Page 30 of Devil at the Gates
“You aren’t empty,” Redmond reassured her. Once, long ago, he’d dreamed of being close like this to his wife, to offer comfort and love, yet he had never been given the chance. And now Harriet, the woman who could have offered him so much, the woman he could have given anything to, could not belong to him.
“What if he learns I’m here?” She pulled back to look up at him. “I won’t be safe anywhere. He’s not afraid of anything.”
“You think he’d come onto my lands to try to hurt you while I’m here?”
Harriet answered with a slow nod, her eyes full of a weariness that worried him more than he wished to admit.
“Even if I stayed here, and had all the protection a duke could offer, I don’t think it would be enough, Red. He won’t stop coming after me, and I don’t want to put you or the staff here at risk.”
He wanted to disagree, to tell her that she was safe, but it would be a lie, and he didn’t want any lies between them.
“You’re right. He’s a dangerous man. The only way to keep you safe is for you to go. You must leave tomorrow morning. We’ll ride to Dover and find you a ship. The Channel has not yet become too treacherous for a winter crossing. I’ll see to it you have money for clothes and food. You’ll have plenty to set yourself up with in Calais or Normandy where your father’s family is.”
Harriet’s eyes filled with unshed tears. “You want me to leave?”
“I would give anything for you to stay. But fate has other plans, I fear. I don’t trust Halifax either.”
“Even having escaped him, George has managed to out-fence me,” she muttered. “He has still won, even if he does not possess me, because he has denied me happiness, and I must leave the second place in my life that truly felt like home.”
“Yes, you must,” Redmond agreed. “He means to prove you are mad or disturbed so as to retain guardianship over you, even after you would have legally escaped him. He’s already begun the paperwork with the magistrate in Faversham.”
Fresh terror struck her face. “Oh Lord, Red.”
He held her fast, not letting her go as she trembled again in his arms.
“We’ll arrange with Grindle and Mrs. Breland for you to leave tomorrow.” The words felt bitter upon his tongue.
She was quiet a long moment before she raised her face to his. “Red, I don’t want to leave.”
“You must.” Even if it kills me to let you go.
She tried to pull away, to turn her back, but he wouldn’t let her. Instead he gathered her close again. Her slender hands twisted anxiously before they settled on his chest. Misery tore through him, leaving an emptiness inside his heart, except for a faint glow that she’d kindled weeks ago from a dying fire.
“I could arrange for you to have a home in France, but I couldn’t come to you, not right away. He will have eyes following me, I’m certain of that.”
“No, you cannot do that. He could find out somehow. Better if I go alone with no connection between us.”
Her words, even though they were meant to protect them both, burned like a hot poker against his heart.
“I will fight him in the courts. I have influence over the magistrate in Dover, and I’m certain that with time, I could gain enough power in Faversham to find a way to reverse whatever ruling the judge makes if it’s in Halifax’s favor. I’ll need time, time where I can know you’re safe, far away from him.”
“Oh please, Red.” Her tormented tone pulled at him, and he knew that if he did not kiss her one last time he might perish. So he defied the agony and pain that formed an invisible shroud inside him and stole another kiss.
“We have but the fading daylight left, my darling.” He brushed his nose against hers before pressing his lips to hers, soft but urgently. A powerful sense of awakening from a very long, terrible dream stole over him, one that had held him trapped for seven years.
Harriet kissed him back, her youthful passion and sweet ardor like a flash of brilliant light. It reminded him of when he had been a lad roaming in the attics. When he’d gotten bored, he’d thrown a few stones around and shattered a dust-covered window. The explosion of light had blinded him. It had been the single most glorious experience of his life, to feel the bright sun burning his body, reminding him of the joys of being alive, being outside and living in the world.
“Harriet,” he murmured against her lips. “Against the will of my hesitant heart, I have fallen in love with you.”
He didn’t want to go another moment without having said these words. Yes, he would lose her. Yes, he would never find this feeling again with anyone else, but at least he would have said it. At least he would know that she felt the same.
Her blue eyes were soft like a sunny summer sky. “I love you too. More than is wise, but I love you all the same.” Her melancholy smile echoed his own pain.
It was all that needed to be said between them as he carried her to his bed.
They took their time undressing each other. He memorized the slopes and curves that made her unique, that made her exquisite perfection. She was his light in the gloom, the piece of his life he’d thought lost years ago.
Redmond laid her down beneath him, covering her face with kisses. He savored her shivers and sighs as he kissed his way down her body. She giggled as he nibbled on one nipple and then the other. Her hands dug through his hair in a way that made his entire body go rigid with pleasure. She scraped her nails down the back of his neck, which made him groan. Then he placed kisses on her stomach as he made his way down between her legs. She had become less shy these past few weeks, and he enjoyed how free she seemed to be with him, their passions equal to one another.
