Chapter 34

Chapter Thirty-Four

E motions roiled in Ethan, and he went with rage.

He faced the Abbess, letting her see the full extent of his wrath. "If you speak about my housekeeper to anyone, I will ruin you," he vowed.

"Please, my lord." The Abbess's voice held a tremor. "You, er, misunderstood."

Like any bully, she was weak, cowed by a show of greater strength. She was the opposite of Xenia, who'd had her power stripped from her time and again yet still stood up for what she believed in. Who was staring at him, her eyes wide with fear and trepidation…

I'll deal with her later. First I must ensure the bawd's silence.

"If her connection to Joanna Wardell becomes public, I will make it my personal mission to destroy you," he said. "Those wealthy patrons you're after are my peers. All it takes is a few words at one of the gentlemen's clubs: about how indiscreetly you run your business and how unclean your whores are. No one of any consequence will patronize your establishment again."

"Have mercy, my lord," the bawd said plaintively. "Upon my mother's grave, I would never do anything to endanger Mrs. Wood. In fact, if anyone asks, I will say I don't know her."

"You had better." His gaze told her he meant it. "Now get out and lock the door behind you."

"Yes, my lord."

The bawd slithered out, leaving him alone with Xenia. The latter looked as if she were having difficulty breathing. He went up to her and yanked off her mask before removing his own.

"Now I see you clearly," he said coldly.

"I…I can explain," she said.

Her expression was anxious and uncertain, yet it was the desperate hope in her eyes that punched him in the gut.

"You've said that before," he bit out.

"You have every right to be angry?—"

"Trust me, I am aware." He was angry…for so many reasons. His emotions were a vortex that threatened his self-control. "This is why you refused to commit to me? Because you're the daughter of a criminal?"

"My mother isn't an ordinary criminal." Her voice quivered. "She is vicious and cruel—a monster."

The storm in him raged as he recalled what she'd told the bawd. His Xenia—beaten, starved, chained by her own mother because she refused to participate in a life of felony. He'd always known that she was a survivor…he just hadn't realized the extent of what she'd survived.

"If she finds me, she'll destroy everything I care about. Everyone I love." Xenia's gaze turned distant and blank. "She murdered my papa when he tried to take me away. When I escaped again, she found me and killed my friend Mr. Trelawney. All he'd done was give me a job. I couldn't let that happen to you."

"Because you love me." He said it for her.

Her gaze snapped to his, and he saw the life coming back.

"Yes." Her face held painful longing. "Having an affair with you was wrong, and I knew it. I knew from the start that you deserved better. Yet I was selfish and fell in love with you anyway. I told myself I would leave at the first sign of trouble?—"

"But you didn't. Why?"

He had to know.

"Because…" Her voice hitched, a tear spilling over. "Because you are worth fighting for."

"So are you, Xenia." He took her in his arms, feeling the sobs that racked her body. "I would lay down my life for you."

"That's what I am afraid of. If my mother finds me, she will try to take me back. And if you stand in her way?—"

"I will handle your mother." He thumbed away a tear. "Trust me?"

"I do, Ethan." She bit her lip, her eyes searching his. "But can you trust me , after everything? I swear I was only trying to protect you."

He raised a brow. "From Sirena?"

"I was wrong to keep that from you," she said humbly. "I didn't realize it was you until your second visit, and by then I was so attracted to you that I was afraid to tell you how I earned my living. I was afraid that you would reject me. But I swear that I quit after that second time. Do you…do you still want me, knowing the work I've done?"

"I won't say I like it," he said with blunt honesty. "But I understand you had to do what you did to survive. All I want is your promise that I'm the only one you share your fantasies with from now on."

"I promise," she said fervently. "You're the only one with whom my fantasies were real. You're the only man I've ever loved."

"Then promise you'll be mine. Marry me, Xenia."

"I will, Ethan." Her voice cracked. "If you still want me."

"I want you," he said fiercely. "I love you."

A sob left her. "I love you. More than anything."

Triumph surged over him, and he closed his mouth over hers, sealing his claim.

Giddy with love, Xenia basked in Ethan's kiss.

Somehow, disaster had turned to victory, the heavy shackles of the past dropping from her. Even though the man of her dreams knew who she was and what she'd done, he still thought her worthy of his love. He accepted her and forgave the mistakes she'd made and those that had been forced upon her. There was no longer a need to pretend because her wildest dreams had come true.

Joy and gratitude flooded her. She was free at last. Free to love.

She kissed her beloved with all the passion singing in her veins. What began as a tender reunion soon turned into a wilder, darker need to claim. They ate at each other's mouths, their tongues swirling and tangling. She pressed up against him, reveling in his hard strength. Her nipples pulsed against his chest, and her pussy fluttered with yearning.

