A Touch of Autumn (3 page)

Downstairs in the salon, the mistresses clustered around a table laid with riding crops of all kinds.
Killy’s mistress, Mimi Lorenzo tapped a short crop experimentally against her palm, admiring the quality.   Sinead had never imagined that her childhood love of horses would come in useful.  She picked up a red-handled dressage whip.  That would do very nicely.

“Ah, the expert has arrived,” Mimi said. “You will have to give me a few tips.”

“Excuse me.”  A dark-haired woman barged between them and grabbed a plaited show cane from the table.

Mimi fought to hide her irritation at the woman’s rudeness. “I’m sure there are plenty of toys for everyone.”

The woman ignored her rebuke, turning her attention to Sinead instead. “You’re the one who did the show routine last night.  Are you interested in selling your slave?”

Selling him?  Was this woman for real? “No,” Sinead snapped.

The woman persisted. “Name your price. I need a new challenge. Vadim is beginning to bore me.”

Sinead followed the woman’s gaze across the room to where the Russian who had stopped her earlier was chatting to
Killy. Vadim.  So that was his name. “Niall is not for sale.”

The woman shrugged and without saying another word, walked away.

“Who the hell was that?” Sinead asked.

“That is her Royal Highness Princess Samara
Shaloub Safar. If her husband knew she was playing here, he’d probably lock her up for the next twenty years.”

“More like royal pain in the ass,” Sinead muttered as she glared after her.

Mimi’s tinkling laugh was silenced by Hermione calling for everyone’s attention. “Mesdames et Messieurs, last year our little game was so much fun that I have decided to stage it again.   The rules are simple. Each slave will take a straw from the canister on the table.  The one who draws the short straw will be hunted.  Teams have two hour to capture the slave and of course, there will be a prize.”

At her signal, the doors opened and two servants entered, struggling beneath the weight of a Nebuchadnezzar of vintage champagne.

Hermione clapped her hands.  “Slaves, choose your straw. May you make your mistresses proud.”

One by one, the slaves filed by the table, to draw a straw, until only three remained. The only men left to choose were
Killy, Vadim and Niall. Vadim cut in front of Killy and made a dramatic production of picking one and then another, before finally drawing his straw.  It proved to be a long one, and the princess smiled her approval.

Sinead held her breath as
Killy approached the canister and slowly drew out a straw.  Beside her, Mimi groaned when she realized that it was a short one. “Merde, there goes the champagne.”

As the mistresses teamed up with their hunting partners, Sinead made her way across the room to Niall.  The tight expression on his face told her that something was wrong.  “What is it?” she asked.

He opened his fist and showed her his straw. It was a second short one. “Someone wanted to make certain that Killy drew a short straw.”

“
Vadim?”  She asked.

“Looks like it,” Niall said, frowning.  He looked down at her feet.  “I hope you can run in those boots, because whatever happens this afternoon, we have to win.”

Fuck. Niall had no idea what was going on, but the combination of Vadim Gorev and Frederic Killy give him a nasty itch between his shoulder blades. The Russian mafia could do unthinkable things with the sort of weapons they could build with Killy’s research. And to think he had been worried Vadim was after the Fire of Autumn.

“I think you should stay back, leave me to look after
Killy,” he told Sinead.

Yes, she was fit and in great condition, but the clothes she was wearing weren’t suitable for running around the forest, and he didn’t want to have to worry about her while he was dealing with assorted bad guys. In his experience, there was never just one bad guy.

“Are you kidding me?” Sinead stared at him, disbelief clear in her startling blue eyes. “You seriously think I’m letting you off on your own?”

“You’d be safer here.”

“And if the blackmailer decides to double back and do something nasty while I’m on my own?” She shook her head. “So not happening.”

“Then I hope you can keep up.”

Half an hour later, the hunt was ready to start. Most of the women had changed into outdoor clothes, though two of them were still wearing corsets, and Mimi Lorenzo was wearing a leather cat-suit that looked amazing but would become very sweaty if she ran.  Many of the women were carrying coils of hemp rope, and handled them with assurance.

Niall began to feel sorry for
Killy, even if Vadim wasn’t involved.

The subs were dressed for the outdoors, mostly in jeans, chinos or camouflage, and it was possible to see how powerful many of them were when they were not playing.

“God, you look good,” she murmured to him. “The Princess is drooling when she looks at you.”

But Niall wasn’t paying much attention. Sinead’s jodhpurs and riding boots did dramatic things to her
arse. He so badly wanted to have her to himself so he would spank that delectable behind until it was pink.

“Hermione said that I could borrow one of her horses.” Outside the French windows of the ornate sitting room, grooms held three horses.

Hermione tinkled a crystal bell to get their attention. “Frederic will have a ten minute head start, beginning NOW.”

Killy
, wearing runners, shorts and French rugby shirt, bolted out of the room, across the manicured lawn and into the trees on the far side.

“The rest of you can do whatever you like to catch him, as long as you bring him back in one piece. Mimi, of course, will do whatever she can to distract you.”

Mimi grinned, revealing perfect teeth in a shark-like smile. She hadn’t become one of the most popular politicians in France by chance. She had the killer instinct, and was clearly determined to protect Killy.

The bell chimed again, signaling the start of the hunt. Sinead dashed out and mounted the tall bay gelding, not even waiting for the groom to give her a leg up. She adjusted her stirrups while she urged her horse towards the spot where
Killy had disappeared from view.

Niall jogged along beside her. “Could be handy you being so high up. We have to get to him first.” His back
twinged a little from the exercise, but he could cope.

