not do it. 
He
could possibly escape the planters' wrath but his servants would be in grave peril.

    
             
An interminable weight of guilt on his shoulders for kidnapping Nicki, he opened the kitchen door.  Enticing aromas of lemon pudding, corn croquettes, ginger beets, and roasted venison wafted through the air.  Mary Douglas and Elizabeth worked side by side preparing the evening meal.

    
             
"Something smells good, ladies," Jared said, trying to force gaiety into his tone.

             
"Aye, Master Jared," Elizabeth replied, turning to face him.  "'Twas Mary Douglas's though' tae entice the young lass wi' a meal she couldna refuse."

    
             
"Aye, Master Jared.  She's a sad one, she is," Mary Douglas added, bowing her head.  "If ye can allow us tae talk tae 'er again I'll be promisin' ye I willa noot discuss yer private affairs."

    
             
"Aye, Master Jared," Elizabeth interjected.  "The young lass needs companionship."

    
             
Because he felt the need to suppress her ceaseless questions about his activities, he had ordered his servants to have as little contact with her as possible.  But he realized he had created an extra hardship for her.  Even he had as little contact with her as possible.  That was due more to the desire he had to scoop her up in his arms and bring her to his bedchamber and bed her down for hours on end rather than any questions she might have asked him.

    
             
A little voice in the back of his mind, full of self
-
reproach, told him he should have corrected Nicki in her thinking about Judith.  He hadn't seen Judith since the night he'd treated her so cruelly and acted such a...what?  Bloody bastard?  Horse's ass?  That couldn't be it.  For to call himself that, for the way he'd treated Judith that night, would be an insult to bastards and horse's asses everywhere!

    
             
Nay, it wasn't Nicki's business that he had not seen Judith, however.  Or if he would see her again.

    
             
He couldn't let Nicki's beauty and his feelings for her color his thinking.  All he had to do to keep things in perspective was to force himself to focus on Ricard Duplantier.  Excuse or not!

    
             
He would demand it of himself that Ricard, if nothing else, would keep Nicollette at arms length.  In the end, he reasoned, Ricard's death would come between them anyway.  Still, he decided to make Nicki's ordeal a little more bearable.

    
             
"Set two places in the dining room tonight, Elizabeth," he said.  "I'll try to persuade Nicki to dine with me."

             
"Aye, Master Jared," Elizabeth responded with great approval.  "'Tis as

good as done."

28

             
Nicki surprised Jared and accepted his invitation. 

             
Pleasantly surprised herself in finding a very gracious host in him, she became the epitome of grace, diplomacy, and agreeability.

    
             
Heartbreakingly beautiful in the scarlet red gown that had so impressed Jared several months earlier, Nicki's hair shimmered down her back in a wave of black silk.  The delicately carved bones in her small face made her appear all the more fragile.   He couldn't believe how much more incredibly beautiful she seemed each time he saw her--or his overwhelming emotions whenever he looked at her.  He had engrossed his whole being--heart, mind, and soul--in his vengeful quest against Ricard.  Now, this raven-haired wildcat was steering his heart in another direction altogether.

    
             
As always, he was unprepared for the emotions his enemy's sister raised in him—emotions which, tonight, were brought on all the more by the sweetness of her disposition and apparent acceptance of her predicament.  As the evening wore on, he was glad they were situated at op
posite ends of the mahogany table, with six feet between them.

    
             
"Ye look very beautiful tonight, Nicki," Jared said, his voice a velvet murmur, his eyes raking her.

    
             
"
Merci
, Jared," Nicki whispered hesitantly.  "I-I knew how much you liked this gown...."  Her voice trailed off.

    
             
Jared grinned.  "'Tis not the dress but the lady who wears it that makes the difference," he replied, his words caressing her senses.

             
She flashed him a shy, heartbreaking smile.  "You're very kind," she drawled

softly.  How is it she hadn't noticed before how the corners of his perfect mouth

crinkled when he smiled?

    
             
Jared groaned, her charm devastating, alluring, unset
tling.  Her keen intelligence and quick wit fascinated him.  Her love for horses matched his own, which delighted him.  He found himself wanting to talk more with her.  Without giving it a second thought, he invited her to ride with him in the morning.

    
             
Delighted, she readily accepted.  "Oh yes, I would love to ride with you tomorrow," she said happily.  "
Merci
.  Thank you for inviting me."

    
             
Not counting the scare she had experienced on King George earlier in the day, she hadn't been on a horse in over two months.

    
             
"'Tis my extreme pleasure, Nicollette."

             
Nicki questioned the wisdom of continued rebelliousness against Jared.  If she were to appear to accept his orders, he might start to believe that she was trustworthy enough, and that she didn't have to be watched so closely.  Besides, she didn't think she could stand the ostracism any longer.  She wanted Jared to trust her, but she also wanted him to keep his distance from her because she couldn't fathom his abrupt mood changes.

             
They lingered at the table long after finishing the meal.  Nicki found herself transported with a certain pleasure as she watched Jared's every move.  The perennial frown was missing from his brow.  His handsome face couldn't hide the delight he felt at having her there, which affected her to no end.  She became uncomfortable at her own unsettling emotions.  She didn't wish to confuse coopera
tion with attraction for her erstwhile captor.

             
Perhaps it was her imagination, but, when their evening finally ended, Jared seemed relieved as he helped her from her chair.  Relieved, yet reluctant to see her leave.  And they parted on a high note.  It was the first time they parted under pleasant circumstances since her capture two months earlier.