Tammy Falkner - [Faerie 02] (8 page)

What rotten, dreadful, dog-tired luck he had. Finn was sitting with Claire tucked into his side in the carriage. She smelled good enough to eat, and after what they’d just done on the balcony, he wanted to nibble on her all over. His hands still smelled like her, for God’s sake. Just the thought of how responsive she was made him hard as stone.

But then he looked across the carriage and saw Katherine. His former mistress looked out the coach window, worrying her fingernails as her foot tapped against the floor. The situation was enough to drive a sane man mad.

“When did this start, Katherine?” Finn asked.

She startled. “Beg your pardon?”

He touched his fingertips to the space over his own eye, indicating her bruise. “When did he start hitting you?”

“Does it matter?” She glared at him from across the coach.

“It would help to know what kind of man I’m destined to deal with.”

“He won’t bother you,” she said. Then she went back to nibbling her fingernails.

Finn highly doubted that Mayden would
not
come for her. Finn would have to hide Katherine, and hide her well, before the man came to call. “He’ll bother me like a fly bothers a horse.”

That wasn’t exactly true. Mayden was not the smartest man alive. And he was desperate. What he wanted more than anything was to own everything the Duke of Robinsworth had ever had his hands on, and that included Finn’s property.

It was rumored that Mayden had a hand in the Duke of Robinsworth’s wife’s murder, but no one had ever been able to prove it. She’d been tossed from the turrets of Robin’s own ancestral home, Finn’s current domicile, years ago, and the duke had been vilified for it. He had become a recluse because of all the talk.

That was, until he met Sophia Thorne, of course. Robin had followed her back to her homeland, which just happened to be a magical land. The same land from which the lady beside him hailed.

Mayden had a score to settle with Robinsworth, and therefore with every friend, family member, and acquaintance of his. And it was no wonder he’d chosen Katherine to twist the knife. If Katherine thought Mayden wouldn’t come for her, she was dead wrong.

Finn would have to find a safe place for her to stay until after the baby was born. God, what a muddle.

He spoke, more to himself than to the other occupants of the coach. “We need to get you up the stairs and to a bedchamber with no one noticing you.”

Claire opened her mouth to speak, but Katherine said, “Of course,” with an almost imperceptible nod.

“You think you’re going to bring her into the Hall like she’s a servant.”

Finn arched a brow at Claire. Katherine
was
a hired woman. Just not the kind that Claire was referring to.

“Did you expect me to bring her in through the front door?” Finn glared at Claire. She didn’t understand anything about his world, its hierarchy, or his responsibilities.

“She is not a maid.”

“That’s for damn sure,” Finn said under his breath.

Claire punched him in the side. Hard enough to make him grunt. “What was that for?”

“For being a dolt.” Claire crossed her arms beneath her breasts and glared at him.

“It’s all right, Miss Thorne. I understand,” Katherine said. Apparently, her fire had been quite effectively stamped out. When he’d met her, she’d been sweet and charming and not a mouse of a woman. He wasn’t attracted to this Katherine at all. Which was good, because the faerie beside him drew all his attention.

What the devil was he going to do with Katherine?

***

“You can send her to your house in Bedfordshire,” Claire suggested.

“Charming place,” Katherine said.

“You’ve been there?” Claire couldn’t help but ask. Of course, Katherine had been there. She had been his mistress.

Katherine raised a brow at her. No response was necessary. “Haven’t you?”

“Of course, she hasn’t been there,” Finn said, denying her knowledge of the place.

“Of course not,” Claire muttered. “I only arrived a few days ago.”

“From where is it that you hail?” Katherine asked.

“I’m sure you’ve never heard of it,” Claire responded.

“Where have Lord and Lady Ramsdale been keeping you?”

“In the country,” Finn interjected.

“Alone?”

Katherine was interested in her life story. And Claire couldn’t share any of it. There was no reason to explain Claire’s hair color or the fact that she was at that damn ball in the first place, since Katherine would hopefully never see Claire again. Ever.

“The new Duchess of Robinsworth, Miss Thorne, and their older brother lived with their grandparents most of the time,” Finn said. He shot Claire an apologetic glance. It was hard to talk about her parents, since she didn’t know them well. So, she appreciated his help. “I suppose in the morning that I could send you to Bedfordshire.”

Katherine nodded. “I just need to stay out of his reach for a time.” She laid a hand on her still-flat stomach. The baby couldn’t possibly be Finn’s. He hadn’t lain with Katherine in months. “If you could help me, I would be grateful.”

“I’ll send word to the house tomorrow. And then you can travel in a few days.”

“And stay with you until then?”

