Chapter Fourteen
Hawksley stiffened as he realized his unwitting revelation. Damn, damn, damn. When the devil would he learn that he need consider every word he uttered in the presence of this woman?
There was no such thing as casual conversation when it came to Miss Clara Dawson.
“My father possessed a highly developed sense of his own self-worth. One he was constantly determined to share with his sons,” he hedged, not willing to outright lie to the woman he intended to wed. “Neither Fredrick nor I was allowed to associate with anyone that he considered beneath us. I was whipped more than once for having dared to join in games with the village children.”
Thankfully, beyond her shrewd intelligence his angel also possessed a soft heart, and she was swiftly distracted at the thought of his father with a whip in his hand.
“That is horrid.”
Hawksley smiled wryly. “He thought that he was saving me from myself.”
“And instead he only drove you away,” she said softly.
He made the mistake of glancing into her eyes and promptly found himself lost in the tender depths.
Hellfire, a man could spend an eternity gazing into those eyes.
“Yes,” he murmured, his hand reaching to lightly touch her face.
In silence they stood close upon the sun-drenched balcony, each savoring the perfect moment as they simply appreciated being together.
And then, as with all perfect moments, they were rudely interrupted by a sudden chorus of whistles and calls.
“Oy, guv. Over here, guv.”
Reluctantly returning to reality, Hawksley shifted his gaze to the herd of lads who had forgotten their game as they waved their arms in his direction.
“They seem to desire your attention,” Clara murmured.
Hawksley smiled ruefully even as he silently damned their rotten timing.
“No, they desire these.” Reaching down, he retrieved the forgotten basket and with practiced ease he began to toss the apples and oranges down to the boys below. The sound of excited whoops filled the air as the lads darted to catch the rare treats. Leaning against the railing, Clara chuckled at their antics and Hawksley handed her one of the oranges. “Would you care to join me?”
Taking the fruit, she carefully judged the distance to the barren yard.
“I am not certain I can toss an orange that far.”
“You managed to toss that rock a goodly distance last eve,” he reminded her with a wicked grin. “Just try not to drop them on your toes.”
Astonishingly she stuck out her tongue in a teasing manner. “Beast.”
Hawksley tilted his head back to laugh as she reared back her arm and tossed the orange to the impatient imps, managing to skim it just beyond the hedge.
“There, I told you you could do it,” he encouraged her, handing her an apple.
Together they swiftly dispensed the last of the fruit, and dropping the basket, Hawksley watched in pleasure as the older children carefully doled out the prizes, taking care to ensure that even the youngest of the lads received their bounty.
Their obvious concern for one another never failed to astound him. Despite the fact that many of them no doubt went to bed with empty stomachs, they possessed a natural instinct to protect what they considered their family.
Slowly becoming aware of Clara’s steady gaze upon him, he turned to catch an odd expression upon her countenance.
“What is it?” he demanded.
“You.”
He lifted his brow in puzzlement. “What about me?”
“You genuinely enjoy those children.”
He pretended a nonchalance, but as usual she had read him with precise ease. He did enjoy coming to the balcony and watching their play. They reminded him of the child he had once been. The child that his father had never appreciated and always attempted to change.
“They are rather entertaining for filthy urchins.”
“No, it is more than that,” she said firmly, then tilting her head to one side, she met his gaze squarely. “You should be a father.”
He gave a choked cough at her words. “Good god, kitten, tossing apples to stray children is considerably different from being a father.”
She reached out to touch his arm. “I am not referring to your habit of tossing apples, Hawksley. I mean that you truly appreciate children. Most gentlemen in your position would call for the Watch to have them hauled away, but you come up here to simply listen to their laughter.”
He lowered his gaze to where her pale fingers lay against the black material of his jacket. As always he was struck by her sheer delicacy. The force of her considerable will made it easy to forget just how tiny and fragile she truly was.
Unable to resist, his hand shifted to cover hers. A strange combination of tenderness and fierce desire surged through him at her nearness.
