Dark Deceptions: A Regency and Medieval Collection of Dark Romances(12)

Here he was; a faithful member of The Brethren of the Lords, a group sworn to protect and defend the Crown, needing the protection of a slip of a girl.

The memory of her anchored to Fox’s side rocked through his mind and he wrenched at his bonds in vain. With a ragged cry, he lay back against the mattress. Sweat trickled from his brow into his eyes, stinging mercilessly. He ignored it, thinking of her. He’d go mad if he imagined them with their hands on her, so he allowed himself to unearth the other thought he’d buried.

She had kissed him.

He recoiled at the betrayal of Grace and yet…the taste of Georgina lingered. As much as he railed at himself for his fickle desires, he hungered for this capable maid.

She was nothing like the women he usually desired. Adam had always preferred fair women with long limbs and fiery red tresses, prideful.

Yet Georgina had drawn him in. With her well-flared hips and generous breasts, she was curved in all the places a woman should be. There was a sultry, seductive quality to her pouty lips. When he should’ve been thinking about Grace and his freedom, those goddamn lips would enter his imaginings. He’d envision her using her mouth for all kinds of forbidden pleasures.

Adam turned his head and stared at the small window in the corner.

He was a bastard and deserved every last bit of torture doled by Fox and Hunter.

*

Georgina’s mind worked furiously as her father steered her downstairs with a firm grip around her wrist.

He’d always delighted in hurting her. Georgina glared at him but he remained oblivious to her abhorrence.

When she’d turned eight and ten, he’d begun presenting her to his social circle and the beatings had stopped. He’d had grand hopes of her making a profitable arrangement with a wealthy merchant. Father had always been obscenely wealthy, but it had never been enough. He seemed to relish material things, status, and power a good deal more than he’d ever cared for any living creature—her included. She didn’t care. It didn’t matter.

Georgina hated that she still couldn’t lie to herself after all this time.

In the two years Father had presented her to possible suitors, it had become obvious that even his wealth was not enough to entice the most eligible gentlemen. So the beatings had resumed and she’d faded into the background.

Jamie looked at her. The flecks of gold in his pale blue eyes sparkled with fury. “What could merit this insolence?”

She swallowed, refusing to answer him.

When they reached the kitchen, Father shoved her into a chair. He folded his arms. “Well come on then, I don’t have all day.”

“I agree to your request.” In her lap, she crossed her fingers. “You are correct, Father. It is likely Mr. Markham will simply turn over the information you seek.”

Father tapped his chin. “Why are you so suddenly willing to help?”

“It is conditional,” Georgina lied. “I ask that when I find the names of those in his organization, you set him free. I’ll not be responsible for another man’s death.”

Silence fell as her father appeared to consider her offer. “Hmm.”

She waited, unfurling her fingers which she’d unknowingly clenched into tight fists at her side.

“I don’t trust her,” Jamie snarled. “She’s protecting him.” He turned to Georgina and stuck a finger in her direction. “You’re falling in love with him!”

No! Georgina gripped the edge of her seat, her nails dug into the hard wood. She shoved aside the panicky fear that twisted in her gut. She would never do anything so foolish as to fall in love with one of her father’s captives. She was merely caring for him as she had many others before him.

Oh God, why did that feel like a lie?

Jamie slammed his fist down on the table. “You do not even deny it.” His voice rumbled off the walls.

She stood firm even as her heart raced.

“Enough!” Father hollered. “She is doing her job, Jamie. Did you see Markham? I’d venture she could seduce the secrets out of him this day if we wanted.”

Revulsion rippled through her at his crude words. What manner of father spoke of his daughter in such a way?

Jamie’s eyes went wide. “No,” he said between gritted teeth.

“No?” her father asked.

Father was across the room in an instant. He had Jamie by the shirtfront and pressed against the wall. “Have you forgotten our goal? We lost most of our leadership in ’98 and cannot afford another setback.” He released Jamie and turned back to Georgina. “I’m proud of you, girl. Find out his secrets. Even if it means seduction. And to you, Jamie, each of us has a role. Georgina knows what hers is. I suggest you remember yours.”

The hard glint in her father’s eyes chilled her.

Jamie all but growled. “She’s not a whore.”

“Think of the information she can get out of him,” her father needled. “We’ve been running from those bloody bastards since ’93. Georgina destroyed our last chance…but she’s agreed to redeem herself.”

She kept her mouth closed. Better to let Father believe she’d agreed to his harebrained scheme. Father and Jamie could both order her to seduce Adam and she wouldn’t do it. She’d not whore herself for their vile goals.

Father drummed his fingertips against his chin. “You haven’t lost your courage, have you, gel?”