“I can assure you, pup, that I do not consort with females of your family’s ilk,” Grayson answered smoothly.
“Don’t take that high-stepping tone with me.You liked her well enough when you ruined her.Now it’s time to pay the piper.”
“And that is you, I assume?”Grayson said, inclining his head in a contemptuous fashion that made the boy flush.Strange little fellow.Grayson couldn’t help admiring his heroics, however misplaced, but he had no desire to take a bullet for the sake of them.
“Look here, I have no idea what you have heard about me, but I do not prey upon virgins of any stamp.Perhaps your sister is simply trying to protect herself—”
“My sister is not a liar!”the boy said, stepping forward angrily.
It was the move Grayson had been waiting for, and he lunged, taking the boy to the floor with the speed that had made him an excellent boxer.He wrested the gun away, but the youth fought like a hellion.
The young fellow managed to knock it from his hold, and it skidded away, where Grayson could not easily retrieve it.He had his hands full trying to subdue the body beneath him, which was kicking and flailing like a wild thing.
It was only when his groin came up against that of his opponent that Grayson began to suspect the truth.Startled, he looked down at the face below him.It was contorted in fear and rage and marked with dirt, but beneath the grime was a clear complexion, gently curved cheeks, thick, dark lashes, and eyes the color of amethysts.
What the devil?Thrusting a hand beneath the youth’s baggy coat, Grayson found his answer when his fingers closed over a small but perfectly formed breast.A female!
The stunning discovery distracted him just as the girl, taking exception to his groping, settled her teeth into his arm.She bit down hard enough that he released her with a curse.And then he was not quite sure what happened.He saw her reach for the pistol, but before she could even lift the weapon, it discharged.
Grayson felt the sharp, searing heat of metal ripping through his flesh, but he managed to surge shakily to a standing position and lurch toward the desk that held his own pistol.Having no intention of dying at the hands of this dangerous female, he knew he must not give her a chance to reload.
He needn’t have made the effort, for she leapt up and dropped the weapon as if it were suddenly distasteful.Facing him with an expression of horror on her delicate features, she cried, “You’ve been shot!”
It seemed that the pup had a grasp of the obvious.“Yes,” Grayson agreed, before crumpling to the floor at her feet.
Kate Courtland stared numbly at the prone body of the marquess.She had come here to scare him, maybe even to get some badly needed funds to support the child that her sister was carrying.But, angry as she was with the man, she had never intended to harm him.
Her first inclination was to flee from the terrible scene, but how could she leave him here like this, his tall, graceful form prostrate, his dark vitality quenched?Kneeling beside him, Kate saw the telltale red stain upon his coat and bit down on her knuckles to stifle a gasp.
What if he bled to death?The house was silent as a tomb, and she had no idea when the servants would return.
His tanned skin had gone pale, and Kate leaned over him, noting the lock of dark hair that had fallen over his forehead.His eyes were closed now, but she had seen them.They were clear and gray and fringed with dark lashes under elegant brows.His was a man’s face, with sharp planes and a strong jaw, but he was also beautiful, like an archangel fallen to earth.
Kate leaned back on her heels and swore under her breath.The man was injured, and she was admiring his looks.Yes, he was handsome and polished, yet every inch a male, with an underlying strength that spoke of steely determination.But these very attributes presumably were what had plunged Lucy into disgrace.
Kate shook her head.She had never thought to agree with her younger sister, but, apparently, they concurred on one thing.The Marquess of Wroth was as appealing as he was dangerous.
He presented no threat now, Kate thought, although the realization gave her no satisfaction.Whatever his sins, she could not leave the man to die.Bending over, she tried to lift his shoulders, but he was heavy.All muscle, she remembered with a blush, for she had felt the press of his body weighing her down during their struggle.
Pushing such thoughts aside, Kate continued her efforts.She had just managed to get him into a sitting position when she heard a low sound at the window.Whistling softly in answer, she soon saw the grizzled head of her coachman poking over the sill.
“I thought I heard a shot,” Tom said, and then his dark eyes grew wide.“Cor, Katie, what have you done now?”
“I put a bullet in him.”
Letting loose a stream of foul curses, Tom climbed through the opening.“Now you’ve done it!The likes of him ain’t worth a murder charge, or do you fancy a rope around your lovely little neck?”
Tom’s words froze Kate in the act of trying to get the marquess to his feet.She had never considered the repercussions should her carefully laid plans go awry, but they had, and the consequences were more serious than she ever could have imagined.She cringed to think what would happen to them all if she were caught here, dressed as she was, with the wounded marquess.
It was an accident.Kate knew she had never even touched the trigger, but who would believe her?She had snuck into the man’s home and threatened him.From the way Tom was glaring at her, it seemed even he had judged her guilty.
“I should never have agreed to this fool errand,” the coachman muttered.“Breaking in was bad enough, but did you have to kill him, too?”
Kate stilled the panic that threatened to cloud her thinking and shot a stern look at Tom.“He’s not dead, yet.Now help me get him to his feet”
“What for?Are you going to bury him in the garden?”
Kate ignored her coachman’s sarcasm.“No.We’re taking him with us.”