“You’ll stay with Miss Thorne at the Hall. As her guest. I’ll return to my house.”

“Are you certain that’s a good idea?” Claire asked, suddenly unsure of being saddled with Finn’s former mistress.

“I’m not certain of anything,” Finn said as he scrubbed a hand down his face. “I probably shouldn’t leave the two of you in case Mayden comes looking for Katherine.” He was damned if he did, and damned if he didn’t.

The coach rumbled to a stop, and the footman lowered the step and opened the door. “I’ll wait for the carriage to take me around to the back,” Katherine said.

“You’ll do no such thing. You heard him. You are my guest.”

Katherine may have had a rough start in life, but Claire refused to let her be treated like the working class, not with that wounded look in her eye, even if she was a former mistress. She took Katherine’s hand and pulled her from the carriage.

Wilkins didn’t even blink when he opened the door. The man deserved a medal. “Shall I prepare for another guest?” he asked.

“Please do,” Claire said before Finn could open his mouth. “Mrs. Crawfield is a friend of mine, and she will need a room close to my bedchamber.”

Finn growled low in his throat.

“What on earth was that for?”

“Nothing. Absolutely nothing,” Finn muttered. “I trust the two of you can settle yourselves in with no assistance from me?” He didn’t wait for an answer, but turned on his heel and went toward the study.

Claire needed some time alone. She needed to plan. She needed to figure out what was going to happen next. But she had to settle Katherine in and be certain she was all right. She couldn’t let a woman like her down. Particularly since they were in similar situations.

Maybe there was a mission here for Claire after all. Perhaps it was saving Katherine Crawfield from herself. Claire hadn’t been on a mission in months. She missed the challenge.

***

“How long have you been in love with him?” Katherine asked as they walked slowly up the stairs. Claire stumbled over her own foot, and Katherine reached out to steady her.

“Beg your pardon?” Claire managed to spit out.

Katherine enunciated every word clearly as she continued to speak. “How. Long. Have. You. Been. In. Love. With. Finn?”

Claire forced a chuckle that she didn’t even remotely feel. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

Katherine smiled softly. “A woman knows.” She waved a breezy hand in the air. “There’s definitely something between the two of you.”

There was a child, but she couldn’t tell Katherine about that. “You must be mistaken.” Claire absently fiddled with a loose string on her glove.

“I am never mistaken, not when it comes to matters of the heart.” She paused, staring at nothing. “That is, unless it’s my own heart that’s involved. Then I’m a complete idiot.” Her eyes filled with tears, and she waved a hand in front of her face as though to dry them before they even fell.

“Why Mayden?” Claire asked as she continued up the stairs. It was much better to talk about Katherine’s love affair than her own.

“He was charming. He made me feel like he wanted me more than anything. He’s very good at that. I wasn’t the only one he was courting. He was priming another woman for marriage, someone wealthy.” She laughed at herself. “Courting is the wrong word for what women like me do, isn’t it?”

“Not really. I imagine the courtship is very similar, is it not?”

Katherine shrugged. “Perhaps.” She heaved a huge sigh. “I didn’t realize until after I’d given Finn the cut what a mistake I’d made. I should have stayed with Finn. He might never love me, but he did respect me. And he could afford me. That’s more than I got with Mayden.” She laid a hand on her belly. “I never wanted a child.”

“You’ll grow to love him with time.” Claire was already in love with the child she carried within her.

“A child is a liability in my way of life.” She looked haunted. “It’s difficult to convince a man that you’re irresistible with a child hanging on to your skirts.”

“Isn’t that what governesses and nurses are for?” Claire had pretended to be both when she was on her missions. And found that the upper class typically left their child rearing to the nannies and hired help.

“Nurses and governesses are for your class. Not mine.” She settled onto the settee in Claire’s private sitting room. “I suppose I can find a good family for it.”

“Do you have any family who can help you?”

She shook her head. “No one who will claim me.”

Claire felt similarly. “You can go to Lord Phineas’s house in Bedfordshire and retire for the rest of your time. Then make a decision.”

At least Katherine would get a decision. Claire’s own situation would depend on the nature of the child.

“Has he kissed you yet?” Katherine asked.

Claire sputtered. He’d done a lot more than that. And even more tonight. “Certainly not.”

“Then he wants to. I can tell by the way he looks at you.”

Claire had to ask. “What makes you think that?”

“He gets this hungry look on his face when he looks at you. Like he’s imagining what you taste like and smell like. What you’d feel like wrapped around him.”

Heat crept up Claire’s cheeks.

