Sean saw the eager desire to help spring into her eyes. But he was certain that was not why she had come in search of him. “Did you need something from me Kate? I thought for certain you’d not want anything more—at least not until tonight. I thought I acquitted myself quite well last night, after all. You have no evidence at all to prevent the divorce now.”
She didn’t retreat, despite his reminder. “You have the patience of a saint, it cannot be denied.” As if she carried the same vivid memories he did, she blushed. “You needn’t bait me, my lord. I have not come to lure you to my bed in the middle of the day.”
“Good,” he lied. The thought of taking her to bed was very tempting indeed. “Because after last night I decided that I have terms as well, if you expect me to meet yours in the future.”
“Terms?” She glanced at him with only mild curiosity. What was she plotting now?
He touched her cheek with a soft brush of his hand and she turned her face into his palm and inhaled, no doubt the scent of the earth from the greenhouses he had buried his fingers in earlier while he spoke with Paddy.
He fought the urge to lean down and kiss her. “If you want me in your bed ever again, Katie, you’ll have to take off your clothes. All of them.”
She glanced up at him, and he was pleased to see true shock in her expression. Abruptly, she turned away from him and began to walk toward the abbey. He followed, matching her stride easily.
They had walked almost halfway back to the abbey before he spoke again. “Did you sleep well in my bed?” He wanted to judge whether he’d be in his own bed tonight. The lumpy mattress he’d bedded down on after leaving her last night had left much to be desired and he’d rather not resort to it tonight, unless he must.
“Very well.” She was lying, judging by the dark smudges of sleeplessness under her eyes, but he let it pass until he glanced at her and saw the tears shining unshed in her eyes.
As he spoke, so did she. “I’m sorry.”
She laughed nervously. “What have you to be sorry for?”
He stopped, and swung her toward him. For a moment he said nothing, worried that she would misinterpret kindness as some other emotion. “Kate—“
She grasped his forearms and squeezed to silence him, as she interrupted. “You were right, I shouldn’t have insisted.”
Surprised, he paused a moment and then said, “Still, I’m sorry. I knew it was not wise.” Not wise at all. He closed his eyes remember the feel of her. He didn’t know if he could bear it again. He didn’t know if he could bear it if he managed to send her away, as he wished.
“Perhaps it was not wise.” She shook her head and met his searching gaze squarely. “But I would never have believed you were right if—“ She broke off a moment and then laughed softly. “It isn’t as though you in any way forced me.” She released her grip on his arms. “Anything but, Sean. I must thank you for that.”
“Still—“ He frowned down at her, puzzled by the change in her attitude. If he didn’t know better, he’d swear she was hatching a scheme. She had the same mischievous look that she had gotten long ago when she planned some foolery with Betsey. But what could she have in mind? He had, after all, given her what she asked for.
She smiled at him, just as he had the first time he’d teased her that he intended to hold her to her promise to marry him, made when she was a child. “Do you know of another man who would have tried so hard to keep himself out of my bed.” She closed her eyes and her smile dimmed a bit. “I’m fairly certain you did so for my sake, not your own.”
He suppressed the urge to reassure her that, were circumstances different, she’d have had a less reluctant lover last night. She didn’t need to know that. Not, at least, until he knew what plot was hatching in her clever brain. “Does that mean you don’t want my services any longer?”
“Would you object if I had changed my mind?” She didn’t look at him, clearly afraid of the answer. He wished, fleetingly, that she had been slightly less courageous so that she wouldn’t even have asked such a thing.
He took her hands in his and pulled her slowly toward him, until she leaned against him fully, the chilly wind diminished by the shelter of his arms. “I would agree now, if you wish it.” He bent as if to kiss her, but merely whispered into her ear, “Just say the word and I am Sean McCarthy, Lord Blarney, silver tongued stud goat at the beck and call.”
Sean was surprised she didn’t slap him. He could feel the desire to back away vibrate through her and, though he held her loosely, she didn’t move as she said,“Considering your reluctance last night, once a night seems ample.”
