She paused at that. How could they know?
Matthew.
The footman would have arrived at the Talbot house and produced a letter from Sophie—and her father would have immediately had the poor boy questioned. She resisted the urge to ask if Matthew was well.
“Oh?” Eversley asked calmly, as though he had no concern whatsoever. “Are they eloping?”
“Not if we have anything to do with it.” The man leaned down and said, “What are your names? If you don’t mind my asking?”
Eversley’s grip tightened as her gaze flew to his face, where he watched the other man. Willed him to lie. To protect her, even as she knew he was in no way beholden to her. She was not his problem. How many times had he told her that?
It did not matter that she rather wished she was his problem.
And then he replied. “Matthew,” he said, with utter calm. “Mr. and Mrs.” He turned his glittering smile on their visitor. “Newlyweds.”
The man watched them for a long moment before Sophie settled her free hand on their entwined ones and smiled her warmest smile.
She did not know why, but he was saving her. Again.
And worse, she was beginning to like him.
She had a beautiful smile.
It was the wrong time to notice it, but the entire morning he’d been noticing her—from the moment she’d walked into the pub in what had to be a years-old dress procured from the pub owner’s wife. There was nothing attractive about the frock, and still he could not keep his attention from her.
Then she’d argued with him—no surprise, as arguing seemed to be what they did together. And it was more exciting than anything he’d done with a woman in a very long time.
When the men had arrived, he’d known, without question, that they were looking for her. And he’d been about to turn her over—to explain that Lady Sophie Talbot was nothing more than a nuisance, and be rid of the woman and her troublesome life, when he’d made the mistake of looking at her.
She’d looked crushed, her blue eyes full of sadness and resignation. And the smallest, most devastating sliver of hope.
Hope that he might help her out of this mess.
So he had. Like a fool, perpetuating the myth of their marriage, locking them together for more time, until the bounty hunters left. It was idiocy, of course, considering the fact that she’d just sent a messenger to her father, apprising him, no doubt, of the entire situation. Of her plans, which the Earl of Wight would never allow, no matter how much his youngest daughter believed herself plain or boring or irrelevant.
She thought too little of herself, and King had suddenly wished very much to change her mind. As insane as that sounded.
He blamed her beautiful smile.
Which he’d noticed at the exact wrong time, of course.
Dammit.
He came to his feet the moment the man left their table and sat at the bar, knowing that they hadn’t entirely convinced him that they were simple newlyweds smitten with each other. Knowing that he was about to pay the barkeep for information on them. Knowing that Sophie had just paid for an urgent delivery to London. He swore under his breath and, refusing to release Sophie’s hand, pulled her from her chair to her feet, leaning down to whisper at her ear, “They are not certain of us. Feign love.”
She turned to look at him, blinking. “How do I feign something like that?”
She was so damn innocent. It slayed him. He leaned back in, pressing his lips to her ear, enjoying the way she curled into the touch. “Pretend I’m your Robbie.”
Confusion washed through her eyes, and he knew the truth, a thread of relief twisting through him. She did not love Robbie.
Not that he cared one way or another.
He pulled her from the room, instead, using his strength to keep her closer than was proper. Once they were through the back entrance of the pub, he drew her into the dark hallway just beyond the door, hesitating at the foot of the stairway that led to the rooms above.
He imagined they didn’t have much time, so he was not gentle when he set her against the wall. “How is your shoulder?” he asked, realizing he hadn’t asked her before. Though he’d spoken to Mary and to the mad doctor every day, he hadn’t seen Sophie in three days. And he should have asked after her wound.
He should have asked after her, period.
She was confused by the question, but answered nonetheless. “It is fine, thank you. Stiff, but it remains uninfected.”
He nodded. “Excellent.”
“You knew they were here.” She hissed. “That’s why you wagered.”
He hadn’t, but he did not correct her. “You shouldn’t have agreed to bet me.”
“Because you’re a scoundrel?”
“Because I do not lose.” A stool scraped against wood in the pub. The man approached. King pressed closer to her, his hands encircling her waist. She squeaked her surprise as he leaned in. There was no time to prepare her. No time to change his plan. No time for anything but a quick, low “Time for my forfeit. Make it look real, Mrs. Matthew.” And he set his lips to hers.
For a moment, she froze beneath him, her lips pressed together in a flat line, her hands up at his shoulders, pushing at him, a little sound of protest caught in her throat. He lifted one hand to her neck, his thumb brushing along the line of her jaw, his fingers threading into the hair at the nape of her neck, massaging there until she relaxed, sighing her pleasure at the sensation.
He didn’t intend to like kissing Sophie Talbot.
He didn’t intend for anything more than the most perfunctory of caresses—long enough to convince her pursuers, and mechanical enough to get the job done.
But the sigh did him in. He caught it with his lips, readjusting the angle, pulling her tighter against him and pouring all his expertise into the touch—instinctively knowing that if she’d ever kissed another, it had been nothing like this. For, if there was anything in the world King enjoyed, it was kissing. He adored the privacy of it. The magnificent way it tested and teased and tempted and ultimately told, foreshadowing a greater, more intense act.
