“Yes, well, they simply do not understand that I am content to be in your clutches, my lord.”
Gideon did not respond to that. He fell silent for a time, apparently lost in his own thoughts. Harriet took a deep breath of the chilled night air. The clouds had begun to clear and the stars were appearing.
There was something very romantic about the highway at night, she thought. Nothing seemed quite real. She felt as if she were caught up in a dream world with Gideon and the horses, racing into the night along a ribbon of mysterious road that might lead anywhere.
The phaeton rounded a bend and the lights of an inn appeared in the distance.
“Harriet?” Gideon said quietly.
“Yes, my lord?”
“I do not want to go through this sort of nonsense again.”
“I understand, my lord. I know you were greatly inconvenienced.”
“That is not quite what I meant.” Gideon’s eyes were on the inn lights up ahead. “I am trying to tell you that I would like to end the engagement.”
Harriet went numb with shock. She could not believe what she was hearing. “End the engagement, my lord? Because I was foolish enough to get myself taken north?”
“No. Because I fear there will be more incidents such as this one. I grant you that this time no great harm was done, but who knows what will happen the next time?”
“But my lord—”
“It is possible one of your other admirers will try some more drastic means of saving you from the Beast of Blackthorne Hall,” Gideon said. He was concentrating intently on his driving. He did not look at her.
Harriet glowered at his harsh profile. “You will not call yourself by that dreadful name again, St. Justin. Do you hear me?”
“Yes, Miss Pomeroy. I hear you. Will you marry me as soon as I can get a special license?”
Harriet clutched her reticule. “Marry you? Immediately?”
“Yes.”
Harriet felt dazed. “I thought you meant to end the engagement.”
“I do. As soon as possible. With marriage.”
Harriet swallowed as relief poured through her. She rallied her scattered wits. “I see. Well, as to marriage. I had thought we would have more time to get to know each other, my lord.”
“I know you did. But I cannot see that it makes all that much difference. You already know the worst and it does not appear to depress your spirits unduly. Your aunt says that after tonight’s incident there will be more gossip than ever. Our marriage will squelch some of it.”
“I see,” Harriet said again, still unable to think clearly and logically. “Very well, my lord. If that is your wish.”
“It is. It is settled, then. I believe it would be best if we stop here tonight rather than continue on to town. That way we can see to the business of getting married before we return to London.”
Harriet stared at the inn. “We are stopping here tonight?”
“Yes.” Gideon drew in the horses and turned them in to the inn yard. Their big hooves clattered on the cobblestones. “It will be more efficient this way. In the morning I shall secure the license. After we are wed I suppose I had better take you straight to Hardcastle House and introduce you to my parents. Some things are unavoidable.”
The door of the inn burst open before Harriet could reply. A young boy dashed out to attend to the animals. Gideon stepped down from the phaeton.
Events were happening too quickly. Harriet tried to keep her voice calm. “What about my family, sir? They will worry about me.”
“We shall send word from this inn telling them that you are safe and that I am taking you to Hardcastle House. By the time we get back to Town, some of the furor will have died down. And I will have you securely in my clutches.”
Chapter Twelve
GIDEON SURVEYED THE SMALL inn room. It was the best the innkeeper had to offer, but that was not saying much. There was only one bed, a rather small one.
“I trust you do not object too strongly to my telling the innkeeper that we are man and wife.” Gideon went down on one knee to stir up the coals on the hearth. He did not look behind him, but he could sense Harriet’s tension.
“No. I do not mind,” Harriet said softly.
“It will soon be the truth.”
“Yes.”
Gideon was all too conscious of his own size tonight, for some reason. He felt awkward and clumsy in the small chamber. He was almost afraid to move about or touch anything for fear he would break something. Everything around him seemed small and fragile, including Harriet.
“I did not think it a wise idea for you to stay by yourself in a room down the hall tonight,” he said, still not looking at her. “If you had your maid with you or your sister, that would have been one thing.”
