Kiss Me at Christmas--Playful Brides Page 14

  Daffin nodded. “That’s what I’m afraid of.”

  * * *

  Regina and Nicole spent the rest of the afternoon in Nicole’s bedchamber, waiting for Mark to arrive. Regina felt safer upstairs. Knowing the man who’d tried to harm her had been so close made gooseflesh rush along her skin. Daffin Oakleaf was the best of the Bow Street Runners. He would find the culprit. But he needed a better lead.

  “Who could it possibly be?” Regina asked. The weather had turned colder as the sun set, and she pulled a shawl over her shoulders. She stood in front of the fireplace, rubbing her hands together.

  “I don’t know,” Nicole replied, “but whoever he is, he’d better pray to the god of criminals that Daffin finds him before Mark does.”

  The front door slammed and bootsteps thundered on the stairs just before Nicole’s door flew open. Mark rushed to the bed and pulled Nicole into his arms. “Darling, I’m sorry I wasn’t there when that bastard took a shot at you.”

  Nicole’s eyes filled with tears and she clutched her husband’s coat, which he hadn’t bothered doffing. She closed her eyes and pressed herself against him. They hugged for several moments before Mark pulled away and stared lovingly at his wife’s face. “I love you so much, Nicole.”

  “I love you, too, Mark,” she said as they kissed passionately.

  When the couple pulled apart, Mark scanned the room. “Regina. I’m sorry I wasn’t there to protect you, too. I was so convinced Nicole was the target. Are you all right?”

  “Yes,” Regina replied. “I am.”

  “Where’s Daffin?” Mark touched his wife’s face with the back of his hand. “Are you all right? You were pale when I first walked in.”

  Nicole hugged him fiercely again, then patted the spot next to her on the bed. “Mark, darling, sit down. There’s something I must tell you.”

  His eyes flared. “God. No. The babe?”

  “The babe is fine,” Nicole replied. “And so am I, but…”

  He searched her face. “Tell me.”

  “We convinced Daffin to allow us to go riding earlier,” Nicole began. “Neither of us could stand being trapped in this house another moment.”

  “That sounds like you,” Mark said with an exasperated smile.

  Nicole exchanged an uneasy look with Regina. “When we got to the stables, we found a note on Regina’s saddle.”

  “What?” Mark’s face drained of all color. “What did it say?”

  “‘I’m watching you, Lady Regina.’” She winced.

  “Damn it.” Mark stood and paced around the bedchamber like a caged tiger. He scrubbed his hand through his hair.

  “There’s more,” Nicole added.

  Mark continued to pace, but his shoulders relaxed a bit. “What?”

  Nicole took a deep breath. “Daffin said there was only one set of tracks leading away from the stables. They disappeared into a copse of trees.”

  Mark clenched his fists. “One of the servants had to have seen him. We must line them up and question them.”

  “Daffin has already questioned the stable servants thoroughly. None of them saw anything,” Regina said. “Susanna and Mrs. Bell, the housekeeper, are the only servants Daffin is allowing near me at present. None of the tracks in the snow were women’s boots except ours.”

  “Darling.” Mark crossed back to his wife and hugged her again. “What do you want me to do?”

  “Just hold me, and let’s try to have a nice Christmas Eve.”

  “I can do that.” He glanced at Regina. “Don’t worry, Regina. We will find whoever this lunatic is. You’re safe.”

  “Thank you, Mark. I know I am. I trust you and Daffin completely. Though I cannot help but wish, given the circumstances, that Uncle Edward will rescind his dinner invitation to a certain earl.”

  “What do you mean?” Mark asked.

  “Oh, we have another unwelcome bit of news,” Nicole said with a sigh. “Lord Dryden is coming to Christmas dinner tomorrow … to court Regina.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

  “Do you think the culprit stayed in the stables? He didn’t sneak into the house, did he?” Grimaldi asked Daffin over a glass of brandy in the duke’s study.

  “I doubt it,” Daffin replied. “I can’t imagine he would have been that bold or been able to do so without being seen. Whoever he is, he’s toying with us now. He wanted us to know he’s here.”