Her mouth was open, her full lips on his, and he took what she likely didn’t even know she’d offered, worrying her beautiful bottom lip with his teeth before soothing it with his tongue and stroking deep, tasting her, the tang of bergamot from her tea and something sweeter, more delicious than he would have imagined.
She sighed again, and he pulled her closer, loving the way she gasped at the movement before giving in to it, wrapping her hands around his neck and threading her fingers in his hair. Christ. It felt good.
She felt good.
Even better when her tongue met his.
She was an excellent student.
And this kiss was getting out of control.
He broke it off, lifting his lips from hers, ready to stop the moment before it ran away with them both. But her eyes remained closed and her hands remained fisted in his hair, and he found that releasing her was not in the cards. Instead, he returned his lips to her skin, tracing her cheekbone, her jaw, running his teeth down the column of her neck to linger in the space where it met her shoulder. He kissed her there, licking delicately before he sucked just enough to elicit a lovely little cry.
A cry punctuated with his own growl.
Her grasp tightened, and she whispered his name. Not his title—the name she’d mocked again and again. “King.”
The word gave him great pleasure, and he smiled against her skin. “What did you call me?”
She opened her eyes then—liquid blue and filled with desire. It took a moment for her to understand the question. The teasing in it. “Don’t get ideas.”
“Too late for that.” His ideas were legion. And he liked every single one of them. He slid one hand down her back, over the swell of her behind, to grab her thigh and lift it, pulling her tighter to him.
She gasped at the movement, but did not pull away. Indeed, she arched into him with a low, humming moan. Sophie Talbot m
ore than made up for her lack of experience with her glorious excitement. King could happily sequester them both in a room upstairs and spend a week exploring all the things that made her gasp and arch and sigh and moan.
But there was a man mere feet away who was searching for her. And this was neither the place nor the time for King to be intrigued by the lady. A point that was validated by the appearance of the man who’d questioned them, who stepped into the dimly lit space and did not hesitate in taking a long look at them.
King turned to keep her from view, suddenly caring very much that her current state be for his view alone. “You ask for trouble,” he growled at the newcomer, who did not move for a long moment—too long for King’s liking.
He turned around to face the man. “Did you misunderstand me?”
“Not at all,” said the other man. “It’s only that your wife has the look of Lady Sophie.”
“My wife is Mrs. Louis Matthew. I made that clear. And your attention is irritating me more than I think you’d care for me to be irritated.”
The man’s gaze lingered on Sophie, who, for the first time in her life, stayed where she was put. Thankfully. He then tipped his hat. “Mrs. Matthew, I do apologize for the interruption.”
“Thank you,” Sophie said quietly.
The man looked at King. “You might choose a less public place. Newlywed or not.”
King had never in his life wanted to hit a man more. He should receive a special prize for not doing so. “I appreciate your advice,” King said, his tone indicating anything but appreciation.
Once the man returned to the pub, King grabbed Sophie by the hand and pulled her up the stairs and into her chamber, wanting her away from the scoundrel.
She pressed herself against the wall, her arms crossed tightly over her chest. “He knows.”
King ran a hand over his face. “I imagine he does, yes.”
She looked up at him. “Why didn’t you tell him the truth?”
“That we are merely traveling companions who don’t much care for one another?” She paused at that, and he felt like an ass for having said it with the taste of her on his lips. “Sophie—”
“No,” she said, waving his words away. “It’s true. And he wouldn’t believe it.”
It wasn’t true, but he didn’t push her. “No, he wouldn’t.”
She nodded. “Thank you. I shall only presume for another day. Until the mail coach arrives.”
He looked to the ceiling. “You’re not taking the mail coach, dammit. Especially not now.”
“Why not? They shan’t be looking for me there.”
It was likely the truth, but he’d had enough of this woman and the carelessness with which she lived her life. “Because you have a habit of getting shot on mail coaches.”
“It wasn’t on the coach.”
“Now who is arguing semantics?” She closed her mouth. “I shall see you to Mossband.” He couldn’t help the rest of the words now that he knew, almost certainly, that she’d been lying to him from the start. “Right into your baker’s doughy arms.”
“Aren’t you clever.”
“I am, rather.”
He would wager his entire fortune that there was no baker. Which meant she was running, and he was the only person who could help her. Just as he’d been for another girl an eternity ago.
And he’d be damned if he was going to let this one down, too.
A short rap sounded on the door to the room and he opened it to find Mary, John, and Bess. They stepped inside without being invited. Mary spoke quickly. “There’s a man downstairs asking questions about a missing girl.”
“Yes, we met him,” King said.
Mary looked to Sophie. “He says her name is Sophie. And she’s a nob.”
Sophie watched her carefully, but did not say anything.
Mary looked to King. “They say she’s with another nob.”
He did not reply.
John added, “We think it’s you.”
King spoke then. “Did you tell the man your suspicions?”