He remembered the way she had leaned against the dressing room wall less than twelve hours ago and marveled that this was the same woman. What had happened to bring about this change? “Then you didn’t know what you asked for. Now you do. And once a night no longer seems like enough.”
He hadn’t meant to speak the truth, but he consoled himself that she wouldn’t believe him. He brushed her cheeks with his lips, his breath warm against her cold cheek. “Not to a man starved for the feel of a woman as I have been.”
She laughed, disbelieving, as he had known she would be. “Lord Blarney cannot find a willing woman nearby? Perhaps when we visit the stone, you should kiss it as well. I fear your tongue has lost the gift.”
“Perhaps it has, at that. My words didn’t convince you that what you asked might break your heart, after all.” He watched her, waiting to see the flash of vulnerability he knew was lurking beneath the surface.
“No.” She buried her head against his shoulder for a brief moment. “You have convinced me about the divorce, though.”
He knew he should be pleased. And he would be, as soon as the sharp pain knifing through his chest had gone away. “So perhaps I have not lost all the silver off my tongue, then.”
She lifted her head to look up at him in surprise. He hoped she hadn’t heard the disappointment in his voice. But Kate closed her eyes, “I’m going home. You were right. I won’t make any protest about the divorce.” Not that she could. He decided to be a gentleman and not point that fact out to her.
“That’s sensible of you.” He sighed. “After what you saw, you are best out of here as soon as possible.”
A flash of anger crossed her features. “I know you don’t want to come back to London, but you are a fool to risk everything to break the law. Can you not find a way to see to them without breaking the law?”
“One day I hope to, but I have not reached that time yet.” He shook his head. “You do not know the frustration of knowing there is food stored within a few miles of starving people and it is destined to be shipped away to other countries to feed those willing to line the landlord’s pockets. It isn’t right. And I am determined to do something about it—even if it means I risk hanging.
Hanging. Kate shivered at the idea. “Have you spoken to the landlords?” The words of apology she had prepared shriveled to a lump in her throat at the thought of leaving him alone to face his battle. She knew it wasn’t wise. She knew it. But still she wanted him. Why could she just not be sensible? Was it because his life was in danger and the foolish man refused to give up risking his neck?
“They are interested in coin and little more. You’d see that for yourself, if you stayed. But I’m glad you’ve decided to go. Though perhaps you’ll want to come back to see me swing if I’m caught.”
Kate didn’t laugh at the horrible joke. It was Paddy’s words that gave her the idea. If Paddy could be a horticultural spy, why couldn’t Kate do a bit of spying on her own to bring peace to the area and convince her husband to give up his Robin Hood ways.
But first, she had to find a way to stay just a bit longer. She could think of only one. “I intend to go as soon as our bargain is met.”
He glanced down at her unhappily. “I meant what I said, Kate. I’ll not meet your terms unless you meet mine.”
She thought of lying in the bed with him tonight without the armor of wool and corset. “That seems fair enough,” she consented with a rush of lightheadedness.
She walked more quickly into the abbey, leaving him to gape at her in consternation. Perhaps she would regret it. Perhaps. But she was certain, either way she would rest easier knowing that he was safe, even if he was no longer her husband.
Her first mission, she decided, would be a visit to the man who had trapped Sean in this unhappy stranglehold. Jeffreys. He was the biggest landlord in the area, surely if she could convince him, he could bring his influence to bear upon the other landlords in the vicinity? In case her efforts proved futile, she decided not to tell Sean what she was about unless she was successful. He had enough on his mind as it was.
She called upon Jeffreys, but he was out. The footman seemed almost reluctant to take her card, but she insisted with an unruffled smile, as any good spy should. She included an invitation to dinner for two days hence, hoping Sean would not mind when he found out what she had done.
He had been surprised that she did not flee at once. That she still wanted him in her bed, although she recognized that he had been right. It had been brave of her to acknowledge her own error in judgement.