“I suppose I have never given much thought to having a child,” he confessed.
Her expression softened with sympathy. “Not surprising after your experience with your own father.”
He drew in a slow deep breath as he allowed his gaze to drift over her slender form. In his mind he imagined her growing thick with his child, her hands gently rubbing her rounded belly.
It was an image that should have terrified him, no doubt. But instead a sense of absolute wonder filled his heart.
A child. His child. With this woman.
Yes. It was right.
“Actually, I believe it has more to do with the fact I never met a woman whom I desired to be a mother to my children,” he informed her, shifting to sweep her off her feet and cradle her close to his chest. “Not until now, that is.”
Her eyes widened as her arms instinctively encircled his neck. “Good heavens, Hawksley, what are you doing?”
Stepping through the door to the shadowed attic, he paused to regard her with open yearning.
“I want you, Clara.” He gave a slow shake of his head. “No, it is more than want. I need you,” he admitted with stark honesty. “May I make love to you?”
Her eyes readily darkened, but she could not prevent a small grimace. “Here?”
He chuckled as he promptly headed for the nearby stairs. “Perhaps we could find someplace a little tidier.”
She snuggled into his chest, her expression dreamy. “That would be nice . . .”
Nice? A smile tugged at his lips as he easily moved down the stairs and toward his nearby chamber. He had never thought of taking a woman to his bed as nice.
Pleasurable. Satisfying. And always transitory.
But with Clara it was nice. She offered more than a temporary ease to his sexual needs. When he touched her it filled him with a sense of wonder that no other woman had ever offered. And the desire to hold her close long after his needs were satisfied.
Entering his chamber, he firmly shut the door and carried her to the bed. With care he lowered her onto the blankets, his desire blazing to life at the sight of her tumbled silver hair and flushed cheeks.
She was so beautiful. So exquisite.
And his.
Reverently he settled himself beside her, stroking his fingers through her satin hair.
“I could lie here next to you forever,” he husked in low tones.
She smiled faintly. “I fear you would soon become bored.”
“Bored?” He offered a wicked chuckle as he shifted to tug free the ribbons on her bodice. “I assure you, kitten, becoming bored is the very last worry upon my mind.”
Her breath caught as he tugged down the sleeves of her gown and then the thin shift beneath to reveal her beautiful breasts.
“This seems rather . . . decadent to be doing in the midst of the day,” she murmured with a faint blush.
“Mmm . . . the decadence has only begun, kitten,” he whispered as he dipped his head down to take a rosy nipple into his mouth.
Her sweet moans filled the room as he slid his tongue over the hardened nub, making his own blood race with sharp-edged excitement.
He wanted to make love to her for hours. To stretch out her pleasure until she was pleading for release.
Unfortunately, he had only to touch her for his own body to become as randy as a school lad in his first throes of passion. With a low groan he yanked down the bothersome clothing that impeded his touch, leaving her attired in nothing more than her stockings and sensible boots. Ridiculously, the sight only inflamed his desire, and trailing his lips down her stomach, he wrestled to rid himself of his own clothing.
Oh, Hawksley, you are in a bad way, he told himself, nibbling at the satin skin of her hips and thighs.
A woman’s scent shouldn’t make a hardened rake’s head spin. Nor should his shaft be hard and aching with the need to thrust into her simply because she was near.
Lowering himself farther, Hawksley burrowed himself between her parted thighs, gently parting her folds to stroke his tongue into her damp heat.
“Hawksley.”
Clara’s soft cry echoed through the room as her fingers sank into his hair. He laughed softly as he continued his intimate caress, skimming his hands up her stomach to toy with her straining nipples.
Within moments she was arching off the bed as she moaned in pleasure.
“Oh . . . please . . . Hawksley . . .”
“Yes, kitten.”
Finding her center of pleasure, Hawksley gently sucked and stroked the tender nub. He experienced a heady sense of satisfaction as she writhed beneath his touch, her fingers yanking at his hair. She made no effort to attempt and disguise her enjoyment of his touch. Or to make him plead for her favors. She was as sweetly honest about passion as she was about everything else in her life.
