Tananguard 02 - To Love a Lord (12 page)

The man faked left and attacked right, pounding Connor in the ribs. Connor hunched over with the blow, dropping his hands and forearms just enough to receive a heavy punch to the side of his face. The blow knocked him to the side where he dangled in the ropes for a moment. The big man grabbed Connor’s shoulder to turn him back around. Connor was fast. He threw two right jabs followed by a left hook. The large man staggered backwards and Connor advanced, throwing several uppercuts to the man’s gut, another sharp jab to the face and a final right hook aimed at a downward angle since the man was now hunching far forward. The last knocked the man to the floor where he breathed heavily and did not get back up.

The crowd booed, angry by the quick victory. The man on the stage stood, raising his hands in the air for silence.

“Next!” he shouted.

“Next?” Josephine asked Lucas. “What does he mean?”

Lucas shook his head, a worried look furrowing his brow.

Five men jumped in the arena with Connor, four of them removing the large, fallen man while the fifth stretched his neck from side to side grinning wickedly at Connor.

“This is not good,” Lucas growled.

The crowd went wild as the new man charged Connor. Connor sprang into action, fighting the newcomer with speed and dexterity, beating him almost faster than the first man. This repeated with one more man who Connor dispatched quickly too, but not quite as quickly as the other two. It was obvious he was wearing down.

A fourth man entered the ring, fresh and young. He was shorter than Connor, but quite muscular. He moved warily, having three matches previous to analyze Connor’s abilities.

Connor got the first few punches in, but the other man was quick, sidestepping and landing his own punches in areas he knew Connor was already hurt, particular
ly his ribs. Connor’s movements were slowing as he fought off the attacks. The shorter man took the advantage and swept behind Connor, looking for a chokehold. Connor grabbed the man’s arm and flipped him over his back and to the floor. The man pulled Connor with him, and the two began to wrestle.

The crowd was cheering; Lucas was shouting strategies, and Josephine even found herself right up to the ropes shouting encouragements as well. It was
the most exciting match so far!

As the two men wrestled, the shorter man gradually gained the advantage, wrapping his legs around Connor’s waist and his right arm around Connor’s neck.

“Slip your arm up under his!” Lucas shouted.

They wrestled fiercely, Connor doing his best to get an arm between his neck and the other man’s arm. Connor was now on his knees, one hand on the floor the other shoving against the arm choking him. Josephine could tell he was struggling. Even with his hand keeping the arm around his neck at bay, he was still losing ground. He was struggling to breathe and he was not doing anything to remove his opponent from his back.

“Do something!” Josephine shouted.

It was so loud in the building
. Connor couldn’t possibly have heard her, but his eyes met hers. With an incredible feat of strength, he twisted, flipping onto his back to pin the man beneath him. Connor then thrust his elbow backwards with all of his might several times until the man finally released his grip and grew limp. Connor rolled off of the man, gulping for air. Then he crawled to his feet and kicked the man as hard as he could. Then he kicked him in the stomach again for good measure. The man groaned and rolled to his side and lay there. He moved as though to get up, but couldn’t seem to get far enough.

Lucas kept looking up at the man on the platform. “What is
he waiting for? Call the match!” he cried.

Several
moments passed, and the fallen man finally stood. He eyed Connor warily as he approached him. Suddenly, the man lunged for Connor. He dodged Connor’s punch, and wrapped Connor up in a bear hug. Both men had an arm wrapped around the other while trying to punch with the free hand. Neither was gaining any ground. Connor finally stopped trying to punch the other man. He raised his free arm high in the air and brought his elbow down on top of the man’s shoulder where it met the neck. Over and over Connor did this until the man released his hold and slumped over. Connor then brought his knee up, kneeing the man in the face. The force of this move brought the other upright, staggering him backward. He didn’t fall, but was visibly shaken. Connor walked to him and threw two sharp jabs to the face followed by a left hook, knocking the man to the ground. The man lay there moaning. He did not attempt to get back up.

Josephine covered her mouth and tears seeped into her eyes as she watched Connor. He was a mess. His face was bloody from the four fights. He stood as upright as he could, breathing heavily and hunching to the left where his ribs and side were obviously in pain.

Not again,
she thought.
Oh Connor, my darling, be strong.
It was that moment she realized it was already too late for her. She was in love with him. It was as simple and as complicated as that.

Half the crowd cheered while the other half moaned when they realized Connor had won again. He looked up at the platform and waited. The man who had been announcing the fights stood. He waited several more seconds, eyeing the fallen man irritably, before shouting Connor’s victory.

Josephine let out a sigh of relief. It was finally over.

“See. I told you he would win,” Lucas said in her ear.

She jumped at the sound, startled by how close Lucas was to her. He made her nervous, and having his mouth so close to any part of her body made her cringe. She pulled away from him, and he smiled slyly.

Connor staggered over to Josephine and Lucas. “Well, that was unexpected,” he said tiredly. Lucas tossed him his shirt.

“Are you all right?” Josephine asked, reaching for him. He clasped her hand in his and nodded. He wouldn’t come any closer. She wanted to wrap her arms around him and hug him tightly even covered in blood and sweat the way he was, but he stood too far away.

“I shouldn’t have brought you. I am sorry,” he said. Pain etched his features, and she realized it was not from his injuries, but from forcing her to witness the events of the night.

She smiled tenderly up at him, squeezing his hand gently. She wanted to say something, but her throat was swollen shut.

A shout sounded from across the arena, “Tananguard!”

Connor turned to see Donovan and the announcer motioning to him. He sighed, turning back to Josephine. “I have to go with them for now. Lucas, get her out of this crowd. I will meet you in the tavern.”

