Wild Lilly (30 page)

Blood heating in her veins, Lilly pulled him down to continue the kiss that had been interrupted earlier. Brandy scented his breath as he tried to pull away and she nipped at his lip. She boldly took his hands and placed them on her breasts, holding them there when he tried to pull away.

“
Gu sealladh saelbh oirn
,” he growled against her lips, in a stranger’s voice.

She screamed and shoved him back. This wasn’t Paul. His mask had come askew and an unfamiliar face stared back at her in the dim light. She screamed again before he slammed a hand over her mouth.

“Hush now, pretty girl. You’re going to come with me,” he announced in a purring accent and dragged her toward the French doors.

Lilly wrenched away, kicked him in the knee as best she could in her skirts, and socked him in the jaw for good measure. Filling her lungs, she screamed again and ran for the door. His fingers grazed her back and ripped the necklace from her throat.

The door burst open and a butler ran in as the man kicked open the French doors and sprinted off the porch, the diamond and ruby necklace in his hand. Lilly knelt in a heap on the floor, sobbing and clutching her throat, scraped where the necklace had been ripped off.

Voices filled the room and gentle hands lifted Lilly to her feet.

“Get out of my way!” Paul shouted as he shoved people from the door.

Lilly saw him and ran to his arms. “Paul, there was a man dressed like you. I thought it was you. He brought me here and...and stole the necklace.”

“Hush now,” Paul crooned as he stroked a hand down her back. Turning to the butler, he snarled, “Go get Lady Catherine and Mr. Bear, now. I’m taking Miss Brooks back up to her room.”

A police officer had been by to take her statement, and Lilly was in a comfortable robe and nightgown now. Hiccups punctuated Lilly’s apology to Paul’s sister.

Catherine’s personal physician had given Lilly a sleeping draught, and her eyelids grew heavy. Paul held her on the bed as Catherine paced the room in a rage. “Lilly, for the last time, stop apologizing!” Catherine strode to the window and back. “I am not mad at you at all. I’m furious that this happened to you in my home!”

Sleeping Bear watched Catherine pace as Paul cuddled Lilly close.

“It’s all right, sweetheart. He’s long gone. Just a jewelry thief that took advantage of your kind nature.”

Lilly winced. If only Paul knew how kind her nature had been. Guilt left a bitter taste in her mouth as she recalled the way she had forced herself on the thief. “I don’t understand. How did he know what your costume looked like?”

Catherine clasped her hands together, the multi-colored scarves fluttering behind her. “That is my main concern, too. Someone must have told him. A good many servants and the employees at the costume shop all know what I ordered. It would have been easy for him to rent the same costume.” She started to pace toward Sleeping Bear and spun on her heel in the other direction.

A huge yawn cracked Lilly’s jaw. Her eyelids were getting too heavy to keep open. As she dozed against his chest, Paul announced, “I am staying with her tonight, Catherine.”

Even sedated, her heart and soul relaxed further. In his arms, nothing could hurt her.

“Of course you are! I’m sorry, Paul. I feel horrible that this happened.” Catherine toyed with a delicate jade vase on the fireplace mantle. “I have my men on watch right now. They’ll keep a careful eye on the house. I don’t anticipate any more trouble. The jewel thief is probably on his way to New York by now.” She shifted the vase in the firelight. “He should be able to retire on the value of the central ruby alone.”

“I will watch your room tonight,” Sleeping Bear remained seated, staring at Catherine.

The vase wobbled as Catherine’s unsteady fingers put it back on the mantle. “Thank you for your kind offer, but I am sure I’ll be quite all right.”

With a swish of skirts, Catherine left the room and darted a glance at Sleeping Bear on her way out.

Sleeping Bear stood and stretched. “I will sleep lightly. If anything happens, whistle three times.” He closed the door with a gentle click as he left.

Paul nodded and smoothed back Lilly’s hair, holding her to his chest. With a gentle hand, he pulled back the high lace of her nightgown and examined the scrapes on the side of her neck. It stung as he traced his fingers over the scratches, but not enough to penetrate the fog pulling her into a deep sleep.