“Dear heavens,” she gasped, then suddenly she stiffened, and with a rasping cry she reached her climax.
With a lingering kiss upon her inner thigh, Hawksley pressed himself upward, entering her with one smooth thrust.
His teeth ground together as her tightness clamped about his erection. Oh . . . God. She felt so damnably good. As if she had been made just for him.
Burying his face in her hair, he greedily inhaled her female scent.
“I will never tire of you, kitten,” he whispered in her ear. “Never.”
Her arms wrapped about him as Hawksley steadily stroked himself into her heat. She was soft and welcoming and everything he desired in a woman.
Keeping his pace steady, he reached down his hand to find her pleasure point, teasing her back to full arousal. Her nails clenched his back and her breath quickened in response.
Pulling back, he reveled in the emotions playing over her delicate features. She had never appeared more lovely, with her lips slightly parted and her eyes smoldering with desire.
All too quickly the tension built within him. As much as he wanted to prolong the exquisite pleasure, he was unable to halt the gathering climax.
Lifting himself onto his hands, he pressed himself ever deeper, listening to her soft pants as her hips lifted to accept him. Her hands shifted to grip his surging hips, pulling him ever deeper as together they exploded in searing delight.
Sucking in a rasping breath, Hawksley collapsed on top of her, shuddering as a warm peace enfolded him.
This was how a man was meant to make love to a woman, he told himself with a contented smile.
It was how he intended to make love to this particular woman for the rest of his life.
Hours later, Clara absently toyed with the food upon her plate.
In many ways she was utterly content. What woman would not be, she wryly acknowledged. A day spent in bed with Hawksley was surely the stuff of dreams.
As a lover he was passionate, tender, and surprisingly playful. She could not recall when she had laughed so much as she had lying in his arms.
But while she cherished the moments she spent with Hawksley, she could not deny that there was a growing restlessness in the back of her mind.
She could never be fully at ease when there was a puzzle to be solved.
Certainly not with a puzzle as important as discovering the identity of Fredrick’s murderer.
Unaware of the lazy blue gaze that kept close track of her growing distraction, Clara was startled when Hawksley abruptly broke the silence.
“Is there something wrong with your trout?”
With an effort she forced her thoughts back to the small dining room, and more importantly back to the handsome gentleman sprawled in the seat opposite her.
A faint amusement raced through her as her gaze lingered over the chiseled features and broad form. With his raven hair pulled to his nape and his earring glinting in the candlelight, he looked deliciously wicked.
Goodness, what woman in her right mind could have taken her mind off him for a moment? Especially a woman who could never have dreamed in her wildest fantasies she could attract his attentions?
It was little wonder she had been left firmly upon the shelf.
“Oh no, it is perfect,” she protested. “Mrs. Black has proven to be very skilled in the kitchen.”
A raven brow flicked upward. “There must be some reason you are not eating.”
She grimaced, well aware she could hide nothing from his piercing gaze.
“I was thinking of Lord Doulton.”
“Yes, well, that is enough to make anyone lose their appetite,” he growled, his features tightening at the mere mention of the man’s name. “Were you thinking anything in particular?”
She blew out a frustrated sigh. “I was simply attempting to straighten things out in my mind.”
“Were you successful?”
“Not particularly,” she confessed. She hated the feeling that she had overlooked something important. Something that might very well help Hawksley. “What I need is paper and a pen.”
There was a short pause as he regarded her in a searching manner. Then with an elegant motion he was on his feet and pulling out her chair for her.
“Very well, we can retire to the library.” In silence they left the room and moved down the short hall to the book-lined room. Clara waited while Hawksley lit the candles upon his desk and pulled out a piece of parchment and a pen. “Here you are.”
Taking a seat at the desk, she pulled the writing implements toward her and gathered her thoughts.
A lesser woman might very well have been distracted by the large pirate who leaned over the back of the chair with his hand flat upon the desk. Not only did his close presence send a rash of prickled awareness over her skin, but his scent cloaked her with potent force.