He wondered if allowing her to stay was an error on his part. The thought that he would have the opportunity to show her that making love did not have to be a clumsy, embarrassing affair was little enough consolation.
He knew he shouldn’t let himself enjoy the feeling of being a husband—it wouldn’t last long. But he did anyway. And he looked forward to tonight, spending the night in his own bed, with his wife, for the first time since he had married her.
It would be a memory to warm him in the future. At least, he hoped it would be enough, because it would be all that he could have.
This time she wore only a shift when he came into the room. He reached to loosen his collar and paused. “Are you certain of this, Kate. There is no need to prove your courage—I already know it well.”
She smiled. “I want this, Sean.” She smiled again, a little wryly. “And this time I know what it is I want and I won’t expect more than you can give me.”
He quickly shed his own clothing and put out the lamp, so that there would be darkness between them tonight. Later, if she stayed, there would be time for light, for him to enjoy the sight of her. She’d already seen him in all his glory—though she had seemed decidedly unimpressed he remembered.
He climbed into the bed and settled himself beside her as if he weren’t an eager lover, but a man well used to a woman in his bed. He may have joked about being a stud goat, but he did not want to behave has if he were one. Tonight, for her sake, he would concentrate on showing her the pleasure of warm skin touching warm skin.
“So, my lady.” He turned toward her and she jolted away from him when his leg brushed hers. “Will you be in charge tonight? Or will you leave it to me?”
“Since I had charge of last night, it is only fair that you lead tonight.”
“Fair enough.” She was trembling when he moved to pull her into his lap. He whispered in her ear as he gathered the hem of her shift in his fists. “Katie, I said nothing at all.” She did not make a sound of protest as he lifted the shift up and over her head, but when the cold night air hit her as he tossed the shift to the end of the bed, she gave a powerful shiver.
He took her into his arms and rubbed his hands along her back, her arms, her shoulders, trying to warm her, trying to learn the feel of her, so that he could conjure it up in his lonely bed once she was gone.
She was, as he had hoped, less shy in the dark. Though she moved tentatively at first, her hands skimmed along his arms and wrapped about his neck. He began to explore the soft warmth of her breasts with his hands and she sucked in a quick harsh breath, but did not pull away. After a moment, she leaned in to his touch and it was his turn to struggle for breath when she brushed her lips against his neck and nipped at the lobe of his ear.
When her hands moved down to explore him, he guided her, showing her what pleased him, and then he grasped her hands and pulled them up and away to rest by her head as he bore her down to the softness of the bed and stretched himself over her. “Tonight you gave me leave to be in charge, Katie.”
“Do you not like my touch?”
He nuzzled at her neck. “I like it all too well. But tonight we will go slowly. And that means that I touch you.” She did not bar his lips or his patient fingers access to any part of her and he felt a jolt of triumph when his touch made her writhe and moan until she convulsed beneath him.
“Are you sure of this Katie?’
She didn’t answer with words, only pressed her lips to his neck, slid a kiss up to his jaw, and captured his mouth with hers.
He came into her smoothly, and she wrapped her legs around him instinctively drawing him deeper, deepening the kiss between them at the same moment.
They moved together in a unison that made him feel as if they might have melted together into one soul. He felt the surge of orgasm overtake him and let himself be swept away, his thoughts be tumbled about until he knew nothing, not even his name.
At last he rolled from her, pulling her with him so that they rested together like spoons. He brushed his lips against her hair. He was pleased with himself, until she said, very softly, as if she wasn’t certain she wanted him to hear, “Would you want me as your wife if I agreed to stay? If you thought I could be a partner to you in your efforts here? Could be of use to your people.”
The idea jolted through him like a bolt of lightning, leaving an ache behind. It was impossible.
He had not answered her question directly, Kate reflected, as she lay beside him, listening to his even breathing. But when he rolled from her, his arms had tightened to bring her with him and he had curled his body around hers, warmer than any brick or pan of coals could ever be.
