Chapter 5
“Don’t you threaten me!” Skylar cried out. It was all that she could do. In a second, he’d have her so intimidated that she’d be pleading like an idiot for mercy when there seemed to be no reason within this man whatsoever.
She ducked beneath his arms and managed to slide from the side of the bed, rise, and stare back at him. There was a wry smile slightly twisting his lips.
“Oh, Lady Douglas. I intend to do much more than threaten.”
Yet when he finished with those words, he made no move toward her.
He stood as well, staring at her from across the bed and continuing, “I suggest you use some good sense after I leave and do not try to find your way out of here before I get back. You’ll be safe enough as long as you stay here. Inside.”
“You’re—leaving?” she said, both stunned and hopeful.
“But I’ll be back.”
“Why? Where are you going?”
He arched a brow. “My business is none of your concern.”
“But you’ve dragged me here. You’ve abducted me—”
“Do you claim this license to be valid?”
“Yes, but—”
“Then you’ve just been welcomed to your new home by your lawfully wedded husband.”
“Really? And what of the stagecoach driver?”
“Old Sam?”
“Mr. Haggerty.”
“I assume Mr. Haggerty has driven the stagecoach along on schedule back to Riley’s.”
“You—ass!” she hissed.
His eyes narrowed. “Well, ma’am, it’s just not that often that I hear a complete stranger introducing herself to others as Lady Douglas while she announces she’s on her way to take over my property.”
“You might have introduced yourself and asked a few questions.”
“The fact that my father apparently met you and died soon thereafter certainly influenced my choice of behavior. Let me warn you again. There are all manner of wild creatures outside. Bears, wolves—hostile Indians.”
“You can’t imagine that you can just leave me here and expect that I’ll stay put—”
“Oh, but I do imagine.”
“I want to go—”
“To Mayfair? You were on your way to the estate, right?”
“At the moment I simply want to return to civilization!”
“There is no real ‘civilization’ here, Lady Douglas.”
“Civilization could simply be where you are not!” Skylar flared.
He offered her one of his mocking smiles.
“You were on your way to Lord Douglas’s property.
You are on Douglas property. This hunting lodge is mine.
Since I will not be here for a while, you may consider yourself in civilization—and at the end of your journey.
Enjoy civilization—as I’ve said, I’ll be back. ”
She stood where she was, staring at him with her jaw locked until he drew more clothing from the trunk at the foot of the bed.
She burned with a raw fury unlike anything she had known before.
He’d made a fool out of her. He didn’t know her, didn’t know anything about her or what had happened, and he’d labeled her an adventuress—and worse.
A murderess. He’d faked a savage attack on her.
He’d taken it as far as he possibly might have gone.
She hated him. Loathed him. Wanted to shoot an arrow between his eyes and take up scalping herself.
Not glancing her way, heedless that she remained in the robe, he shed his own robe and donned buckskin trousers. She felt her cheeks go afire, and she quickly turned away, her shoulders squared. She tried very hard to control her seething temper. “How long am I to wait here?”
“Until I find out from an attorney if this marriage license is legal.”
“Oh, it is legal,” she grated, keeping her back turned to him. “But—”
“We’ll see what is and isn’t legal. There’s food here. You’ve the coffee—and the whiskey. I’ll call Wolf to watch over you—”
“Wolf? Another of your cohorts in the stagecoach holdup?” she demanded, swinging around to look at him again.
He was in dark buckskin trousers, high black boots, and a fringed buckskin shirt.
His hair was plaited back. He was extremely tall and well built, striking in his appearance, and still entirely forbidding.
He might have appeared white, except…that he didn’t.
There was something far too savage remaining in the glint of his stare upon her.
“Wolf is my dog. And yes, he is part wolf, thus the name. He’ll protect you—or chew you to ribbons if you choose to leave the lodge.
Perhaps you should get some sleep. I’ll be back tomorrow before evening.
” He turned, about to leave her. “Do make yourself at home. As I’ve said, it is Douglas property that you’re on now. ”
“Wait—” she began, but he was gone. The door was closed behind him. She clutched the robe to her, biting into her lower lip, and raced after him, ready to throw open the door.
