Chapter Thirty-Seven
SHE WAS BLUSHING NOW! Dominic was swearing at the sunlight coming in through the windows.
They’d both slept through the night, their opportunity to escape gone because she’d invited him to make love to her.
He got out of bed and retrieved his clothes.
She found the tie for his hair, which she’d removed last night, on the mattress and waved it at him.
Taking it from her, all he said was “I keep Storm for Wolf.”
She frowned slightly, trying to think why he would say that now, then recalled her thanking him for letting her keep Storm.
She burst out laughing. He grinned as well.
She realized that she must be getting quite used to him if she could laugh spontaneously like that.
And he must be getting used to her if he could tease her like that.
Her plan to make him love her—eventually—was starting to work, but was she getting caught in the same snare?
Dressed again in all but her pelisse, Brooke had the amusing thought that Regency fashion must have been designed for lovers who grabbed stolen moments.
It definitely made it easy to disrobe quickly and re-dress nearly as quickly.
She thought about sharing the thought with Dominic, but he was looking quite serious again because they would soon find out if they would be back on their way to London today or never reach it.
Yet she had such confidence that he would handle whatever came their way.
She hadn’t been joking about that. His size, his quick responses, the way he was preparing ahead for any possibility, it was reassuring even if it didn’t remove all of her worry.
But that left her mind free to worry over what they’d done instead, or what she’d done.
If he mentioned it, she would likely go up in flames.
Now that the effects of the love potion had worn off, she was feeling utterly shy about it.
She didn’t expect Dominic’s attitude toward her to change, but she did expect him to stop trying to push her out the door.
They weren’t suddenly happy young lovers eager to get their hands on each other.
Then she had the most horrid thought—that his payback for what Robert had done could be tit for tat, to get her pregnant and not marry her.
Well, that would be justice served in her mind, but probably not his, so it was a ridiculous thought.
But he would marry her now. That doubt was completely gone. As he’d said before, he wouldn’t mind her in his bed—which was proven last night. His attitude toward her out of bed was still in question though. Would his animosity miraculously go away, or did she still have to whittle away at it?
She wouldn’t have that answer until after their vows were spoken next Sunday.
She just didn’t have much hope that the marriage would make that much difference, at least not anytime soon.
And he did warn her the other night when they’d been kissing in those ruins that making love with her wasn’t going to magically make him love her.
So it could still take years to develop closeness with this man—if it was even possible.
She reminded herself that friends before happy spouses was still a good plan for her to work on.
She still hadn’t figured out how she was going to accomplish that other than that she needed to offer him something that would please him, something he wasn’t expecting, and not her body, which he could have anytime he wanted.
Something else that could form a bond between them.
A mystery to unravel? If she could find one.
A mutual goal such as horse breeding? No, that was to her benefit, not his.
It had to be something he would want and she might not like, so he’d know that she was willing to sacrifice for him.
She supposed she could offer to poison her brother. . . .
She almost laughed aloud, aware that he would probably jump on that offer, but she’d never make it. She wasn’t poisoning anyone, even her despicable brother. And all of which depended on whether they would leave this highwaymen’s camp today—alive.
The single rap on the door was startling it was so loud. Now they were knocking? But Dominic was in no hurry to open the door. He picked up Brooke’s pelisse first to help her put it on.
The door still didn’t open. Maybe that was a good sign, courtesy.
But Dominic moved to open it now. Rory was out there, and he looked a bit abashed before he waved an arm in a flourish, indicating Dominic and Brooke should leave the hut.
Most of the highwaymen and their families were standing nearby to witness this exchange.
“I’ve decided to accept your last offer,” Rory said, though he didn’t look all that pleased about it.
Dominic replied, “One hundred pounds?”
“Two hundred, wasn’t it?”
“Perhaps I recall one hundred fifty.”
“Done!” Rory quickly said, grinning now. “But I’ll be taking your coat to seal the bargain.” When Dominic just stared at him, Rory added, “It’s my only bleedin’ incentive, m’lord, so hand it over. Mum might think you’ll honor our deal, but I ain’t so trusting.”
Brooke was incredulous. Dominic shrugged out of his coat and handed it over.
It appeared that Matty had had a hand in gaining their release.
She’d thought the argument Dominic had overhead yesterday between Rory and his mother had been over Matty’s getting Rory to bring Dominic to Brooke’s hut, but maybe it had been about this instead.
She saw Matty and went over to her and gave her a brief but heartfelt hug. “Thank you. My fiancé will honor the bargain. You can count on us.”
“M’boy thinks I’m an old softy, but I’m just fond of young lovers. Reminds me of my younger years.” She gave Brooke a sharp look. “And I’m a good judge of character.”
Rory called out, “Do I get one of those hugs?”
“Are we having another row?” Dominic said succinctly, but that just got quite a few laughs.
At the roped horse pen, three mounts were already saddled and waiting.
“You’ll need to put these on.” Rory handed Dominic and Brooke each a blindfold.
“Axel will take your reins and lead you out of the woods. We really don’t want to build another camp this year, so you understand we don’t want you finding your way back to this one.
And here’s my cousin’s address.” Rory gave Dominic a slip of paper.
“Deliver the horses and the blunt to her. She don’t know where to find us, so don’t bother asking.
Mum didn’t want her involved in our business. ”
Dominic accepted all that with a nod and helped Brooke tie her blindfold and mount one of the horses before mounting the other and tying his own blindfold. “It’s actually been a pleasure,” Dominic said in parting. “Let’s just not do it again.”
Only Brooke, who felt a blush warming her cheeks, and maybe Matty, understood that first remark.
At first, it was slow going through the woods, but they moved more swiftly once they reached the road. A ways down it, Axel finally stopped, told them to remove their blindfolds, and handed over the reins, then disappeared through the woods along the road.
Dominic stared after him for a moment. “They’ll probably move that camp anyway. That lout was no more trusting than I am and really does think all he’s getting out of this is my damned coat.”
Brooke kept the grin to herself, inordinately pleased that they were free! “But his mother trusts me—and I told her she could trust you. Was I right?” she asked as he started them down the deserted road at a fast clip.
“I gave him my word,” he grumbled. Once their pace picked up to a gallop, she heard him snort quite derisively, “They call these fast horses?”