“Where is she?”
“On the way to Essex, my lord.”
Marcus froze. Ravensend. Seat of her late godfather, the Duke of Ravensend.
Elizabeth was running. Damn her.
He grabbed his packed valise, and turned to Paul who stood in the doorway of the study. “I will be in Essex.”
“Is everything all right?” Paul asked.
“It will be shortly.”
Within moments, Marcus was on the road.
The wheels of the Westfield travel coach crunched through the gravel on the final approach to Ravensend Manor before reaching the cobblestones that lined the circular driveway. The moon was high, its soft glow lighting the large manse and the small cottage beyond.
Marcus stepped down wearily and ordered his men to the livery. Turning away from the main house, he took rapid strides toward the cliff edge where the guesthouse and Elizabeth waited. He’d make his presence known to the duke in the morning.
The small residence was dark when he entered through the kitchen. He closed the door quietly, shutting out the rhythmic roar of the waves that battered the coast just a few yards away. Making his way through the house in darkness, Marcus checked every bedroom until he found Elizabeth.
Leaving his valise on the floor by the door, Marcus undressed silently and crawled into the bed next to her. She stirred at the feel of his cold skin beside hers.
“Marcus,” she murmured, still fast asleep. She spooned into his chest, unconsciously sharing her warmth.
Despite his anger and frustration, he snuggled against her. Her trust while sleeping was telling. She had become accustomed to spending the nights next to him during the short duration of their affair.
He was still furious with her for running away, but his relief in finding her well and out of danger was foremost on his mind. Never again would he go through this torment. There could be no doubt that she was his. Not in Eldridge’s mind, or hers.
Exhausted by worry, he buried his face in the sweetly scented curve of her shoulder and fell asleep.
Elizabeth woke and burrowed deeper into the warmth of the bed. Slowly rising to consciousness, she stretched out fully, her legs brushing along Marcus’s hair-dusted calf.
With a sudden flare of awareness, she sat upright and shot a startled glance at the pillow beside her. Marcus slept peacefully on his stomach, the sheet and counterpane straddling his hips, leaving his muscular back exposed.
She jumped out of the bed as if it were on fire.
His eyes opened sleepily, his lips curving in a languid smile, and then he fell back asleep, obviously finding her angered surprise to be of no danger.
Grabbing her clothes, Elizabeth retreated to the next room to dress, wondering how he’d found her so quickly. She’d deliberately avoided any of her own family holdings so that it would be difficult, if not impossible to locate her. But Marcus had found her before even a day had passed.
Furious and flustered at finding him in her bed, Elizabeth left the house and made her way to the roped path on the cliffs that led to the beach below.
She picked her way carefully down the somewhat steep and rocky decline. The cliff rose some distance above the shore and Elizabeth ignored the stunning view in favor of studying the ground at her feet. She didn’t mind the concentration it took. Instead she relished the temporary distraction from her confusion.
Finally reaching the beach, she dropped onto the damp sand and hugged her knees to her chest. She prayed for the sound of the waves lapping on the beach to soothe her.
She vividly recalled the first moment she’d laid eyes on Marcus Ashford, then the Viscount Sefton. She remembered how her breath had caught in her throat and how hot her skin had suddenly become, how her breathing and heart rate had quickened until she thought she might swoon. Those had not been singular reactions. She had felt them many times since then and even just that morning when he had smiled at her, all sleep-tousled masculine beauty.
She couldn’t live like that, couldn’t see how anyone could live consumed by a lust that seemed insatiable. Unschooled as she was, she hadn’t known a body could crave the touch of another the way it did food or air. Now, finally, she understood an inkling of the hunger her father must feel every day. Without her mother he would always be ravenous, always searching for something that could appease the emptiness left by her loss.
Tilting her head, Elizabeth closed her eyes and rested her cheek against her knees.
Why couldn’t Marcus simply stay away?
Marcus paused on the small porch and took in his surroundings. The bite of the salty morning air was sharp. He wondered if Elizabeth had collected a wrap before venturing out. To say she’d looked horrified to discover him in her bed would be an understatement. Knowing her as he did, he suspected she’d run out without forethought.
Where the devil had she gone?
“She’s gone down to the beach, Westfield,” came a dry tone to his left. Marcus turned his head to greet the Duke of Ravensend.
“Your Grace.” He dipped his head in a bow. “It was my intent to present myself this morn and explain my presence. I trust you don’t find my stay an imposition.”
The duke led a black stallion by the reins and came to a halt directly before him. They were of an age, His Grace being the youngest after four older sisters, but Marcus was nearly a head taller. “Of course not. It’s been too long since we last exchanged words. Walk with me.”
Unable to refuse, Marcus reluctantly left the shadow of the guesthouse.
“Watch the horse,” the duke cautioned. “He’s a biter.”
Heeding the warning, Marcus took the opposite side. “How fares Lady Ravensend?” he asked as they fell into step. He cast a longing glace over his shoulder at the roped path that led to the beach.
“Better than you. I thought you wiser than to chase more abuse. But I concede the appeal. Lady Hawthorne remains one of the most beautiful women I’ve ever had the fortune to cross paths with. I fancied her myself. As did most peers.”
Nodding grimly, Marcus kicked a pebble out of his path.
“I wonder who she’ll take up with once she’s finished with you? Hodgeham, perhaps? Or Stanton again? A young one, I’m certain. She’s as wild as this brute.” The duke gestured to his horse.
Marcus grit his teeth. “Stanton is a friend in the chastest sense of the word and Hodgeham …” He snorted in disgust. “Hodgeham couldn’t manage her.”
“And you can?”
“Better than any other man.”
“You should marry her then. Or perhaps that’s your intent. Either you or some other poor chap. You leapt into that cage once before.”
“She has no wish to marry again.”
“She will,” Ravensend said with a confident nod. “She has no children. When she’s of the mind, she’ll pick someone.”
Marcus came to an abrupt stop. Eldridge, William, and now Ravensend. He’d be damned if another individual meddled in his affairs. “Pardon me, Your Grace.”
He spun on the heel of his boot and made rapid strides toward the roped walk. He would put a stop to all their intrusions once and for all.
Elizabeth prowled the coastline restlessly, picking up small pebbles and stones along the way. She tossed them over the water, trying to skip them and failing miserably. William had once spent an entire afternoon attempting to teach her how to skip rocks. Although she’d never acquired the skill, the repetitive swing of her arm was calming. The music of the English coastline—the lapping waves and the cries of seagulls—brought her a measure of peace from her fevered thoughts.
“A calm surface is required, love,” came the deeply luxurious voice behind her.