“This will only take a moment.” Ruby moved about in the dark, collecting things and stuffing them in a satchel.
Hector could not wait to take Ruby and Pip away from here. Somewhere he could be assured of their safety.
It troubled him how fast Mr. Roper had found the estate, though, if Pip’s abduction had been by Roper’s hand at all. How could the man have deduced Ruby would have ever come to her uncle so quickly? How could Roper have afforded to hire those men if they were not well off?
Those doubts made him now wonder if the real culprit behind the abduction attempt was wealthy, much nearer to hand and devious to the bone.
Hector put his arm around Ruby protectively as another likely explanation occurred to him.
Ruby turned in his arms and before he could voice his suspicions, she rose up and pressed her lips to his. The kiss took him by surprise, but it was not unwanted.
He had thought of kissing Ruby again and if they were going to be together, he looked forward to a great many more such exchanges.
She drew back. “When you have a child, you will discover you must take advantage of every moment of solitude for pleasure.”
“I’ve always been a fast learner.”
He swooped in to kiss her back, and when she looped her arms about his neck, her next kiss promised endless pleasures. When her tongue teased past his lips to tangle with his, Hector drew Ruby closer, delighted that they had found each other again.
Hector drew back. “Tomorrow, I must speak with your uncle.”
“We don’t need his permission,” she promised. Her hands slid down to his chest, and he was nudged back toward the bed firmly. “In fact, since I’m a widow, I don’t have to listen to anyone at all again. No one but you. Now, let me tell you what I think we should do before we return to my son. And I hate to say that some haste will be required tonight.”
Ruby quickly divested herself of her attire and Hector quickly understood. Hector grew hard as her pretty breasts and curves were suddenly within reach of his eager fingers.
Ruby pushed him onto his back on her bed and climbed atop him. She lifted her hands to her hair and released it from its confines.
Soft, long locks fell over his hands and tumbled down around them. He grasped a handful, then tossed Ruby over onto her back. “Lovely woman, now I’ll never let you go.”
“No more talking.” Ruby drew him down for a kiss and further conversation became completely unnecessary.
Chapter Fifteen
A night of lovemaking hadn’t improved Hector’s temper very much. He shut the door to Vyne’s study in the hope of keeping Ruby from finding where he’d gone too soon. He didn’t want her to hear what he had to say to her uncle.
“You unfeeling bastard,” Hector growled.
Lord Vyne’s head snapped up from the papers he’d been reading on his desk. “I beg your pardon.”
“Don’t pretend. You just couldn’t for once be a decent human being.” Hector spared a single glance for Blackwood, but Vyne was the one he wanted to gut right now. He’d pondered the sudden abduction attempt all night and concluded Mr. Roper simply did not have the ability to abduct his own grandson without help. Vyne had to be behind the abduction himself. “How could you try to send Pip away from her?”
Lord Vyne, seated still, put his hands on the arms of his chair. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Lie. “You waited till dinner when the servants were busy below and used Blackwood as a distraction to keep Ruby away from the child.”
Blackwood rose from his chair. “What child?”
“Ruby has a son, born within a marriage the family never approved of. While you were being charmed after dinner, Blackwood, I returned upstairs, only to be confronted by two assailants. They were trying to abduct Ruby’s boy. I would bet they were here on his orders.”
Vyne’s face mottled red.
Blackwood moved to stand by Hector’s side, looking down at the earl with disdain. “I don’t recall you ever mentioning Mrs. Roper’s offspring. In fact, you implied she was unencumbered.”
“Vyne likely thought the existence of the boy would scare you off.”
“I like children.”
“Enough to become a father to Pip?”
“No, I am not in a position to do that. Not for anyone,” Blackwood admitted. He folded his arms over his chest. “Now I understand why he kept throwing his niece at me instead of discussing when he’d be paying off his debt.”
“One has nothing to do with the other, I assure you,” Vyne promised. “Not that I was involved in any abduction.”
“Most likely, he wished to lessen his debt somehow by joining your family to his, delaying talks of any repayment to you for quite some time.”
Blackwood scowled. “Lord Vyne, I shall have to decline any delay to that repayment. I will accept full payment by luncheon today, and then I will be on my way. My wife is expecting me to reach home by Christmas Eve.”
Vyne gasped. “You’re married?”
“For some time, and I already have children. Six,” Blackwood promised.
Hector couldn’t help but laugh at Vyne’s shocked expression. “Congratulations. Six children and a wife, too. Imagine that.”
“Twin’s. Three sets of boys,” Blackwood said proudly. “I’ve kept my family far away from London and what goes on there, but they’ll be moving to the new estate soon.”
“How marvelous,” Hector exclaimed and it was the best news he’d ever heard.
Lord Vyne’s face was slowly turning purple and that was good, too.
“Congratulations to you, too,” Blackwood murmured. “I think Mrs. Roper will make an excellent wife for someone who can appreciate her best qualities and protect them.”
Hector nodded. “I’m sure she will marry well, and soon. But first, I need to make sure her uncle understands the error of his ways.”
Blackwood slapped Hector’s shoulder. “Do me a favor—don’t kill him. I can’t get money out of a dead man.”
“Oh, he’ll live, but not happily, I should think.”
“Oh, and while we’re confiding in each other—stay away from my sister once you marry. My sister is a complication you do not want in your life,” Blackwood suggested with a bland smile.
Hector had nearly forgotten all about kissing Blackwood’s sister. “I assure you, I will keep a distance,” he promised. He was done with all women—except Ruby.
He waited until Blackwood was gone before he faced Lord Vyne again. The man seemed decidedly uncomfortable and blessedly silent. Good. Hector had a few things to get off his chest. “For years, I’ve watched you manipulate those around you with no thought to their happiness.”
“The concerns of my family are no business of yours,” Vyne snapped.
“That’s where you are very wrong. I’m connected to your family now. My sister is about to deliver Clement’s first child.”
Vyne’s eyes were wide. “A grandchild?”
There was complete wonder in Vyne’s voice. Hector narrowed his eyes. “Well. Well. Well. Didn’t you know about the coming babe?”