Page 55 of Captivating the Countess
Bell refused to let him go once they were in the corridor. “Ifeltheat this time. Does this mean anything?”
Rain ran his hand through his hair, not wanting to speak his hope. “Only time will tell. I have no idea what we did, except I could feel his pain. And it seemed to decrease when we turned him over, which might confirm my diagnosis. Knowing what might be wrong doesn’t help when there is nothing I can do to fix it.”
She nodded, wrapped her arms around his waist and hugged him briefly, then fled.
He understood. Exhausted, he was too weak to resist. He’d stand here in public and hold her until all the tension and roiling emotion settled down, as only Bell could settle them. He’d swear she would face a dragon with a smile and a teacup. He was the one who’d want a sword to slice off noses.
Instead, he clenched his teeth and strode down to the shooting alley he’d created in the deepest corner of the cellars. Or dungeons, depending on how far back one considered the history. He needed to gut things for a while.
Teddy was there ahead of him. “Shooting people before breakfast, Cuz?”
“I could ask the same of you.” While Rain loaded harmless cartridges into his pistol, Teddy fired off wild shots that didn’t even brush the target.
“A new artistic technique, decorating the wall with holes?” Rain held up his pistol, sighted, and shot off a volley as quickly as the pistol would allow. A hole developed in the center ring.
“I do not understand women.” Teddy added ammunition to an old military pistol from his father.
“You wish to understand them, why?” His sisters had convinced him long ago that women were from a different planet, if not universe. Acceptance that he’d never understand them had seemed easiest.
“If I understood what they wanted, perhaps I could keep one around long enough to finish their damned portraits.” Teddy fired more slowly, hitting the outer rim once.
“One assumes they receive little satisfaction in having their portrait painted.” Feeling a trifle more in control now that he’d blasted the center out of the target, Rain could find amusement in his cousin’s complaint. “Do you offer them the proceeds if you sell the portrait?”
Teddy shot him a disgruntled look. “Of course not! How would I ever earn my way like that? Paint is expensive!”
“I do see your predicament.” Tongue firmly in cheek, Rain rattled off another volley, deliberately taking out the second ring. “You have nothing to offer them but your charm and talent.”
“I offer them all the comforts of my home, and I’m good in bed.” Teddy growled in irritation and fired another shot, hitting the outer ring again.
“That may be enough for you, but I’m under the impression that bedplay is not enough for women. Try thinking outside yourself for a change.” Thinking about how good Bell was in bed threw off Rain’s next shots.
What did Bell want?Rain loaded his weapon again and considered it while Teddy whined. He didn’t really know, he concluded, because women were from outer space. It irritated him that there were no books on the subject from which he could learn.
“I need to ask more for my work,” Teddy was concluding when Rain returned to the conversation. “I’ll have to find a better gallery.”
“Or a wealthy wife,” Rain suggested. “Instead of picking up stray cats without a farthing to their names, meet women with money and time on their hands. They might not make good subjects for your portraits, but they might be more appreciative of your attentions.”
“Huh.” Teddy shot again, this time hitting a little closer to the center. “Make the social rounds? Drudgery, indeed. I’d have to find a tailor, I suppose.”
Given that Teddy was wearing baggy corduroys and a paint-splattered waistcoat from a prior decade—Rain conceded that might be necessary. “Go to my man. I’ll tell him to bill me. We can launch you the way we launched the girls.”
Teddy chuckled morosely. “I told Pamela I’d build her a theater when I came into funds. She told me she’d be old and gray before that happened. Think she’s a witch and knows something we don’t?”
“One can hope.” Feeling somewhat grounded after this inane conversation, praying the theater suggestion was Teddy’s pie-in-the-sky dreaming, Rain cleaned out his pistol and set it back in the cabinet.
He’d stop by his steward’s office and simply ask Bell what she wanted. He had wealth and power. He could provide anything she asked, if she’d stay.
He was pretty certain he wanted her to stay. A woman completely unlike most flibbertigibbet females was a rarity he didn’t wish to lose, even if she disturbed all the ghosts in the castle.
Taking the back stairs up to the north wing, hoping to steal kisses and maybe more in the privacy of Bell’s office, Rain was unprepared for angry voices when he reached the normally empty corridor.
“That is completely unacceptable, sir. Stand back or I shall be forced to—”
Bell’s voice. Fury rising, Rain took off at a run.
Twenty
Grabbingthe umbrella she kept on hand, Bell jabbed the point at the slim young man who had dared to reach for her. His words had been beyond insulting. That he didn’t takenofor an answer was infuriating.
