Autumn Desires by Michelle McMaster

Author:Michelle McMaster
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Publisher: 0
Published: 2013-03-19T04:00:00+00:00

Brand had won an important victory that night. He’d proven to Alex exactly how much sexual power he still held over her. Though her heart was still safely locked away from him, it seemed her body was only too eager to make her husband’s acquaintance again.

The realization had shaken Alex deeply. At least Brand had done the decent thing and left her alone that night and each night since. He had won his chance to stay at Ainsley, but was wisely taking his time in claiming his husbandly rights.

As if there hadn’t been enough surprises with Brand’s sudden reappearance in her life, he managed to shock Alex once again when he made a startling request a few days later.

“I should like you to invite Colonel Weatherby to dinner,” he said from across the breakfast table.

Alex met his gaze with alarm. “Why? You aren’t going to kill him, are you?”

Brand quirked a brow. “No. Though he might try to kill me....”

“What?”

“Nothing. Just invite the man to dinner tomorrow night.” Brand rose from the table, and winced slightly as he did so.

Alex had noticed him do that previously. There had been something different about him since his return, a change in his bearing. “Are you injured?”

He stood tall and grasped the back of his chair for balance. “Six months ago, I was in a carriage accident. Two of the occupants in the vehicle died at the scene, and another died of his injuries a week later. I am the sole survivor of that horrible day.”

Alex was horrified. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I’m telling you now.”

“I mean, why didn’t you send word when it happened?”

He looked at the table with hooded eyes. “I didn’t want you to see me like that, nor William. If I was to die, so be it. I would not be remembered as a broken wreck of a man.”

“Who took care of you? Where did you convalesce?”

“The dowager Viscountess Borden took me into her home in Grosvenor Square. I had known the lady for quite some time. You see, her son was one of the victims of the accident. Tommy was a close friend of mine.”

Alex stood and went to his side, unable to keep herself from offering solace to her estranged husband. “I’m so sorry, Brand.”

He looked down at her, his eyes showing just a hint of vulnerability. “That day changed my life, Alex—in some ways the worst way it could, and in some ways for the better. I lost a friend that day, and it was a loss that cut me deeply. However, as I lay in bed at Borden House—my body bruised and broken—I thought of you. Day after day, I thought of you and William, and it kept me going. It kept me striving to get better, to grow stronger, so that I might one day return to Ainsley and look upon you with my own eyes. Here I am, doing just that.”

“What do the doctors say about your leg?”

“It is healed, but for an occasional stiffness as you have just seen.

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.