Chapter 14 #2
Emma’s delicate face turned to stone. “You did what?”
“You and I need to talk,” he repeated, ignoring the eyes that skimmed over him and the lady glaring death and damnation at him. “And this time, I will not be taking no for an answer.”
Incensed, she stepped closer. “Will you stop meddling with my life?”
“No,” he said simply, nodding to his men, who began to unfurl the sails and throw the mooring line off. “Not until you listen to me.”
Her head whipped to the left and right while the reality of her situation dawned on her. “You’re—you’re abducting me?”
“We are going to the same place the others are,” he clarified. “Only, we have some privacy.”
Emma threw her hands up in irritation. “You are unbelievable. I will scream, you know. I will throw myself off this boat before I let you kidnap—”
His mouth cut off any lingering arguments, and instantly, she strained against his arms that were gripping her waist, and she could not get away from the relentless kiss.
The second his lips met hers, troubling sensations surged up her spine.
It was sinful… scintillating, and utterly scandalous—they were in plain view!
She wrenched her head away at last. “Are you trying to make me ineligible for marriage?”
“No one is near us,” he smirked. “See for yourself.”
Peering over his shoulder, Emma spotted the boat heading to the isle far behind them, and she sighed with relief. Pushing away, she said, “I suppose I have no choice but to hear your slapdash explanation then.”
Offering a chivalrous hand, Emma’s light touch seared up his skin, and when she glanced up, her penetrating eyes held his as he guided her to her seat inside the lone cabin. He noticed how her eyes shifted around nervously, latching to the bed, the windows, and back to the door.
“Rest your uneasy heart. I shan’t be ravishing you today—unless you desire it of course.”
She fixed her furious gaze on him. “Just tell me what you need to.”
“Needs must.” He flopped back his head. “Right. Over a decade ago, some men came to my father with a business proposal. One that, on the outset, seemed a viable offer, though no one could have anticipated the true outcome at the time.”
As she sat, Vincent crossed the room to the table bolted to the floor, and leaning on it, he braced his hand on the jutting edge.
Emma’s expression softened a touch. “What was the venture?”
“Shipping from the east,” Vincent admitted. “At that time, I was off to Cambridge, and father was battling with my brother’s illness, and those blackguards came in at the worst time, or well, for them, the most opportune.”
He saw the moment the realization dawned on her, and her face fell. “How much did they swindle your father for?”
“Hundreds of thousands,” he breathed. “Every other moment, they would come back to him, saying they had some hiccup, or the vessel was not ready and needed this or that. They had a man on the inside too. My father was guileless, na?ve; he believed in the good nature of people. Like a fool, he kept giving and giving and giving until he found he could no longer pay for Benjamin’s care.
My brother died alone while I was still at Cambridge. ”
The silence that followed was not comfortable.
“I know what you want to say,” Vincent said, before she could.
“That it does not excuse what I did to your family. And you would be right.” He rubbed his face with both hands.
“I was furious at my father for his blindness, furious at myself for not coming home sooner, and half mad with grief over Benjamin. I was young and rash and I wanted someone to pay for it. Your father had his name on a list. That was enough for me at the time.” He dropped his hands and looked at her directly. “It should not have been.”
Emma said nothing for a long moment. When she did speak, her voice was careful and measured, as though she was deciding each word before she let it go.
“I want to hate you for it,” she said at last. “Part of me still does.” A pause. “But I understand the grief that makes a person rash. I do not forgive you. Not yet… But I will try to understand.”
Those final words loosened the knot in his chest, “Thank you.”
“For what? I did not forgive you.”
“For believing me,” he managed at last.
“It was still unfair, though,” Emma murmured. “And I still feel hurt that you didn’t find that out until I had sewn you up.”
“I know. And I’m sorry for it.” Shifting to uncross his legs, Vincent said, “I have a plan for that as well. I would like you to be my companion for the rest of the season.”
Emma’s delicate mouth dropped open. “I b-beg your pardon? A companion?”
“Yes.”
“Absolutely not!” Emma shook her head wildly. “I am being courted by Lord Ashton. I cannot possibly do what you ask.”
“It’s only a ruse,” Vincent clarified. “It will be beneficial for us both; I can repay you without having to sneak around, and you can be my buffer from all the marriage-minded mamas and their daughters.”
“It is just not possible,” she reiterated.
“Isn’t it?” Vincent’s long legs ate the space between them with just three strides. Taking a seat across from her, he dropped his elbows to his knees and leaned in. “Look me in my eyes and tell me you’d not prefer me over him.”
Brazenly, she stared at him. “I do not.” He cocked a brow, and she pinked while crossing her arms. “Well, I don’t.”
“You’re a stubborn one, aren’t you?” he chided.
“I am,” Emma replied, then asked, “Is it even usual for a gentleman to keep a… paid companion?”
“I am an unusual man,” he smirked, almost smiling at the way she pinked more. “Besides, no one will know except you and me.”
“Lord Ashton will know, and I cannot—I cannot jump from one lord to another!” she argued. “I am not a lightskirt. Even worse, every lady who has wished brimstone and sulfur upon my head because I caught the eye of one of the most eligible bachelors of this season will outright despise me now.”
“What if I speak with Windham for you?” Vincent asked.
“Have you lost your godforsaken mind?” Emma demanded.
“You want to tell him yourself then?”
“I have not agreed to your suggestion at all,” she reminded him pointedly. “Have you forgotten? I still haven’t forgiven you, and I still do not like you.”
Considering how rigidly she sat and how doggedly she was avoiding his eyes now, Vincent considered that there was more to her abject refusal.
“What do I have to do to change your mind?”
“Absolutely nothing,” Emma rose and made her way to the bow of the ship, and Vincent followed her like a lost pup.
They were nearing the dock for the island, and he shot a look over his shoulder, judging where the next boat was. It was far enough that he believed they had just enough privacy.
“Emma, I just—” He reached for her arm, but she spun to him before he could touch her, and the words died on his lips. Why was she looking so wild-eyed, and why were her breasts heaving so—
Her lips clashed into his, and stunned, Vincent took a second too long to respond, and his arm circled her midriff, damn near hauling her onto his chest. He ran his tongue along the seam of her bottom lip, surprised when she opened for him and he eagerly dipped his tongue in.
Emma’s tongue surged to meet his lapping caress, and when he cupped his jaw and slanted her mouth over his, the kiss caught fire. A growl rose in his throat, and then he was kissing her again.
He held her steady as he plundered her mouth, not tempering his hard, demanding kiss… yet she didn’t push him away. Her fingernails grazed gently against the rigid muscles of his chest, and the beast in him reared in startled delight.
As quickly as she had kissed him—she was gone.
“I—I can’t do this…” she backed away, pure unfiltered regret in her eyes.
It stung.
Was my kiss so repulsive?
“Emma—”
She flung her hands up. “Stay—stay away—” she was staggering dangerously close to the railing of the ship’s bow.
Fear raced up his spine. “You’re too close to the—” The back of her calves hit the railing, and Vincent lurched forward, the instinct to protect her from danger searing through his blood.
It happened in the blink of an eye—she was teetering on her heels, he was two feet away from her—and then she vanished overboard.
He raced to the edge in time to see her disappear under the waves. “Damnation!”
Shucking his jacket and kicking off his boots, Vincent dove headfirst into the water.