Chapter 19
CHAPTER NINETEEN
“Does the Duke of Wynter know you have changed your plans, Your Grace?” Geoff whispered to Laurence.
He did not answer. Did not move. All he could do was stare at the beauty in emerald green walking down the stairs toward him.
Yearning blasted through him at once. He’d been busy the last week—traveling between London and Wynter to help Solomon find more clues about Benedict’s involvement in the auction.
Through the days, his head was solely on the need to bring Benedict down.
At night, though, when the dark was quiet and he was alone, his mind wandered back to Ellen.
The feel of her in his lap. The sound of her whimpers and moans.
The taste of her lips. It all came pouring back to him, rendering him so full of need that it was only by using his own hands that he could relax enough to sleep.
He’d missed her. He wasn’t supposed to, but he had.
Ellen’s smile was breathtaking as her blue eyes landed on him, and his heart swelled as she saw gratitude rushing into her gaze.
“You came,” she breathed as she and Madalene reached the bottom of the stairs.
I…um…I mean, we…” Laurence rasped out. He dragged his gaze down her figure again, his body responding to every pronounced curve. He swallowed. Words. He needed words.
His gaze shot back up to her face, as if not looking at her delicious figure would bring them forth. He still struggled.
“Brother,” Madalene’s tone had an annoyed edge to it as she said the single word, but it was enough to snap him out of his reverie.
“Solomon and I decided that it would be best that you and I arrive as a couple,” he all but blurted out. “We thought if Benedict saw us together it would heighten his rage and make him more inclined to speak less carefully.”
A glimmer of disappointment passed through Ellen’s eyes, but her smile remained as she nodded. Madalene, however, looked at him coldly as she blandly said, “How romantic.”
Laurence turned to his sister, giving her a silent warning to watch herself.
“You both look lovely. Shall we go?” Laurence asked, waving a hand toward the front door. “Solomon is meeting us there.”
“He’d better be,” Madalene scoffed as she tugged Ellen along with her. “If Ellen gets to be escorted in, then so do I. I certainly am not about to walk into the ball alone since you are stealing my sister away from me.”
Despite his annoyance, Laurence smirked and followed closely behind the two women.
In the carriage, Ellen and Madalene sat together on one side, their arms firmly interlocked and giving him no other option than to take the vacant seat on the opposite side.
His gaze landed on the way the two women’s arms stayed wrapped around another’s, and he was startled by the overwhelming urge to pull Ellen out of his sister’s embrace and perch her atop his lap.
He clenched his fists at his sides to stop himself, and forced his gaze to the window as they made the silent trip to London.
“There you are,” Solomon said, his tone full of annoyance as they found him waiting outside the Bloomington estate. “I keep telling you to move into your London house until this business is over.”
Laurence smirked as he stepped out of the carriage.
“I will if you will, old friend,” he retorted. Solomon sneered. He enjoyed living in London about as much as Laurence did.
“We are not that late,” Laurence said, turning his attention to the carriage. “Besides, these lovely ladies are owed their time in preparation.”
Laurence held his hand out, and a spark of desire flooded his veins as Ellen slipped her gloved hand delicately into his. She gave Solomon a bashful smile as Laurence helped her down from the carriage, and Laurence could not help but feel pleased by how embarrassed his friend suddenly looked.
“We apologize if we kept you waiting,” she said kindly, curtsying toward Solomon.
Solomon quickly ceased his gaping and answered first with a charming smile.
“Do not be ridiculous, Your Grace,” Solomon replied as he bowed his head. “A lady is always worth waiting for. Hello again. Do you remember me?”
A strange, powerful, foreign shot of jealousy speared Laurence’s heart as he watched his friend go from impatient to insufferably gentle with his wife.
Mine, a feral voice snarled from within.
“I do. It is lovely to see you again, Your Grace,” Ellen replied politely, offering him another curtsy. “And please, call me Ellen.”
“Well then, you must call me Solomon, please,” he urged. “We are friends now, after all.”
A biting retort teased at Laurence’s tongue, but before he could hurl it, Madalene’s voice, clear and full of annoyance, came from within the carriage.
“Are you going to help your other friend?” she called, poking her head out to glare at Solomon. “Or am I going to have to climb out of this thing all by myself?”
Laurence watched as Ellen pressed her lips tightly together to stifle a laugh. He, however, was not so kind, and chuckled deviously as he gently put his free hand to her lower back and guided her to step to the side.
“I will always help you, Madalene,” Solomon quipped as he held out a hand to her. “Out of a carriage. Into a party. Over a cliff.”
As if her laughter was too much to stifle, Ellen let out a snort, surprising them all. An adorable blush stole up her cheeks as she quickly covered her mouth, but her shaking shoulders gave her away.
Christ, could she be any more adorable?
“He is teasing,” Madalene stated, her tone clipped as she took Solomon’s hand.
“Am I?” he mused.
In answer, Madalene lifted his hand up, and with a quickness, pinched him under his arm.
“Devil woman,” Solomon hissed as he jumped back.
“Big baby,” Madalene shot back through her wide, satisfied grin.
“Are they always like this?” Ellen asked Laurence as Solomon and Madalene began to bicker.
“We all have a…deep love for another,” Laurence explained, his eyes darting from his wife to his best friend and sister. “Sometimes that love comes out in a variety of ways. Do not worry though; they would never cause any actual harm.”
“It must be so nice,” Ellen sighed, “to have something like that.”
