“Many people taught me,” she told him. “There was always a man to keep away. But for everyone, there weretwowho wanted to help me.”
You follow me into a dark alley. You have a knife so you think you can do what you want to the girl walking alone.
His stomach turned. He wondered how many times it happened to her. “Don’t go back there, Fable,” he said close to her ear, his voice, as shaky as his hands at his sides. “Stay here.”
She looked up at him. His mouth went dry and his pounding heartbeat in his ears made him feel lightheaded. “With me.”
Chapter Twelve
Stay here with him.
Fable had a dozen questions in her head, like; With him, how? As a servant–as she’d agreed to, as a girlfriend, a wife? Her heart thudded in her chest. Did he mean as a wife?
I’m almost fully certain that I love you, Miss Ramsey.
Did he love her? Would he defy his sister? Or try to make Fable his mistress while he took another woman as his wife? She quickly erased that question. She’d rather return to the alleys and shelters of New York City than be his mistress.
He’d invited her to stay with him. Did he intend to protect her from the sword-wielding warrior who was hunting her down, probably at this very moment?
She wanted to ask him, but Lady Prudence had much to say while the men brushed off their breeches.
“Miss Ramsey, I would never believe it, and I saw it with my own eyes. You took them both down. Lord Sudbury…” she took a moment to steady her breath… “a giant of a man, and my brother, a famed warrior, untouched by any heart. You could easily kill them both if you wanted to.”
“I don’t want to,” Fable assured her. “And neither of them came at me with a sword. The self-defense I know does no good if a sword is slashing down upon me.” She thought of the time-traveler. He was here in 1718 and he’d followed her to Colchester. She was sure it was his voice she heard that night in the rain. She couldn’t fight him and his sword off.
The duke’s sister looked as if she was considering Fable’s words. Fable just basically gave up her defense. She had to be close to her attacker to defend herself against him. Now the men knew, so that if she ever had any intentions of hurting them, she’d fail.
Lady Prudence gave the earl and the ink-covered duke one lastamusedlook, before she returned her attention to Fable before she left. “We’ll speak about this again. Come, Simon.”
Fable nodded. That was a good beginning. She turned to share a smile with Ben and Lord Sudbury as he caught up with his lady in three steps of his long legs.
“Fable?”
She turned to the duke when they were alone. She fell captivated by the stark contrast of his black hair and eyes against his pale complexion and white uniform. She shouldn’t let herself be swayed by someone’s physical frame.
“I’ll teach you to defend yourself against a sword.”
She sucked in a little gulp of air. How about being swayed by the way his lips looked while he spoke words that broke down her defenses? She wanted to ask him what about after that? How long did he intend to let her stay?
She closed her eyes. Nothing ever lasted. She moved to leave him and change into her gown. He reached for her hand to stop her.
“Lady, you put me on my back twice and now you make me risk a third time when I reach for you?”
She smiled. She loved this open, caring side of him. She turned to face him. “So, what is it, Duke? Do you love me?”
When he lowered his chin to his chest and laughed, she wanted to step into his arms and kiss him for all time, no matter what the future held, if this was all temporary–she wanted to kiss him and hear him tell her that it was forever–even if it was a lie.
“Yes,” he told her and nodded. “I love you.”
His voice…no, no, his words…she didn’t know. It all made her blood warm and her bones tremble. Should she tell him she loved him? What did she know of love?
“Ben–”
He pulled her against him and dipped his mouth to hers. His lips and tongue gently coaxed her lips open. His arms closed tighter, pressing her against him. She could feel his breath, hear him breathing her in. His strength covered her, consumed her. Nothing in her life ever made her feel so safe. She fit into the hollows and hills of his lean body as if she was born to be there. And, oh, but he smelled good, like dew covered grass and a hint of sandalwood. He filled her senses and tempted her to give up her defenses and go all in with him.
But wouldn’t it be worse to have it all with him and then lose it?
Could she step away from the delectable cushion of his lips while they caressed her and molded to her? Could she stop the tremor he caused along her spine, the promises she wanted to cry out? She would never leave him or cause him harm.
