In the Heat of the Bite (9 page)

“I don’t believe that.” Wes leaned forward in his seat. “Well, how do you know Cait?”

Rhiannon pushed one of her curls behind her ear. “We’ve kent each other since infancy. Our mothers were close friends. We’re like sisters of a sort.” Coven sisters counted, didn’t they?

“And how are you finding London?” Gray inquired. “Very different from Edinburgh, or so Cait has said.”

“Complained is more like it,” Radbourne put in with a good-natured grin.

At that moment Price, the aged butler, entered the parlor with a silver salver outstretched in one hand. “A gentleman to see you, Miss.”

Rhiannon gulped. Only one gentleman had threatened to call on her today. She snatched the vellum card from the tray and cringed at the bold, block letters emblazoning the words “E
ARL OF
B
LODSWELL
.” Blast him. Why couldn’t he leave her alone?

“Your devoted suitor?” Radbourne asked.

“The fellow from last night?” Gray slid forward on the settee. “He seemed rather… intense.”

“Lord Eynsford asked him to come today.”

Wes scoffed. “Then Dash should have to visit with the man.” Which had been Rhiannon’s first thought last night as well.

“If you don’t want to see Blodswell, sweetheart, you can tell Price that you’re not in,” Radbourne suggested.

Rhiannon nodded. That did seem the best idea. “Yes—” But her answer was interrupted by a delighted squeal from the corridor.

“Lord Blodswell!” Caitrin’s disembodied voice filtered into the parlor. “I’m so glad ye’re here. Everyone has converged in my green parlor. Do follow me.”

“What a pleasure to see you again, Lady Eynsford.” Despite his words, Blodswell sounded far from pleased.

Perfect! Cait was absent all morning but arrived just in time to make certain the blasted vampyre was allowed to stay. Slight thunder rumbled overhead.

“Hmm,” Gray mused. “Did you hear that? There wasn’t a cloud in the sky when we arrived.”

“Here we are,” Cait practically sang as she and Lord Blodswell entered the parlor. All three Hadley men rose from their spots at the marchioness’ entrance. “Oh, do sit.” She gestured to her brothers-in-law. “Well, except for ye, Grayson.” Cait frowned when he resumed his spot beside Rhiannon. “The marquess would like a word with ye.”

“Me?” Gray rose again from his seat and stepped closer to Cait. “Why does Dash want to see me?”

“I really couldna say.” She gave him a little push toward the corridor. Then she glanced over her shoulder to the vampyre standing behind her. “Oh, my lord, why doona ye take the seat next ta Rhiannon since ye’re already acquainted.”

What exactly was Cait about? She knew Rhiannon didn’t want to see the man. She’d told her so in no uncertain terms after the ball last night. The thunder overhead rumbled louder. At the sound, Cait raised one arrogant blond brow.
Watch your temper.
She didn’t say it aloud. She didn’t have to.

“Lord Blodswell, I believe ye met Lord Radbourne last evenin’, and seated by himself over there is his brother, Mr. Weston Hadley. They are relations of Eynsford’s. Archer, Weston, this is a friend of mine, the Earl of Blodswell. Do make him feel comfortable.” Then she turned her attention to the poor butler still standing in the middle of the room. “And, Price, please do bring some tea and refreshments.”

“Of course, my lady,” the butler replied as he ambled out of the room.

Cait pushed Lord Blodswell a tiny bit toward Rhiannon and the green settee before taking her own spot in a seat next to Wes. The earl’s dark gaze landed on Rhi, but she refused to meet it. “Miss Sinclair,” he said as he settled in beside her, “how lovely to see you again.”

Rhiannon could barely move. How was it possible that he took up nearly all the space on the settee? It hadn’t seemed that way when Gray was seated beside her. She slowly raised her gaze to his face. Blast him, he was handsome in the daylight. She quickly looked away. “Thank ye, my lord,” she croaked.

“Well, then,” Caitrin began brightly from her corner, “Archer, I received the nicest letter from your mother today.”

Lord Radbourne grumbled something under his breath that Rhi couldn’t hear, but Weston chuckled to himself. Blast those Lycan ears. What she wouldn’t give to be able to hear their rumblings and grumblings.

“I was hoping, Miss Sinclair,” Lord Blodswell said softly, “that I might take you for a ride in my curricle today. I believe you’ve seen Hyde Park, but it’s entirely different in the light of day.”

Rhiannon gaped at him. Was he mad? Vampyres couldn’t go out in sunlight. What was he about? She was too curious not to find out. “What a wonderful suggestion, my lord.”

Matthew could hardly believe his luck. Had she actually agreed to go riding with him? And after she’d initially decided to have the butler tell him she wasn’t home? Yes, he’d heard her. He’d also heard the pups as they tried to help her thwart him, which made him none too happy with the lot. He couldn’t imagine what changed her mind, but he wasn’t willing to take the chance she’d change it again.

He rose from his seat and offered her his hand. “Shall we then?”

“Yes, of course.” She came gracefully to her feet, though her eyes never rose past his nose. What the devil was that about?

Matthew tucked her hand in the crook of his arm and smiled his thanks to Lady Eynsford. “Until later, my lady.”

“Do enjoy yer afternoon, Lord Blodswell.” Then the marchioness actually winked at him, which took Matthew a little by surprise. Caitrin Eynsford had clearly been his advocate that afternoon, but for her to admit it with that wink… Well, she was a formidable lady indeed.

Matthew led Miss Sinclair from the parlor and down the corridor toward the front door. “You doona truly intend ta take me for a ride in the park,” she said matter-of-factly.

