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  ‘How can I hurt her any more than what you’ve done to her? Oh yes, Kaila told me everything, and you’re lucky I don’t kill you,” Garrick replied. “Just because I live out of the public’s eyes does not mean I don’t have many connections. Here’s what going to happen: I’ve already called in a few favors, and the high court agrees. You are going to renounce the title that was given to you when she accepted you as her husband, and you are going to leave her household.”

  “You can’t do that!” Duke Carrington sputtered. “Your cousin will be penniless, ashamed in the community.”

  “No, because she will be in my care,” Garrick replied smoothly. “The staff loyal to you will be fired, and I will put new staff in place. Her bank accounts will be flush once more, and you can’t touch one grubby penny. Do you want to know why, Carrington?” Garrick didn’t give him time to answer. “Because my reach is farther than yours, and the evidence of your embezzlement from the high court has come to light. Instead of throwing you under the prison walls, I picked a more suitable punishment for you. Your passage has been booked on the next ship leaving for the coast of Australia. There you will be in servitude to the prison there, and I hope you like the heat.”

  “All because of one girl from an island in the middle of the ocean?” The duke stood. “You do this to your kind for her. Is she that good between the sheets that you want her all to yourself, Hadley? She was mine to have and you took her. I should kill you right now!” He changed his tune suddenly and laughed. “Share her, Hadley—one night between her legs and I’ll go quietly. I have waited too long to give up such a prize. Please, just once.”

  Kaila truly saw that Duke Carrington was quite mad. He was just basically sentenced to die in a place far away from home without the usual luxuries, and he was still obsessed with having her.

  “Sit down!” Garrick shouted, and Kaila jumped and clasped her hand over her mouth so she didn’t scream. The rage in his voice was evident. “Do you think I’m one of the drunken fools you cavort with, having orgies with sluts in the Barrows? You’ll leave my fucking house without another word about Kaila, or I’ll cut your balls off and send them to you in a bag. I’ve sent one of my people to the docks with a message for my quarter master. You are to be on that ship tonight. Do not go back to my cousin’s home, do not think you can escape this fate. Or maybe you should try, because then I can have the infinite pleasure of hunting you down and bringing you back to face justice. Am I understood, Carrington?”

  The pale-faced man nodded, and Garrick said, “Leave my home now.”

  Kaila scrambled back up the stairs and right into the room. She heard the mansion door slam and the carriage move away. She heard Garrick talking to someone else in low, firm tones, and then the front door slammed again. This time when she looked out the window Garrick was on his horse and heading away from the house in a fast gallop. Where was he going, and why was she just to sit in the room? It had something to do with Duke Carrington, she knew it, and Garrick was trying to keep her safe. She wasn’t worried about herself but for Garrick. The duke had friends, and maybe they would harm Garrick in some way. In those short few days she’d gone from fearing him to loving the enigmatic lord, even if he would send her away. It was not heard of, a wealthy lord being married to a colored woman. And while he was unorthodox in his life, she knew that in public they would expect him to marry someone of stature and she would be kept as a mistress. The thought filled her with despair; she would rather be alone and broken hearted than to live in his household and watch him with another. Duke Carrington coming to the house had brought everything back, and now reality flooded in. No matter what happened between them, she would have to leave eventually. Kaila lay in bed knowing she could do nothing until Garrick returned home. She’d crept downstairs to hear his conversation, and now she would follow his command and stay in the room until dinnertime.

  Chapter Five

  Kaila woke up with a start and noticed that it was completely dark in the room. It had to be well past dinnertime, and she wondered how she could have slept while Garrick was gone. Garrick! She looked out the window, and the lights of the stables were lit. There were no sounds from downstairs, and she was afraid something had happened and he was not at home. The duke could have paid someone to hurt him or worse. She ran to her room to wash and dress quickly, even though Dottie and the small staff she hardly ever saw had to know she was staying in Garrick’s room. There was still fresh bath water placed in her room every morning and evening. She would search the house for him, and if he wasn’t there she would go to the Habersham’s, and she was sure that Dottie’s husband would be able to find him or contact people who could.