“But shouldn’t we go with—”

“No! I am going to have some words with Corneal, and I do not want Sophia around when I do,” Connor growled, eyeing the announcer. He turned back to Josephine saying more gently, “Go with Lucas. I won’t be long.”

Lucas pulled Josephine through the crowd of people. The process was slow, no one seemed to be going anywhere, but finally they neared the door they had come through.

“Josephine?” a man said suddenly.

She gave a start at her given name, looking around in bewilderment.

“Josephine Meredith!” the voice said again. This time the voice sounded angry.

Lucas kept pulling her behind him, not noticing the voice or Josephine’s sudden tenseness until she was pulled from his grasp. A strong hand had a tight hold of Josephine’s right upper arm. She pulled violently at that hand until her eyes met dark brown ones.

“Garret?” she asked, staring into the face of her younger brother.

“What the devil?” Lucas began to say. He stopped and stared, and Josephine could only guess why. Garret Meredith looked very much like her except several inches taller.

“Josephine, what are you doing in a place like this?” Garret asked her heatedly. “And I see you are not alone.” He stared at Lucas dangerously. .

Lucas returned the glare with one of his own. “Go away, boy. Mind your own affairs,” he said, reaching for Josephine’s hand.

Garret pulled Josephine away and stepped between her and Lucas. “She is my sister. She
is
my affair. I will take her home from here.”

Lucas raised an eyebrow. “I think not.” He shoved the man aside and received a shock as a sharp knife whipped up to his throat.

“Do not touch me again,” Garret threatened.

“Garret! Lucas! Stop it, now!” Josephine hissed, pushing Garret’s knife away from Lucas’s throat. She turned to the younger man. “Garret, I am going with Lucas. I
need
to go with Lucas.”

“Thomas, Isaac,
Dickson,” Garret said loudly. Three men who had been casually watching the exchange stepped forward. “Josephine, you will allow me to take you home safely, or we will come with you and your…,” he eyed Lucas with distaste, “friend.”

Josephine rolled her eyes. “You are a pest. And Thomas, honestly, are you going to allow my young brother to order you about?”

Thomas smiled. “When it involves your safety, miss, yes I am. Your uncle would skin me alive if something untoward happened to you and I did nothing to stop it.” He looked meaningfully at Lucas, who looked far too smug.

Josephine sighed. “Very well, give me a moment,” she said to the men. She turned to Lucas, pulling him away from her brother.

“Josephine?” he asked her lightly.

“My name is no concern of yours. I am going to go with them. My brother may be younger, but he is very stubborn. I do not think it wise not to allow him to escort me home. Both you and he are too temperamental. You will probably kill each other before Connor finishes with that other man.”

Lucas lifted an eyebrow.

“Please explain to Connor for me,” she begged.

“Of course,” Lucas said casually.

“Thank you,” she said with relief. She turned back to her brother. “Alright, Garret, take me home.”

*

Lucas waited for Connor in the tavern where they had met with Donavan earlier. It was connected to the warehouse by a side entrance and was a place for a select few to relax and have a drink after the night’s excitements. There were women there also, dressed in inviting attire for anyone looking for more than a drink.

Lucas had a drink in hand as he waited impatiently for Connor. Not even the women had his attention tonight.

So Sophia’s real name was Josephine. Did Connor know? Was
his bet playing him for a change? Lucas had been thinking Connor was getting too close to this one. He’d formed an attachment, and that was never good. The question was how severe was the attachment? Could Lucas save Connor before it was too late? The servant girl had to be swindling Connor, trying to gain from the situation.

Connor had money, that was for certain, and it was his own as well. Did Sophia know this? Did she hope he would raise her position in society and actually wed her? It would be a disgrace to Connor. He would be shunned.

Connor finally entered the room. He had cleaned up, even changed clothes. Something was
definitely
awry, and Lucas needed to find out what. Connor would not fall to disgrace because of this bet.

Connor strode to Lucas’s side anxiously. “Where is Sophia?”

“Her brother was at the fight apparently, and he did not approve of me taking her home,” Lucas said casually.

“Her brother?” Connor said in exasperation. “I didn’t think he frequented London.”

“Yes. And did you know her real name is Josephine?” Lucas asked just as casually.

“Yes. It’s Josephine Meredith, but she prefers to be called by her mother’s name. I believe she has mixed feelings about her given name,” Connor explained. “Why would she leave without telling me?”

Ah, so he knew her true name. She still had to be playing him, though. Lucas refused to allow that to happen. But he had to tred carefully. If Connor thought Lucas was pushing him one direction—pushing him away from Sophia—Connor would go the opposite. He was a Tananguard, and Tananguard’s were stubborn as hell.

“She explained it to me, but hell if I know what she was talking about. All I know is her brother had three other men with him, and I did not feel like fighting four men after watching you do so. That, by the way, was incredible.” Lucas lifted his cup in salute to Connor before taking a long drink.

Connor grinned. “I don’t think Corneal will do that to me again.”

“No. Instead it will be seven and all at once,” Lucas said with a laugh. “Now sit and have a drink with me.”

“I cannot. I must go to Sophia,” Connor said, patting Lucas on the back and heading toward the exit.

“What? Did you not hear me? Her brother had three—”

“Yes, I heard, but I must see her,” Connor said not stopping.

Lucas chased after him, catching him right outside the building. “I might as well come with you. Just to make certain you don’t get yourself into trouble on the way. Anything can happen this side of town.”

“There’s no need. Donavan offered me a carriage thinking Sophia would still be with me,” Connor replied, walking up to a ready carriage and speaking quickly with the driver.