Midnight Star (Star Quartet 2)

She didn’t move. He shook his head, his body held stiff above her, his organ still deep and quivering within her.

He felt as cold as his voice as he asked, “Did I hurt you?”

“No.” Chauncey felt curiously detached. She wasn’t angry, for she probably understood his action better than he did himself.

Delaney eased himself off her and lay upon his back staring at the darkened ceiling. “I didn’t mean to do that. I didn’t mean to abuse you.”

“I know. Tomorrow, Del, we will decide together how we will deal with Paul Montgomery.”

Suddenly he began to laugh, a deep, rumbling sound that made her smile. “I should have known,” he gasped over his laughter. “I should have known that I would never fall in love with a woman who would docilely and submissively do as I told her. Very well. We will decide together what to do. But you will not kill him, Chauncey. All right?”

“All right.”

“Swear to me, else I’ll string you up by your toes.”

He felt her hand stroke over his chest, downward to his belly. When her fingers lightly closed over him, she said very sweetly, “I swear . . . and I’d rather have you do other things to me.”

“Jesus,” he muttered, somewhat in awe at his body’s immediate reaction, “I’d thought I was dead for the night!”

* * *

They left Grass Valley at ten o’clock the following morning. The summer day was bright and warm, not a cloud in the clear sky.

“We’ll arrive in Nevada City in an hour,” he said, turning in his saddle to face her.

“Yes,” she said. “You already told me.”

“There’s something else that occurred to me. Remember the message I got telling me there was trouble at my mine in Downieville? It was obviously another ruse. Doubtless Baron suggested it. Montgomery probably expected that I would leave you in San Francisco. When I brought you along, he had to make other plans, likely again with Baron’s aid. The man is intelligent, I don’t doubt that. And an intelligent man is a dangerous man.”

“But he is also a man who has no experience outside the bounds of civilization. I remember as a child that he never hunted. Nor can I recall ever seeing him with a rifle or a gun.”

“He killed your father.”

“Yes, an overdose of laudanum.”

There was silence between them for several minutes. “I do have a plan, Chauncey,” Delaney said. “I don’t particularly like your part in it, but there are practical considerations, such as trying to force a man out of town at gunpoint. I doubt I could pull that off. However, you must promise me that you will do exactly as I tell you.”

She gave him a long, thoughtful look. “You are also an intelligent man. And I trust you, now that you’ve admitted to my true worth. I give you my word.”

“There is still an element of danger.”

“I have lived with the thought of danger for the past six months. At least now I can look forward to eliminating it once and for all.”

“Very well,” he said. “Listen.”

32

Paul Montgomery jerked his watch from his vest pocket and stared at it again. Where the hell was Baron? He shoved the watch away again and gazed about the small saloon, empty at this hour save for several drinkers and diehard gamblers at the roulette wheel. He felt as if he’d died and gone to hell. Awful place. Sawdust floor, gawdy lewd paintings of sprawled naked women over the long mahogany bar, circular wooden tables that he wouldn’t have allowed in his stables.

Where was Baron?

He wanted the wretched business over with. He wanted to go home, where he’d spend the rest of his life in peace and security. He’d traveled all the way to this godforsaken land to ensure it. He cursed softly, remembering his impotent fury when Elizabeth had escaped the carriage wheels in Plymouth. It hadn’t taken him long to realize what he must do. If only Saxton didn’t have powerful relatives in England! But he knew what would happen if he allowed her to live. He shivered at the thought of the Duke and Duchess of Graffton. He’d thought about leaving England and moving to the Continent to live like a king for the rest of his life. But it wouldn’t work, he knew. Once Elizabeth discovered the truth, she wouldn’t rest until she’d avenged her father. He had no choice but to remove her permanently.

And of course, there was the money, so much of it, and all his. Too bad Elizabeth had married, for now the Penworthys couldn’t inherit even at her death, and he wouldn’t be able to collect a healthy percentage. Married to Delaney Saxton! He could only pray that Elizabeth hadn’t discovered too soon that her husband wasn’t the evil villain she’d believed him to be. He swallowed nervously at the thought of a letter already posted to the duke and duchess informing them of his treachery. No, dammit, he wasn’t too late! He couldn’t be too late!

He lowered his fisted hand to the rough tabletop. If only Hoolihan hadn’t bungled the job! If only Saxton hadn’t captured him and forced him to talk! If only . . .

Where was Baron?