That was answer in itself. He wanted her to stay with him. He wouldn’t admit it because he was a stubborn man. She didn’t understand all his reasoning, but she was beginning to. If he weren’t engaged in illegal activities, no doubt he would have sent for her long ago.
Most likely it would do no good to ask him if she could stay. But she had been right to try to mend fences. Not that such a thing would solve all his problems. At least not at once. An alliance of landowners would be the best way to see to feeding of the population, as well as to securing greater profits in the coming years without starving anyone.
She reached for his hand, warmly possessive against her breast and lifted it to her mouth to press a kiss against the rough knuckles that had surprised her with a gift of pleasure so intense she blushed all over even now at the memory.
Thankfully, the room had been so dark he could have had no notion of how close she had come to losing control and crying out his name…or worse, that she loved him. He wouldn’t want to know that. Not yet. Not until he had found a way to feed his people. Solving his problems would solve hers, too.
In the morning, he was still beside her and she turned to watch him sleep, until she noticed that his breathing was less even than it should be. Daringly, she reached her hand out to lay flat against his hip, but he did not respond. She moved her fingers against the muscles of his stomach lightly, wondering if it tickled. If he even noticed her light touch. In a moment she could not doubt that he did.
“Do you not know it is dangerous to rouse a sleeping man that way, Katie?”
She noted there was no trace of sleepiness in the green eyes that watched her closely. She slid closer as she tightened her fingers around him. “I thought I might have a better chance of being in charge if you were asleep. Do you object?”
He didn’t answer, just laughed raggedly and pulled her head down for a lingering kiss.
She received a note that Jeffreys and his son would come for dinner that night with scarcely an hour to notify the kitchens. The cook looked at her as if she’d said Lady Dilys and her ghostly husband would be down for dinner, but had not answered Kate’s inquiries as to why the news was so shattering.
“We don’t mix,” was her only answer.
She glanced at the note of acceptance. The reply was terse and gave no indication whether they were pleased or displeased at the invitation. But she supposed an acceptance was proof enough that there could be the start of a truce between the families—no matter what the cook thought.
She had not dared tell Sean until she heard from Jeffreys. Now, holding the acceptance note, after the cook’s reaction, she was suddenly afraid the fragile bond that had built between them would crush under the weight of his anger.
He was not pleased. In fact, he was incensed beyond comprehension. “You invited him? Into my home?”
“He is your neighbor.”
He was infuriated enough to hit his fist against the wall, though the stone suffered less under the onslaught than his own hand. “He is my enemy.”
She was determined to get him to see reason. “Then, for the good of everyone, it is time to make peace.”
“You don’t know what you’re asking of me.” He looked at her bleakly. “You don’t know what you’re asking of Bridget. If I had not sent Niall and my uncle to Dublin--”
Bridget? “What has Bridget to do with this?” She thought of Jamie Jeffreys watching them as the picnicked beside the castle. Of Bridget’s hasty departure. What was it that he would not tell her?
“Why did you do this?”
“I wanted to help. I want to find a way for you to do what you need to do without breaking the law—“
“You mean, you thought because I slept with you that I could be persuaded back to London with you, if you could just take care of the pesky business of making certain that all my people had enough to eat?”
“I didn’t—“
“You were wrong. I’ve done without a woman in my bed for long enough before. No matter how pleasant you are between the sheets, I’ll not let you be a distraction. And I’ll not let you destroy my family.” He strode out of his study and into the hallway, bellowing for Douglas.
She followed in time to see Douglas, face pale, come running. “I’ve just heard, my lord. Cook told me.”
“He’s not to step foot in this house. Do you understand me?”
“I do.” Douglas nodded solemnly and Kate suddenly feared that rather than mere discord, she might see blood shed tonight.
Before she could think what to do. What to say, Bridget appeared, looking annoyed but not worried. “What is the commotion, Sean?”
“Nothing, Bridget.”
At her skeptical look, he added, “Just a disgreement between Kate and I. It is already resolved.”