  Kaila practically flew down the stairs calling his name after she’d dressed. “In the dining room,” she heard him call, and relief almost made her weak. When she went through the door, he was standing by the table, and she threw herself into his arms.

  “What’s all this about then?” he asked, holding her tight against him.

  She loved the feel of his arms around her and buried her nose into his chest and inhaled his scent. “I woke up, it was dark and I thought you weren’t here.”

  “And you thought that bad old duke had someone do away with me, hmm?” His voice held amusement.

  “Well, he does dither with the unsavory sorts.” Kaila smiled up at him. “One party he insisted on having at the manor… There was all types of debauchery, things I’d dare not mention.”

  Garrick cupped her cheek. “All that’s done now. I had to make sure that the duke did what he was told, and some other business needed to be handled. I got back and found you asleep and decided to do this. I’ve made dinner.”

  He spread his hand out and Kaila looked around. She’d rushed in so fast that she didn’t take in her surroundings. Candles were lit on the stone mantelpiece of the fireplace that graced the formal dining room and two covered dishes close by.

  “All this for me?” she asked, surprised. “No one has ever done anything like this…. I don’t think…”

  “You don’t think what, that you should be romanced just like any other woman?” He pulled her in for a deep, slow kiss before saying, “I happen to think you’re worth your weight in gold.”

  “Somehow I don’t feel very hungry at the moment, for food I mean, my lord,” Kaila said coyly. She molded her body closer to his, and she saw desire spark in his eyes.

  “Luckily what I made can be eaten cold or warmed later.” Garrick growled. ‘I think I fancy some dessert at this very moment. Take off your clothes, Kaila; show me your body.”

  “Right here?” She couldn’t help the shock in her voice. “What if someone comes in and sees us?”

  “You should know by now that no one comes in unless I specifically call for them,” he said. “I’m going to get my fill of you.”

  He went and sat at the head of the table and watched her with a dark gaze, silently waiting for her to do as he commanded. Kaila began to work the tiny buttons of her bodice, and her fingers stilled when he said, “Leave it. Everything else off, if you please.”

  Kaila took off the smooth velvet half corset and slipped her full skirts off. She stepped out of her shoes and under things before walking over on bare feet. His eyes followed her every step until she was close enough that he could put his big hands on her waist. The heat of his palms on her skin drew her in, and when he lifted her half-naked body to the table in front of him, she gasped. She was to be his dessert spread out on the table like a buffet for him to enjoy. He cupped the back of her neck and drew her into his kiss; his tongue played and dueled with hers until she was lost in the swirling desire he was creating.

  He pulled roughly away from her mouth, breathing harshly, and gathered the material of her bodice in his hands. With one fierce tug, she heard it rip and the buttons bounce on the floor. Garrick’s mouth was on her breasts, tasting and sucking her nipples. He massaged the globes with urgency, wringing a cry from her, and she arched so he could take more
of the creamy flesh into his mouth. He growled and lifted her higher up on the table. Kaila didn’t know exactly what he would do, yet she let him brace her heels on the smooth mahogany. His big hand splayed across her torso, pressing her back into the table. Kaila lay back with breathless anticipation of what would happen next. When she felt his breath on her sex, she tried to move away. But Garrick grabbed her hips and buried his mouth against her pussy. She cried out in shock and at the bolt of pleasure that coursed through her, so intense her scalp tingled. She reared up and saw the darkness of his hair, a stark contrast against the creamy chocolate of her skin.

  “Please stop, oh, Garrick, what are you doing?” She gasped.

  When he lifted his head, he had a look of satisfaction on his face. “I told you I would have my taste of you. Kaila, you’re like ambrosia on my tongue. Lie back, love; let me pleasure you.”

