Velvet Angel Read online

  A sound on the stairs above her made her turn and although she couldn’t see him, she knew Miles was there. Instinctively, she held her arms out to him.

  Miles grabbed her so hard she knew her ribs would crack, and all she did was cling to him all the more tightly. They were like two children hiding from their parents, frightened of tomorrow, making the most of now.

  To them there was no dust or filth, no angry little eyes watching them as they fumbled with each other’s clothes, their lips joined, never parting. The violence with which they came together was new to Elizabeth, as Miles had always been gentle with her, but when her nails dug into his back, he reacted. The stairs bit into the back of her as Miles lifted her hips and took her with a blinding, fierce passion, but with no more fierceness than Elizabeth sought him. She braced her feet against the stairs and pushed upward with all the force of her strong young body.

  The flash of light that tore through them left them both weak, trembling, holding onto each other as if to let go meant they’d die.

  Miles was the first to recover. “We must go,” he whispered tiredly. “They wait below for us.”

  “Yes,” she said. “Big brother calls.” Even in the darkness, she could feel Miles’s eyes on her.

  “Don’t be afraid of Gavin, Elizabeth.”

  “The day a Chatworth is afraid of a Montgomery—” she began but Miles kissed her to silence.

  “That’s what I like! Now if you can keep your hands off me long enough, we’ll ride to Larenston.”

  “You!” She started to strike him but he bolted up the stairs before she could, and when Elizabeth tried to move, she winced at a hundred bruised places. She emerged from behind the tapestry bent over, her hand to her back. Miles’s conceited chuckle made her straighten painfully. “If women didn’t always have to be on the bottom—” she snapped, then stopped when she saw the MacGregor leaning against a chest.

  “I was going to say I hoped you enjoyed your visit, Lady Elizabeth.” The big man’s eyes twinkled so merrily that Elizabeth busied herself in packing, pointedly ignoring him, so pointedly that she didn’t hear him move behind her. When his hands touched her shoulder, she gasped, but Miles caught her arm, warned her with his eyes.

  “We’ve enjoyed ye, Elizabeth,” the MacGregor said as he removed the crude pin she wore at her shoulder and replaced it with a large round silver one, bearing the MacGregor standard.

  “Thank you,” she said quietly, and to the amazement of all three of them, she quickly kissed the MacGregor’s cheek.

  Miles’s hand on her arm tightened and he looked at her with such pleasure that his whole body fairly glowed.

  “Sweet lass, come and see me again.”

  “I will,” she said and smiled genuinely because she meant her words.

  Together the three of them walked down to the courtyard and the waiting horses. Elizabeth looked at all the MacGregor men with curiosity because she knew she was going to miss them. With a sense of wonder at what she was doing, she voluntarily shook hands with some of the men. Miles stayed close to her and she was well aware of his presence, and grateful for it, but her fear at touching the men and being touched by them was only just that—fear, not terror.

  She was glad when she came to the end of the line and could mount her horse. Behind her were Bronwyn’s men, strangers to her, and she could have cried out at the injustice of having to leave a place she was just beginning to trust.

  Miles leaned across and squeezed her hand. “Remember that I am here,” he said.

  She nodded once, kicked her horse forward and they were off.

  For how long will you be here? she wanted to ask. She knew much about Gavin Montgomery. He was a greedy, treacherous man whose jilting of Alice Chatworth had nearly driven her insane. And Gavin was the head of the Montgomery family. For all Miles’s bravado, he was only twenty years old and Gavin had the guardianship of his young brother. Would Gavin take her away, use her in his own games against the Chatworth family? Miles believed Roger’d killed Mary Montgomery. Would this Gavin use Elizabeth to repay the Chatworths?

  “Elizabeth,” Miles said. “What are you planning?”

  She didn’t bother to answer him, but kept her head high as they entered Larenston.

  Miles helped her from her horse. “No doubt my eldest brother is inside, waiting to get his hands on me,” Miles said, eyes twinkling.

  “How can you laugh about this?”

  “The only way to deal with my brother is to laugh,” he said seriously. “I’ll come to you later.”

  “No!” she gasped. “I’ll meet your brother with you.”

  Miles cocked his head, studied her. “I do believe you mean to protect me from my brother.”

  “You are a gentle man and—”

  At that Miles laughed so loud, he startled the horses. He kissed her cheek heartily. “You are a dear, sweet child. Come along then and protect me if you want, but I’ll keep an eye on Gavin’s toes.”

  Gavin, Stephen and Sir Guy waited for them in the upstairs solar. Gavin was as tall as Miles but his face was more sculptured, hawklike, and his expression was of pure unadulterated rage.

  “Is this Elizabeth Chatworth?” Gavin said through clenched teeth. He didn’t wait for an answer. “Send her away. Guy, see to her.”

  “She stays,” Miles said in a cool voice, not bothering to look at either of his brothers. “Sit, Elizabeth.”

  She obeyed him, sinking into a chair that dwarfed her.

  After one angry glance at Elizabeth, Gavin turned to Miles who was pouring himself a glass of wine. “Goddamn you to hell and back, Miles!” Gavin bellowed. “You walk in here as if you hadn’t nearly caused a private war between our families and you bring this…this…”

  “Lady,” Miles said, his eyes growing dark.

  “If she were a lady, I’d swear she isn’t now after having spent weeks with you.”

  Miles’s eyes turned black. His hand went to his sword but Sir Guy’s hand made him pause.

  “Gavin,” Stephen warned, “you have no right to make insults. Say what you have to.”

  Gavin moved closer to Miles. “Do you know what your little escapade is costing our family? Raine can’t even show his face but must hide in a forest, and I have spent the last month in the company of that bastard Chatworth—all in an attempt to save your worthless japing hide.”

  Elizabeth waited for Miles to retort that Raine’s outlawing was not Miles’s fault, but Miles remained silent, his eyes still dark, locked on his eldest brother.

  A muscle in Gavin’s jaw worked frantically. “You will release her to me and I will return her to her brother. I’d hoped that by now you’d come to your senses and let her go. I’m sure you’ve taken her virginity and that will no doubt cost me much, but…”

  “Will it cost you or Judith?” Miles asked calmly, turning his back on his brother.

  A silence fell on the room and even Elizabeth held her breath.

  “Stop it, both of you,” Stephen interceded. “And for God’s sake, Gavin, calm down! You know how Miles is when you insult his woman-of-the-moment. And you, Miles, you’re pushing Gavin too far. Miles, Gavin has held Chatworth in order to give you some time to release Lady Elizabeth, and you can imagine that he was, ah, disappointed when Chatworth escaped and still you held Elizabeth. All you have to do is send her back with Gavin and all will be well.”

  Elizabeth again held her breath as she watched Miles’s back and after a moment she felt Gavin watching her. It was then she decided she didn’t like the man. She returned his arrogant look with one of her own. She looked away to see Miles watching them.

  “I will not release her,” Miles said softly.

  “No!” Gavin bellowed. “Does the family mean nothing to you? Would you rather risk our name, the name of generations of Montgomerys, merely for the spread of a woman’s thighs?”

  Gavin wasn’t expecting the fist that plowed into his face, but it didn’t take him but seconds to recover and leap at Mi