  “But why? What would he have to gain from tipping his hand?” Grimaldi took a swig of brandy.

  “That is a good question.”

  After bringing Grim up to speed, the two men agreed to put aside the investigation for the night and the next day for Nicole’s sake, but neither man intended to let down his guard. The footmen were told not to let Regina out of their sight. They stood guard at her bedchamber door even as Grimaldi and Daffin were talking.

  As night fell, the tension eased a little for everyone but Daffin. He watched the homey scene in the green salon from his perch at the doorway, his shoulder resting against the frame. The duke sat in his wheeled chair near the fireplace. Lady Harriet had just finished serving everyone mulled wine out of a punch bowl. She took a seat on the velvet sofa near the duke. Regina was perched at her side. Nicole and Mark sat across from them on the settee.

  Daffin glanced down at his boots. This time next year, there would be a baby here. The family was growing. They were talking and laughing and singing. A perfect Christmas Eve scene. The way Christmas Eve should be. Regina had asked him once if he wanted children. He’d never allowed himself to contemplate it. He didn’t know how a happy family worked.

  He glanced at her and the breath caught in his throat. The firelight played against her hair, making it look like blue silk. Her eyes danced and her uninhibited laughter struck a note of joy in his heart. Their kiss under the mistletoe had made him realize how dangerous it was to get close to her. Even a little bit. If he kissed her again, he might not be able to stop. Being so near her, breathing in her applelike scent, even the touch of her soft lips against his, had made him realize he didn’t want just a little bit of her. He wanted more. And that was a fruitless, foolish desire. Even if she thought she wanted him, what she didn’t know about him would send her away from him forever.

  When the family began passing around the gifts they’d purchased for each other, Daffin knew it was time to leave. He moved back into the shadows and slipped away from the door. They wouldn’t notice he was gone. He didn’t have any gifts for any of them, and of course they wouldn’t have any for him. He didn’t belong here.

  He turned and stalked off, in search of the library and the brandy he knew rested on a sideboard within. The cavernous room was cold and dark. A fire burned low in an enormous fireplace. An utter contrast to the warmth and love in the green salon. Daffin lit a brace of candles and made his way to the sideboard. He’d just finished pouring himself a glass of brandy when the door opened behind him.

  “There you are,” came Regina’s bright voice.

  He turned to watch her as she crossed the floor to meet him. She wore a ruby gown with a bright white bow around the bodice and a matching one in her dark hair. She carried a wrapped gift in one hand. It was a small box wrapped in silver paper with an emerald bow atop it. In her other hand was her glass of mulled wine.

  “I didn’t want to interrupt your family holiday,” Daffin said inanely.

  She stopped before him and the scent of apples hit his nostrils. His cock hardened. He glanced away. How inappropriate could he be? It was Christmas and he was on an assignment.

  “You weren’t interrupting a thing,” she said, softly. “You should have joined us.”

  “I don’t like Christmas,” he said.

  “I know. But I do hope you’ll accept this … from me.” She held out the gift to him.

  He swallowed. “That’s … for me?” He didn’t take it. He stared at it as if it were a coiled snake.

  “Yes. It’s for you.” She gave him a smile that made his thought
s scatter. He wanted to kiss her again.

  “I didn’t get you anything,” he replied, his throat unexpectedly dry.

  Regina’s smile turned mischievous. “We can discuss your present for me after you open this.”

  He arched a brow.

  She didn’t wait for a reply. “Come on, then.” She tugged his hand, pulling him toward the leather sofa in the center of the room. She sat first and placed the present next to her, then patted the empty space beside her. “Sit.”

  Daffin followed and shifted his brandy glass to his other hand. He lowered himself to the sofa, took a swig for mental fortitude, and placed the glass on the table in front of them. Then he drew in a deep breath, grasped the gift with both hands, and moved it onto his lap.

  He took his time, carefully untying the bow, pulling the edges so it would unravel. For some reason, he wanted to savor the moment. A strange emotion roiled in his chest.

