His Convenient Duchess by Louise Allen

Author:Louise Allen [Allen, Louise]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2022-08-20T16:07:46+00:00

Marcus kicked the door closed behind them and leaned back against it, suddenly unable to move. He waited for the pounding of his heart to subside. In his arms Rose lay motionless, as if sensing that he needed stillness, just for a moment.

When he saw Wighton’s hand clamped around Rose’s wrist, saw the pain on her face, he had wanted to kill the man. Tear him apart, wrench off that hand. He was not quite sure what had stopped him—Rose’s eyes, perhaps, fixed on him, trusting him to free her and trusting, too, that he was in control of the situation. Which he had been...by a thread.

Mine. That was what he had thought when he had seen Wighton with his hands on her. Mine.

It hadn’t been civilised: it had barely been a coherent thought, more blind possessive instinct. And it was wrong. Not to want to stop the lout of her brother hurting her, bullying her, but to feel like that about her. He didn’t own Rose; he didn’t possess her. She was her own woman and she had only agreed to marry him to keep her sisters safe. It would be an alliance, not a surrender, and to find that he was capable of that kind of violently possessive emotion was a shock.

Yes, he had a temper and he had fought enemies before, but never with the sensation that at any moment he might lose control. That he might maim, or worse.

‘Marcus?’ Rose whispered.

‘It’s all right,’ he said. ‘Just getting my breath back after lugging you up all those stairs. Goodness, woman, I had no idea you weighed so much. It must be all the muscle you developed earthing up potatoes.’

It was a feeble joke, but it provoked a shaky laugh.

He carried her to the bed and set her down. ‘Let me see your wrist. Did he touch you anywhere else? Did you fall awkwardly?’ He took her right hand in his, moving it gently. The skin around her wrist was red and the bruising was already coming up, but she was right, nothing seemed to be broken. He set the hand down gently on the counterpane.

‘No, and, no,’ Rose said. Her voice was very calm, but he recognised the tone she used when she did not want to frighten Kat. He did not want soothing, he wanted her to tell him everything, throw herself into his arms and ask him to set it all to rights.

‘All I need is some arnica to bring out the bruising.’ She looked down, then made a small sound of distress and took his right hand in her left, lifting it so she could look at his knuckles. ‘You are bleeding,’ she said.

‘It’s nothing, I just skinned them on Charles’s chin. It looks worse than it is,’ he said and dug a handkerchief out of his pocket to wrap around his hand to hide the blood.

‘Nothing?’ she said indignantly and took hold of his fist again, lifted it and touched her lips to it.

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