“Pardon me,” Katherine said. “I keep forgetting you’re not like me. Real ladies would faint to hear such things. They do it with the lights off and their nightrails shoved up to their waists, grinding their teeth the whole while.” She laughed lightly.

That wasn’t what it had been like for Claire with Finn. She had questions for Katherine. But she’d seem like the worst sort of whore if she asked them, so she kept them to herself. Then curiosity got the better of her. “You don’t do it with the lights off?”

Devilish delight twinkled in Katherine’s eyes. “I do whatever he wants.” She kicked off her shoes and lifted her feet to the footstool. “There’s no shame in taking pleasure in the bedchamber.” She narrowed her eyes at Claire. “What were you doing with Finn up on the landing tonight?”

“Watching the show,” Claire admitted.

“And?”

“And nothing.”

“That’s why Finn looked like he wanted to drag you straight to his bedchamber and keep you busy the rest of the night. He’s probably irked to no end that I’m blocking the path between the two of you.”

“Blocking what path?”

“You’re here with me, instead of with him.”

Claire wasn’t going to be with him, no matter what.

A knock sounded on the door. “Enter,” Claire called.

Wilkins stepped into the room and bowed. “Mrs. Crawfield’s chambers have been prepared. And his lordship would like to see you in the study, miss.”

“Would you show Mrs. Crawfield to her chambers?” Claire asked over her shoulder as she went to see what Finn wanted.

“He has found a way around my block, apparently,” Katherine murmured to Claire as she walked by her to follow Wilkins to her chambers. Claire’s heart lurched.

Claire found Finn in the study, sprawled in a chair before the fire with a tumbler of some kind of drink in his hand. “Don’t even think of it,” he said as she looked at his glass. “The last time you took my drink, you know what happened.” He was getting hard at the mere thought of it. He hooked a chair with his foot and drew it closer to him so that they both faced the fire, but the corners of their chairs nearly touched.

“Certainly, it’s not proper to sit that close together.” She said it so primly that it amused him.

A grin tugged at the corners of his lips. “Surely that doesn’t apply with a man who has been inside you.”

Claire gingerly perched her bottom on the edge of the chair. “You shouldn’t talk of such things.” Her cheeks flushed a rosy shade of pink.

“How can I not? It’s all I think about.” He drank the last swallow of his drink and set the cup to the side. “Would you like something?” he asked.

“You just informed me that I couldn’t have anything. Did you need to tell me something? Or did you just want me to watch you drink?”

Oh, he needed something. And she was it. “I just wanted to talk to you. To find out if Katherine was settling in all right.”

“She’s fine. She has the room next to mine.”

“A genius bit of maneuvering there.” With Katherine close by, he would not go within one hundred feet of Claire’s chambers.

“I don’t know what you mean.”

“Of course, you don’t.”

Claire got to her feet. “If you don’t need anything, I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“I need something,” he said quickly as she walked by his chair. He snaked an arm around her waist and tugged her into his lap. She squirmed, but only for a moment. “Settle down,” he growled playfully.

She wiggled her bottom against his erection and he winced. “Let me go, Finn.”

“Fine,” he clipped out. He loosened his arms but didn’t completely let her go. He wouldn’t force her to want him. Maybe he was the only one with such fierce desires right this moment. She wasn’t foxed, after all, not like the last time he’d had her. He loosened his hold on her. She could have gotten out of his arms, had she tried, but she didn’t. In fact, she softened against him a bit with a heavy sigh.

“Finn,” she breathed.

“Claire,” he mocked.

“Why did you send for me?”

Because he couldn’t go to her with Katherine in the room beside her. “I just wanted to look at you.”

“You’re foxed. Go to bed.”

In fact, he’d only had a sip or two of brandy. He wasn’t nearly foxed. He had all his faculties completely under control. What wasn’t in control was her. “If you’ll go with me, I will.”

He laid his head against the back of the chair and closed his eyes. She should slap him. And she still might. She wasn’t some whore he could talk to like that.

The palm of her hand stroked across his beard stubble, instead. “What’s bothering you?” she asked. She still hadn’t gotten up from his lap, and it was all he could do not to touch her.

“I don’t want Katherine to be here,” he admitted.

“You still have feelings for her?”

“Not at all.” And that was the truth. He’d been dismayed and disillusioned when she threw him over, but that was more about his pride than any heartfelt emotion he had for her.

“But you had feelings for her once.” It wasn’t a question. It was a statement, which was fine, because it wasn’t an easily answered question.

“Feelings didn’t come into play with Katherine.” He gave Claire a tiny push to slide her down his knee a bit. He could feel every breath she took in his manhood, and if he got any harder, she would be able to drive him into the wall and spin him like the hands of a clock.