He looked at his sister as if he were afraid she would collapse at the very name Jeffreys. And it was equally obvious she had not heard the cook’s rumors. Kate realized that no one had told her, not even Cook, because they wanted to protect her. From what?
Bridget looked at her. “What did you do?”
Kate, remembering that she had said Jamie Jeffreys’s name without bursting into tears, risked telling her the truth, though she could see that Sean did not want her to. “I invited the Jeffreys for dinnner.”
Bridget became still, expressionless. Her maid let out a little moan of dismay.
“She did not know, Bridget. I did not tell her. She was trying to bring peace between Jeffreys and me.” He exchanged a glance with Douglas. “Do not fear, they will not step foot in this house as long as I draw breath.”
Bridget shook her head. “It is time for you to forgive him.”
Sean looked as though she’d asked him to personally forgive the wandering ghost of Cromwell for the atrocities he had visited upon Ireland. “I will never forgive him.”
The girl went over to her brother and put her arms around him, resting her head lightly on his shoulder. “You must.”
He put his arms around her as if he could protect her from the world. “After what he—“
She broke away from him and put her hands on her hips. “Your wife is right. It is time to put the past behind us.”
Kate was alarmed when she saw that Bridget was trembling, though her words were reasonable—surprisingly so. What did she not understand? What had they not explained to her? She felt she had made an unforgivable mistake. But what?
The sound of the guests arriving riveted them all the spot. Douglas stood rooted to the spot, clearly torn as he looked to Sean for instructions.
“Welcome them, Douglas,” Bridget said.
“Let me send them away without trouble,” Kate pleaded, when Sean looked incapable of offering welcome to his enemy.
“Let them in, Douglas,” Sean said, his eyes focused on his sister’s face. “But if they offer her insult, they will pay.”
Douglas still looked torn, but he hurried to do as he was bid.
Kate stood transfixed in the hallway, wishing that she could call back time itself as father and son appeared, and Bridget’s trembling became more pronounced. Sean moved toward her, but she flinched away.
“McCarthy.” Jeffreys nodded politely enough, even though he had not used Sean’s title to address him. Though her husband preferred not to hear the title from his family, she doubted that he would have given permission for Jeffreys to dispense with it. Her hopes for the evening, already low, dropped further. Tonight would be a true miracle if it passed without bloodshed and mayhem. A miracle indeed.
“Jeffreys,” Sean acknowledged with bare civility.
“Good evening, Jamie.” Bridget’s eyes caught Jamie Jeffreys and she clasped her hands together, but she did not move.
Jeffreys was no more pleased than Sean at the greeting. “He’s a man now, girl. Call him Mister Jeffreys, as is proper.”
Bridget glanced at him, challenge in her eyes. “A man is not made by his father, but by his deeds. What has he done to deserve that name?”
Jamie flushed deeply. Kate realized there was more to the feud than simple differences and jealousy over a title and possession of a run down abbey. She had made a serious blunder and she had no idea how to fix it. She glanced at Sean in silent apology, not surprised that he took no notice at all of her.
Sean did not know what to do. Bridget should not have said such a thing, true as it was, if she wanted peace tonight. Part of him knew that the desire to run the men through would not be wise. Part of him didn’t care if he was hanged for the crime. At least Bridget would be revenged at last.
As if they knew his thoughts, and entertained similar ones themselves, there was silence and, for a moment, it seemed that the evening would come to blows, or the Jeffreys would turn on their boot heels and leave without taking off their cloaks.
He didn’t like the way Jamie’s gaze was fixed on Bridget. “I’m to serve Her Majesty in India. I go to London within the month. Is that deed enough to prove I’m a man?”
Bridget shrugged, as if she had no reason to hate these men at all, to Sean’s amazement. “Man enough to break bread with us at the abbey.”
They sat down to dinner. Sean was not happy, but he followed Bridget’s lead.
Kate glanced at him hopefully, but he glared at her. She would not be happy to hear what he had to say when they were private. If, as it seemed they might, they survived the ordeal of dinner without killing each other.