The Tantalizing Miss Coale (The Notorious Coale Brothers) (2 page)

He watched the long lashes sweep down.

‘Then that is what I must be.’

The words were no louder than the breeze stirring the
leaves.

He pulled her closer, using his anger to subdue the treacherous
desire that threatened to overpower him.

‘I worshipped you, do you remember? We were going to be
married. Can you deny you wanted me then? But I held back, I resisted the
temptation, although you were warm and eager in my arms. I dreamed of the day I
would make you my wife, when I could take you to my bed and make love to you—
‘

‘Stop it!’ The distress in her voice was too much for him and
he released her. As soon as he loosened his grip she turned away. ‘It was not to
be.’

‘Your father thought I was not good enough,’ he said bitterly.
‘I was always aware of that, from the first time I visited Markham.’

‘Then
you were my brothers’ school
friend,’ she retorted. ‘As long as you remained only that you were to be
tolerated. As a suitor you were...unacceptable.’

Ben put his hands on her shoulders.

‘I urged you to fly with me—I would have married you, risked
his anger.’

‘You do not understand.’

He gave her a little shake.

‘Then explain it to me, Sal. Explain why it was necessary for
you to lead me on, only to dismiss me so cruelly.’

She gave a little cry.

‘Do you think you are the only one who suffered? I loved you,
too!’

‘Hah! You expect me to believe that?’ His hands tightened. ‘But
you are here now, and as tempting as ever, so perhaps you will make good your
promises.’

He pulled her close and kissed her, a savage, bruising kiss
that was meant to convey his anger and fury at her betrayal. She did not resist
him but when she fluttered in his arms he was lost. Every hurt, every injury was
forgotten, replaced by a sudden rush of desire. Her fingers clutched at his
coat, she was kissing him back, hungrily returning his embrace. She sighed when
his mouth slid away to kiss her jaw, her throat, the spot beneath her ear where
the pulse beat rapidly beneath his lips.

‘Tell me now that you don’t want me!’ He muttered the words
against her skin.

‘I c-can’t, Henry— ‘

In the heat of desire he had forgotten her husband, forgotten
everything save the sweet taste of her. Now the reality hit him and with it
disappointment, bitter as gall.

‘He’ll not stop me taking what is mine.’

With a sob she pushed him away.

‘Is that all I am to you, a conquest?’

‘What more can you ever be, now you have married that
dolt?’

‘This is not you, Ben. You were never cruel.’

The moonlight glinted on her tears but this time he hardened
his heart.

‘I am what you have made me, sweetheart.’

Sally shuddered at his harsh retort. She had thought for a
moment that she might be able to explain, to make him understand, but it was too
late, he hated her too much. He reached for her again but with a sob she tore
herself away dashed back towards the inn, the sound of his angry laughter
following her through the darkness.

* * *

She did not stop until she had reached the safety of her
bedchamber. She curled up on the bed, hugging the pillow. That she still loved
Ben Hensley was painfully apparent, but he hated her. Their meeting in the
orchard was nothing more than moonlight madness. For the past two years she had
lived with her father’s constant taunts that any man worth the name would not
have walked away so easily. Of course, Papa never knew what she had said, how
she had laughed at Ben and persuaded him that she had been merely amusing
herself at his expense. She had done her best to hurt and humiliate him and she
had succeeded only too well. Could any man worth the name still love her after
that? She thought not. It would be best for everyone if they never met
again.

* * *

When she emerged from her room the next morning she
found Henry at the little writing desk in the corner of the room. He jumped up
when he saw her.

‘Overslept did you, m’dear? Yesterday was a tiring day, but we
shall journey in easy stages from here.’

‘I beg your pardon, Henry. Why did you not wake me?’

‘I thought it best not to disturb you.’

‘But surely we should have been on the road over an hour
ago.’

‘No need to be in a spin over it. I’ve told my coachman to be
ready to move at noon.’

‘Noon! But what if Papa should catch up with us?’

‘No fear of that, my love.’

She clasped her hands, trying to fight down her panic.

‘But you know he will be furious when he finds me gone, he will
send his people out immediately to fetch me back.’