“I’m so sorry I wasn’t there to protect you,” he whispered against her and tightened his arms.

“Paul, I love you so much.” Her voice grew slurry. “Every bad thing that has happened, I would relive a million times because these things brought me to you.” Lilly relaxed into a full sleep as the sound of Paul’s heartbeat filled her with peace.

Chapter Twenty

Telegram

“Paul!”

Catherine screamed from the foyer, her cry echoing and bouncing off the marble floors.

Paul grabbed Lilly’s hand and they dashed out of her bedroom. At the bottom of the stairs stood Catherine in a teal morning dress, with a maid hovering by uncertainly. Her shivering hand clutched a telegram and she was pale as snow.

“Cat, what’s wrong?” Paul flew down the stairs and snagged the paper from her limp fingers. A butler joined them and whispered to the maid.

Sleeping Bear took the carpeted steps in great strides, leaping the last couple and running to Catherine. He placed a hand on her shoulder and she covered it with her own. The servants gaped at the sight of a savage touching their Lady.

Catherine stared at Paul with tears rolling down her cheeks. “Owen,” she answered in an agonized whisper.

Paul scanned the telegram and stumbled. “Owen is missing. He was late going to school and went by himself. He never made it. They found his horse wandering the road and there was some blood on the saddle.”

Lilly covered mouth with trembling fingertips and leaned against the carved post of the stairway. “Oh, God. Paul, we have to get home and help.”

“Rufus already ordered us tickets on the next train out of here. It leaves Boston tomorrow night and stops in Kansas City. We’ll take a coach from Kansas City to Caldwell.” Paul wrapped Catherine in a hug. “We’ll find him, Cat.”

“I’m going with you.” Catherine dashed her tears with the back of her hand. “Get me a ticket on that train!” The butler leapt back with a shocked expression on his florid face as she screamed at him.

“We need to pack, and I need to make arrangements for the care of my estate while I’m gone.” Catherine wrung her hands so hard Lilly was afraid for her bones. Shouts rang out from deeper in the house as the staff began to prepare for Lady Catherine’s departure.

Catherine whirled on the maid, snarling. “Cancel all my engagements and send my regrets.” The maid gathered her skirts and scurried to do Catherine’s bidding.

Paul ran a distracted hand through his hair. “What can I do to help?”

“Nothing. My staff will be able to handle everything. Oh, Paul.” Catherine choked back a sob as Paul took in a deep and shuddering breath. “Who would want to hurt Owen?”

“I have an idea,” he growled and exchanged a glance with Lilly and Sleeping Bear. His dark gaze promised death to the people that took his brother. “Let’s get some food in us, and I’ll tell you about the man Lee Krisp has become.”

***

They met in the main floor parlor, closing the door on the ears of eavesdropping servants. Afternoon light streamed through the glass doors that led out to a patio filled with potted plants. Burgundy and gold furniture decorated the wood-paneled room and a variety of detailed paintings of horses graced the burgundy walls. A massive oil painting of Catherine was hung above the fireplace. In the portrait she wore a pink lace gown and stroked the nose of a black Arabian mare.

Lilly took a bite of one of the finger sandwiches and washed it down with some tea. The bread was rather dry and it made her thirsty, but she was hungry enough not to care. She set the teacup back down and her hand shook as a wave of dizziness swept over her. An odd taste coated her mouth from the tea, but she assumed it was just a residual reaction from the sleeping draught she’d been given last night. The sensation passed when she leaned back on the couch and filled her lungs with air.

Catherine finished her tea and held her head in her hands. Her usually perfectly coiffed hair hung in a loose knot down her back. “I knew Eunice when we were growing up. She used to help watch the children when it was birthing season on the ranch. I can’t believe she’s staying with him.”

Lilly held back a yawn. “She said she planned to leave him when her daughter got back. I wonder if she did and that’s what drove Krisp to kidnap Owen.”

