Page 52 of A Bride for the Beastly Duke
Ava had been getting another drink when she felt a hand gripping her arm tightly. She tensed, turning to see Aaron smiling at her. Part of her was simply not surprised. She had seen the annoyance in his eyes when Edward had pushed back at him when he had come in. He did not like to feel rejected—she knew that firsthand.
“Is that any way to speak to the father of your child?” he asked scoldingly.
She gave him an incredulous look. “Youcannotbe serious.”
He quirked an eyebrow. “If memory serves, I remember you crying and screaming in my doorway, begging me to acknowledge you both. I cannot believe you have forgotten.”
She sneered, “I did not forget,Aaron. I simply left you behind as you wanted. How you possess the audacity to be here, I do not even know.”
“Oh, I thought I would come and ensure that my… child’s new father was up to snuff. A man so hideous looking might display some monstrous traits.”
Ava gritted her teeth. “Howdareyou?”
“Am I interrupting?” a voice said, startling her, her gaze jumping behind Aaron to see her husband. She hoped sincerely that he had not heard the last thing Aaron said.
“Of course not, my darling.” She jerked her arm out of Aaron’s grip and moved to Edward’s side. He put an arm around her waist and pulled her up against him tight. She turned, looking up at him with a smile. “Everything is fine.”
“Good,” he said and then leaned in, pressing his lips firmly to hers. She tensed at first but then remembered that he was herhusband, and anyone who didn’t like their mutual connection could lump it. She relaxed into him then, her fingers gripping the fabric of his shirt as she let his tongue explore her mouth. She knew it was partly for show, for Aaron’s benefit, but she didn’t mind even a little. If ever there was a man who needed to be put in his place, it was the Earl.
Finally, Edward released her with a smile. Ava looked into his eyes, her own wide with arousal. “Oh…” she whispered quietly.
“Are you sure you are all right?” he asked again.
“Yes, yes, of course,” she replied breathlessly. Suddenly, she recalled that they had an audience and looked around for Aaron. She was not at all surprised to find he had disappeared.
Chapter Twenty-One
The need to kill Aaron was stronger still after Edward overheard what the bastard had been saying to his wife. He considered himself a towering example of self-control considering that he did not throw Fenton out of his party. Were he not an agent of the Home Office, Edward might have done it anyway, but he did not want to jeopardize his own standing, fragile as it was.
However, he felt the need to take some air after he had ascertained that Ava was safely on the dance floor with his southern neighbor, the Viscount of Marylebone, an old friend from childhood, happily married, and with nothing to do with the Home Office.
Edward slipped out the French doors to the back garden, leaning against a pillar as he took in the garden in the moonlight.
“I have been waiting to get you alone,” a voice said from behind him. Edward tensed, reaching for the pistol that he had stowed in the inner pocket of his coat.
“No need for that. I just want to talk.”
Edward began to turn around.
“Don’t!” the voice hissed urgently, and Edward froze. “You don’t need to see my face. It will not bode well for you.”
“Are you John Winchester?”
“That is one of my names, yes.”
“And so? What do you want from me?”
“I came to give you the answers you are searching for.”
“Why?”
“Because you are in danger, and the longer you go down the route you are going, the more danger you will be in.”
“And why do you care about that?”
“Because I promised your brother.”
Edward found he was turning before he could think about it.