“What was in play with Katherine?” Her voice was quiet, and her green eyes looked directly into his.

“Pleasure. Katherine was about pleasure. I have needs. She met them. For a time.” That sounded callow even to him.

“And how do you have them met now?”

He didn’t. Finn took her hand and placed it on his raging manhood. She indelicately squeezed the tip of it through his trousers. “God, Claire.” He took her hands in his and laid them upon his chest. “You’ll unman me doing that.”

“I don’t know what that means.”

Of course, she didn’t. “Do you remember what we did tonight on the overlook at the ball?”

A rosy flush crept up her cheeks again. God, she was pretty. “I remember.”

“That.”

“Oh. I don’t know how to do that.”

Finn did. It felt like he spent in his hand more often lately than he ever had. And it was all Claire’s fault.

Finn sat up straighter and cupped her face in his hands. He touched his lips to hers. Claire’s hands fisted in his waistcoat as she clutched him tightly. But she kissed him back. She was slightly hesitant at first, but when he touched his tongue to hers, she moaned low in her throat. “What can I do to help you?” she whispered as she sat back and looked down at the ridge of his manhood. She licked her pretty pink lips.

He was an idiot. This woman had been an innocent before he’d spoiled her. And he couldn’t use her as he would a whore. But he’d never felt this consuming desire for a woman before. Never. Not once in his life. He wanted to please her. He wanted to make her happy. To hell with his needs. He needed to have her. That was all.

But if he took her tonight, she’d be no more to him than Katherine. “If your father were here, I’d go to him and ask for his permission to take you driving or for a walk in Hyde Park.” He drew her down to lay her head on his chest, and she curled into him like she was meant to be there.

“My father doesn’t have dominion over my life. He never has.” She stiffened with her statement, but she settled when he drew his hand down her back.

“But that’s the way we do things here. We gentlemen see a pretty lass, and we go and ask for her father’s permission to court her.”

She sat up quickly. “I believe we are a little past the courtship stage.”

“So, we put the cart before the horse.” He chuckled at the look of exasperation on her face.

“That is a moot point. My kind doesn’t marry your kind.”

“Robin and Sophia did. Your mother and father did.”

“My mother and father made a mistake. And I fear that Robinsworth and Sophia did too.”

“Why did your grandparents raise you?”

“When a child is born to parents, one of whom is fae and one is not, the fae children are taken back to the land of the fae to be raised there, along with any parent’s memory that they existed. The memories are sealed in a box and set high upon a shelf.”

“That’s awful,” Finn breathed. No wonder she was bitter about the situation.

“That’s why fae cannot marry nonfae. It’s one of the Unpardonable Errors. Losing your children is the punishment for it.”

“Your parents kept the ones who were not born fae?”

“Yes, two girls and a boy. One of the girls just happens to be fae. But they kept her anyway. I don’t know how. Some kind of special magic my mother discovered.”

“I feel certain they wanted to keep you.”

“They never should have married to begin with.”

“But they did. There’s no taking it back.”

“Just as there’s no taking back a child.”

Good God. No wonder Claire was bitter about her parents. She’d been all but abandoned, in her estimation.

Finn could sit and hold her like this all night. He’d never been one for cuddling, but he enjoyed having her in his lap, pressed against his side.

But his comfort also brought to mind that if he couldn’t marry her, he couldn’t have her at all. All of his hopes dashed like water against the rocks at the shore. He’d had her once. He supposed once would be enough.

“I think you’ve underestimated your parents’ love for you.”

“I think you’ve overestimated their level of caring.”

“What was it like when you first saw them?”

“It was the night you and I had been together,” she said quietly, so quietly he could barely hear her. “My grandfather died that night, and they sent the wind to pick me up and take me back to the land of the fae.”

“The wind?”

“It’s how we travel. The wind takes us to and from our land on the night of the moonful. Otherwise, we have to pass through a portal. The portal is guarded by fish. Or fallen faeries who have been turned into fish. They sent the wind for me on a night that wasn’t a moonful, since it was an emergency.”

He must have looked astounded, because she laughed lightly.

“There’s much you’d have to learn to understand my land.”

“I’d like to visit it.”

“It’s forbidden.”

“Yet your father and Robin are there.”

“They shouldn’t be.”

“Perhaps love is the key to their access. I have seen your parents together. They love one another to distraction. And there’s no doubt Robin and Sophia are in love.”

“Love matters not. Magic will rule over love. Always.” She squirmed in his lap until she was in a position where she could look up at him. “Were you disappointed to find that Katherine’s child isn’t yours?”