Paul rubbed his eyes. “
If
Lee is the one who took Owen. We have to keep an open mind. Lee isn’t the only predator out there. Anyone could have taken him.” He slid an arm around Lilly and pulled her close, burying his face in her neck. She stroked his cheek, trying to give him some comfort. The hand touching his face tingled a bit.

Sleeping Bear’s voice rumbled over her. “I will help you, Paul. There is no honor in harming children.”

They sat in silence and Sleeping Bear rubbed his eyes. She watched the patterns the sun made through the trees on the thick gold carpet. The silence was soothing and this time she couldn’t hold back the yawn. The need to sleep overwhelmed her and she pushed herself off the couch to try to make it to a bed. The sleeping draught from last night must still be in her system. “Sorry, I’m....”

Sleeping Bear started to rise, but his eyes rolled back in his head. Catherine was already slumped back in her chair. Paul opened his mouth as if to yell, but fell to the floor. Lilly stood but stumbled against the table, rattling the tea service. She slid to the floor with a thump.

***

“Wake up,” a voice with a thick accent whispered next to Lilly’s head.

Someone held a foul substance under her nose that made her cough and gasp, jerking awake with a start. Her tongue tried to shove a gag out of her mouth and she slumped back on the bed. Terror battled with confusion while she attempted to focus on where she was.

A strangely familiar man, dressed in an expensive black suit and gold waistcoat, sat next to the bed in a grey leather chair. He had thick, dark-blond hair and watched her with expressionless green eyes. She tried to rub her face, but found her hands tied together with a rope. An attempt to kick her feet affirmed that they were tied as well.

She lay on a large bed in an unfamiliar room with cream walls and dark furniture. There was nothing to identify the room by. She could be anywhere. The orange glow through the sheer curtains of the window indicated either sunset or sunrise. The rope cut into her wrists as she struggled to sit up.

Shock and disbelief cleared her mind as she saw Estrella, dressed in a yellow velvet gown and leaning against the dresser across the room.

“Are you with me now, Lilly?” He idly crossed his legs and laced his fingers together.

Swearing against the bunched cloth in her mouth, she stared daggers at Estrella and tried to figure out what was going on. What the hell was Paul’s old mistress doing in Boston and who was this man?

“Good. Would you like me to remove your gag?”

She nodded vigorously. He leaned over to take the damp cloth and paused next to her on the bed. “I should warn you, if you scream I’ll be forced to knock you senseless. Then I will stuff you under the bed until you’re ready to listen to reason.”

She nodded again, slower this time. She knew this man. His voice and green eyes were familiar in some way.

He untied the gag and she tried to clear the sour taste from her mouth. “Water,” she asked in a husky whisper. He took a glass from the ebony wood table next to the bed and held the water to her lips. She gulped it and rolled the moisture around in her parched mouth.

“Now, let’s get down to business.” He laced his hands together and stared at her. His eyes captured hers as surely as a snake captures a bird in its gaze. “I have received word that the man I’m working for has someone dear to you. A boy named Owen?”

She filled her lungs to yell and he lunged at her in a move faster than she could believe, and slapped a hand over her mouth.

“If you scream, you
are
going under the bed. Understand?” The gentle tone of his voice held more menace than a shout.

“Stupid blonde, you had better listen to him.” Estrella strode to the foot of the bed and looked down at her with disgust. Lilly narrowed her eyes and called Estrella every bad name she could think of against the back of the man’s hand. With a tired sigh, the man pinched her nose shut until she began to struggle for air and she went passive.

“No screaming,” she said in a muffled voice against his hand. He sat back in the leather chair and relaxed into the seat.

“My employer will kill Owen unless you come back to Caldwell with me and sign over your land to Lee Krisp.” He watched her closely, apparently taking in every nuance of her body language.

Tears of anger ran down her cheeks. “If he touches one hair on that boy’s head, I will hang him myself.” Staring at Estrella, she spat out, “What are you doing here? Do you think helping Lee kill me will bring Paul back?”