To Love and Protect Read online

  “There was a group of them. Town folks included, some used to work at your manor house. Came and grabbed the old man.”

  “I see. Where is the old woman?”

  “In her bedroom. Haven’t heard anything from her since the little hellcat that was with them attacked her.” The guard would have almost said that concern flickered across her face, but it disappeared so quickly, he must have been mistaken.

  The woman quickly walked to the little bedroom in the back of the cottage. The old woman was tied to her bed and she looked to be unconscious. “Grandmother,” she said softly.

  “Well, don’t just sit there, gal, untie me.”

  “Are you all right?”

  “Aye. That little spitfire packs quite a punch though.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “The duke’s daughter was here with a whole group to get him. She attacked me while I was tied up.”

  “Clarissa attacked you? You must be mistaken. That little milk and water miss jumps at her own shadow.”

  “This one is a tigress, she is. You best watch her, or she’ll be your downfall.”

  “Please, I’m not scared of a little girl like her. Now, my concern is getting the duke back. Where do you think they have taken him?” The woman, now free, walked the length of her room to get the blood flowing once more.

  “Let’s see if we can’t find out, eh?” The old woman cackled sending chills up Lorraine’s arms.

  ***

  The storm did not abate during their journey. The duke occasionally regained consciousness so that he could take a few sips of water before drifting off once more. His chest had begun to rattle a bit when he breathed in, but Justin decided not to alarm Clarissa about the situation. Though they were caught in a storm, the wind pushed them steadily in the direction they wanted to go.

  Justin walked into Captain Jack’s cabin and found Clarissa rolled up in a ball on the mattress, her back towards the door. He let his body roll with the pitch and sway and leaned over to check on her. Her perfect little white teeth were clamped down hard on her lower lip and he could see the dark circles forming around her eyes from lack of sleep and too much worry.

  He bent over and soothed her lower lip with his thumb. “Everything will be all right. It’s just a little storm.”

  “Little storm, my foot. We’re not going to survive. We rescued Papa and now we’re all going to die,” her tone remained as stoic as a soldier facing his final battle.

  “The storms and sea are always worse right through here,” Justin tried to mollify her. “Jack is an excellent captain and will see us through this. You just have to trust him and me. This was the quickest way to get out of England without being spotted.”

  “I hate the sea.”

  “I know you do, and I’m sorry. At least you haven’t been sick for several days,” he attempted to make her feel better.

  “And I haven’t eaten for longer. Why can’t I just die right now?” She very unladylike spit out some mint leaves she had been chewing that helped settle her stomach.

  “Now what is the fun in that? Just think of all the adventures you’ll miss if you up and keel over on me now. Why, you won’t get to meet my grandparents and cousins. You won’t get to witness the beauty of Scotland.”

  “I wouldn’t be sick.”

  “True, but...” he paused trying to think of something else to tease her with to get her mind off her misery.

  “But what? See, even you can only come up with a few items to try to cajole me.”

  “Look at me,” Justin held her chin between his fingers and turned her face towards him. He glanced to make certain the door remained closed.

  “Southerby, what are you doing?” Clarissa asked a bit breathless at the close proximity between the two of them. Her heart pounded wildly at his touch. He tenderly rolled her over onto her back and her chest rose and fell quickly as she tried to catch her breath and reel back in her runaway thoughts. “I don’t think...”

  “Don’t think,” he interrupted her softly, “just feel.” He gently framed her face and she could feel his calloused fingers playing gently. He traced her features lightly as if he could memorize the contours just by touch. Before she could pull away, he leaned down, capturing her lips with his. At first they were just light, teasing kisses, almost like the touch of a butterfly when it landed on you. Then they became firmer, his lips more insistent.

  He nipped her lower lip just enough for her to feel a little sting. She started to protest, but he quickly filled the wet recesses of her mouth with his tongue. Clarissa stiffened in shock at the invasion. Never in her life had she been treated this way. She started to push him away, but then he did the oddest thing and began a duel with her tongue. Her body shocked her by joining in the fight as if it knew what to do.

  She watched as Justin pulled away and eyed her. “You’re thinking, aren’t you?”

  “What else am I supposed to do when you do something like that?”

  “Don’t think and follow your instincts,” he suggested followed by a shrug.

  “That’s easy for you to say, you weren’t attacked by,” he cut off her words by kissing her once more in that most inappropriate way. This time she did let herself relax and dueled back finding that she enjoyed this activity much more than she should. Her arms crept around his neck, pulling him closer. She moaned when he pulled away from her, but then he began dropping the loveliest little kisses on her face and neck. Then he captured her ear lobe and suckled it gently.

  His hands traveled slowly down her body to cover one of her breasts. She shied away from the touch. Kissing was one thing, but touching, well that was another thing entirely. Then his thumb rubbed back and forth over the peak of her breast. Clarissa could barely make out the sensation through her clothing. She found herself arching deeper into his hand, attempting to deepen the contact.

  “You have on entirely too many clothes,” he whispered in her ear.

  “You wouldn’t,” she replied breathlessly, not entirely certain what she wanted him to do.

