Page 85 of Wedded to the Beastly Duke
“Tonight,” he said hoarsely, though already his hand was sliding up her side, finding its way to her breast and circling the hardening nipple he could already feel through her clothes. “We’ll get rooms and?—”
“I don’t want to wait,” she repeated, grinding against him. He could not remember the last time he was so aroused. “Please, Adam.”
When she begged like that, he could refuse her nothing.
“Very well,” he said, bringing her mouth back to his. Because he, too, could hardly bear to wait.
* * *
They stopped at a small inn along the main North Road, spending the night together before continuing south. The journey was long, but they found plenty to talk about, especially Nicholas. Adam was at first reluctant to talk about him, but Emmeline eased him into it, slowly but surely.
There was nothing she didn’t want to know about him, this man who had infiltrated her husband’s life and potentially betrayed him. This man who had pushed her down the stairs so coldly.
She believed—and it was clear Adam did too, even if he denied it—that there was some genuine affection between them. Nicholas had maintained a friendship with Adam even after William, the brother he was closest to, had died.
And Emmeline had been there while the gentlemen spoke and smoked together. She saw the way they smiled, how their opinions aligned on so many topics, and how they came to ask each other for advice on a myriad of things.
If Nicholas had no interest in friendship, she was certain he would not have pursued it the way he did.
But there was also something else going on.
“Perhaps it was an accident,” she suggested as they drew closer to home.
Adam’s eyes barely flickered. “An accident?”
“Perhaps Nicholas killed your brother by accident.”
This time, Adam flinched. Even the idea of it was painful, after all this time. She squeezed the hand she had in her lap, her thumb stroking the back of his hand.
“If that is so…” He sighed. “Well, I suppose we can rule nothing out. But why is he still creeping around the house?”
“It could be any number of reasons.” Emmeline chewed on her lip. “Or perhaps it was some conspiracy to remove him from his position and rank.”
“But what would be the purpose,” Adam asked, “knowing that I would come back to inherit the title? And it is not as though Nicholas has made any attempts on my life.”
No, and whatever his business was, it was clandestine enough.
Emmeline couldn’t be certain, but she suspected that Nicholas would never have laid a finger on her if she had not discovered him in the east wing. Out of all the times she had met him, he had only ever been polite and deferential, showing her respect as the wife of his good friend. Nothing about his behavior had alerted her as to any nefarious nature or intentions.
Thus, she concluded that if hehadharmed William, it had likely been an accident.
“Perhaps a blackmail gone wrong?” she suggested. “You said your brother had several debts.”
“That I inherited,” Adam muttered and shook his head. “If that were the case, and my brother would never stoop so low, he would not blackmail Nicholas. He was not quite so encumbered as we found ourselves to be, but he was certainly not as wealthy as many of our peers.”
“Such as my father,” she murmured wryly, thinking of everything he had done to secure their fortune. “So no blackmail?”
“I think it unlikely.” Adam sighed and brought her hand to his lips. “We will only know for certain if we find evidence of wrongdoing.”
“And you’re certain he’s in London?”
“We’ll find out when we get there.”
Adam stared out the window, lost in thought. She could only imagine what he was going through, facing the betrayal of his best friend, and now contemplating doing the same thing to him. They were going to sneak into Nicholas’s house and search through his drawers for any evidence that supported their theories.
The chance that they wouldn’t find anything was a distinct possibility, but they had to try something. Emmeline wouldn’t let this slide. Adam was on her side again, and together they could conquer anything. All they had to do was believe that they could.
Adam had done everything he could to get to the bottom of this, and she would endeavor to ensure that he succeeded.