Laurence’s gaze was kind as he gently pressed his hand into her lower back, a silent urge to start walking with him toward the party.
“You have something like that now,” he assured her.
She glanced up at him, as if unsure that was true.
“Even if our marriage was one of convenience, you are family now. One of us. And there is nothing that can take you away from that,” he promised her.
Ellen’s smile made his heart throb, but even so, a sliver of sadness moved through his enlarged organ as he saw a tinge of doubt in her eyes. Perhaps it was not enough to tell her such things. Perhaps he had to show her. He just had to figure out how.
“There he is,” Solomon said, his deep voice quiet as his gaze darted toward the stairs.
Laurence followed his friend’s gaze, looking over the sea of elegantly dressed guests and up the stairs, where, sure enough, he saw Benedict.
He was leaning casually against the banister of the landing halfway up the wide staircase, talking with a strikingly familiar man, even though Laurence could not quite place his face.
Then, suddenly, it hit him. Laurence didn’t know the man’s face because he had been wearing a mask. He did, however, recognize the man’s rotund figure because he was one of the men who had tried to win Ellen’s bid.
Rage poured through Laurence’s veins, tightening every muscle.
“Ouch,” Ellen softly gasped.
Laurence tore his gaze from Benedict only to look down at Ellen.
Her beautiful face was clouded with a hint of pain, and it was only then that he realized that not only did he still have his hand on her, but that it had drifted down to her backside and was currently holding it with an iron grip.
At once he released her, and could not help but smooth his palm down the soft flesh beneath her skirts, hoping to soothe the pain away.
“My deepest apologies,” he offered, embarrassment making the tips of his ears feel hot. “I swear I did not—are you alright?”
A beautiful pink flush filled Ellen’s cheeks as she looked up at him and offered him a small smile.
“I shall survive,” she replied.
He returned her small smile, hoping that his apology was apparent in his gaze.
“I do not believe he has seen Ellen yet,” Solomon said. “This would be a good chance to throw him off guard. Plus, Madalene is off over there chatting with friends. She’s distracted and will not pull our concentration.”
His voice had Laurence and Ellen both quickly turning back to him, as if they’d both forgotten that not only was he there, but that they were in a very public place. Realizing that his hand was still stroking her bruised bottom, Laurence quickly pulled away and gripped his wrists behind his back.
“Right now?” Ellen asked, her tone hesitant as she glanced toward her cousin.
“The only time we have is the present,” Solomon gently insisted. “We do not know how long he’s already been here. Or how long he’s planning to stay. This could be our only chance.”
Laurence shifted his gaze down to Ellen once more, and his heart slammed into his ribs as he saw the apparent fear in her wide eyes.
“I do not know.” The words were out of his mouth before he had time to even realize he was speaking. “Perhaps this is not the best idea.”
Solomon’s brows furrowed as he looked at Laurence as if he had lost his mind.
“This was your idea,” Solomon insisted. “All of ours, remember? Ellen’s too.”
Solomon’s gaze shifted to Ellen.
“You still want to stop your cousin, do you not?” he asked.
“Solomon,” Laurence snarled quietly under his breath.
Solomon was not looking at him, though. His steadfast gaze was on Ellen, waiting for her answer.
Ellen swallowed, her throat bobbing as she reached up to her bodice and plucked a kerchief from, to Laurence’s surprise, her cleavage. A kerchief, he noticed at once with a startling amount of pleasure, that was his.
She pressed it to her nose, inhaled, and the fear in her eyes transformed into determination.
“I do,” she said, her tone assertive as she lowered the kerchief from her face. “You are right. Now is the time. We cannot waste the opportunity.”
Pride speared through Laurence’s chest as he heard the determination in her voice, and he could not help the devilish grin that spread across his lips as she clenched his kerchief into her fist.
“Go get him,” he whispered encouragingly into her ear. “We will be close by if you need us. We will not let you out of our sight.”
Appreciation shone in her eyes as she looked up at him and gave a determined nod. She squared her shoulders and walked with grace toward the stairs.
Laurence watched closely, taking in her straight back and clenched fists as he held his breath.
“What is going on?” Solomon murmured.
Laurence said nothing as he watched Benedict’s eyes first widen, then narrow as he saw Ellen approaching him.
He stopped talking to the rotund fellow and set his eyes fully on Ellen.
The possessiveness that gleamed in the earl’s eyes had Laurence clenching his own fists, and his stomach tightened in knots.
“Laurence!” Solomon snarled quietly, elbowing him.
“What?” Laurence hissed through gritted teeth, unable to take his eyes off of his wife and her cousin.
“I ask again, what is going on?” Solomon demanded.
Laurence sucked his teeth.
“What are you talking about?” he muttered, growing annoyed with the distraction.
“This was our plan. From the start, this was our plan, and now that we are finally able to use her, you almost let her back out?” Solomon questioned.
His friend’s quiet voice was filled with rage, but even so, Laurence did not take his eyes off Ellen.
“Something is going on between you two,” Solomon went on when Laurence did not answer. “Something more than just a deal.”
It was a second, just a mere second, that he flicked a warning glare toward Solomon before his gaze found Ellen again.
“You are being paranoid,” he gritted out. “All is well.”
Solomon scoffed at his side.
“You might believe that. Ellen might believe that. But I do not. Rein in your passions, friend,” Solomon warned. “Or it will be you who will be choked tonight.”