  Kaila felt the wood of the table on her back once more. She didn’t know if she could take these new feelings assaulting her, and she tried to find something to hold on to so she could weather this new fierce, sensual storm. There was of course nothing but the polished mahogany. Kaila placed her hands at her side and hoped she didn’t faint dead away at this new risqué behavior she was taking part in. Garrick licked her, one long, slow movement of his tongue that she felt slip between the folds of her sex. She bit her lip to keep from crying out as he did it again, this tine delving deep to catch her essence. Kaila began to pant as her nipples tightened on impulse. She lifted her hands to her breasts and squeezed, hoping to assuage the ache and the fullness in them. Instead, it made it worse, and she cried out as the sensation built instead of being appeased. He was doing decadent things between her legs, and her body felt as if it was on fire. Kaila couldn’t help the sultry moan that escaped her lips or the way her body writhed on the table as Garrick took her to new heights of ecstasy. He sucked on the tiny bud of her clit and she screamed his name, clutching at his head while her body quaked.

  Garrick moaned his delight at her response. “Oh, I do so love how you come. Your body seems to melt when you do. Your pussy is so wet. Shall I make you come again, darling? Shall I make your cum flow some more?”

  “Yes, my lord, yes!” she practically screamed. “Please sir, I implore you, I want more.”

  Everything he was saying excited her all the more; it seemed too unbecoming of a man to say such things to a woman. But each word excited her, enflamed her senses, and she wanted to feel every wayward thing he was offering. Garrick’s fingers spread the tender lips of her sex, and she felt one lone finger enter her slowly and deep. She whimpered when he withdrew the lone digit, and when he penetrated her again, this time she could tell it was two fingers inside her now. He moved them at a steady pace, each time a little deeper until she could feel the coil tightening in her once more. She wanted it all, craved it like a thirsty man would crave water. There was something beyond this slow pace, something deep and carnal she wanted to experience.

  “Please, my lord, I – I want…” She could hardly think of what to say to voice her need.

  “What do you want, Kaila?” Garrick asked. He moved his fingers faster, positioning then in and out of her wet sex, wringing a cry from her. Then he went back to his original deep, slow invasion that made her gasp and tremble. His voice was harsh with desire when he spoke again. “Do you want it hard, until your screams echo from the walls, or shall I do this and tease you? Tell me what you want, love. How do I make you come?”

  “Hard, my lord, please, make me come hard!” She arched, and her heel slipped from the edge of the table.

  Garrick positioned her foot once more before he pressed his mouth against her clit. His fingers buried inside her once more, and he gave her exactly what she asked for until she screamed his name, a keening wail, and came beneath his onslaught. He grabbed her waist and brought her off the table in one smooth motion until she straddled his lap. Kaila could feel the rigid hardness of him between her legs, and they rubbed against him sensuously while he kissed her. She could taste her own essence on his lips, and he devoured her mouth like a madman possessed.

  Kaila pulled away. “My lord, teach me to please you with my mouth.”

  “Oh merciful heaven, do you know what you’re asking?” he asked

  “Yes, let me, please,” she whispered.

  Kaila slipped from his lap and worked the buttons of his breeches. He stripped the tattered remnants of her blouse off her shoulders, leaving her gloriously naked before pulling his own shirt over his head. Together they worked to remove his boots and get the rest of his clothes off his body. She’d seen some of the maids in the duchess’s house please men with their mouths. After Garrick had done so much to make her body sing with pleasure, she wanted to do the same for him. His rod was exposed, hard and erect, and she took it in her grasp.

  Kaila heard his muttered curse as she stroked him before she wrapped her lips around the engorged tip, and his groan was long and deep. He buried his fingers in her hair and, using his hands, showed her how she should use her mouth to please him. Kaila caught on to the rhythm, and soon she was using her lips and tongue on his hard member. She heard him call her name, a whispered rasp that made her raise her eyes to his face. His head was thrown back in pleasure and his body tense. Suddenly he moved her and pulled her up onto his body. He positioned his cock at the entrance of her sex and impaled her onto his rod. He was deeper that she even thought possible, and at the urging of his hands she began to move.

