Quarrels & Quills – by Olivia Huxley #6
She jolted at a familiar voice. “You really should be better at this game by now, Gus.”
The curtain was drawn aside to reveal Knox, a grin on his aggravatingly handsome face.
Knox wanted to laugh at the way Augusta’s eyes narrowed at him. She hated losing, but she’d had three favorite hiding places over the years, so it had been far too easy for him to find her.
He’d maneuvered the situation so that he was the first to go looking for Augusta, wanting an excuse to have time alone with her in a secluded place.
Although they’d been spending a fair amount of time with one another this week, it was nearly always with others, and he was tired of sharing her.
Even a minute or two of having her to himself was wonderful.
“Are you going to allow me inside?”
Her eyes flared wide at his insinuation. “Wh-what?”
“Inside the drapery. I’m supposed to join you in your hiding place.”
“I know how to play the game,” she snapped, sliding as far away from him as possible.
Knox held in a smile at her adorably irritated frown. “I apologize. I shouldn’t tease you, but it’s hard to break such a long-standing habit. Still, I will try to refrain.”
Her gaze flitted to him and away again before she sighed. “And I ought not allow you to rile me so easily.”
“Why do you react so strongly when I tease?” She responded to others by teasing in return, but rarely to him in such a way.
“Long-standing habit,” she said with a grin.
Fondness flooded through him. “I suppose I thought of you like a younger sister for so long that I’ve continued to do so, even though you’re quite obviously a grown woman. A capable, clever, beautiful woman, if I may add.”
Her lips parted on a gasp. He wanted to brush his thumb across her plump lower lip, or nip it with his teeth. He moved closer and she turned to face him more directly. His heart thumped riotously as he cupped her cheek. Her pupils dilated and the tip of her tongue darted out to moisten her lips.
He pulled her close, his head dipping to take her mouth with his own. Before their lips could meet, Knox became aware of sounds beyond the drapery.
Someone else was in the room.
He blew out a frustrated sigh and dropped his hands, stepping back to put space between them—and not a moment too soon. The drape was whipped back, Viscount Kingston standing on the other side, wearing a triumphant smile.
“Aha!”
Knox wanted to throttle the viscount, but he was only playing the game.
He turned to Augusta and was gratified to see her matching look of disappointment. Perhaps it was time to bring their other game to an end.
Augusta turned over in her bed again, struggling to find a comfortable enough position to fall asleep. No matter which way she moved, her body remained tense and her mind continued to whirl. Was tonight the night that Knox would reveal himself?
It must be very late. The sounds of the household gradually died down in the previous hours and she was sure that everyone else must be asleep by now, excepting perhaps the footman on duty by the front door. Even he had likely nodded off where he sat.
Augusta sat up, donning her slippers and pulling on her wrapper. She opened her door a crack and peered out.
Seeing no one, she darted down the hall, walking as quickly as she could. She did not know why she was sneaking about when this was her home and she had every right to walk around, even late at night. Something within her called for covertness, so she heeded the impulse.
At the foot of the main stairs, she glanced over at the footman, who was indeed dozing, before veering towards the library.
Her heart pounded as she took hold of the door handle.
Turning it, she went in, her breath catching when she spotted Knox standing behind the desk on the other side of the room.
For several hours, Knox had been struggling to put his thoughts on paper. Every time he dipped the quill pen in hope of inspiration striking, his brain refused to cooperate.
He scrubbed a hand over his face, his fingers scraping the stubble on his jaw as he blew out a frustrated breath. At the sound of the library door opening, he shot to his feet so quickly he almost toppled his chair.
Standing in the doorway, her eyes round and her lovely pink lips parted in surprise, was the woman who had been on his mind constantly for the past six days. He barely heard her quiet words.
“It’s you.”
Swallowing past the lump in his throat, he moved out from behind the desk. “It’s me. Were you expecting someone else?”
She shook her head slowly. “No, I—I wasn’t expecting anyone to be here at all.”
Disappointment flooded him. She hadn’t been looking for him, but for solitude. “I can leave if you wish to be alone.”
She looked at him keenly. “Why are you here?”
Knox glanced at the blank sheet of parchment. Inhaling deeply and breathing out, he turned back to Augusta. “I was attempting to answer your letter, but I couldn’t decide what to write.”
Augusta drew closer. “So you were the one writing back to me.”
“Did you not already know?”
“I’d hoped so. It was difficult for me to believe it could be true.”
“Why?” He took a step towards her.
Her brows drew together. “Because you’ve always treated me in such a brotherly fashion. No matter what I’ve done to try to make you realize I was a grown woman, you were oblivious to it.”
“I assure you, sweet Augusta, that I’ve been far from oblivious.” Knox smiled at her, hope building. “It didn’t feel right to let myself think of you that way, so I told myself you were off limits.
“Visit after visit, I’d see how you were becoming cleverer, kinder, more beautiful. And each time I’d remind myself that you’re George’s sister.