“I understand.”
“A woman alone in an inn is always at risk. There are already several drunken louts downstairs in the taproom. There is no knowing when one of them might take a notion to come upstairs and start trying the doors.”
“An unpleasant thought.”
“And there is the awkward fact that people would speculate about your claim to being a lady if it got out that we were not man and wife.” Gideon got to his feet as the fire took hold. He watched the flames flow together into a cheerful blaze. “Certain assumptions might be made.”
“I understand. It is quite all right, Gideon. Pray, do not concern yourself.” Harriet moved toward the fire, extending her hands to the warmth. “As you say, we will be man and wife soon enough.”
He looked at her profile and his whole body tightened in response. The glow of the fire had turned her skin to gold. Her soft, springy hair stood out around her face. He thought he could almost hear it crackling with vitality. She looked so sweet and vulnerable.
“Damnation, Harriet, I am not going to demand the privileges of a husband tonight,” Gideon muttered. “You have a right to expect me to restrain myself and I fully intend to do so.”
“I see.” She did not look at him.
“Just because I lost my head that night in the cave does not mean I am incapable of self-control.”
Harriet gave him a brief, curious glance. “I never thought you lacking in self-control, my lord. Indeed, you are the most controlled man I have ever known. Sometimes it worries me. It is the only thing about you that occasionally makes me uneasy, if you must know the truth.”
He eyed her in disbelief. “You find me too self-controlled?”
“I expect it is because you have been obliged to endure so much savage gossip during the past few years,” Harriet said matter-of-factly. “You have learned to keep your feelings to yourself. Perhaps too much so. Sometimes I am not at all certain what you are thinking.”
Gideon jerked at his cravat, unknotting it swiftly. “I frequently feel much the same way about you, Harriet.”
“Me?” Her eyes widened. “But I rarely bother to even try to conceal my emotions.”
“Is that so?” He paced to the room’s single chair and dropped his cravat over the back. He shrugged out of his jacket. “It may surprise you to know that I have no real notion of your feelings toward me, Miss Pomeroy.” He started to unfasten his shirt. “I do not know if you find me amusing or obnoxious or a damned nuisance.”
“Gideon, for heaven’s sake—”
“That was the principal reason why I was exceedingly alarmed to learn that you had been spirited out of Town and were on your way to Gretna Green.” Leaving his shirt open and hanging loose, he sat down on the edge of the bed and yanked off one boot. “It occurred to me that you might have decided you could do better than one disreputable, somewhat surly viscount.”
Harriet studied him for a moment. “You are occasionally surly, St. Justin. I’ll grant you that much. Stubborn, also.”
“And inclined to issue orders,” he reminded her.
“A most lamentable tendency, to be sure.”
He yanked off the other boot and dropped it on the floor. “I have no great knowledge
of fossils or geology or theories of the earth’s formation.”
“Very true. Although you seem quite intelligent. I expect you could learn.”
Gideon gave her a sharp glance, uncertain if she was actually teasing him. “I cannot change my face or my past.”
“I do not recall asking you to do so.”
“Damnation, Harriet,” he said harshly, “why are you so willing to marry me?”
She tilted her head to one side, looking thoughtful. “Perhaps because we have much in common.”
“Bloody hell, woman. That is just the point,” he shot back. “We have nothing in common except the fact that we spent one night together in a cave.”
“I, too, have a tendency to be somewhat stubborn on occasion,” she said thoughtfully. “You, yourself, called me tyrannical the first time you met me.”
Gideon grunted. “’Tis a fact, Miss Pomeroy. ’Tis a fact.”
“And I tend to become enthralled with old teeth and bones to the point of being ill-mannered and, I am told, occasionally rude.”
“Your fascination with fossils is not all that offensive,” Gideon said magnanimously.
“Thank you, sir. However, in addition I feel I must add that, just like you, I cannot change my face or my past,” Harriet continued, as though itemizing a list of slightly damaged goods she wished to sell.
