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Chapter 23

CHAPTER 23

F leur was going to be sick. It didn't matter if she had unwittingly acted in a manner that might send Drake and Avalon to their demise. She couldn't allow Daniel to enact his punishment upon two men who had done nothing wrong other than allow their desires to lead them down the wrong path.

"Daniel, you must listen to me. Elina was not the innocent victim you might believe. She used Avalon and Drake, pitting them against each other to cause strife. That is why Avalon refused to help her. He was afraid she would cause more harm."

Daniel shook his head. "It doesn't matter now. The trap has already been laid." He waved his gun at her. "Let's go."

She started to move, to hopefully stall for time until she could be assured the danger had passed. "Where are we going?" she asked.

"You'll see."

Fleur remained silent as they started to leave the main thoroughfare of the village. It didn't take long for her to understand where he was taking her.

The cottage looked just as it had the day she'd left it in such a rush for London. She truly had come full circle.

Tears stung her eyes but they didn't fall until Daniel led the way inside and she saw Flavian. When she entered, he was pacing the room restlessly, but upon spying her, he suddenly froze. She promptly allowed emotion to propel her forward and into his arms. "Flav!"

He held her close and gave a shuddering breath. "Fleur." He pulled back and tears clouded her vision as she looked him over to make sure he was unharmed. "I'm so sorry for everything," he said miserably. "I was a selfish fool. Can you ever find it in your heart to forgive me?"

She embraced him again. "Of course. I love you. You're my brother, the last family I have left."

This time when they parted, he took her hand. "Let's get out of here. We can start anew someplace else. I heard Whitby is quite nice and I have always thought about being a fisherman." When he would have pulled her toward the door, she dug in her heels. "I can't go with you. Not yet. Drake needs me."

He frowned. "You don't have to worry about him any longer. If you come with me you can be free of him."

She glanced back at the stableman, who was standing by the door, arms crossed. He appeared to be at his ease, but she had no doubt that should she make a misstep he wouldn't hesitate to bring forth his pistol again. "You don't understand. I don't want to be free of him."

Understanding finally dawned, reflecting in his face. "You love him."

She nodded. "God help me, but I do."

He spun away from her and shoved a hand through his hair. "This is my fault. If I had been the brother you'd deserved and not a coward?—"

"It would have happened either way," she noted. "He makes me happy."

"He's a cad!" Flavian sputtered angrily. "He purchased you at that auction like some damned horse!"

"He saved me from a worse fate," she corrected firmly. "He might have been ruthless in the past, but he's treated me with nothing but kindness and consideration. I won't leave him."

Flavian blinked, but then he blew out a heavy breath. "You are my sister and I can't allow you to fight any more battles on your own."

His willingness to turn the other cheek to Drake's past humbled her. "Thank you."

He grabbed her hand and headed for the door, but as Fleur suspected, Daniel moved into their path. "I'm afraid I can't let you leave this cottage just yet."

Flavian stepped in front of Fleur. "I held a lot of respect for you when we first came to Greenwich. Knowing your history as a grenadier, I thought you were brave and courageous, but if you are going to try to keep them here as a couple of prisoners, then that doesn't make you any better than the worst sort of coward."

Daniel's eyes narrowed. "Call me what you will, but I have killed plenty of men on the battlefield. Don't think I won't do the same with you."

As he was facing off with Flavian, it was the distraction that Fleur needed to whip up her sword and slice the hand that held the weapon. With a cry of pain, Daniel dropped the pistol. As it clattered to the floor, Flavian snatched it and then brought the hilt of the weapon down on Daniel's temple. He instantly crumpled to the floor.

"Dear God, did you?—"

"He'll live," Flavian muttered. "But just have one helluva headache when he wakes up."

Armed with their prospective weapons, they left the cottage.

* * *

"Do you think she stayed in the carriage?" Avalon whispered to Drake as they kept close to the wall of the pub and inched along the shadows, alert for danger.

"Not a chance."

Drake would have been surprised if she had actually done one thing he'd ever told her, but other than obeying him in the bedchamber, she was sadly too stubborn to listen to him otherwise.

His jaw clenched as he thought of what she might be doing in that moment. He prayed it was nothing too bothersome that it might get her into trouble, but while his chest clutched with fear at the idea of anything befalling her, he had to admit that she had the fortitude to withstand most anything. She wasn't some simpering miss who expected to be saved. She was quite capable of looking out for herself and he was grateful for her intelligence in strained situations. It was one reason he'd taken her to that fight the first night they were together in London. He wanted to see how she might handle herself and he had been pleasantly surprised to find that she hadn't crumpled at the first sight of blood.

