My Dangerous Duke by Gaelen Foley

Author:Gaelen Foley
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: Historical
ISBN: 9780062000231
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2010-06-30T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter 13

The ride back was cold and long and silent.

The distance seemed so much farther now that her world at one end of the journey had ceased to exist. Life as she knew it was over. The only solid thing left for her was the man guiding the horse they shared.

She closed her eyes and allowed herself to lean back against him, accepting the sturdy shelter Rohan offered, the warm, hard comfort of his body.

Though she was touched by his promise of protection, she did not want to be a burden. At least her enemies hadn’t taken her pride. Still, her mood was bleak. Loss and wintry cold had seeped into her blood, making her numb and weary and indifferent.

After another three hours, they rode into the courtyard in front of Kilburn Castle.

The weary horses clattered to a halt before the same portcullis entrance where the smugglers had brought her the first night.

Little could she have known then that, within a fortnight, she would be glad to be arriving here, that the forbidding stone castle would come to seem like the closest thing she had left to a home.

Rohan dismounted, got the book out of the saddlebag, and returned to help her down. She took it from him, and in turn, he lifted her easily out of the saddle. But instead of setting her on her cold-numbed feet, he carried her tenderly toward the door.

It opened before they reached it.

Warm orange light spilled out onto the flagstones as Eldred let them in, while a groom rushed out from the stable to tend to the horses.

“Is she hurt?” the butler asked in alarm, looking at Kate.

“Not physically,” the duke murmured, carrying her past him.

“Where are the others? Was there trouble?”

“Everything’s under control. They’ll be along by morning.”

Eldred hurried after them, clearly unsettled by her air of defeat. “Is there anything I can do, Your Grace? Miss Madsen? Some warm negus? Or there’s soup—”

“I don’t want anything,” she rallied herself to mumble. “Thank you, Eldred.”

“Give him the book,” Rohan murmured to Kate. “Eldred, hide this away in the safe. We’ll look at it tomorrow,” he added with a glance at her.

Kate shrugged.

Eldred took the book without a word, then Rohan gave his wiry-haired butler a taut nod. Eldred dropped back as Rohan marched on, carrying her through the dark corridors.

Still draped in her snow-dampened cloak, Kate laid her head on Rohan’s muscled shoulder, her gloved hands clasped behind his neck.

In her despondency, she was past the point of arguing about anything, nor did she bother to object as he climbed the dimly lit stairs, moving with relentless strength, the dark woolen skirts of his greatcoat flowing out behind him.

She merely stared at his jawline and breathed in the smell of him as he carried her up the stairs; somehow his natural, masculine scent had become so familiar.

The castle had become familiar, too. It made her feel better to be back here, where she knew she was safe—but for how long? And then what?

It was so strange knowing she could never go back to the way things had been before.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.