‘But this is hardly the sort of place he will look for us,’ he
said comfortably. ‘Now come and sit down and break your fast.’ He pushed a plate
towards her. ‘I have already done so and can recommend the ham, it is very good
with a little mustard. And while you do that, I will finish my letter. Just a
note to my steward, don’t you know, with a few little instructions for him.’

Sally was surprised at Henry’s nonchalance but she thought
perhaps he was trying to put her at her ease, so she said no more. He bustled
around, leaving Sally to enjoy her coffee and her thoughts, until he had
finished his letter.

‘There, all done. Now, I had best go downstairs and find a
servant to take it to the post. Then I think I shall take a little air. Will you
come with me?’

She glanced out at the sunshine but refused, reluctantly. She
would have liked to go outside, but she did not know if Ben was still at the inn
and she would not risk another meeting. With that thought in mind she locked the
door behind Henry, just in case, then prowled restlessly about the room. At the
writing desk she stopped, looking at the sheets of writing paper in disarray.
Her eye was caught by one sheet which bore several lines of writing. Dear Henry,
had be missed a page of his letter? She picked up the paper, but what she saw
there made her blood run cold.

* * *

Unusually, Ben slept late, his slumbers disturbed by
images of Serena Coale. It would have been better if he had ignored her, rather
than stirring up memories best left alone. After a hasty breakfast he walked out
to the stable to collect Morgan, the huge roan gelding that had carried him
faithfully for so many miles. A little rain had fallen in the early hours but
the sky was clear and as he trotted out onto the road he hoped for a dry journey
to York.

‘Psst!’

Ben looked around. The sound had come from a narrow alley
beside the inn. He halted Morgan and peered into the shadowy opening.

‘Well, well. The
Honourable
Miss
Coale.’

Even in the shadows he saw her blush.

‘I need your help.’ She sank her teeth into her lip. It was
obviously costing her dear to admit this. ‘There is no one else.’

‘I gathered that.’ He tried to sound calm, but even at a
distance he could not deny the attraction he felt for her.

‘I need to get away from here, will you help me?’

It took a colossal effort for Ben to gather up the reins and
turn away from those dark, beseeching eyes. He urged his horse on.

‘You have made your bed, madam...’

‘Ben, please.’ She ran out of the alley and began to walk
beside him. ‘I was mistaken in Henry. I must get away.’

‘Tired of marriage already, Mrs. Woods?’ He curled his lip.
‘You are quickly aroused, but then...we should call you
Sal
volatile
.’

She ignored his jibe.

‘I cannot hire a horse or a vehicle from here, he would know of
it immediately.’

‘Does that matter?’

‘Yes.’ There was a note of desperation in her voice. ‘Please,
take me as far as York.’

‘Not I, madam. Ask someone else.’

Sally watched him trot away. Her shoulders slumped and she
berated herself for her foolishness. If there had been any other option she
would not have approached him, but she was desperate to put as much distance as
she could between herself and Henry. Somehow, despite all that had happened in
the orchard, she’d thought Ben would help her. She was wrong. She had felt no
desire to cry over Henry’s treachery, but now tears threatened. Angrily she
dashed them away. Crying would not help. She must look after herself.

* * *

Ben trotted along the lane but at the bend he glanced
behind him. He expected to see a forlorn figure standing in the lane. Instead
Sally was almost running along behind him, holding up the skirts of her
olive-green riding habit and keeping close to the hedgerow so that she could not
be seen from the inn. Amused, he stopped and waited for her to catch up with
him.

‘What are you doing?’ She did not answer, and he set Morgan to
walk alongside her. ‘Surely you are not planning to march all the way to
York?’

She gave him barely a look, but he caught the mulish set of her
mouth.

‘I shall try to hire a horse or a gig in the next village, and
hope that Henry won’t discover my direction until it is too late.’

‘Why York?’

‘Henry will expect me to go back the way we came, through
Wetherby, or perhaps to Harrogate, since he knows I have an aunt there.’ She
waved an imperious hand at him. ‘Please leave me. I cannot waste my breath
talking to you and besides, I need to find a path off this road.’

