Page 64 of Only Scandal Will Do

“I ought to beat you,” he said.

Kat flinched at the harsh words and tried to burrow further into the bed, but he restrained her with his hands and fixed her with a baleful look. “You jeopardized your health, worried Margery nearly to death, and drove me to almost shoot Captain Stratton because you wanted fencing lessons?”

Stunned by this declaration, Katarina ignored the question and his menacing tone. “What do you mean, you almost shot the captain?”

Eyelids now mere slits, he slid his gaze away, lessened his death grip on her shoulders and drew a long breath. “A misunderstanding about who is allowed to give orders on my ship.”

He looked back at her and gave her a slight shake. “Do not change the subject, madam.”

“There were other reasons as well, Duncan. I didn’t want you to have to give up the voyage.” She returned his stare coolly, though her heart beat a ragged tattoo.

“Why would that be a hardship for me?”

“Because you love to sail. Juliet told me so.” She lowered her gaze, unsure how much she should reveal. “I didn’t want to be the one to deprive you of that pleasure.” She had been afraid he would go without her.

More silence. Reluctantly, she looked into his face. His stare bore into her, pinning her like a bug to a paper, and she had no idea what he might do or say next. Then, with no warning, his brooding look disappeared, replaced instantly with one of intense longing that made her shiver. He slid his fingers down her arms and gathered her hands into his. “You have deprived me of no pleasure, Katarina, save of your presence when you were ill. I would have you safe and well, that is all.” He raised her hands to his lips and kissed each finger, soft nibbles that drowned her in sensation. “Captain Stratton will be setting a course for England this afternoon on my orders.”

The fiery sensations that tingled all the way up her arms encouraged her belief that this voyage to Italy would prove to be-- Wait. “What do you mean he’ll be setting a course for England? We are not continuing on to Italy?”

“Most assuredly not.” His stern expression returned, giving her no hope of changing his mind. “Once we return to London we can plan another journey perhaps, one that takes us through the Belgian countryside.” He cocked his head. “You are not, by any chance, made ill by the motion of a carriage, are you? If so, I fear you may never leave England again.”

He sounded in jest, but did he tease her, or was he still angry in earnest? The fact that she couldn’t tell seemed a bad sign, but in any case, she would not be cowed by him. “You know I can ride on horseback or in a carriage perfectly well.”

“Good. We hope to make landfall by evening.”

She cringed at his words. “I hope your strange brew helps, Duncan, but I fear I will be just as poor company going back as I was coming out.” Her lips trembled. “Will you stay with me?”

Sternness fled his countenance, replaced by contrite concern. “Sweetheart! Of course I will.” He leaned over and brushed her forehead with his lips. “But I think you will fare better on this journey. First, you need to finish your tea, my dear.” He snared the half-full mug from the table. “Larraby will bring another shortly before we get underway. Fortunately, the captain’s medicine chest contained a vial of laudanum drops.” He raised her head so she could sip. “I will give you a dose in your next cup of tea and you will sleep deeply until we make land. I told Stratton to put in at the closest port available, which he makes out to be the westernmost coast of Cornwall.” He smiled wryly. “It may take us a month to journey back to London, but at least you will be on dry land.”

Kat perked up at his explanation. “You think the drug will keep me from getting ill?”

His eyes warmed. “I promise you, my sweet, you will go to sleep in my arms here in this bed and awaken in my arms in our carriage on the way to London. You will have no recollection of the sea or anything other than me.”

She closed her eyes and nodded, still anxious despite her husband’s reassurances. Another graze of his lips across hers, and the bed lifted. Her eyes flew open just in time to see a flash of his backside as he hastily donned breeches. “Where are you going, Duncan?”

He turned and gave her a rakish grin. “I am going to send Margery to attend to your needs, then I intend hurry along both Larraby and Captain Stratton. I cannot wait to have you in my arms again, all alone with me in this bed.”

“Duncan!” Katarina’s cheeks heated at his implication. She reached for the rest of her tea.

“Much good it will do you, my dear, if I am unconscious the whole way to land.”

Hand on the cabin door, he paused, and her heart beat frantically at his tender expression.

“Whenever you are in my embrace, my love, it does me good.”

She watched his tall form disappear into the corridor and lay back with a sigh. Pray God, he was right and she would sleep peacefully in his arms throughout the coming voyage. A little piece of heaven, though one she would not wager on. But she if doubted his plan, she no longer doubted him or his love, which was heaven enough for her.

CHAPTER 28

Duncan kept his word, or at least, almost. Katarina dutifully drank the ginger tea laced with laudanum and fell into a deep slumber. When she opened her drug-tired eyelids again, she blinked, confused, at an unfamiliar room lit by faint daylight that spilled around the edges of worn buff-colored drapes. But the strong, possessive clasp of her husband’s arms secure around her waist reassured her and, grateful to find her head pillowed on his chest, she relaxed.

“Are you awake at last, sleepyhead?”

She turned in his arms, stretching her limbs, feeling his firm body beside her. “Where are we, Duncan? Where is the carriage?” She nestled her head on his shoulder, her breasts pleasantly pressed against his chest.

He settled the blankets around her. “After we landed, my sweet, I thought perhaps it would be best for you to stay stationary a few days to recover your strength. So we have been ensconced at this somewhat tolerable inn since yesterday afternoon.” He chuckled. “Margery is down the hall, probably wringing her hands in worry, ready to do me bodily harm since I forbade her coming here to tend to you.”

He grinned, his even white teeth shining in the semi-gloom. “So you see, my dear, I have kept yet another promise. You have awoken in my arms, although, I grant, not in the carriage. I fear we will have plenty of time together in that conveyance once we begin our journey home.”