Gideon was startled. “There is nothing wrong with your face or your past.”
“On the contrary. There is no getting around the fact that I am not the great beauty my sister is and there is no avoiding the subject of my age. I am very nearly five and twenty, not precisely a sweet-tempered, pliable young chit fresh out of the schoolroom.”
Gideon saw the hint of a smile playing around her soft mouth. He felt something deep inside him start to unclench. “Well, there is that,” he agreed slowly. “It would doubtless be far easier to school a brainless little goose who had never learned to think for herself. But as I am hardly an unfledged lad myself, I daresay I cannot complain too much of your advanced years.”
Harriet grinned. “Very generous of you, my lord.”
Gideon stared at her, aware of the hunger that was warming his blood. It was going to be a long night, he thought. “There is just one detail I would like to clarify.”
“And what is that, my lord?”
“You are the most beautiful woman I have ever known,” he whispered thickly.
Harriet’s mouth fell open in astonishment. “What rubbish. Gideon, how can you possibly say such a thing?”
He shrugged. “It is no more than the truth.”
“Oh, Gideon.” Harriet blinked quickly. Her mouth trembled. “Oh, Gideon”
She flew across the room and hurled herself straight into his arms.
Pleasantly stunned by the unexpected reaction, Gideon allowed himself to be toppled backward onto the bed. His arms closed around Harriet and he pulled her down across his chest.
“You are the most attractive, most handsome, most magnificent man I have ever met,” Harriet murmured shyly against his throat.
“I see that, in addition to your other minor faults, we must conclude you have poor eyesight.” Gideon slid his fingers into her thick hair. “But that seems a very slight and no doubt extremely useful sort of flaw in our situation.”
“Your eyesight must be just as poor if you truly find me beautiful.” Harriet giggled. “Well, there you have it, my lord. Matching flaws. Obviously we are ideally suited.”
“Obviously.” Gideon caught her face between his hands and brought her mouth down onto his.
She returned the kiss with a sweet, generous urgency that made the blood pound in his veins. He could feel the incredible softness of her breasts through the fabric of her pelisse and gown. His fingers tightened in her hair.
“Gideon?” Harriet raised her head a little to look down at him with bemused eyes.
“God, I want you.” He searched her face, desperate for some sign that would tell him he need not act the gentleman on this eve of their marriage. “You cannot know how much.”
Her lashes veiled her gaze. Gideon could see the warmth in her cheeks. “I want you, too, my lord. I have dreamed often of that night we spent together.”
“After we are wed tomorrow, we shall spend every night together,” he vowed.
“Gideon,” she said softly, “I know that ours is to be a marriage founded upon necessity. I understand that you feel you must do the right thing by me. But I have wondered …”
“Wondered what?” He was impatient with her rationale of the situation, but he did not know how to counter her conclusions. She was right. He had proposed because he had compromised her.
“Do you think,” she asked slowly, “that there will ever come a time when you might fall in love with me?”
Gideon froze. Then he closed his eyes briefly against the hope he saw in the depths of her turquoise gaze. “Harriet, I want there to be only honesty between us.”
“Yes, my lord?”
He opened his eyes, aware of a feeling of pain deep inside himself. “Six years ago I forgot everything I knew of love. That part of me does not exist anymore. But I give you my solemn vow that I will be a good husband to you. I will care for you and protect you with my life. You will not want for anything if it is in my power to give it to you. I will be faithful.”
A gleam of moisture appeared in Harriet’s eyes, but she blinked it rapidly away. Her mouth trembled in a shy smile of womanly welcome. “Well, then, my lord, as we have already thoroughly compromised ourselves, I do not see any point in delaying the inevitable another night. You do not have to prove your honorable intentions to me, of all people.”
Gideon’s body went hard with desire. The glowing invitation in Harriet’s eyes nearly robbed him of breath. “The inevitable?” he demanded hoarsely. “Is that what you call it? Is that how you envision our lovemaking? An inevitable duty?”
