The Hellion Bride (Sherbrooke Brides 2)

"Is Thomas still free?"

"No. No, he's snug in that small dwelling Cole had planned on keeping you in. I didn't leave Jamaica until he'd been captured."

She turned away from him then and stared out over the sea. It wasn't the soft turquoise she was used to, it was savage and cold and very gray. "I thank you, Ryder. Your family has been quite nice to me and Jeremy. Now, though, since there is no reason for me not to return to Jamaica, I can. I will be responsible for Camille Hall and the plantation until Jeremy comes of age, I will—"

"Shut up, damn you!"

"You don't like me, Ryder. You can't possibly want to be my husband. I know about you now. You see, no one believed me to be your wife because every­one swore you would never wed. There were too many women hereabouts you enjoyed. It is odd. For the first time since Jamaica, I have been cut, not because I'm a tart, but because you are. I have found it vastly amusing save when Sir Robert tried to coerce me. If I could merely borrow some money from you, Jeremy and I could be on our way. Your life could return to what it was, to what you obvi­ously enjoyed."

"I told you to shut up. You will go nowhere with Jeremy, my dear."

"Why? What do you mean?"

"I mean that I am his guardian. His legal guard­ian. You are nothing more than a female, his sister. I am responsible for the running of Camille Hall and the plantation. Emile is managing Camille Hall for me and Jeremy. Now, I should like to return to the hall and speak to my family. I wish to see if Douglas has accepted Alex as his wife."

"He has."

One of Ryder's eyebrows shot up. "Really? I under­stand that you were ever scarce there. You must be terribly observant to know my brother's feelings and be absent at the same time."

There was a distance between them that was growing even though they stood not two feet from each other. She couldn't blame him; but she couldn't blame herself either.

"Why?" she said at last. "Why, Ryder?"

"Why what?"

"Why don't you just let me go? Let me return to my home, resume my life."

"Ah, and what a life it would be. Even though your pretty neck would stay intact on your shoulders, you don't believe that all would be forgiven and forgotten, do you? You are the whore of Jamaica, my dear, and nothing will ever change that, even marriage to me. It's true. Everyone feels very sorry for me. You took advantage of my honorable nature and manipulated me into giving you my name. No, there is no going back for you, Sophie. There is only the present and that becomes the future soon enough. Now, I wish to return to the hall. Are you coming?"

He mounted his stallion, a magnificent barb she'd admired and fed whenever she'd been in the stables. His name was Genesis and she'd somehow known even before she'd been told that this was Ryder's horse. He looked down at her, arrogant, cold, aloof, and she hated it and accepted it.

"Tonight, as soon as it is politely possible to leave my family, you and I will adjourn to my bedchamber and I will take you and you will try your damnedest, Sophie, to act like a reasonable woman."

He said nothing more, merely gave her a small salute, wheeled Genesis around, and galloped away from her. She walked slowly to Lilah, climbed into the saddle, and rode after him.

CHAPTER

14

"My MOTHER STILL resists believing me, but it is perversity on her part, no real conviction that you aren't actually my legal wife," Ryder said to Sophie as he tugged off his cravat. "She will get over it and treat you at least as nicely as she does Alex, which isn't very nice at all, but it will do for the present. You appear to get along well with Douglas and Alex. Of course you would like Sinjun. She's a nosy brat— Lord knows I'm the brunt of her nosiness—but all in all, she's an incredible girl."

Ryder turned to face her as he unbuttoned his white shirt. "Jeremy appears pleased to be here. I will decide soon if he will have a tutor or go to Eton for the fall term. Incidentally, I'm delighted Alex put you in my bedchamber. I've never shared it before. It's strange to see your gowns next to my shirts and britches in the armoire."

Sophie was standing by the front windows. She was doing her best to affect a casual pose. The eve­ning hadn't been all that long for Ryder wanted her very badly. She knew that. Even as she'd walked beside him up the wide staircase, she'd known that if she looked at him, she would have seen the desire in his eyes. She knew well what desire looked like, both on a man's face and between his legs. What she didn't know was what to do about it. She felt incredibly weary, incredibly experienced and jaded. She didn't know what to do about that either.

He said again, "Don't misunderstand me, Sophie. It pleases me to see your gowns beside my clothes. Yes, Alex did well."

"Douglas put me in here. Alex was ill and in bed with a cold."

"Smart man, my brother. I also like the gowns Alex gave you. The pink is very pretty with your coloring. We'll see to some more new gowns for you soon enough."

She wanted to yell at him that she didn't want him to buy her gowns or anything else for that mat­ter, but she remained still and silent.

Ryder sat down in what he had told her was his favorite wing chair. He tugged off his boots as he said, "My mother isn't always amiable, as I'm sure you've learned since you've been here. I had hoped she might change her colors just a bit, and per­haps she will. I don't want you to feel hurt. You should have seen what she did to Alex upon her arrival."

He flicked his wrists and both boots flew toward the huge bed in the center of the bedchamber, slid­ing smoothly underneath. Only one heel stuck out from beneath the duster cover. Sophie stared at that heel. He grinned at the boots. "I'm a bit off. I've been doing that since I was a boy. I always beat Douglas. It's in the wrist, you know."

He stood, his hands going to the buttons of his britches. She watched his long brown fingers on the buttons as he said, "How does it feel to be back in England?"