A Riding Crop for Two (11 page)
Read A Riding Crop for Two Online
Authors: Karyn Gerrard
Olivia sat on the bed
waiting for Gideon. He was gone quite some time. She had heard the carriage
leave twenty minutes ago, but she did not dare go downstairs, in case his
father or Yellow Teeth might still be lingering about.
The door opened and
banged against the wall. Gideon had returned. The arctic look of his
countenance was not very encouraging.
“What is it? What did he
want?”
Gideon held up folded
papers. “Everything he wants from me is laid out here in these legal credentials.
My entire future planned and plotted with no input from myself. If I do not
comply, I will be cut off without a farthing and banished to some god-forsaken
bit of the world. He will fake my death, or see it done for real, whatever
suits.”
Olivia was horrified.
His father could be considered as bad as hers, worse even.
She did not like the frost she heard in his
voice, nor the murderous look in his eyes.
“So what does he
command?”
“That I marry some
society, virginal chit I have never met before and get her with child.
An heir.
When I perform my duties to his satisfaction, I
will be rewarded, riches beyond belief. I can even have you as a mistress once
I become a father of a son or two.
If I do not follow his
express wishes, my life as it is now—will be over.”
He walked toward her.
Gideon had left the room to see his father, but Lord Craven had returned. This
was not the man she loved.
Pathetic woman.
She actually believed his promise of
marriage. Perhaps when he made it, he was sincere. Realistically, how could
this ever work? She would never be accepted as a countess, much less a future
duchess. His cruel father had power beyond belief. Mistress seemed to be the
only role she would play in his life. The one thing she swore she would never
be. She told Gideon in no uncertain terms that night at The Riding Crop.
However, she had left with him regardless. What did she think would come of
this? The fact remained, she did not think, and she let her heart make the
decision. She assumed they would share a mutually beneficial affair.
In other words—his mistress.
She was a fool.
“Tell me, Olivia, right
here and now. What will I do? What do you think I will do?”
He called her Olivia.
She had been ‘
Liv
’ since that first night. She stood
and faced him. She looked up into those hard as flint eyes. With her
outstretched hands, she cupped his cheeks. His jaw clenched tight under the
touch of her fingers.
“You will do as you
please, and hang your father’s commands. You will grasp life and love with both
hands. You will be your own man.”
An eyebrow arched in
question. “Will I? Give up hundreds of thousands of pounds and a dukedom?
All for what?
The promise of love?
The promise of—you?”
“Yes, Gideon. I love
you. You love me. Tell me that
has
not changed.”
He stepped back from her
touch, and her heart plummeted to the floor. Oh no, please, she could not bear
his rejection.
Gideon marched to the
fireplace and tossed in the bundled papers. Flame caught the corners, and the
agreement curled at the edges, turning brown as it became engulfed in the
crackling fire.
“No, that hasn’t
changed. I love you,
Liv
. I choose life and love.
The promise of you.”
****
Liv’s
face broke into a warm, sunny smile, and she ran to
his arms. He pulled her close. Her head lay against his chest. He could hear
his own heartbeat thundering in his ears. Thank Christ. Yes, he tested her. He
had to know what she truly felt, and this glorious woman in his embrace did not
fail him. At last, she loved and trusted him completely.
“It will be a struggle,”
he whispered as he kissed the top of her head.
“I don’t care, as long
as we are together,” she replied.
He stepped back, his
hands caressing her arms.
“My dearest love.
I may have
been a debauched individual in my past, but I was not a stupid one. The one vice
I did not indulge in was gambling. I saved most of my allotted allowance in a
secret account in
major shareholder in the
Cunard
Steamship Company. I
am quite well off. Instead of
there will be a change of plans. We are off to Liverpool to catch a
Cunard
steamer to
and begin our lives as Mr. and Mrs. Gideon Broyles.” Gideon raised her hands to
his lips and kissed them both. “My father can take his titles and money and do
as he pleases. Hobson has sold a few paintings and such so I have at least
three hundred pounds to see us on our way. First, I want to leave letters of
references and payment for the staff. My father will turn them out in to the
streets when he finds us gone.” He paused. “Hobson can relay to my father we
left for
It may buy us a little time.”
“Will he pursue us?”
Gideon shook his head.
“I doubt it. He may make inquiries in
nothing.”
“I should tell you,
Gideon, that man with your father
was
one of the men
who broke into this room and dragged me out. I recognized his voice. So you
were correct, your father was indeed behind my abduction.”
Gideon’s blood boiled
with raw fury. He was tempted to ride over to the ducal townhouse, break the
door in and murder him and his lout where they stood. Be damned if he would let
his father provoke him to violent revenge. Leaving his father and this life
would be vengeance in its own way.
“Then we will be far enough away from his
damned interference. He can rot, or re-marry. I have a feeling that poor,
unknown girl will wind up with a Broyles at any rate. He will no doubt start a
new family.”
“But, you are still the
first born. You will inherit the title one day, will you not?”
Gideon walked toward the
fireplace, picked up the poker and stirred the embers until the flame turned
the last of the agreement to ash.
“Yes. That cannot
change. I have all the papers that prove my birth with a solicitor in
bastard snuffs it decades from now—he’s too damned miserable to die any
sooner—we may be comfortable in our life in Canada and not wish to pull up
stakes and move back to England. We will make the decision then. The truth is I
could not pull a hair for any title. However, you and I and any children we may
have will decide at that time.”
He turned to face her
and held out his hand.
“It’s you I want. I know
I have said this past week how much I want you, the plain truth is—I need you,
Liv
. I know we’ve played this scene before, but I ask you
to come with me. I swear you will not be my possession, but my partner in all
things. We will share it all. Life, joys, sorrows, sex, companionship, respect,
trust and most of all—love. Take my hand,
Liv
. Take
my heart, for I am giving it to you. Take my hand and come away with me, now.
Today.
This very moment.
I love you
quite desperately.”
He could see the tears
glittering on her cheeks as she walked slowly toward him. She slipped her hand
in his. Bloody hell, his happiness was complete.
“Give and take,
Gideon, my love.
We share it all.”
The End
www.karyngerrard.com
Other Books by
Karyn
Gerrard
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Author’s Note
Mary Kelly, who helped
Olivia in the alley, was Jack the Ripper’s fifth and final victim on November
9, 1888.
The Ten Bells public
house/pub has existed in one form or another since the middle of the 18th
century. It has recently been renovated to resemble its Victorian Era heritage.
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Evernight Publishing