But she heard him say, “Good boy, stay! Keep an eye on her, now. She’s dangerous!” Then excited barking. She stepped back. It didn’t seem prudent to open the door.
She leaned against the door, staring straight ahead, seeing nothing. She started shaking again.
She wasn’t going to be murdered and scalped by an Indian. At least she didn’t think so. He had a horrible temper and didn’t seem to be afraid of the consequences for any of his actions, but he wasn’t a complete savage.
She sank down against the door, shaking her head. She’d never meant to trick anyone. She hadn’t married Lord Douglas for gain.
Apparently, she hadn’t married the man she’d met at all. She’d married his son.
The trick had been on her.
She buried her face in her hands, trembling, then stared up at the ceiling, as if she could see God.
“Why?” she whispered, glad that the green-eyed savage wasn’t around to hear the whimpering sound of her voice. She didn’t deserve this.
She’d married to escape.
What in God’s name was she going to do now? What kind of cruel hoax had they all played upon one another? Just when she had thought that life had finally given her a way…
She shouldn’t have done it.
She had never meant any harm. Pike’s place had always been her escape.
It was a small inn, but it had been in business since Revolutionary times, established by Pike’s great-grandfather.
The present Pike had been her father’s very good friend.
A number of Baltimore matrons and their daughters came to Pike’s for an occasional luncheon, and since it was considered such a respectable establishment, she’s had little trouble claiming to her mother that she went to Pike’s to meet friends.
Lord Douglas had been a visitor over the years—it was quite the fashionable place for wealthy out-of-towners to frequent as well.
Pike had pointed him out to her before as an eccentric Englishman living on the frontier who came east on occasion to see to his banking concerns.
She had spoken with him politely in the past. But this time she had been there when he had so nearly collapsed.
She had been the one to catch him, to insist on calling the doctor.
And she would never forget the way that he had told her after he’d seen the doctor that there was little that could be done for him. But it was their secret, please.
He’d been so gentle, kind, dignified, fascinating.
She’d realized she was the only one in the world who was aware of how ill he had become.
She’d begun to open up to him in turn, telling him things she had never told anyone before.
In a matter of days, she’d felt as if he’d been her best friend all of her life.
He’d understood the gravity of her situation, the trickiness of it, and had suggested that she come with him.
But she couldn’t just leave. She didn’t dare.
Then had come the night when she hadn’t dared go home.
And he had offered her a way out. She had needed the help so badly…
Skylar leaped to her feet and began pacing the floor.
An annulment. She had to get an annulment. If she really was wed to this hateful creature.
She would just go back. Go back east.
Was she insane? She couldn’t go back!
That thought racked her over and over again. No, she couldn’t go back. And she hadn’t married for gain, but she did need money. Desperately.
The fire was dying in the hearth. The cabin was darkening. It was probably very late. She was alone in the wilderness with nothing but a wretched, bloodthirsty dog nearby. She hoped. There could be worse creatures of the night beyond the door…
She couldn’t be afraid, she told herself. Thankfully, she was too exhausted to feel much of anything.
She sat on the bed, then stretched out upon it. The thought remained with her, growing duller and duller. She couldn’t go back.
So what did she do now?
She laid her head on the pillow.
What if he didn’t come back? Who would die first, her or the wolf-dog?
She felt like laughing again. She was so tired. She closed her eyes and felt herself dozing. It felt good. So good. Her body eased down more comfortably into the mattress. And her sleep deepened.
Gold Town, a small mining settlement that had grown up quickly in the last few years since gold had been discovered in the Black Hills, was rustic—and prosperous.
Henry Pierpont did a decent enough business to keep a large office on Main Street, fully furnished from the East with handsome leather chairs and sofas and cherrywood bookcases.
He had a secretary, Jim Higgins, a young man who’d originally come for the gold, then turned in his miner’s equipment for pen and ink.
The moment Hawk burst into the law office, Jim was on his feet.
“Hawk. Er, Lord Douglas. Henry’s been expecting you, Lord Douglas. ”
Hawk nodded, heading toward the inner office. He paused. “Jim.”
“Yes, sir, Lord Douglas.”
“My father was born in England. Lord Douglas suited him, don’t you think? Hawk suits me.”
Jim flashed him a weak smile. “Yeah, thanks. It’s much more comfortable.”