She wanted to be his in all ways. To belong to him irrevocably.

She slid her hand between them and cupped the thick ridge of his erection. "I want you, darling," she whispered. "Make love to me."

"Here?" Desire flashed in Ethan's gaze, his hunger barely held in check. "Are you certain, sweeting? We could wait?—"

"We've waited too long already. I ache for you, Ethan, and want to belong to you fully."

Obviously, he felt that same desperate craving, for he swept her into his arms, their lips melding in the heat of their kiss. He laid her on the sofa. She felt Sirena's wimple crumpling beneath her, and she didn't care. Because all that mattered was Ethan and their love, which knew no boundaries but the ones they chose.

The urgency to be one possessed them both. They vied to get closer, not bothering with the nuisance of removing their clothes. There would be time for that later—after this initial, overwhelming hunger was appeased. Ethan tossed up her skirts, and she moaned when he touched the wet, needy core of her.

"Devil and damn." He groaned. "You're ready for me, love."

She was. When he unfastened his trousers, the sight of his huge, stiff cock told her he was just as ready for her. He fisted his rod, rubbing the wide head against her slit until she was panting, writhing to get closer, to impale herself on his thick offering.

"Make me yours, Ethan," she begged. " I love you ."

"You're mine, Xenia," he said savagely.

He pushed, the stretch of his possession stealing her breath. Locked in the safety of his gaze, she felt no fear, only the wonder of discovery. All the stories she'd told about this act vanished from her mind as the reality of it consumed her…the heat, intensity, and flood of sensations. His burning claim pushed her to her limits, yet she felt the primal satisfaction of being filled where she'd been empty…of being one with the man she adored.

When he seated himself that last inch, they both expelled a breath.

"All right, love?" he asked hoarsely.

"I am more than all right, darling." Drunk on happiness, she framed his hard, beautiful face in her hands. "I belong to you now, and you belong to me."

"Forever," he vowed.

He kissed her and began to move. With each thrust, discomfort blurred into new and intriguing sensations. Pleasure unfurled in the deep places where his body stroked hers, and she moved instinctively, seeking more of it.

"That's it," he said between harsh breaths. "Tilt your hips for me. Let me in deeper."

She did, and he nudged a spot that set off sparks of bliss. He did it again, harder and harder still, and the sparks built into a flame. Pain became a distant memory as she clung to his shoulders, arching up to meet his thrusts, moaning his name.

"I knew it would be like this for us," he gritted out. "Wild and hot, so bloody sweet. Can you take more, pet?"

"I want everything," she breathed. "All of you, Ethan."

With a growl, he slammed his hips, pushing her breath from her lips. She realized then that he'd been holding back. Now he drilled into her, his stones smacking heavily against her swollen folds. He found her pearl, strumming it while he plowed her with his massive shaft. She gasped as the fire at her center flared, spilling through her veins.

"That's it," he said thickly. "Come for me, love."

With a cry, she did. Blissful spasms rocked her body, and she heard him groan, his thrusts growing faster. Then he roared her name, shuddering and inundating her with his hot pleasure. They were gazing at each other with dazed and breathless joy when the door flew open.

The rest happened so suddenly that Xenia felt paralyzed. Stuck in a dream where everything happened in an altered version of time that was fast yet slow. People stormed into the room, and before Ethan could fasten his trousers, he was yanked off her by a pair of brutes. One of them slammed a fist into his jaw. When he tried to fight back, the ruffian hit him again and yanked out a pistol.

"No!" Xenia scrambled to her feet.

"There she is, like I said." The Abbess cowered as she addressed the leader of the gang. "You…you'll let me go, Lady Jo?"

"You'll go." Lady Jo moved as she always did, with lethal speed that belied her elegant looks. She caught the bawd from behind, her blade at the other's throat. "To hell, that is."

The menace in her eyes was brighter than the flash of steel.

"But you promised…" the Abbess gurgled.

Scarlet pulsed from the bawd's throat, her shocked gaze fixed on Xenia. Lady Jo wiped her blade on the dead woman's dress before letting the body thud to the ground. She smirked at Xenia's horrified expression.

"Miss me, daughter dearest?" she purred.

Gagged, restrained, and held at gunpoint, Ethan watched in helpless fury as Xenia was terrorized by her mother. Joanna "Lady Jo" Wardell's cruelty was worse than what he'd read about in the papers, worse even than Xenia's fear of her had implied. Lady Jo's beauty, the only thing Xenia had to thank her for, made her viciousness seem worse. If looks were a measure of character, she ought to be a hag. Instead, she was willowy and delicate-looking, her gleaming red hair styled in a coronet. She wore an expensive burgundy dress, and jewels sparkled on her fingers and at her throat.