“No,” John said. “We’s loyal to our friends’ secrets.”
Sophie nodded. “Thank you.”
“Wot’d you do to deserve a man hunting you?”
Sophie smiled, small and somewhat sad, and King resisted the urge to go to her and gather her in his arms. “I ran from a life I did not want.”
“We cannot pretend we don’t understand that,” Mary said, putting her hand on Bess’s shoulder and pulling the girl close.
Christ. He was going to have to take care of these three. He couldn’t leave them here to their own devices. Mary was young and the other two were children.
Smart, savvy, thieving children, but children nonetheless.
“You must go,” Mary said. “And quickly.”
He reached into his pocket and extracted his purse, extending a handful of coins to Mary. “You’ll follow. In my coach.”
Her brows rose. “Why?”
He knew pride when he saw it in the young girl’s eyes. Knew she would not accept charity in any sense. He’d had to badger her into accepting the room Sophie had insisted he pay for. “Because we’re going to hire another carriage. And those men shall think that you three are us. In my coach. Hieing north to Scotland.”
“To elope!” Bess spoke for the first time.
Sophie looked to the young girl. “What do you know of eloping?”
“I don’t,” Bess said, honestly. “But I know people do it in Scotland.”
“As a matter of fact,” King said to the little girl. “I think they just might believe we are eloping.”
“Are you?” Mary asked.
“No!” Sophie said without hesitation.
He turned to her. “Another man would take offense at how quickly you discount my eligibility.”
She raised her brows at him. “Another man might be less of a cad than you are, my lord.”
He thought of the events in the public hallway downstairs and refrained from argument.
“Where will you go?” Mary asked.
“North. And quickly.”
Mary worried her lip, considering them both. “I don’t know that it’s proper for you to leave without chaperone, my lady.”
King was certain he hadn’t heard the girl correctly.
Sophie shook her head. “I preferred Mrs. Matthew.”
“But you’re not Mrs. Matthew. You’re an earl’s daughter. You should have a companion.”
“I have the marquess.”
Mary cut him a look. “I’m no highborn lady, but even I know he’s not an acceptable chaperone.”
If the girl only knew half of it.
“He’ll do fine,” Sophie said. “The marquess doesn’t even care for me.”
Mary looked from Sophie to King, and he had the distinct impression that she did not believe the words. “My lord, you understand that we feel quite possessive of the lady. What with her saving our lives.”
He nodded once. “I do.”
“Then you understand, also, that if you hurt her, I shall have to gut you.”
He blinked, grateful that the girl didn’t know half of it. Because she clearly meant the threat, and King wasn’t certain she did not have the guts and skill to do it. “I do.”
Satisfied, Mary nodded. “What shall we do?”
“Stay here. Try to throw them off our scent for a few hours to let us get away. Stay a few days, if you like.” He gave her a handful of coin from his purse. “That will keep you weeks if you need it. When you’re ready, my coachman will bring you and my luggage to my country seat.”
Mary was uncertain. “We were headed to Yorkshire. There’s a place there. I hear we’ll be safe.”
King shook his head. “There’s a place for you in Cumbria, as well. Or Wales. Or any number of other places. For John and Bess, as well. You shall all be under the protection of the Duke of Lyne.”
“Cor!” John said.
“A duke!” Mary said.
&n
bsp; Someday soon. And he’d try his damnedest to protect those who couldn’t protect themselves. Perhaps, finally, he could do it.
Sophie looked to King. “Thank you.”
“Thank me when we’re off,” he said, pushing her toward his nearby chest. “You must dress. You’re leaving the pub the same way you came in.”
“Shot and passed out?” John asked.
King lifted the stained-but-clean livery that sat atop the luggage and handed it to Sophie. “As a footman.”
Chapter 10
QUININE: THE CURE
FOR CARRIAGE QUEASINESS
Sophie and King were on the road in less than an hour, Mary and John doing their best to distract the men who searched for them as Sophie clung to the back of the hired carriage, grateful for her prior experience.
Minutes up the road, the carriage stopped, and she scrambled inside, King rapping sharply on the roof to set them once more in motion. “We won’t stop until we reach Cumbria,” he said, “except to change horses. And you will stay hidden. At best, you have a few days before your father’s men find you. If they think you’re with me, they’re already headed to Lyne Castle.”
She shook her head. “My father will receive notice of my plans for Mossband tomorrow. He shan’t bother you after that.”
King raised his brows. “Your father will want my hide, I’m guessing. Doubly so when he discovers you’ve been shot on my watch.”
“That’s nonsense. You weren’t there. You weren’t watching.”
“I should have been,” he said, leaning back in the seat, but before she could consider the words, he said, “Did you pack your tea?”
She nodded. “Yes.”
“And the honey?”
“I did.”
“And fresh bandages?”
“I am not a child, my lord. I understand the concept of leaving a place with important possessions.”
He looked away, out the window, and she leaned back in the seat across from him, and attempted not to think of the day. Any of it.