  He slowly lifted the top of the box and looked inside. It was full of shredded newspaper. A vision of the last time he’d opened a present flashed through his mind. He savagely quashed the memory and forced himself to paw through the papers until his hand touched something hard. He grasped it and pulled out a … dagger. A beautiful silver dagger with what looked like real sapphires on the handle.

  His breath caught in his throat. His chest was tight. He swallowed again. “Where … where did you get this?”

  “In town. At a little shop in the village. After you told me about your first one, I saw this one and I couldn’t help myself. I hope you like it.”

  “Like it?” He stared at the little knife, unseeing. “Yes. I like it. Very much.” It was the kindest and most thoughtful thing anyone had ever done for him. She’d listened … and remembered.

  “I’m glad. I thought perhaps you might think it too forward of me.” She glanced at him shyly, her cheeks flushed. “But I decided we’ve already been completely inappropriate with each other. Why stop now?”

  A lump lodged in his throat. He tried to smile but couldn’t. Instead he searched her sparkling gaze. “This was kind of you, Regina. I appreciate it.”

  A smile tugged at his lips. “What would you like for Christmas from me?” he asked, tilting his head to the side and watching her. He was half hoping she’d repeat her demand for a kiss.

  “So you usually don’t do anything for Christmas?” she asked, pointedly ignoring his question.

  Daffin turned the dagger in his lap. “Oh, Fielding invites me to his house, but I never accept.”

  “You’d rather be alone?”

  He expelled a breath. “The day brings up a lot of bad memories for me.”

  “I understand.” She reached out and squeezed his hand. “I’m usually quiet and withdrawn on the anniversary of my parents’ deaths.”

  He didn’t need to say anything. They both knew. It was a day burned in your memory forever, whether you wanted it there or not.

  After several moments of silence, Regina shook her head. “I’ve found replacing a bad memory with a good one is much more satisfying than hiding in the shadows from the bad one forever.”

  Daffin studied her face. Despite her pain, she was bright and hopeful. She hadn’t lived a perfectly happy life as he’d first suspected, and they had more in common than he’d thought … no parents, no siblings, lonely childhoods spent wishing things were different from how they were. But no amount of commonalities could bridge the gap between their stations in life. He was a paid investigator and she was the niece of a duke. He was something she never could accept. They might be friends, but they could be nothing more.

  “Thank you for this.” He placed the dagger back inside the box and lifted it. What was the proper protocol when a duke’s niece gifted you with a fine dagger? What did one say to a woman who has seen past your defenses and into your heart?

  A sly smile appeared on her tempting lips. “I’m ready to tell you what I’d like for my gift now.”

  “What?” But Daffin already knew what she wanted from him. A gift he shouldn’t give, but one he couldn’t help but desire.

  “I want more than a kiss from you this time. I want you to tell me how you truly feel about me.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

  Daffin moved closer to her and she breathed in his spicy cologne. He smelled like the wood in the fireplace, like balsam. She breathed him in, his heat and nearness. That alone was nearly enough to make her toes curl. She hadn’t been nervous before, but now her belly was jittery.

  He bridged the space between them, he took her hands in his and stroked her palms, rubbing the centers with his thumbs in tiny circles. Gooseflesh spread quickly up her spine. He leaned forward and breathed deeply near her ear. “You smell like apples. Do you know that?”

  She blinked. “Apples?”

  “Yes. Delicious, red apples.”

  “Please don’t tell me you think of me like an apple.”

  “No, I think much more highly of you than a common fruit.”

  “I’m glad to hear that, I suppose, but I’m waiting, how do you feel about me?”

  His lips hovered at her ear, his voice a husky whisper. “What if I told you I’ve thought about kissing you again all day?”

  Her breath came in short pants. “You … you have?”

  “Yes.”

  “Why?”

  “Because you look like a goddess descended from Olympus?”

  She couldn’t help but smile. “That’s not a very original thing to say.”