"No greeting for your beloved mama?" Lady Jo taunted Xenia in a light, musical voice. "I taught you better manners than that. The Abbess left me no choice, you know. She was blackmailing you, dear heart. Threatening to turn us both in to the bleeding Peelers."

"There is no us ," Xenia said hoarsely. "I am not a part of your gang. I haven't been for seven years."

"Oh, Bernice. Don't you remember what I told you?"

The steel in her mother's voice caused Ethan's muscles to bunch.

"No one leaves Lady Jo."

Lady Jo had ensured this was true. She had five brutes with her, all armed. Two held him, two were at the door, and one towered over Xenia. Even if Ethan could get free, he couldn't take all of them…even with Owen's help. Not that Owen was anywhere to be found.

You can count on me , he'd said.

What a joke. Knowing Owen, he was probably three sheets to the wind by now or tupping some harlot. He was unreliable at best and self-destructive at worst.

With a rush of bitterness, Ethan shelved the hope of any assistance from that corner.

"Fine. You have me." Xenia balled her hands. "Let Ethan go."

Lady Jo strolled over, backhanding her daughter with stunning nonchalance. The force of it sent Xenia reeling, and Ethan bellowed through the gag, struggling to get to her, but the ruffians held him back.

Xenia staggered to her feet, her cheek splotchy and lower lip bleeding.

Her eyes remained defiant.

"That was a mere reminder, daughter mine, that you are in no position to make demands. If required, I shall be happy to furnish further correction." Lady Jo smiled thinly. "Since you were a child, you have responded better to a stick than a carrot…and what a large, fine stick Lord Ethan Harrington possesses."

To his shock and disgust, Lady Jo ran a lewd gaze over him, her light-brown eyes lingering on his unfastened trousers.

"You leave him alone," Xenia said in a trembling voice.

"I'm not going to hurt him. Not unless he begs me to." Lady Jo smirked. "But cocks are ten a penny, and if you haven't learned that by now, you're a bigger fool than I thought. I have more important uses for your lover: he is my insurance that you do what you're told."

"What do you want?" Xenia asked flatly.

"Listen up, girl." Lady Jo's tone turned brisk and businesslike. "If you want to see your lover alive again, you will deliver the treasure to me tomorrow night."

So I was right. There is something hidden in Bottoms House.

"What treasure?" Xenia asked. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"A little bird told me that a local gang has loot stored in Bottoms House."

He wondered if Xenia was thinking what he was: that the bird was Dobson Gill.

"I haven't seen any treasure," she said.

"That's because it is well hidden. The twist in the tale is that the Corrigans themselves don't know where the goods are hidden. They had a regime change, and their old leader, knowing his days were numbered, apparently nabbed the gang's cache of stolen jewels and stowed them somewhere in the manor. The new bloke in charge, Harlow, made the amateur mistake of killing his predecessor before learning the location of the loot. He and his gang have apparently searched everywhere for the jewels, to no avail. To throw another wrench in their plans, Lord Ethan here suddenly moved in. Harlow planted a spy to scare off his lordship and continue looking for the jewels, but the spy failed at both and got his arse tossed out instead."

The spy must have been Gill. After his failure, he'd been afraid to return to the Corrigans and gone into hiding instead. Then he realized that he had a commodity to sell: information about the so-called treasure.

"The manor has undergone significant renovation, and no jewels have turned up," Xenia argued. "Your source must be lying?—"

"Oh, I doubt it. I paid for that information. Although"—Lady Jo's smile was sly—"not as dearly as my informant. But I couldn't have him selling that information to others as well, could I?"

That answers the cause of Gill's death.

"I haven't found any treasure. I swear it," Xenia pleaded.

"Then you'll have to look harder, won't you? Due to my generous nature, I'll give you until nightfall tomorrow, when I will come to collect. If you fail to meet my demands—if you breathe word of this to anyone—this handsome lord of yours will meet a painful end. Do you understand?"

Xenia looked at him with panic and misery and desperate love. He hated that he couldn't protect her. That he couldn't communicate the words burning inside him.

This is not your fault. But I know you can handle the situation. I believe in you—I love you.

He wanted to tell her that she could trust his family. And that she should, under no circumstances, trust Lady Jo to uphold her end of the bargain.

"There are people in the house," Xenia said, gnawing on her lip. "How can I look for treasure without them knowing what I'm doing?"

"Get rid of them. You'll find a way." The corners of Lady Jo's mouth tipped up with satisfaction. "You are my daughter, after all."