Page 119 of The Duke's Forbidden Bride
No, he would not lose her.
Eleanor woke up once again to a pounding headache and the sound of water sloshing.
Somewhere, wood groaned, and she realized that she was swaying. Back and forth, back and forth.
Her head ached harder with the movement, her stomach churning as she looked around.
Her heart sank when she realized she was on a ship. Her hands were still bound, and she whirled around, searching for something to cut her bonds. But there was nothing. Nothing but an empty cabin on a ship.
Terror shot through her. Had they already set sail? Did they rock in a bay or the middle of the sea?
Her breath came harshly through her nose, and she closed her eyes, trying to calm herself. She only opened them again when a door groaned open and Lord Belgrave entered the small space, making it seem far smaller.
His smile was smug as he watched her.
“Eleanor,” he said. “You are awake. For a moment, I feared I had struck you too hard. I was prepared for such a thing, of course. Your husband, however… I do not think he would have been.Although hedidleave you alone, I hear? So perhaps you are not so dear to him, after all.”
“Belgrave,” she hissed. “He will come for me.”
“Oh, he may, or he may not, but it will be too late, regardless. See, I am good friends with the dock guards here at Hartswood. They know to keep their mouths shut if I weigh their tongues down with enough coin. Once we set sail, you will vanish into the shadows—swallowed like all of the others.”
We have not yet set sail.
And as long as it remained that way, she had a chance.
Eleanor glared at the bastard. “To think I ever thought we would have a content life together.” She laughed derisively. “How terrible of me. Howblindsided. You are a coward, Lord Belgrave. A lonely, cowardly man who must entrap women into his orbit. A man who must threaten a lady out of fear.” She shook her head. “I am no longer scared of you, Lord Belgrave. My husband will come for me, and you will find those shadows you send women off to hungry for your presence.”
Lord Belgrave moved closer to her, looming over her. He laughed, the sound rough and jagged. “How spirited you have become with your new title.”
He brushed a finger over her jaw, and she forced herself not to look away, not to flinch.
But gunshots soon shattered the heavy silence, and she gasped. Her heart leaped into her throat, her eyes fixed on Lord Belgrave. He stiffened.
They have nothing to do with him.
Taunting words were on her lips, but she didn’t get to say them before the cabin door was smashed into pieces.
Rain soaked Spencer, and thunder cracked overhead as the storm swept through the countryside.
He stood in the doorway, his eyes fixed on Lord Belgrave.
He stalked toward the man.
Get your hand off my wife.
But he didn’t speak. He just watched the fear grow in Lord Belgrave’s eyes. It was not nearly enough, for how much fear the cad had put into the heart of every woman whose life he had ruined, but Spencer found satisfaction in it all the same.
He stopped before Lord Belgrave, cocking his head, and then swung—only to stop when the man cried out and shoved Eleanor in front of him, using her as a shield.
“Stop!” Lord Belgrave cried. “Stop, or you will hurt her! Have you not caused her enough pain?”
But Spencer didn’t take the bait. He quickly pulled Eleanor out of the way, pausing long enough to see her nod.
Lord Belgrave threw a hand up, the other rooting in his pockets for a knife. Spencer kicked the man’s wrist, forcing him to release the weapon, and then used the momentum to slam him to the floor. The man’s shout of fury was enough to split the small cabin in half.
The two fell to the floor with a crash, and Spencer didn’t think. He just punched, and punched, pouring out all of his fury and desperation, the helplessness he had felt upon finding that trail of blood in his house—the very place he had finally begun to consider his home.
He rained blow after blow, dodging Lord Belgrave’s pathetic attempts, only catching a few punches to his ribs or his jaw. He had fought his way through life; the pathetic Earl was used to other men doing his dirty work for him.