  “Not right now, no, but Lord knows I want to.” Instead he feasted on her mouth once more. He finally pulled away from her and stood beside the bed. Her lips looked bee stung and lush from their kissing. His body ached with unfulfilled desire. Never in his life had he been this affected by being with a woman, let alone in this chaste of a manner. “I’ve got to go help the crew.”

  “But it’s raining,” Clarissa called after him. She knew she looked like a wanton spread out on the bed.

  “I pray to God it’s cold,” he said as he left the room and closed the door behind him. Clarissa watched the door close and curled into a ball once more, this time to attempt to ease the ache of the passion that throbbed through her body.

  ***

  Justin kept his distance from Clarissa after that late night encounter. The storm finally abated, and Clarissa found she actually felt a little better. She still didn’t feel wonderful, but she at least felt human. After braiding her hair and washing her face, she braced herself as she traveled down the short corridor to her father’s room.

  The condition she found him in shocked her. He had lost a considerable amount of weight for a man who used to be overpowering in his presence. When her mother died, he had lost some of his weight, as if part of him died with her. Then he had seemed to realize he still had a young daughter to live for, and although she still caught him looking sad some days, he had known the importance of taking care of himself. Now he did not even look to be the same man. His cheeks were sunken and he had almost a full beard. She had never seen him with any facial hair and it took her a moment to get used to the change. What she could see of his face had a waxy complexion to it, but when she touched him he did not feel feverish. Thank goodness for small miracles, she thought ruefully.

  His clothes were filthy, and bruises and cuts littered his arms and she assumed other parts of his body. She did not know what to do for him at this point other than sit with him a
nd make him as comfortable as possible. Clarissa felt guilty for not taking care of him all along. She felt it her responsibility, as his daughter, to make certain that he was being properly cared for. Instead, she had given into sickness herself. No more, she vowed silently. She would not let this man out of her sight that had been both father and mother to her for so long. Clarissa sat, a stoic expression on her face, beside his bed prepared to do whatever she must for her dear father.

  Justin made one of his many trips below deck to check on the two patients when he saw the captain’s room door lay open. He walked down the tiny corridor to the end room verifying its emptiness. Suspecting where she could be located, he checked in on the duke. Clarissa sat on a chair next to her father’s still frame. She held his hand in hers as if she could share some of her life force with him, as if that alone could save him.

  Clarissa heard Justin enter the room, but refused to look away from her father. The deep rattling of his chest every time he took a breath worried her. She felt as if she watched him breathe, he would not stop. Firm hands closed on her shoulders and squeezed reassuringly.

  “How long have you been sitting here?”

  “Not long. I felt better and decided I needed to do my share. I came in and saw him. Justin, I have never seen him look this helpless in my life.”

  “I promise, once we get him to my grandmother, she will know what to do. She is a healer, you know.”

  “Will she truly be able to help him?”

  He answered giving her shoulders a comforting squeeze. “Come with me for a little while.”

  “I can’t leave him.”

  “He has been holding his own for this long, he will be fine. Come with me. I want to show you why the sea can be such a wonderful place. Move down this short hall to the ladder while I get your coat.” He took her hand, pulling her up from the chair. She walked through the doorway looking back at her father one more time before turning to leave the room. “Let me go up first,” he said, joining her at the base of the ladder. She watched him climb up and disappear through a hatch. Cold air rushed down. “Come on,” he said, encouraging her to climb the ladder. When she reached the top, Justin bent over to help her gain her footing on the deck. She inhaled the salty air on the fresh, cold breeze. She shivered a little before she felt Justin wrap her coat around her.

  Clarissa turned in a slow circle and let the wind push away the smell of sickness and the worrisome thoughts clouding her mind. She worked her arms through the sleeves of her coat so that her hands would be free. Justin reached for her hand and clasped it in his large one. She found herself amazed at the difference in their sizes. He towered over her and she barely came to his shoulders. He pulled her over to the rail.

  “This is the bow of the boat.” She nodded her understanding and braced herself against the railing as she looked up into the night sky. The full moon shone brightly on the water as it passed between clouds. They were running parallel to the coast, and she could hear the distant crash of waves on the rocks and the beaches. In the distance, a light haze hovered above the ground.

  “What is that?” she queried, pointing in the direction of the haze.

  “It should be Glasgow. It is a rather large commercial city. We will actually be stopping in Dumbarton. We should make port sometime tomorrow morning.”

  “Is that where we have been heading?”

  “Actually, a little north of there. We will hire someone to take us the rest of the way over land. We will have to take a wagon again for your father, so it will probably be another two to three days before we arrive.” He watched as she worried her lower lip. “He’ll make it, don’t worry.”

  “He’s all I have,” she whispered so softly that the wind almost whipped the words away from his hearing. But he did hear them, and he could not help the little stab of pain they brought to him. He took a step so that he stood behind her and wrapped his arms around her small waist, trying to offer her a small measure of comfort. She leaned back against him and rested her arms on top of his. Clarissa felt him rest his chin on top of his head.

  “This is the Firth of Clyde. The wind is calmer here, which is probably why you feel better. Captain Jack said we would be sailing upriver within the next hour or so.