The other pairs were close behind them, but they reached the trees first, which meant that Niall could pick up
Killy’s tracks easily. The scientist was no fool, and as soon as he was out of sight, he had changed direction, heading towards the right. Niall gestured for Sinead to ride straight ahead to mislead the other hunters. She nodded and urged her horse deep into the woods.

The next half hour was taken up with tracking
Killy, who had made enough of an effort to avoid leaving a trail to fool most of the company, and not leave clues.

Niall had difficulty keeping his attention on the hunt with Sinead riding beside him. Damn, she looked good on a horse. She left the tracking to him, and concentrated on where everyone else was. “I can see Mimi tripping up the Princess, but there is no sign of
Vadim.”

Killy’s
tracks led into the woods, and then doubled back, heading for the barns behind the chateau. “Meet you there, go a different way,” Niall told her.

She nodded and rode off. At least on the horse, she was able to outrun anyone else.

There was a faint track in the manicured lawn leading to an old dovecote, barely discernible to the naked eye. To a former Irish Ranger, it was as good as a signpost. So that was where Killy was hiding. Now, should he capture him, or wait to see what would happen?

Before he had made up his mind,
Vadim emerged from the stables, accompanied by a pair of grooms. From this angle, it was impossible to tell if they were armed, but it was clear they were heading for the dovecote. Fuck, down to one choice now.

He stepped out in front of them. “Any luck?”

The Russian sneered at him. “Out of my way, Irishman, the prize is mine.”

So much for hoping he was bluffing. Niall shook his head. “I got here first. He’s mine,”

Vadim didn’t bother replying, just brushed back Niall as if he weren’t there. Niall stuck out a foot to trip him and pushed hard to help him to the ground. Seconds later, he was at the centre of a melee, with all three men attacking him. So far there were no guns, but Niall was certain that Vadim was armed with more than the club he carried, and was determined to knock him out before he got to use it.

Killy
, seeing Niall in trouble, leaped out of the dovecote to go to his aid. Fucking fool. What did he think he could do? One of the grooms rounded on Killy, using his fist to strike the scientist on the head.

Killy
ducked, but the blow caught him on the shoulder and drove him to his knees.

Niall ignored the kick to his knee and turned to help
Killy, when help arrived in the shape of a large bay gelding. “Get the hell out of here,” he snarled at Killy.

Sinead approached at a gallop, and reached down to grab
Killy as she passed him. The Frenchman ended up in a precarious position face down across the horse’s withers, held in position by Sinead grabbing into his shirt and his own desperate grip on her leg. There was no way he would stay there for long, but if Sinead could hold him in place until she was back at the safety of the house, that was all that mattered.

“God, she’s amazing,” Niall muttered, as he took advantage of the distraction to flatten his opponents.

With their prize gone, the fight went out of Vadim’s accomplices, and they backed off.

Vadim
glared at Niall. “This isn’t over!”

Hermione clapped her hands as Sinead pulled on the reins and brought her mount to a stop in the middle of the lawn.  “Bravo, my dear,” she said.  “What a splendid win.”

Sinead loosened her grip on Killy’s shirt and he dropped to the ground, breathing heavily.  The canter had knocked the wind out of him. Mimi came running, touching his bruises and fussing over her sub like a mother hen. She put her arm around his waist and led him back to the house.

Dismounting, Sinead handed the reins to the groom who ran to assist her.  She hoped that Niall was okay. She hadn’t liked to leave him with
Vadim and the others.    Sinead sighed with relief as she saw a familiar figure jogging around the side of the house. Thank god.  She hurried towards him. 

“Are you okay?  Those men, they…”

“Relax, I’m fine. But at least we know that it’s the Russian who’s after Killy.”

“
Vadim? He stopped me when I was on the way to find Andy this morning.”

“And?”  The jealous edge in his voice almost made her smile.

“He wanted to play. He thought I was my sister.”

Niall gave her a warning look.  “You are not to meet him alone and you are definitely not to play with him.”

Sinead couldn’t resist pushing. “But he knows her. I could find out so much from him…”

He lifted her off her feet and pinned her against the rough stone wall and the rest of her words were smothered by his kiss.  Pinned against his torso, Sinead could do nothing but give in to his embrace. She loved that he wanted her so fiercely, loved the powerful strength in him. The kiss went on forever, a hot, urgent assault that left her dizzy.

They pulled apart at the sound of Andy’s voice. “Am I the only one who’s working around here?”

“Report,” Niall said in a clipped tone, as he eased Sinead gently to the ground.

“I checked out both of the ministers and the energy lobbyist.  Zilch.  Nada.  Nothing to suggest they’re up to anything this weekend except partying.”

Sinead watched as the rest of the hunters trooped across the lawn. Hermione had organized a buffet for the weary guests and after that they got to select their costumes for the ball.

She followed Niall and Andy, still arguing about the best way to stop Vadim, into the house. This was supposed to be the weekend that she found her sister and got her life back.  Instead, they had been dragged into something dangerous.  And now that Niall had confronted Vadim she was back to square one in her search. He would never tell her anything now.

She spied
Vadim at the buffet table, talking quietly to the rude woman from earlier.  What had Mimi called her?  Princess something or other?  She didn’t look terribly happy. Casting a filthy glance in her direction, the woman turned on her heel and left.

Vadim
accepted a glass of wine from one of the passing waiters, and strolled to greet her. “Congratulations, Petite Rouge.” Vadim raised his glass and drained it one gulp. “But I believe a rematch is definitely in order.”

A few of the other guests around them laughed but
Vadim’s smile didn’t meet his eyes.  His remark might have sounded flirtatious, but she caught the underlying threat.  Niall was right.  She should definitely stay out of his way.  Maybe she would have more luck with her search when the other guests arrived for the ball tonight.