Ecstasy (Notorious 4)

“I ken you’ve no choice, Miss Raven,” O’Malley finally said with reluctance, “but I mean to accompany you. I’ll not let you out of my sight again.”

She looked to Lasseter, whose expression was grim. “Please?” she asked. “May he come with me?”

To her surprise and gratitude, Lasseter nodded. “He can act as a witness for the ceremony. And no doubt you will want someone nearby to protect you in case my abusive tendencies get out of hand.”

It was said with irony, but Raven chose not to press the issue. Instead she had a footman retrieve a cane for Kell to use and then led the way outside, where her valise was being loaded in the boot of the waiting coach. When the task was finished, O’Malley climbed up to join the coachman while Lasseter handed Raven inside and then settled beside her.

Soon they were off, but they had gone barely half a block before Lasseter spoke.

“Your groom is Irish.” It was not a question.

“Yes. He was in service to the Kendrick family when my parents wed, and he decided to accompany them to the Caribbean. Actually O’Malley has been like a father to me. He practically raised me.”

“He’s the one who taught you to shoot.”

“Yes…that among other things.”

Lasseter’s mouth curled at her admission. “I wonder that you allow him to serve you in such an intimate capacity. Your relatives obviously scorn anything Irish.”

“I am not my relatives,” Raven assured him in a stern voice.

She couldn’t tell from Lasseter’s enigmatic expression what he felt about that, but she was inclined to think her groom’s being Irish was the only reason he’d granted her request to have the servant go with her. She’d seen Kell Lasseter’s anger when her grandfather had derided his bloodlines. In fact, she’d caught the slightest glimmer of hurt mixed with the fury in his dark eyes, the slightest vulnerability. His Irish blood was unquestionably a sensitive matter with him.

“Is Kell an Irish name?” she asked curiously.

“It’s Gaelic. Short for Kellach. It means something like ‘strife.’ ”

She repressed a smile but couldn’t resist replying, “Rather fitting, I should think.”

The responsive flicker in his dark eyes might have been amusement, but the glance he gave her was unreadable. “Kell is actually my middle name, the one my mother gave me. Sean chose to use his Irish name as well.”

Any humor Raven felt disappeared abruptly at the mention of his brother, while her misgivings returned full force as a wretched thought occurred to her. Sean Lasseter would shortly become her brother-in-law.

Frowning, she hesitantly broached her concern. “After tonight your brother and I will be related by marriage. But I…it will be difficult for me to treat him with civility. I would prefer to have nothing to do with him.”

“I see no reason why you should have to deal with him,” Kell responded without inflection.

“But he may not consider his vengeance complete. I might even need protection from him.”

She saw Kell’s jaw harden momentarily before he spoke. “I will see to it that he doesn’t abuse you again.”

Deciding to be content with his assurance, Raven lapsed into silence for the rest of the journey.

At length the coach turned off the main road and onto a smooth gravel drive. The well-kept grounds were landscaped with lush foliage that offered occasional glimpses of the Thames River. And when they drew to a halt, Raven found herself impressed. The house seemed more a mansion than a country cottage, large and elegant and built of mellow red brick.

“Is this your home?” she asked Kell. “Or do you use it primarily for diversions?”

“Diversions?”

“I’m aware that gentlemen often have pleasure houses for the purpose of keeping a mistress.”

He glanced at her for a long moment, but his reply was less forthcoming than Raven could have wished. “This is indeed a pleasure house, but it is unoccupied at the moment.”

“Because you already have Emma Walsh? Is she your mistress?”

One da

rk brow lifted sardonically. “I offered to wed you, Miss Kendrick. Not to divulge the details of my personal life.”