Worth Any Price (Bow Street Runners #3)(92)

"Blood-" he said incoherently, his large hand moving over her in a frantic search.

"It's not mine. I'm just fine, except for a few-" Lottie broke off, her eyes widening as she saw the bandaged hand he held at his side. "Nick, you've been hurt!"

"It's nothing." Nick tugged her head back, his tormented gaze raking over her face. His trembling fingertips traced the line of her cheek and jaw. "My God. Lottie..." As his panicked exploration continued, he discovered the bruises on her throat, and he uttered a cry of fury. "Holy hell! Your neck. He dared to...I'm going toslaughter that bastard-"

Lottie placed her fingers over his mouth. "I'm all right," she said gently. Feeling the way his large body shook, she drew her hand over his chest in a calming stroke. After the traumatic events of the past hours, it was so wonderful to be with him that her lips curved in a wobbly smile. She gazed into his dusty, sweat-streaked face with concern. "In fact, I believe I may be in better condition than you, my darling."

A primitive groan came from his throat, and he clutched her with his right arm, bending over her hungrily. "I love you," he said in a low, shaken voice. "I love you so much, Lottie." His lips covered hers in a fiercely ardent kiss.

Clearly he was too unsettled to recall that there were others in the room. Lottie turned her face away with a muffled laugh. "I love you, too," she whispered. "Not here, darling. Later, with more privacy, we can-" She was silenced as Nick seized her mouth once more. Suddenly she found herself pushed up against the wall by six feet of aroused, overwrought male. Realizing that there was no hope of subduing him, Lottie stroked his broad back in an effort to soothe him. He possessed her with deep, fervent kisses, while his lungs worked so violently that she could feel his rib cage expanding with each breath. She tried to comfort him, gently rubbing the back of his neck as his mouth worked roughly over hers. His breath came in ragged shivers, and in between kisses he breathed her name as if it were a prayer. "Lottie...Lottie..." Each time she tried to answer, he dove for her mouth again.

"Sydney," Sir Grant said after some prolonged throat-clearing had failed to capture his attention. "Ahem. Sydney..."

After a long time, Nick finally lifted his head.

Lottie pushed at his chest, making him loosen his grip on her. Red-faced and breathless, she saw that Sayer had developed a keenly absorbing interest in the weather outside the window, while Daniel had excused himself to wait outside.

"I am sorry to interrupt your reunion with Lady Sydney, my lord," Sir Grant said ruefully. "However, I must insist on hearing what has occurred with Radnor, and where he is at the moment, especially in light of the condition of Lady Sydney's garments."

Realizing that he was referring to the bloodstains on her dress, Lottie nodded. Nick continued to hold her while she explained. "Lord Radnor died by his own hand," she told the magistrate. "He brought me to his home, and after we talked for a few minutes, he took his own life."

"In what manner?" Sir Grant asked calmly.

"He used a pistol." Lottie felt the tremor that went through Nick's body at the words. "I am at a loss to explain his actions, except to say that he seemed altogether mad. I told his servants to leave his body exactly as it was and not to touch anything, as you might wish to send a runner to investigate the scene."

"Well done, my lady," Sir Grant said. "May I prevail on you to answer just a few more questions?"

"Tomorrow," Nick said roughly. "She's been through enough today. She needs to rest."

"I would be more than happy to tell you every detail," Lottie replied to Sir Grant, "if you will send for a doctor to attend to Lord Sydney's hand, and also have a look at our footman."

The magistrate's green eyes crinkled charmingly at the corners. "We'll send for Dr. Linley at once."

"I'll fetch him," Sayer volunteered and left the office quickly.

"Excellent," Morgan commented, his gaze returning to Nick. "And while we wait for Linley, my lord, perhaps you can explain to me how you came by your injuries-and why you look and smell like you've been tromping through Fleet Ditch."

Much later, when they were at home in bed and had talked for what seemed to be hours, Nick told Lottie about the thoughts he'd had in the perilous moments when he'd thought he would fall to his death in the warehouse. As Lottie listened, she snuggled in the crook of his arm, gently circling her fingertips through the hair on his chest. His voice was deep and drowsy from the effects of the pain medication that Dr. Linley had insisted on giving him before setting and splinting his fingers. Nick had taken it only because the alternative was the undignified prospect of being held to the floor by Sayer and Morgan while the doctor poured the medicine down his throat.

"I never wanted to live so much as I did right then, hanging onto that rotting timber," Nick said. "I couldn't bear the thought of never seeing you again. All I want is time with you. To spend the rest of my life with you. I don't care about anything else."

Murmuring her love to him, Lottie kissed the hard silken skin of his shoulder.

"Remember when I told you once that I needed to be a runner?" he asked.

Lottie nodded. "You said that you were addicted to the challenge and the danger."