  Snowflakes began to fall lightly as the clouds became thicker, blotting out the moon. “This is beautiful. Thank you, Justin, for everything.”

  “My pleasure,” he said, loving the sound of his Christian name on her lips. She had begun to refer to him in that manner more and more. Perhaps she had begun to warm towards him. He wondered what she would call out in the throes of passion. Would it be Southerby, as she so often referred to him in anger, or would it be Justin? Would it be a stifled scream or a long, low moan? He shifted his stiffening manhood away from her, yet could not help the smile that quirked his lips at his thoughts.

  ***

  Dumbarton was a town located on the River Clyde. The air on the docks smelled of fish and unwashed bodies, making Clarissa’s stomach churn. Justin paid some of the dockworkers to help get her father off the boat and into a rented wagon. She watched as he shook hands with Captain Jack, and she waved to the old seaman. People bustled everywhere. He lifted her into the back of the wagon, and she halted his movements with a soft touch.

  “Southerby, I don’t think Papa will make the trip. He’s too weak.”

  Justin looked in the back of the wagon and studied the old man. As much as he wanted to argue, he had to agree with Clarissa’s assessment. Hamilton looked as if he might not even make it through the night.

  “Wait here,” he patted her hand and walked off into a group of men that hovered around the docks. Clarissa watched as Southerby approached a youth among the group and began talking intently to him. The boy nodded enthusiastically. Justin walked the lad over to the stable where he had rented the wagon. A man led out a sturdy looking horse by a pair of reins. Clarissa watched as Justin helped the lad to mount bareback and put a few coins in his hand. The boy nodded his head in understanding as Justin gave the last instructions and slapped the rump of the horse. Horse and rider took off down the street.

  Justin walked back towards the wagon and its occupants. “He’s going to get Grams.”

  “Do you know him?”

  “No, but he needed the money and he knows there is more available when he returns.”

  “How long will it take your grandmother to come here?”

  “A day at the most.”

  “Where are we going now?”

  “My parents’ house.”

  “What?”

  “My parents have a home here in Dumbarton for when Da’ has business meetings. It is close to the waterways making his travels faster than by land.”

  “I see,” she said somewhat haughtily.

  “No, I don’t think you do. I didn’t tell you about it because I thought your father could make the journey to Grams. Grams and Gramps hate the city, but they will come if it is an emergency. I wanted to spare them the journey.”

  “Will your parents be present?”

  “They are in Italy,” he said, becoming silent and pensive. She quietly observed the change in him.

  “Isn’t that dangerous?”

  “More than you know.” He climbed into the wagon beside the driver. The horses began their slow journey to his parents’ small manor house.

  They pulled up a half hour later in front of the house. Justin had just climbed down when the door to the house crashed open and a young woman flew out the door, her raven hair sailing behind her. “Justin!” she squealed in delight.

  “Meggy!” he called back as he caught the creature as she flew into his arms. The woman had dark hair and fair skin. Clarissa found herself jealous of the woman he held tight in his arms. Who was she? “What are you doing here? Aren’t you supposed to be at finishing school?” The young woman looked sheepishly at him. “Megan,” he groaned. “Please don’t tell me you were kicked out of another one.”

  “I think I’ve been k
icked out of the country of Switzerland this time. I only lasted a month this time,” she said impishly, her Scottish brogue thicker than Justin’s.

  “Megan Elizabeth Southerby, where did ye hie yourself off too?” a female voice with a thick Scottish burr called from inside the house.

  “You better go. There’ll be time enough to tell me all about it later.”

  “Justin, you just don’t know...”

  “Later. I am hazarding a guess that both Mamma and Da’ are home as well?”

  “Yes. When I got sent home, they picked me up and came home too. I think I have been reprimanded in every country in Europe.”

  “Tell Mamma I’m home and have company. Also, have her send several footmen out here please.” For the first time Meggy looked in the back of the wagon. Her eyes widened at the sight before her.

  “Oh, dear.”

  “Go,” he turned her and gave her a little shove towards the house.

  “Mamma,” he heard her yelling at the top of her voice. Hell, most of Dumbarton probably heard her as well, he thought ruefully.

  “Your sister?” Clarissa asked, a smile flitting across her lips, the jealousy finally dying a slow death as she made the connection.

  “How did you ever guess?” He grabbed her around the waist and helped her out of the wagon.

  “Justin, what are you doing back from London?” A tall, statuesque woman with beautiful auburn hair emerged from the house, taking Justin into her arms and hugging him tightly. Her Scottish brogue finished off her looks perfectly. Clarissa watched her surreptitiously wipe away a tear before pulling away from him.

  “Gertie,” Justin said in one word.

  “Oh, dear. What happened?”

  “Can explanations wait until we get inside? This is Clarissa Blackerby, and her father is in the wagon. Are the footmen coming?”

  “Yes, but I have an idea. Come with me Miss Blackerby.” Clarissa followed the woman into the house, feeling as if she had been struck mute. The Countess of Southerby stopped the two footmen who were going outside. “Take the parlor door off the hinges and take it outside with you. It will be easier to manage your father that way,” she said. Clarissa had difficulty making out her words.