Even worse, the desire to pull his head down and kiss those talented lips suddenly seemed like a much better notion than hashing through Lord Doulton’s nefarious dealings.
Thankfully, Clara was well aware that she would have no peace until she had sorted through the unease plaguing her, and she managed to resist tossing herself at Hawksley like some common tart.
“Let us begin at the beginning,” she muttered, scratching the number one upon the paper.
“Which beginning?” he demanded, his breath tickling her ear.
“The beginning of what we know of Lord Doulton. Now, according to your brother’s journal, he played cards with the gentleman and received the vowels that you found hidden.”
“Yes.”
She wrote card game on the paper. “We assume that he noticed the writing on the back of the vowels and became curious.”
“Which led him to Mr. Chesterfield.”
“Precisely.” She wrote vowels followed by Mr. Chesterfield. “From there we think that Mr. Chesterfield approached Lord Doulton and demanded some sort of payment for keeping his silence.”
She could feel Hawksley stiffen behind her. If he were a dog, his hair would be bristled and his teeth bared.
“And ensured Fredrick’s death,” he growled.
Neatly scratching the number four on the paper, Clara paused. This was the source of her unease, she abruptly realized. Number four.
“It is missing,” she muttered.
“What is missing?” he demanded in confusion.
“Number four.”
“Number . . . ?” Hawksley shifted to lean against the desk, his arms folded over his broad chest. “I presume you are now speaking in the obscure ‘Clara tongue’ only you understand. You will have to translate for me, I fear.”
She wrinkled her nose at his teasing. “Number four should be the manner that Mr. Chesterfield blackmailed Lord Doulton. But how did Mr. Chesterfield know that Lord Doulton was involved in anything nefarious?”
A frown tugged at his brows. “The vowels . . .”
“Revealed a petition to the pope,” she said, warming to her subject. “On its own it is meaningless. There are no doubt thousands of such petitions. It might have been peculiar, but it would not have revealed that Lord Doulton possessed stolen artwork from the Vatican. There is still something we are missing.”
He gave a slow nod of his head, easily following her logic. “Perhaps you are right. Still, it is impossible to know unless we find the missing Mr. Chesterfield.”
“May I see your brother’s journal?” she abruptly demanded.
“Of course.” Reaching beneath his jacket, he pulled out the leather book and vowels that he still kept close to his heart. A gesture that revealed just how deeply he still mourned his brother’s death.
Giving his fingers a tender squeeze, she took the journal and flipped through the pages.
Arriving at the date of the infamous card game, she studied the tidy handwriting. Speak to me, Fredrick, she silently willed, tell me your secrets.
Coming to the bottom of the page, she pointed toward the meticulous numbers at the corner.
“What are these?”
Hawksley leaned forward. “It is the tally of what he won during the evening. Fredrick was always careful to keep careful account of such matters.”
Clara carefully smoothed out the vowels on the desk. “But the vowels do not equal this number.”
Hawksley shrugged. “That means very little. No doubt some of his winnings were from other gentlemen who possessed the funds to pay him that evening. Not all gamblers depend upon vowels.”
He had a point, of course. Still, Clara felt a tiny flare of excitement.
“Or there might have been other vowels.”
Hawksley appeared more confused than excited. “If there had been other vowels, they would have been with these.”
“Not if Mr. Chesterfield kept them to examine more closely.”
“Why would he keep only a portion of the vowels?”
A reasonable question, she had to concede. Closing her eyes, she attempted to imagine what had occurred. She could see Fredrick bent over the vowels, piecing them together as he realized there was something written on the back. As a scholar he would have been curious and of course determined to unravel the mystery. He must have managed to decipher that it was of a religious nature for his thoughts to turn to Mr. Chesterfield, a religious historian.
And then what?
The brain that she took such pride in seemed to flounder.
Why would he have taken only half the vowels to Mr. Chesterfield? It was hardly the swiftest means to uncovering the truth of the document. And as a scholar . . .
