“What do I do?” she asked at last, her voice a little less shaky as she slowly withdrew her elbow from his grip and took a step away. “Go home?”
Marcus moved forward. “Absolutely not. If someone was willing to shoot at you in broad daylight from a park, they are not to be trifled with. No, my lady, you must go someplace safe. Someplace where Lord Glenmarrow and I can personally protect you while we figure out what the hell is going on here and who is responsible for it all.”
Everett watched as Marcus took a long drink of scotch before handing the glass over to him. He slugged the remainder before he said, “Are you certain this is a good idea?”
Marcus glanced at the door where Lady Walridge had departed with a servant a moment ago to have her scrapes attended to. Everett knew the look on his face. He’d seen it many times before, when Marcus wanted something. Someone.
Even someone he shouldn’t.
That would complicate things, at the very least. To have him wanting her. Not that Everett blamed his friend. When he’d come in to find Marcus kneeling between her knees, her auburn hair half-down around her gorgeous face, the two of them staring at each other with intent that couldn’t be misread…
Well, he’d wanted something, too. Wanted to lock the door, step up and join them.
Foolhardy an idea as that was, given the circumstances.
“Naomi needs our help,” Marcus said.
Everett tilted his head. “Naomi, is it?”
“I think a lady becomes Naomi when she is shot at on my drive, yes,” Marcus said, his annoyance clear. “Don’t start.”
Everett folded his arms. “Calling her Naomi doesn’t have anything to do with where we’ve seen the lady before.”
Marcus glared at him. “You recognized her too?”
“She’s the kind of woman who is hard to forget. The Donville Masquerade is harder to forget.”
“She was with the latest husband,” Marcus said, shifting a bit. He wasn’t able to hide the hardening of his cock. Everett stared at it before he gathered his wits.
“Yes. Going into a back room with him and what was it…two ladies?” Everett asked. “But not before she was dancing quite suggestively with a few other men.”
Marcus folded his arms. “Do you think that makes her a killer?”
Everett considered the question a moment. “Actually, no. I don’t think she killed the husbands. I didn’t from the moment she began speaking, even though I tested her. And her being shot at only seals my feelings on the matter. I think someone else is responsible and that she is in danger.”
Marcus couldn’t cover his reaction. Everett knew him too well. It was relief that crossed his features. “Then I suppose your objections to helping her have more to do with what happened earlier when you came into the room. You resist because of how she looked at me when I had her skirts lifted. At how she looked at you when you returned?”
Everett swallowed as his mind gave him a perfect picture of just that. And then a fantasy of more and more and more. “It’s been a long time since we…shared.”
Marcus walked away and stood with his back to Everett. “Yes,” he said at last.
Before Everett could reply, the parlor door opened and Naomi stepped back inside. Her hair had been tidied and her gown brushed so it was cleaner. The torn sleeve of her gown had even been hastily repaired. More than that, though, her attitude had changed. Her fear had been tamped down, so now she lifted her chin as she came into the room and met Everett’s gaze evenly.
“You say I need protection and I cannot go home. Where do you suggest I go?” she asked.
Marcus turned and looked at Everett. Then he looked at Naomi. “I have an idea.”
Chapter 3
Naomi shifted as the carriage she was sitting in raced across London. She was uncomfortable, but not because of the speed, or the rig’s appointments. In fact, the carriage was very fine, pulled from what seemed to be the marquess’ fleet.
No, it was the two men sitting across from her, watching her, which made her stomach flutter out of control.
They’d been riding along for over an hour. Whatever plan Marcus had was a secret, for he and Everett had only discussed it with each other, not her. She had no idea where they were taking her or what they would do once they arrived.
The only thing she did know was that both men watched her. And she knew what the looks in their eye meant. She knew wanting. She’d embraced it over the last few years of her life, forgetting the lifelong teachings that told her ladies were not to seek pleasure as men did.
She desired it, she’d experienced it and she had no intention of shying away from it again. At least once the time was right.