  “My apologies. Seems your nearness makes me unoriginal.” His lips brushed against the soft skin beneath her ear. She shuddered and closed her eyes. Heat raced through her body and pooled in the private space between her legs. “Ooh, I…”

  “What?” he whispered, his lips moving up her neck. His hands dropped away from hers and came up to cradle her cheeks. His mouth moved along the tender skin of her throat. He kissed the underside of her jaw, then moved to the corner of her lips. He slowly bit her bottom lip, sucking in its plump fullness while her eyes remained closed.

  Then his tongue slowly parted her lips and moved deftly inside. His mouth boldly slanted across hers as his strong hands moved up to hold her head in place. It was an endless, drugging kiss, designed to seduce. When he finally dropped his hands from her cheeks and pulled his lips away, he was breathing heavily and so was she.

  “Well?” he said, a triumphant smile on his lips.

  “Well what?” she breathed, unable to process what he was asking her after that.

  “Does that answer your question?”

  “Not in the least!”

  “Pardon?” This time he blinked.

  “I want to know whether you’re not interested in me or if you simply think you shouldn’t be interested?”

  Daffin scratched his cheek. “How much have you had to drink tonight?”

  “Only a glass and a half of mulled wine. I’ve drunk more than that at boring dinner parties in London. Don’t worry, I’m entirely in my right mind.” She lifted her glass. “But you are trying to change the subject again, and I—”

  “No. I promise I’m not.”

  “Go ahead then. Answer the question.”

  He leaned close to her and placed his hands on her hips. “The truth is I’m interested. Too interested. I thought perhaps my kissing you all these times may have given that away.” He grinned at her. “But you’re right. I think I shouldn’t.”

  She tilted up her chin, a defiant look in her eye. “But why do you think you shouldn’t?”

  He scrubbed a hand across his forehead. “Let’s see, your impending engagement, my friendship with your cousin, and—” He took a deep breath. “Suffice it to say I’m not who you think I am.”

  She reached up and cupped his cheek. “I know who you are, Daffin. And I want you. Tell me you don’t want me too and I’ll never bring it up again.”

  He tipped up her chin with his thumb and forefinger. “Love, you could tempt a saint. Of course I want you.”

&n
bsp; A slow satisfied smile spread across her face. “What would you say if I said I wanted more?”

  He pressed his forehead to hers. His common sense warned him, but his emotions ignored the warning. “I’d say meet me in my bedchamber after midnight.”

  * * *

  Daffin walked Regina back to the salon where her family was no doubt looking for her. Then he took himself off to his bedchamber where he was hard-pressed to make his cockstand subside. No doubt he’d made a mistake inviting her to his bedchamber, but she wanted more and so did he. He could finally admit that to himself. He had no intention of taking her virginity. That would be too much, but he could touch her. He could make her body sing with pleasure. He wanted to give her that. He sat staring out into the darkness, sipping his brandy, remembering the feel of Regina’s body against his, her soft mouth, the tiny moans she made in the back of her throat. God, he wanted her. He didn’t care anymore if it was wrong.

  Sometime well after midnight, a soft knock on his door jolted him from his thoughts. He’d begun to think she’d changed her mind. He’d begun to think she should have changed her mind. He knew damned well he shouldn’t open the door. Even as he told himself that, he found himself heading straight for it. With a deep breath he swung it open.

  Regina stood in the corridor in her night rail, a dressing gown slung over her shoulders, her glass of wine still in her hand. Her gorgeous dark hair was down, streaming down her back. His mouth went dry.

  “May I come in?” she whispered.

  He glanced both ways down the corridor to ensure it was clear, then pulled her into the room. For her to be caught in her state of undress even speaking to him would ruin her.

  The moment he shut the door behind her, his lips descended to hers. She tasted like mulled wine and innocence. Her night rail hugged her curves. The diaphanous material made his mouth water. He wanted to run his hands all over her. He wanted to carry her to his bed and never leave it.

  He forced himself to pull away and put her at arm’s distance. “You didn’t change your mind?”

  “Of course not.” She strolled toward the bed and let the dressing gown drop from her shoulders, leaving her clad only in her night rail. “Kiss me again.” She wagged a finger at him. “A toe-curling kiss, if you please.”