‘You were ever a hoyden, Sal.’

Ben exhaled slowly. He had a strong sense of self-preservation
and now it was screaming at him to do as she said and ride away. She was a
married woman, lost to him forever. He had tried for two years to forget the
Honourable Serena Coale, but every time he saw her the threads that tied him to
her grew stronger. If he was not careful he would find himself more in love with
her than ever. He should run. Now.

‘Whoa, Morgan.’ He pulled the big roan to the side of the road,
blocking her way. ‘If you are determined to run off, then I suppose I must help
you.’ He held out his hand to her.

Sally stared up at him, relief battling with anger and, almost
unacknowledged, a tiny chill of fear. He had every reason to hate her, what if
he had decided upon some plan to punish her?

‘Well, come along. Give me your hand and I will pull you
up.’

His impatient tone roused her temper.

‘Oh, pray do not let me put you to any trouble,’ she retorted
with awful sarcasm.

His eyes narrowed.

‘If you are not careful my girl I will ride on and leave you to
your fate. Now, do you want my help or not?’

* * *

For a moment her stormy gaze scorched him, then she
reached up for his hand and at the same time put the toe of her dainty boot on
his foot to assist her elevation. The next minute she was in his lap. The shock
of it took his breath away. He could feel the contours of her frame pressing
against him and his body responded immediately to the soft rounded buttocks
resting on his thighs. Ben forced his mind to other things.

‘So what has he done, this husband of yours, that you are so
eager to fly from his arms?’

There was an instant’s hesitation.

‘He is not my husband,’ she said quietly. ‘And his name is not
Woods. He is Sir Henry Nettleton. We were eloping.’

Sally had not intended to tell him that, but his response
surprised her. He threw back his head and laughed heartily.

‘Oh Sal, you are priceless!’

‘I do not see that it is anything to laugh at.’

‘Are you going to tell me you were carried away by your passion
for that pompous oaf?’

‘Of course not.’ She bit her lip. ‘He owns the neighbouring
estate and he said he had loved me for many years, only knowing my father would
not approve he had never dared to say a word about it.’

‘And that was a good enough reason to marry him?’

‘Yes!’

‘So why elope? You are of age, you could have married him at
Markham, in the teeth of your father’s disapproval.’

‘That was not possible.’

‘Why not?’

She fluttered her hand.

‘Henry understood the necessity of marrying without my father’s
knowledge. I thought he was risking everything to help me, that he might even
have to sell his estate and move away to avoid Papa’s wrath.’

‘But that is not the case?’

‘No.’ Sitting with Ben’s strong arms on either side of her
Sally felt very safe, and suddenly she wanted—needed—to explain. ‘It was all a
hum, a plan hatched between them. Papa knew I would refuse any suitor he put
forward. He told me he had found a match for me, Lord Cromer.’

‘Cromer? Why he is as old as your father.’

‘I know.’ She nodded miserably. ‘And a horrid old man. Whenever
he came to visit Papa he was always trying to pinch or squeeze me.’

‘And Markham wanted you to marry him?’

‘I thought so, yes.’

* * *

Despite the warm sun, a shiver ran down Ben’s spine at
the thought of her being married to the old lecher. He did not want her married
to anyone. She was so close he was breathing in her perfume, filling his senses
with the heady scent of summer flowers. He wanted to bury his face in her rich
dark hair, to forget himself in her kiss.

No! He shifted in the saddle, trying somehow to distance
himself from his bewitching burden.

* * *

With Ben’s arms close around her, supporting and
protecting her, Sally began to relax. His shoulder was conveniently close to her
cheek and she was about to rest against him when he straightened.

‘We have dawdled too long on this road,’ he said curtly. ‘How
long before you are missed?’

‘Henry was out walking when I left, but I pinned a note to my
door, telling him I was not to be disturbed until twelve o’clock.’

He consulted his watch.

‘It is noon now, but we have no guarantee that Nettleton hasn’t
already raised the alarm. Hold on, I am going to set Morgan to the trot.’