2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

S everal nights later, Eliza waited at the hunting cabin for Nick. She did her best to start a fire in the main room of the cabin, but it would need tending once he arrived. Her entire body hummed with need. She recalled the previous evening, when she rode Nick on the very settee where she sat waiting for him. The memory was enough to leave her skin heated and flushed, and her aching for his touch.

She had met Nick at the hunting cabin every night for that entire week. She lost count of how many times he’d brought her over the edge to ecstasy. How many times they had done so for each other. He showed her many delicious and wicked positions for their coupling, and she found she enjoyed licking and sucking his cock almost as much as she enjoyed when he licked and tasted her. She didn’t shy away from telling him so, unafraid to voice what she wanted. Besides, he liked when she used words that would be improper to speak to anyone else. Improper to speak at all, as a matter of fact.

In a matter of days, she had become foul-mouthed and wanton, counting the minutes until she would return to the cabin and spend hours in rapture with the man she loved. They were frantic and ravenous, hungry for each other with an intensity that couldn’t be tamed. Then afterwards he’d hold her close, and she knew she had found her home in his arms. It was intoxicating and all-consuming, and her desire for him would never be sated.

Last night, they agreed it was time to finally broach the subject of marriage with their fathers. That night, they would discuss when Nick would ask for her father’s permission. After he had bent her over the table in the cabin, teasing, tasting, and fucking all of her favorite places first. She licked her lips, and her thighs were already damp from imagining the scene when he arrived.

Eliza only hoped her father would allow her to marry Nick. As a woman of eight-and-ten, she hadn’t reached her age of majority and would require her father’s legal approval. But if not, they agreed they would run away to Scotland. She would be Nick’s wife soon, with or without her father’s permission.

She tapped her fingers on the armrest. Where was he? He was going to pay with his tongue for leaving her waiting. She laughed at the thought, knowing he would be more than happy to oblige her command. The wetness between her legs only intensified with each passing moment, thinking of more and more ways she longed to fuck and make love to him.

Eliza grew more impatient after another hour of waiting. She took to pacing the room if only to keep herself from staring out the window to watch for him.

Another hour passed. Her need had evaporated and she grew worried. Had something happened to him? Panic seized her heart. Hoping he was all right, she stepped out onto the porch of the cabin and listened, in search of any indication that he was on his way to her.

“Where are you, Nick?” she asked to the night sky.

She paced every square inch of the hunting cabin over the course of the next couple of hours until she knew she must return if she didn’t wish for anyone to know she hadn’t been in her chamber that evening.

Blowing out all the candles before she left, she then mounted her horse and raced back to the mews to toss the reins to the groom and hurry back inside .

When she sank into her bed, she buried her face in her pillow, allowing it to muffle her sobs. What if something happened to him? What if he decided he no longer wished to marry her? No, he loved her. There wasn’t a doubt in her mind that he loved her. There had to be some reason he hadn’t come to her. He would call on her and explain everything. She was certain of it.

Eliza tossed and turned until the sky began to brighten. She finally passed out from exhaustion, and by the time she opened her eyes again, she hadn’t the faintest idea what time it was. The events of the previous evening came flooding back and her heart weighed heavily, worrying about Nick.

Dot knocked and entered her chamber, then set a tray on the table in her chamber. “My lady, you’re awake. I tried to wake you earlier, but you seemed to need your rest.”

Eliza nodded, massaging her temples from where her head had a dull ache from all the crying she had done and furrowing her worried brow. “I’d like to dress now, Dot.”

“Of course, my lady,” Dot said. “I have a morning dress pressed and ready for you.”

Dot helped her to dress and styled her hair into a simple chignon. Eliza didn’t have the energy to carry on conversation, and she wasn’t certain if Dot attempted to speak to her. She could only think of Nick. Dot encouraged her to eat a few bites of the food from the tray, but Eliza’s stomach was in knots, and she couldn’t think of food when something may have happened to Nick.