A scholar.
Of course. He was a scholar just like her father.
What would he have done in such a situation?
Briefly she recalled the quiet, studious man who always had a smile for his only daughter. A sweet-tempered man with a gentle soul.
But one who could become as rabid and secretive as any scholar when it came to his research.
“If Fredrick believed the petition to be of historic value, he would have been careful with what he was willing to share. With anyone,” she said slowly, lifting her head to meet his watchful gaze. “True scholars are notoriously fearful of having others steal their research and claim it as their own.”
He stilled at her words. “Are you implying that the petition itself is somehow valuable?”
Clara grimaced. It all made sense, but she was well aware that it was little more than a leap of faith. The logic involved would fit in a thimble.
“It is only a theory,” she warned. “And a rather far-fetched one at that.”
He did not seem to hear her words of caution as he lifted himself from the desk to pace across the worn carpet.
“Why would Lord Doulton use a valuable document as scrap paper?”
“Perhaps he did not realize the value. If it was stuffed among the paintings, it might easily have been dismissed and tossed aside.”
“Until Chesterfield approached him and blackmailed him for the return of the petition,” he said slowly.
“Lord Doulton would realize that he was in more danger than simply being blackmailed for a forgotten piece of parchment. He had brought unwanted attention upon himself, and worse, there was now a connection to him and the Vatican.”
He moved to grip the mantle above the fireplace, his knuckles turning white with strain.
“And so he took the necessary steps to rid himself of those who might stir up unwanted questions. Including my brother.”
Leaving the desk, Clara moved to lay a hand upon his tense arm. Too often she allowed herself to forget just how difficult this must be for Hawksley.
“We will find the evidence we need, Hawksley,” she promised. “Lord Doulton will pay for what he has done.”
The blue eyes flashed with frustrated pain. “That is all I have thought of for months. All I wanted . . .”
She shifted to lay her hands upon his chest, her expression troubled. “What is it?”
His eyes briefly closed. “I suppose I am at last realizing that even should Doulton be punished, it will not bring my brother back to me. He will still be dead and I . . . I will be completely alone.”
Her heart twisted. He sounded so lost. So terribly frightened of the future. It was a feeling she knew all too well.
And one she could not bear the thought of this wonderful man enduring.
Not giving herself time to consider the wisdom of her words, she laid her head upon his chest and wrapped her arms about him.
“No, Hawksley, not alone,” she whispered. “I will be with you.”
She felt him stiffen beneath her. “Clara, what are you saying?”
Tilting back her head, she was startled to discover his expression guarded, as if he feared she was playing some horrid jest upon him.
“I think you know perfectly well what I am saying,” she whispered, a blush staining her cheeks.
His fingers lifted to brush over her lips, his eyes glowing with a hectic glitter.
“Since I quite often am at a loss when you speak, kitten, I think it best if you tell me in simple words so that my poor brain can comprehend what you mean.”
Regarding the fiercely handsome countenance, Clara nearly faltered. How she possibly hope to please such a man? He could have any woman he desired. All of them more beautiful, more charming, and more wealthy than herself.
But none of them capable of loving him with more devotion, her heart whispered.
She swallowed heavily, and for the first time in her six-and-twenty years, tossed caution to the wind. She would take a chance.
A chance that would either bring her happiness beyond her wildest imaginings or break her heart utterly.
“I will be your wife, Hawksley,” she said simply.
There was a brief, terrifying pause when Clara was suddenly certain that he must be regretting his impulsive proposal. Then, before she could guess his intention, she discovered herself lifted off the floor as Hawksley planted a burst of heated kisses over her countenance.
“You will not be sorry, kitten,” he muttered, his lips brushing her mouth. “I promise I will make you happy.”
Squeezed by his tight grip to the point she could barely breathe, Clara slowly smiled.
Her father had promised that someday she would meet a man who could appreciate her just as she was. A man who would see beyond her annoying eccentricities and peculiar habits.
Who the devil would have suspected he would be a dangerous, wicked pirate?