Was he? God, no. “Not at all. If it had been, I’d have done my duty, however.”

***

He’d have done his duty. That was what a child was to him. A duty. He might have to do his duty to the one she carried. How would he feel about that? Because if the child wasn’t fae, she would be forced to abandon it to his care, along with her memories of it.

His blue eyes were bright, and they stared directly into hers. It was like falling into an open blue sky. Claire sat forward and touched her lips to his. He looked so vulnerable sitting there holding her in his lap. He’d asked her questions about her life and given her time to explain. He’d even offered to court her. She didn’t want to be courted. She wanted this in this moment. Right now.

“Claire,” he groaned against her lips. “We can’t do this.”

“Do what?” she whispered back at him. A grin tugged at the corners of her lips. His tongue reached out and touched hers, and she wrapped her lips around it and sucked gently.

“Don’t do that,” he groaned as he leaned back, avoiding her mouth. “Claire, if you don’t stop, I’ll have to have you.”

What harm could that do? She was already expecting. The only problem was that, while she could hide the pregnancy beneath the layers of her skirts during the day, she could hide nothing when she was naked. “So, stop,” she teased. Her lips tickled the side of his jaw as she kissed her way down the side of his throat. His manhood was rock hard again beneath her bottom.

Finn threaded his hand into Claire’s hair and forced her to look at him. “Don’t tease, Claire,” he growled.

“Who’s teasing?” she asked. Her hands fumbled with the fall of his trousers. They shook slightly, and he covered her hands with his.

“Stop,” he urged. But it was a weak protest. He didn’t mean it. He just did it because he thought he should.

“I just want to see it.” That wasn’t what she wanted, but it was as good an excuse as any. She worked the fall of his trousers and he bit his lower lip between his teeth, biting back a hiss of something as she revealed him to the glow of candles in the room. He was huge, and his flesh arched up high enough to touch his stomach.

She took his turgid flesh in her grip. “God, Claire,” he grunted, but he thrust against her fist.

“It’s so soft,” she breathed.

He chuckled, but it was a broken sound. “You call that soft?”

“No, I mean your skin. It’s so soft.” Her fingertips dragged across a bead of moisture that leaked from the tip and she swirled it around the purple top of his arousal. “Does this feel good?”

“If it felt any better, I’d die on the spot.”

“What you did for me, can I do that for you now?”

Finn groaned, still working his lower lip between his teeth. “You shouldn’t.”

“Why not?”

“It’s not right.”

“By whose standards?”

“Mine?” he growled as her questing fingers squeezed his tumescent flesh.

“You don’t sound very certain.”

“Stop, Claire.” He raised his hands over his head, grasping the back of the chair. She couldn’t tell if he was avoiding pushing her away or clutching her to him.

She continued her sensual assault and his hips began to grind a slow rhythm, his manhood reaching up to greet her every squeeze.

“Claire, if you don’t stop, I’m going to come.”

This only frenzied her movements. She tightened her grip and sped her fingers, sliding up and down his manhood with his thrusts. She remembered how she’d felt when he’d whispered in her ear about coming and finding that sweet release.

“Come for me, Finn,” she urged, her whisper quiet beside his ear. He shuddered and released his lip long enough to grunt. His release wasn’t at all what she expected. It was a silky thread of fluid that bathed her hand in his warm essence. Finn looked directly into her eyes as he pumped into her hand, once, twice, three times, his grunts at culmination music to her ears. Finally, he stilled. He pulled her tight against his chest and held her there, his essence between them, wetting his clothing.

“Don’t look down,” he warned.

She giggled. “I already saw all your private places.”

She laid her head on his shoulder as he pulled a handkerchief from his pocket, reached between them and cleaned her hand of his seed. He closed the fall of his trousers and pulled her back down on his chest. She breathed him in, that scent of the forest now mingled with something else. Heat? Did heat have a smell? If so, that was it.

“Thank you,” he said softly.

“You’re welcome,” she said as she sat up. “Don’t fall in love with me.”

“Don’t worry, I won’t.” She kissed him gently and left the room.

***

Finn cleaned himself up as best he could. Simmons would eat his hat tomorrow when he saw the state of Finn’s clothing. The man would be livid. And Finn didn’t care. That was the best sex he’d ever had in his life, and he hadn’t even been inside her.

She could unman him with a simple touch, and he couldn’t help but think that, in a perfect world, he would offer for her, marry her, and they could love each other until the end of their days.

But such was not the case. He had better stay away from Claire Thorne. Now, how to manage that when he needed her almost as much as the air he breathed, that was the question.