“What if I pursued you and you didn’t want me, or George disapproved? I feared I might lose both friendships.”
Augusta eyed him cautiously. “What’s different now?”
“Spending so much time with you this week made me realize how devastated I would be if you married another. If I didn’t take action, you could be lost to me forever, and that I could not bear.”
She narrowed her eyes. “What about George?”
Knox chuckled. “I evidently was quite inept at hiding my growing feelings for you. George saw right through me. Fortunately, he gave me his blessing.
“Even if he hadn’t, I would still want to confess my feelings to you. If you returned my sentiments, we would win him over, together.”
A mischievous smile tugged at her lips. “Are you going to actually confess them?”
He was taken aback for a moment. “Did I not do so already?”
She shook her head. “You said I’m beautiful, clever, and kind, but nothing about how you feel.”
Blast it, she was right. “Very well. Let me be completely clear.”
He took her hands gently into his, his stomach tumbling at the feel of her soft skin.
“I’m hopelessly, ridiculously in love with you.
If you’ll permit me to court you, I’ll show you who I am when I’m not striving to keep myself from loving you.
I beg you to let me prove I can be a man worthy of you. ”
Her cheeks were flushed and her eyes shone. “I’ve been in love with you for years, Knox. I tried to get over it, thinking it was a girlhood infatuation and that I’d feel the same for someone else in time. I couldn’t do it. It’s always been you.”
She smiled up at him. “I’d quite like to know how it feels to be courted by Knox St. Claire.”
He was flooded with relief, along with gratitude that she was willing to give him a chance and trust him with her future. He drew her hands to his chest, placing her palms over his thumping heart.
“Perhaps we could…seal our agreement with a kiss?” he suggested. To his immense pleasure, Augusta nodded shyly, her fingers curling against him as she pressed closer.
He cupped her face, his thumbs stroking over the satiny skin of her prettily flushed cheeks. Lowering his head, he paused for a moment with their lips a breath apart before closing the gap, kissing her as he’d longed desired.
She kissed him back with a sweet enthusiasm that made his blood heat and his body long for more. He slid one arm around her waist and pulled her to him more firmly. When she gasped, he teased her mouth with his tongue.
Augusta moved her hands up to clasp around his neck as her lush curves melted into him. It was a herculean task to stop the kiss several moments later and set her away from him.
When she whimpered in protest, he held up his hands beseechingly. “Please, love. If we don’t stop now, it will be much harder to do so. And although I’d be willing to take you to Gretna Green should the need arise, you deserve that courtship I promised you.”
She huffed out a sigh. “I suppose we should go to bed now?”
Knox closed his eyes, willing himself strength. “Yes, off to bed, in our respective chambers, and tomorrow begins our courtship.”
He drew her hand around his arm and escorted her upstairs to where the family bedchambers were located.
With great effort, he stopped at the beginning of the hallway, knowing the temptation would be too great right outside her door.
He couldn’t resist a brief kiss, his mouth lingering before he stepped back, watching as she went to her room and, with an endearing wave, disappeared behind the door.
With a quiet whistle, he meandered his way back to his own room, his steps lighter than they’d been in years.
Down the hall from Augusta, a door clicked softly closed. Mrs. Woodbury turned triumphantly to her husband.
“Finally! It only took an elaborate house party to bring those two together.”
Mr. Woodbury glanced at her over the pages of the novel he was reading while his wife kept vigil at the door. “Are you now satisfied your machinations have borne the intended fruit, dearest?”
She smiled smugly. “I knew they would, my love. It was simply a matter of time. And a little push from me.”
“Does this mean you’re ready to retire at last?”
“It does. Thank you for waiting up with me, love. You know, I find myself in need of some kind of…vigorous activity before I sleep.” She sailed past his chair, chuckling when she heard his novel slam shut before he dropped it onto the nearby table.
“Might I be of service in that endeavor?” he asked, his voice close behind her now.
“I believe you might,” she answered, finishing on a shriek as her husband picked her up, carrying her to their bed and dropping her on it. As fit in his fifties as he’d been nearly three decades earlier, he pounced on her to the sound of her laughter.
His nighttime scruff tickled her neck, making her giggle like a girl as he kissed along the length of it. “I am yours to command, dearest.”
Olivia Huxley is a native Californian who earned a Bachelor’s degree in Communications and promptly did nothing with it. She likes to think it’s now coming in handy in her writing career.
She grew up thinking author sounded like an amazing job but that she didn’t have the ability to spin stories. Instead, she worked in Marketing, Sales, and Human Resources until leaving the workforce to stay home with her young children.
Years later, after reading (and loving) hundreds of historical romance novels, the desire to tell the stories she was creating in her head was too overwhelming to ignore, as were the plot bunnies and scenes that began to pop into her brain, demanding to be written.
Now her dream of becoming an author has come true, with short stories published so far but several novels in progress. She has far too many ideas to stop telling stories now that she’s finally started.
Olivia lives with her husband, two nearly grown children, and three cats in southern California.