She departed her chamber, attempting to form a plan to go to his father’s home to see about his welfare. She would have no choice but to seek assistance from her father. Perhaps it was time she told her father of her intention to marry Nick and he just might understand and aid her. She set off towards his study, hoping she might find him there.

The door was open, and when she peeked her head in, she found him sitting at his desk.

“Papa?” she called out to get his attention, crossing the threshold to enter the room.

“Eliza, there you are,” he said, rising from his seat. “This came for you.”

She eyed the missive in her father’s hand and released a long breath. A bit of relief washed over her. It must be from Nick. He wrote to explain what had occurred and all would be well. She took the letter from her father and inspected the writing on the outside. Her name was written in a neat but masculine hand.

She broke the seal and began reading the words to herself .

Lady Elizabeth,

I know you harbored hope that we would marry, but I must inform you that this notion shall never come to pass.

There is too much bad blood between our families to make a marriage between us work. Surely you are already aware of this.

Perhaps if I truly loved you, it would be enough. But alas, that was never the case. Although, it was fun making you believe so. I could never love the daughter of my father’s sworn enemy.

Lord Nicholas Craven

Tears streamed down her cheeks, and she fought to keep from casting up her accounts. She gripped the edge of her father’s desk to steady herself and keep from sinking to the floor.

“What is it, Eliza?” her father asked.

She shook her head, unwilling to look at her father.

“Give that to me now,” he commanded. He held his hand out, waiting for her to comply.

With no choice, she handed the missive to her father, hanging her head in shame.

Her father shook his head and crumpled the parchment before letting it drop to the ground.

“I knew that boy would be trouble,” he spat. “His father must have put him up to toy with you. Be glad you are rid of him.”

Her chest heaved as she tried to catch her breath, and her knuckles were white from how hard she continued to grip the side of the oak desk. “He wouldn’t, Papa. He does love me. Something must be wrong.”

“How much more proof do you need?” her father challenged, waving his hand towards the parchment on the floor. “I told you he was no good and that his presence would only cause you harm. He is as entitled and useless as his father. Better that you learnt the truth now. ”

Eliza’s thoughts muddled and she struggled to accept what was right in front of her face. She could hardly see from how hard she sobbed.

She wiped her eyes and swallowed hard. “May I be excused, Papa? I wish to return to my chamber.”

His expression softened, and he patted her shoulder. “Of course.”

When her father returned behind his desk, she quickly grabbed the crumpled parchment from the floor and fled the room. She didn’t slow her pace until she was on the other side of her locked chamber door.

She smoothed the parchment and read it over and over, again and again. Eliza didn’t want to believe it was true, but how could she not? Nick hadn’t shown up at the hunting cabin and hadn’t called on her that day. He would have appeared to her if there was a mistake. But the coward couldn’t even face her, instead sending a note to break her heart and make her wise to what he was truly about.

How had she been such a fool? She fell for every one of his hollow words, believing that he loved her. She had been nothing but a game to him. A way to lash out at her family because of the bad blood between their fathers. A way to use her body to sate his own needs until he had tired of doing so. He’d tell everyone how he bedded her, fucking her in every way imaginable, and she’d be ruined .

One thing was certain: she wasn’t stepping foot in London for the season. Why bother? If all that had transpired had taught her anything, it was that she would be better off without a husband. Although, if she were honest with herself, she wished to avoid encountering Nick. If she had to be in his presence again, there was no telling what she might do to him. Part of her longed to rip him to shreds.

The other part of her, however, longed for understanding. Longed to believe there was a part of him that loved her. It couldn’t have all been an act, could it? He may not love her, but even her pride couldn’t get her to pretend she didn’t love him. And as long as she still harbored any love for him, she couldn’t face him. She couldn’t be trusted to think with sense and for every fiber of her being not to want him. It was clear she would need more time than she cared to admit to stop loving that vile, wretched bastard.