“It was not unpleasant,” she assured him quickly. “I did not mean to insult you. It was actually quite exciting in some ways. It definitely had its moments.”
“Thank you,” Gideon murmured dryly. “I tried.”
“I know you did. One must make allowances for the uncomfortable bed we shared, I suppose. I do not imagine a rock floor is conducive to lovemaking.”
“No.”
“And there is the added factor of your size, my lord,” Harriet continued. “You are a very large man.” She cleared her throat discreetly. “All the various parts of you are in proportion to your overall configuration, my lord. Rather like one of my fossil discoveries, if you take my meaning. Did you know that from a tooth one can frequently deduce the total length and size of an animal?”
Gideon groaned. “Harriet …”
“Yes, well, it was not altogether a great surprise, of course,” she assured him. “After all, I have had a great deal of experience estimating the size and shape of a creature based on a detailed study of a handful of bones and teeth embedded in rocks. You were just-as one would expect. Proportionally speaking.”
“I see,” Gideon managed in a half-strangled voice.
“In point of fact, looking back on the incident, it is amazing that we managed the thing as well as we did that first time. I have great hopes that in future such matters will go quite smoothly.”
“Enough, Harriet.” Gideon put his palm gently but firmly over her mouth. “I cannot take any more of this. You are right about one thing. It will go much more smoothly in future.”
Her eyes widened above his hand as he rolled her over onto her back. When he started to undo the fastenings of her pelisse, she put her arms around his neck.
Gideon groaned and removed his hand from her mouth. He kissed her deeply, aware of the longing that was surging through him. It threatened to overwhelm everything before it. Never had he needed a woman the way he needed Harriet.
But tonight, Gideon told himself, he would hold his desire in check until Harriet had learned the strength of her own passion. She had given him
the gift of herself and he was determined to repay her in the only way he could.
He managed to get the pelisse and gown off of her while she lay beneath him on the bed. When she was wearing only her chemise and stockings, he tugged her gently to her feet. Then he reached out and turned down the quilt.
Thank God the sheets looked reasonably clean, Gideon thought, greatly relieved. Such was not always the case in inns. He could not endure the notion of taking his sweet Harriet on a lice-infested bed. It was bad enough that he had taken her on the stone floor of a cave the first time. Harriet deserved the best.
Not that Harriet appeared to care, he thought. She was gazing up at him with dreamy eyes, her lips slightly parted. He could just see the cute little overlapping teeth when she smiled. She did not seem to mind that her rosy nipples were visible through the fine lawn of her chemise.
Gideon realized he felt good when he was with Harriet. She had a way of making him feel heroic and noble and proud. Her faith in him was obvious. For the first time he understood that what he had found in Harriet made up for all that he had lost in the eyes of his father and of Society six long years ago.
Harriet believed in him. It was enough.
“You are so lovely,” Gideon whispered. He caught her by the waist and lifted her high against his chest. He kissed her breasts, using his tongue to dampen the delicate fabric of the chemise until it was transparent.
Harriet’s fingers clutched at him and her head tipped back. She moaned softly as he took one tight little nipple into his mouth and bit gently.
“Oh, Gideon.”
“Do you like that, little one?”
“Oh, yes. Yes, I like it very much.” Her fingers splayed across his shoulders. She shivered when he took her other nipple between his teeth.
Gideon lowered her slowly down until she was standing once more in front of him, her arms circling his neck. He grabbed twp fistfuls of the chemise and pulled it off over her head. Then he knelt to untie her garters and slip off her stockings. He could feel her quivering at his intimate touch.
He rose and gazed hungrily down at her sweetly curved body. The contours of her full buttocks and graceful spine were bathed in the firelight. Carefully he speared his fingers through the triangle of dark, curling hair at the apex of her thighs. He felt the tremor that went through her.