Lost to his thoughts, Drake made the worst mistake he could have done. He allowed inattention to distract him long enough to find himself in turmoil.

A brief scuffle behind him had Avalon lying on the ground and a pistol pointed at Drake's head. Elijah's lips curled in contempt as he faced off against him. "I don't know how you manage it, but you simply won't die ."

Elijah's blond hair was plastered to his head, his eyes flat. He had always had an air of insanity around him, but at that moment he looked completely mad. "Reynolds," Drake drawled.

The other man spat at him. "I curse the day you were ever born for treating my sister the way you did. You killed her as surely as if you had pulled the trigger on this gun and ended her life."

"I wasn't responsible for anything," Drake said calmly. "She made her choices. Unfortunately, they were the wrong ones."

Elijah's hand gripped his pistol tighter. "You're wrong!"

"I am sorry things ended the way they did," Drake admitted. "But there was no one to blame for Elina's demise but herself. Her disease affected her mind. No one could have saved her from her fate."

"Lies! It's your fault she's dead!" Elijah let out a roar of denial and took a step closer. He cocked the hammer and narrowed his eyes.

Looking up at the heaven full of twinkling stars, Drake exhaled slowly and thought of Fleur. He had already been convicted of a crime he hadn't committed, but his past actions had condemned him. He shouldn't be so calm as he faced the end of a barrel, but he had never really cared if he lived or died. He had made so many mistakes that he might never try to atone for them all. At least he could die knowing that Fleur was safe. The thought of losing her was too much to bear. It was as if someone was strangling him, slowly choking the air out of him whenever he imagined it. Death would be a blessing for him if she didn't live to see another sunrise.

"Drop it."

He didn't have to turn his head to see who was addressing Reynolds. He would know that angelic voice anywhere.

He saw the sword aimed at Elijah from where he stood, the ominous silver blade prepared to run him through if he didn't comply with her demands.

As the pistol wavered, Drake murmured, "I would do as the lady says. She doesn't seem like the type to take such a warning lightly."

He could tell that Elijah was reconsidering his odds but just as he was about to make the choice that would decide his fate, a pistol cocked behind Fleur. "I hate that it has come to this, but where I failed to protect my sister, I must protect our brother. Hand me your sword. Slowly ."

The new danger caused Drake to turn his head to look at the stablemaster. Daniel's head was trickling blood where he'd been struck in the temple. He would have chuckled had the situation not been so dire, considering the last time he'd seen this man he had just struck him a blow similar to the one he had now.

And then his attention turned to Fleur and what he saw in her gaze caused his blood to run cold. He shook his head slightly, a warning that he hoped she might heed. If she would give their reinforcements a bit more time to get into position…

"Now!"

He uttered a curse as she shouted the order and Flavian sprang into action. He tackled Daniel to the ground while she sliced her sword through the air. Elijah was taken off guard, but he had enough wherewithal to fire the weapon.

Something struck Drake with a searing pain that sent him to his knees.

Fleur screamed and suddenly, all hell broke loose.

As Drake blinked in an attempt to regain his equilibrium, Avalon abruptly put Reynolds in a headlock as the rest of the Blue Boys arrived with the local magistrate. While Flavian had done rather well in subduing the stablemaster, he was soon clapped in irons. The same went for Elijah once Avalon had released the chokehold he'd put on him.

As their comrades surrounded the two men, Avalon winced when he touched the side of his temple. "Bloody hell. And here I thought Drake and I would be the victors of the day. Well done, Miss Davies."

Drake noted that she didn't seem to be paying any attention to the leader of the Blue Boys because she had dropped to her knees beside him. "My God, you've been shot!"

Her voice sounded so panicked that he couldn't allow her to think he hadn't faced worse odds before. Then again, he hadn't found anything worth living for until recently and the idea that it had nearly been ripped from his grasp was enough to cling to her almost desperately. "It's nothing but a graze."

"I don't care. You need a doctor. Flavian! Go get some help!"

As she began to shout orders, he had to clench his jaw to keep her from blurring in his vision. "Listen to me!" he said gruffly. When she finally faced him again, he held on to her chin and kept her steady as he made his grand declaration. "I love you."

She laid a gentle hand on his arm and said, "Not to worry. You'll be patched up in no time."

