Page 93 of Enslaved to the Seduction of a Lady
“Luke?” she whispered.
“It’s me, Alison,” he said. “Don’t worry. Someone has gone to fetch help. You’re going to be all right.”
They had to wait barely thirty minutes before another carriage pulled up and three men piled out, including James, Luke’s friend and the Duke’s footman.
“What’s happened?” James asked. His lips were thin and tight, and he carefully avoided eye contact with Luke.
“I don’t know. There was a crash, and—”
“What were you even doing out here with her, anyhow?” James asked, suddenly railing on Luke.
“I… look, there’s time for that later. For now, the lady needs assistance. Can we get her back to the manor house?”
“Yes,” James said, signaling to the other two servants to pick Alison up from the ground and help her into the carriage. “The physician has already been sent for. Hopefully he’ll be there by the time we get back.”
“Thank goodness,” Luke said, sighing with relief. Then he turned and saw the two servants bending down to pick her up. “No!” he cried, running over to them. They looked up in surprise.
“What’s this, Luke?” James asked.
“I’llcarry her,” he said. “I know she would not approve of unknown hands upon her body.”
“And your hands have known her body, have they?” James asked, eyebrow raised.
“That’s not what I meant and you know it,” he growled, shooing the other two servants away. They blindly obeyed, and Luke knelt down to scoop her softly from the ground.
She cried out—in pain or in fear Luke wasn’t sure—but he whispered to her.
“It’s going to be all right,” he said. “I love you.”
He could sense the other servants looking nervously at each other, but they said nothing, and Luke was pleased. Their focus needed to be on Alison, not on him.
“And you,” James said, eyebrow raised again, once they had put Alison into the carriage.
“Me?” Luke said, surprised. “Are you sure the Duke will want to see me?”
“Certain of it,” James said, his face still twisted into something cold and unreadable. “He said as much.”
Luke didn’t know whether to be scared or to be relieved. Of course he did not want to leave Alison’s side, especially not when she was so hurt, but he feared what the Duke would have to say. He had already made it quite clear he did not want Luke in the house.
“All right,” Luke said, nodding his agreement before they could manhandle him into the carriage. He stepped in quite without aid, and before he could even begin to whisper into Alison’s ear, they were off again, on their way to the manor house.
