She was instantly flustered. “Not all tears are tools for manipulation, Tobias,” she cried softly. “And I am not just some woman! I am your wife.”
Impatience flashed in his eyes. “What has happened?”
“I…I…had a dreadful encounter with my stepbrother.” Her heart pounded, and she was suddenly afraid of how much to reveal. And with despair, she realized it was because she was petrified he would truly say or do nothing. If she were to reveal the truth and Tobias remained unconcerned, she would be shattered, for she was more than halfway in love with her husband. If he showed he did not care, she would not be able to bear it.
Unable to voice her fears and anxiety or her mounting love, she marched over to him. She stretched up to him and grabbed his hair to pull his lips down to hers. Then she kissed him hard and passionately. With a muffled groan of surprise, he unfolded his arms and tugged her even closer to him. The kiss was hot, hungry, and demanding and as she shivered in his arms, she realized how badly she wanted Tobias’s touch and taste to wipe away the vile threats of William.
Tobias gripped her hips and marched her backward toward the chaise lounge. They halted when the back of her shin hit the chaise, and his hand drifted around to cup her buttock into his large palm. She cried out softly when he tilted her and ground his hardness between her thighs.
He pulled his lips from hers, breathing raggedly. “You tempt me, countess, but Westfall awaits me with pressing business that must be sorted before he returns to Town this evening.”
Her heart broke in denial. She needed this. “I…I…needed your kiss,” she whispered half under her breath, feeling exposed and terribly vulnerable.
An unidentifiable emotion shifted in his eyes. “What has happened, Olivia?”
She remained muted, her heart beating a furious rhythm.
“Well?” he clipped, and she winced.
“Kiss me, Tobias, love me,” she murmured pressing hot, desperate kisses along his neck. She tugged frantically at his cravat, and as the silken cloth slid through her fingers, she parted his shirt and bit into the soft of his neck. He gripped her hands and clasped them gently. Dipping his head, he kissed the tip of her nose, her cheek, the corner of her mouth, and she curled into him, reveling in the tenderness he displayed.
“I must attend to business, I cannot dally.”
She lifted her head from his chest and nodded with words trapped in her throat.
After pressing a kiss to her lips, he walked toward the door. He gripped the knob, before glancing back with a frown. “I do not like you being upset and in tears.”
She tried to smile but it wobbled. “I am considerably eased,” she answered truthfully. “Nor am I crying any longer.”
“Good, I trust you will inform me after my meetings what has occurred?”
A throb of tension pulsed behind her temples. Perhaps. “I… Yes, though I may do so with tears.”
His gaze searched her face intently. “Do you wish me to remain? I will inform Westfall—”
She hurried forward. “No, attend your business meeting. I shall retire to my chambers until we meet for dinner. The argument with William was quite unsettling, but I am fully capable of dealing with it and that had been my intention. Seeing you, I…I unraveled a bit but I am back to sorts.”
“Are you certain, wife?”
“I am,” she answered firmly.
With a small nod, he departed. Livvie was even more resolved now. She would settle the matter without being a bother to her husband.
…
Fifteen minutes after he’d left his wife in the parlor, Tobias frowned as he spied her riding away astride on Arius. It seemed whatever had distressed her had not abated if she would go for a long ride so soon. Should he have stayed and prodded her to reveal whatever had brought her to tears?
Tears.
He had always despised the weapon women used with such ruthlessness. Tears had never inspired anything in him but disgust. When he had seen the glisten in Olivia’s eyes, his heart had jerked, then a cold resolve had filled him to destroy who ever had upset her. That had shocked him, the very idea that his countess had the power to torment him with tears, as his mother had done with his father. Their days since setting off to Scotland had been filled with their mutual sensual awareness. It had been delightful and he had been at peace. He had even come to appreciate and enjoy her cutting tongue more.
Last night, when he had sat down to write, his wife had completely colored the lenses of how he saw his heroine, and he had started to craft the perfect lady for Wrotham. When he wrote, it was an escape, a need, a pleasure, another life he could immerse himself in. The world of secrets, lies, and passion, where everything was as he made it, and regret, pain, fear held no sway. Yet last night, as if he had been controlled by another, Tobias had written his hero falling in love with the mysterious Lady O, a suspected traitor to the crown, and he had infused such intensity of emotions in his characters it had shaken him deeply.
Did that mean he was falling in love with his wife? The way he watched for her smile to brighten his day, the insatiable desire he had to kiss and make love to her, the way he anticipated her doing something reckless, not in dread…but in fascination. Was that love? Tobias was unsure, he only knew he had never endured the emotions she was stirring in his heart.
Why had she been crying?
It unnerved him to realize she had not been swooning and descending into great hysteria, but had simply demanded his kisses to soothe whatever emotions had been rioting inside. He was caught off guard by the pleasure rushing through him at that realization.
As Olivia nudged her horse into a canter, he felt a vague sense of unease. Where was she really off to?
He pushed from the winged back chair and strolled to the open windows for a closer look. Acting on instinct, he grabbed the telescope from off his desk, lengthened it, and brought it to his eyes.
She had one of his foils belted at her waist. Good God. What was she about? The fact that she chose to travel on horse and not in a carriage suggested she was not going far. Olivia nudged her horse into a gallop and he lost sight of her. Lowering the telescopic lens, Tobias considered her actions deeply. She’d said she had an argument with her brother, whom she encountered visiting her parents. An argument so severe it had brought her to tears, and she now returned with a weapon, one with which she was most proficient. Knowledge bloomed like a late flower in springtime. Without a doubt, she was heading back to her father’s estate to settle whatever wrong her stepbrother had done to her.
Good God. The reckless hoyden!
Was she not aware of the magnitude of scandal that she could bring down on their family? They had barely escaped the past few days with Francie’s reputation intact, and even then, he was just waiting for the first wave of rumors to start before using the full force of his power to squash all tattle.
He would tan Olivia’s backside when he caught up with her.
“What is it?” Westfall finally asked, no doubt annoyed by his delay.
“I must leave. I will travel to Town tomorrow and conclude our business if need be. I understand you cannot stay any longer. But my wife needs me.”
The marquess gave him a cynical glance. “Is she well?”
“She…she had been crying,” he said gruffly. “And I should have known she was not the type of lady to be rattled by simple matters.”