He was confused. "Did you not hear what I said?" he demanded.

She looked at him in a consoling manner. "You aren't thinking clearly. You've had a shock. It will pass?—"

Using the rest of his strength, he bellowed, "Dammit, woman! I LOVE YOU!"

Any commotion immediately halted as his announcement caught the assemblage standing about. Even Avalon's eyebrows rose to his hairline.

At long last, Fleur ceased hovering over him like a wounded animal. "What did you say?" she whispered.

He laughed. "I love you. I love you. I love you . If I must say it a thousand times from this point forward until the end of eternity then that is what I shall do because it is the truth." He exhaled heavily, the pain in his arm turning into a dull sting. "I thought I was in love once, but it is nothing compared to the crush of emotions that pull me every which way when you are near. There are times I don't know if I should throttle you, like when I tell you to stay in the carriage, or hold on to you until you never leave my sight again." He shook his head. "For anyone that has ever known me, they should understand that love is nothing I have ever taken lightly. I don't speak it without due cause and thought I was incapable of the emotion until recently. But from the first moment I met you, something started to stir inside of me. All of those years I worked for myself I never dreamt that I would wish it all into oblivion, that you would come into my life and make me ashamed of the things I did. I always felt as though I was owed anything I took because I'd been given a tough hand in life and others had to understand the same misery. But not you. I didn't care for revenge as I had so many others before. I just wanted… you. That's what I want now and forever. Just you. And me."

* * *

Fleur's throat had abruptly closed up on her and she couldn't seem to find the words that were clogging her windpipe. There were so many things she wanted to say at once, like I love you, too , but the only thing she could manage was a slight gasp. She hadn't expected such a declaration from Drake right then, in front of a crowd of people, but neither did she care. The fact was he felt the same way about her as she did for him and it was a moment worth rejoicing. For a man who had claimed he had a cold heart, it had certainly found a way to envelop enough warmth to open to her.

She opened her mouth, finally finding her voice, but the doctor suddenly appeared. She wanted to push him out of the way, to embrace Drake and kiss him until they were both senseless, but instead, she moved out of the way so the doctor could see to him. Standing by Flavian, she could see the question in Drake's eyes, but as Avalon knelt by him, he reluctantly turned his focus to the other man.

"I can't believe you didn't say anything."

As Avalon moved away with the rest of the assemblage to take care of the Reynolds' brothers, she turned to her twin. "What?"

He gestured to Drake. "I wasn't the biggest fan of Porter, but after what he just said in front of everyone without any sort of restraint, I have to admit that he seems sincere. You told me you felt the same way about him, and yet, you didn't say a single word in return."

She swallowed hard over the lump that threatened to choke her. "I was gathering my thoughts."

"Are you sure you're not having second thoughts about your feelings for him?"

For an instant, Fleur wondered if Flavian had spoken the truth but she quickly discounted the notion. "No. I love him with all of my heart."

As the doctor wound a bandage around Drake's arm and prepared to leave with a few whispered instructions to his patient, Flavian offered her a speaking glance and then parted ways with the physician.

Left alone in the courtyard together, Fleur looked at Drake who had risen to his feet. He glanced at the bandage on his arm. "I told you it was just a scratch."

She promptly burst into tears and ran into his arms. "Oh, Drake, I was so scared I was going to lose you! I was afraid that I would have to make the choice between you and Flavian and I refused to let that happen. I love you both dearly, but in completely different ways. He is my brother, while you are my heart." She lifted her face to him as the tears coursed down her cheeks. "You can't know the terror that went through me when I thought you'd been struck down. I thought I'd failed to protect you?—"

"Protect me?" He grinned broadly. "Sweetheart, the only thing I need from you is that sweet derrière pressing against my cock every night."

She stopped sobbing long enough to laugh at the glorious absurdity of his reply. "I might consider that if only you don't stop there."

His voice dropped an octave. "What a naughty girl you are."

"Indeed," she said in the same sultry tone. "But only with you." Any amusement faded as she slid a hand along his hairline. "I love you so much it hurts."

"Then you're not alone." His grip tightened slightly around her waist. "I can't breathe properly when you aren't near. Trust me when I say I never thought I would speak those words to anyone."

"That's what makes them even more special to me," she whispered.

His eyes caught the light from the moon and shone with the same remarkable silver hue. "Marry me."

"Is that a question or a demand?" she teased.

"Both."

"Then I wholeheartedly agree."

With a scorching kiss, they made a promise for their future.

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