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The marquis laughed briefly and with Percy at his back hurried down the stairs to the companionway below.
The marquis kicked in the door, and then he and Percy stood a moment in astonishment. A man in a turban was curled up in a corner with his hands out as though to ward off a blow. Tom Wheeler was neatly trussed up and gagged, as was Bianca.
Sassy stood glaring at them, her cheek red and bruised from the slap she had received, her gown torn, but her spirits high. She turned and eyed both Percy and the marquis. “Be careful, or you shall find yourselves in the same predicament!” she announced fiercely.
The marquis and Percy exchanged glances before they burst out laughing. The marquis was so overtaken with relief that he bent over his knees and laughed some more.
~ Twenty-three ~
AT LENGTH, and after saying he had brought the authorities, the marquis was allowed to approach Sassy. He touched her bruised cheek gently and said, “My love, they have hurt you.” He looked towards Wheeler, and his voice was a harsh sound. “I will cut out their hearts for this.”
“No. You have hurt me—how could you have thought such a thing of me?”
He silenced her by scooping her into his arms and whispering, “Don’t you see? Did you not do the same?”
He didn’t wait for an answer as his kisses covered her face, her eyes, her ears, and finally her mouth.
Percy cleared his throat as loudly as he could. When the marquis finally looked his way, Percy gestured with his head and eyes at the yeoman who had already started gathering the men involved, including the captain, and taking them above.
Mr. Dobbs arrived on the scene and saw to it that Wheeler, Abdul, and even Bianca were put in chains and carted off. The captain was detained for further questioning.
“I don’t understand,” Sassy said to the marquis after she was allowed to catch her breath.
“I know, my sweet love. I gave you rather a difficult time back at my lodgings. I am a cad and can only hope you will forgive me. You see, I am a member of the Select Committee in Parliament. Word came to us through various sources that Bristol was being used as a white slave port. Nothing was done at first, until Colonel Saunders, a personal friend of mine, came to me about his daughter. She was a tutor at Netherby and went missing. Apparently, she’d stumbled upon the business they were conducting at Netherby. She told him only briefly that matters were grave, illegal, and immoral, and then she vanished.”
“Oh, Justin, she is dead. I heard them speak about her and Beth. They sold Beth to the awful turbaned man for his emir, and they said she was dead,” Sassy cried.
“Yes, I know, but they didn’t kill her. She killed herself when they sent her to Tangiers. We received her locket and an anonymous letter from someone she had befriended there.”
“And James Bankes, he was a part of it all, wasn’t he?”
“He has temporarily escaped capture, but we believe we will find him. Now, let me get you away from here. I will have to take you back to Netherby temporarily.”
“Yes, of course. What of the other teachers? I don’t think they really knew what was going on.”
“No, we have no reason to believe that they were involved in any way, but they must have turned a blind eye.” He sighed.
“The girls will need me until Lady Devine can find a replacement for Sallstone. And I think I can manage that job.”
“I am afraid you cannot. You will be busy with quite another as the Lady of Dartmour, if you will do me the honor of marrying me.”
“I am a white witch,” she said ominously. “Is that what you want?”
“I am a warlock with powers that sometimes border on the Dark. Will you still take me as your husband?”
It did not take an incantation or magic ring to predict her answer.
~ Epilogue ~
HE STOOD NAKED with his manhood swollen with need as it throbbed and danced before her openly lustful gaze.
She spread her hands over the silken gray sheets and pulled them off herself to display her own nakedness to him.
“Sassy … I can’t get enough … Will I ever get enough of you?” he whispered as he reached for and touched her nipple.
“I hope not, my husband.” She took his hand and put it to her lips. Then she placed it back on her breast and reveled in his groan of pleasure.
He climbed onto the bed and straddled her, using his hands and knees to enclose her. He bent with ease to first kiss her mouth. She loved the taste of his tongue, like honey, she had told him. She loved the scent of him, musky and masculine with a hint of pine.