“I don’t?” Matthew frowned at her as he continued down the hallway. Every encounter with the lady left him more confused. Hadn’t he asked her to go for a ride, and hadn’t she agreed? “What do I intend to do with you then, Miss Sinclair?”

“That’s what I’m waitin’ for ye ta tell me. Ye clearly have somethin’ ta say ta me as I’ve seen ye more in the last three days than I’ve seen my own sister.”

He wasn’t sure what to say to that. She was the most beguiling creature, and he couldn’t figure her out at all. “I assure you, I do intend to take you for a ride in the park.” And he did. He’d come up with the plan early this morning for two reasons. One, the curricle would only accommodate two people so there would be no room for any stray Lycans to tag along. And two, if they were seen riding together, the
ton
would assume that whatever horrid thing he supposedly said the night before was all but forgiven and forgotten by the lady.

A footman opened the front door. Rhiannon stopped and narrowed her eyes at him.

“Are you all right, Miss Sinclair?” Matthew cocked his head to one side. It was that or shake it violently to dislodge the lack of cohesive thought inside.

“Ye’re really all right, goin’ out in the light of day?”

Matthew would have been frustrated with her, but she looked so sincere that he couldn’t bring himself to be so. “Would you rather stay here instead of going riding through the park?”

Her beautiful hazel eyes narrowed even more suspiciously. “Ye said ye wanted ta take me for a ride, but I doona see how ye could.”

Matthew wasn’t at all certain what she meant, but a part of him stirred at her mutterings. Still, taking her for a ride of a different sort was… not something a gentleman did, he berated himself. “Of course I can take you for a ride, Miss Sinclair.” He gestured to his black curricle out front through the still open door. “But only if you’ll walk through the doorway with me.” Was she waiting for him to sweep her off her feet and abscond with her? That sounded delightful. He forced himself to be more sober.

She nodded hastily. “Fresh air would do me a bit of good.” Then she took his outstretched hand.

Matthew led her into the sunlight, down Eynsford’s stone steps, and out to his awaiting curricle. He helped her into the conveyance, paid the lad holding the ribbons to the matched grays with a shiny coin, and then slid into the box beside the witch. With a flick of his wrist, the horses moved into the traffic headed toward Curzon Street.

He caught her staring at him in amazement, and he turned to level his most charming smile at her. “There. Is that better now?”

She nodded. “How is it ye’re able ta go out in the sun?”

Without thinking his actions through, Matthew took her hands in one of his and squeezed. The sunlight glinted off his ring. “Five wonderful women gave me a gift long ago that has made this existence bearable.”

She looked down at their connected hands, and he knew the moment she put the pieces together. “That looks like Blaire’s ring.”

“Identical,” he agreed with a nod, and then he grasped the ribbons in both hands as he directed the grays across Park Lane and through the gates of Hyde Park. Almost at once they came to a stop as there were so many people out for a ride this time of day.

“Ye were at Briarcraig Castle with Blaire when she met Lord Kettering.”

Silently, Matthew nodded again. He wasn’t certain what to say. He had very few fond memories of his time at Briarcraig, all culminating in the terrible night when Alec MacQuarrie lay dying at his feet. And he really didn’t want to mention that situation again, not now that she seemed to be softening a bit toward him. He wasn’t even certain why that mattered to him, but it did.

“I still canna believe our mothers trapped the poor man in that castle. It was unconscionable.”

Matthew glanced at the witch beside him. She was staring at her hands with her head bent downward in shame. Was she feeling guilty for her mother’s actions? “It’s not your fault, Miss Sinclair.”

“No, but it was my coven. My legacy. I hope the five of us never do somethin’ so dreadful that our daughters are mortified on our behalf.”

Daughters. Some day, she would have a child with some very lucky man. It was too bad he couldn’t be that man, though he had no idea where the thought had came from. “As contemplative as you appear to be, I’m certain that worry is unfounded.”

She lifted her head and stared at his nose. “That is kind of ye ta say.”

“Why do you do that?” he couldn’t stop himself from asking. “You never look at me.”

Miss Sinclair scoffed nervously. “That’s ridiculous. I look at ye all the time.”

“No.” Matthew urged his grays forward. “You look at my chin or my ears or nose, but you never look
at
me. Why is that, Miss Sinclair?”

She slid away from him and watched a couple, hand in hand, walking nearby.

“Are you not even going to answer me?”

“Caitrin says I doona need ta be afraid of ye, but I canna help it, my lord. I canna look in yer eyes. I canna take the chance that ye’ll enchant me.”

If the Serpentine had sprouted watery legs and walked away, Matthew couldn’t have been more surprised. “A vampyre enchanted you?” His eyes scanned the column of her neck but saw no telltale signs that any of his kind had ever partaken of her life force. He ached to check every inch of her to look for bite marks.

She nodded, still looking out across the park. “I was inside my mind, watchin’ the events unfold; but he had complete control over me. I couldna move. There was nothin’ I could do.”

And she thought he’d do the same to her. It wasn’t as though he hadn’t ever used the power before. He had. More times than he could count, but this was the first time he felt guilty for having done so. “I give you my word, Miss Sinclair, I will never enchant you.”

Rhiannon nodded, but she kept her gaze averted to watch a happy couple yards away.

“Rhi!” some chit called from somewhere behind them.

Matthew glanced over his shoulder and spotted a girl fresh from the schoolroom with two older women in the same conveyance.

Rhiannon shifted on the bench, and her face lit with joy. “Ginny!”

A young man maneuvered Ginny and Aunt Greer’s barouche alongside Lord Blodswell’s curricle. That was when Rhiannon noticed someone seated opposite her family on the bench—the formidable Duchess of Hythe. Rhiannon gulped.