  “My lord, oh, I want to feel it all!” She gasped.

  Garrick groaned and kissed her while their bodies moved in unison. He grabbed her hips and pumped into her hard, her cries muffled against his mouth. He stood holding her in his arms, and she heard the chair fall with the ferocity of his movement. It was only a few steps until her back was against the soft tapestry on the wall. He lifted her legs high about his waist and began to move once more with urgency, taking them both over the edge of sanity. She felt the last vestige of control leave him, and his mouth moved from her lips to her neck and to suck at her breasts in a frenzied way. When her orgasm took hold, she could hardly catch a breath to call his name. Garrick’s harsh cry signaled his release before she felt his seed fill her. It was only his strength keeping her from sliding to the floor, weak as a kitten in the aftermath of their lovemaking. When her legs finally did touch the ground, it was only for an instant before he lifted her and strode naked through the manor up the stairs to his room. In his usual way, he cleaned her body while she lay plaint and half asleep.

  “Time to eat—I must keep your energy up.” Garrick grinned and went back out the door completely nude.

  He came back and fed her the meal he’d made of bread and roasted meat. And they shared wine from the same glass. Later he loved her hard once more, until she was left seeing colored flashes behind her closed lids.

  “I think I’m seeing stars, Garrick,” she whispered while she lay against his chest.

  She heard laughter rumble in his chest. “I’ll take that as a compliment, love.”

  “It is when a man can make you feel this way, so secure, and safe in the midst of passion. It has to be love.” She opened her eyes in shock when she revealed exactly what her heart was feeling. Oh god, what have I said?

  “I’m glad you feel so loved with me,” Garrick said quietly. “That has been my only wish. Kaila, I secured your travel back to the Caribbean today. In one month’s time a ship will be leaving to Grenada.”

  “I thought you might want me to stay here with you, since we’ve become lovers,” she whispered.

  “How I wish that could be the case, but with society the way it is, our relationship would have to be hidden, and how can I ask that of you?” Garrick sighed. “No, it’s best that you be on that ship. You’ve been robbed of too many things.”

  I’m to be robbed of your love as well, she thought miserably, but how could she expect one man to change the way the rich and wealthy saw the world? He would be an outcast because o
f her, and she could not do that to the man she loved dearly.

  Kaila straddled his body and gave him a long, sweet kiss. “Then let’s make use of the time we have left.”

  As she succumbed to the passion in his embrace once more, she wondered why he hadn’t proclaimed his love for her as well.

  * * * *

  The days flew by with speed she disliked, because it meant each day she was one step closer to leaving. At night she slept in Garrick’s arms, and as the days went by he spent more time away from home on business. He was trying to make sure her passage would be secure, and she longed for him to call it off and simply say, Kaila, my love, stay with me. Of course it couldn’t be so, but it didn’t stop her from wishing it nonetheless. She kept herself occupied with books and in the kitchen with Dottie, even playing outside with her youngest who was seven years old. At night Garrick loved her hard and left her weak in his arms.

  But far too soon the day had come for her to leave. When she rolled over, expecting to feel Garrick beside her once more before she left, he was already gone. Of course, she tried to smile even though her lips trembled with tears. She’d told him she loved him, and he said nothing in return. He wouldn’t, of course, because as much as he claimed to care for her, she was not on the level he needed as a wife. It was a fun dalliance that she had taken much too seriously, and now it was over and she was to be sent away. She got out of bed and went to the room down the hall to pack her things. The coach would be arriving early to take her to the docks. She would board a ship heading to the Caribbean, and from there she would never see him again. She held her hand to her heart for just a moment, willing it stop aching in her chest so she could leave with her head held high and no tears. Dottie was already there, packing her clothes in a large trunk.

  She looked inside and noticed it was much more than she remembered bringing that one fateful night. Kaila picked up a silk dress in a soft purple color. “Dottie, wherever did these things come from? This dress is much too expensive to be mine.”