Page 74 of Her Runaway Duke
CHAPTER 28
By the time they returned to Greystone, Siena was fast asleep beside him. Levi gripped the potion that the medicine woman had given him. She had refused payment, telling him that a lovely young woman under such traumatic circumstances deserved to be healed, regardless of payment. Levi had still ensured that she had not walked away without some coin, and now he continued to bring the scented herbs to Siena’s nose to help her breathe.
She didn’t stir, but her breathing deepened and she stayed asleep as he carried her up to the front entrance.
“Your Grace!” Thornbury nearly immediately appeared, looking no less askew than he had before. He had one hand on his heart as he took in Levi with Siena safely in his arms, although Levi could only imagine how the two of them must appear. “You found Her Grace. Is she… is she?—”
“She will be fine, Thornbury,” he said, convincing himself as much as the butler. “She’s had a scare and is exhausted, but she will recover.”
“Thank goodness,” the butler said just as the housekeeper appeared behind him. It seemed that she had heard everything that Levi had imparted, and she quickly began to bustle around,arranging all that she felt was required – food, drink, bath, Siena’s maid – when all Levi really wanted was time alone with his wife, the opportunity to hold her and remind himself that she was no longer in any danger.
But he realized from the efforts of his staff just how much they had all come to love Siena, and so he allowed them all to do what they required to show their affection for her. It seemed far too long afterward that he was finally alone with her, on what, he realized belatedly, was their wedding night.
Siena had briefly awoken for her bath, but her eyes had remained closed nearly the entire time. Levi refused to leave the room, sending her maid out before he gently washed Siena’s hair and her body, then lifted her from the bathtub, drying her and dressing her, with help from her sleepy movements, before tucking her into bed.
“What a day,” he murmured as he reached out and drew her close to him. She still didn’t wake, although she did nuzzle her body closer against his. He wrapped his arms around her, closed his eyes, and, for the first time in what felt like forever, easily fell asleep.
Siena wokethe next morning stiff and sore, yet also complete and desperately happy. It took her a moment to remember why.
Then she recalled all that had occurred the previous day, from the wedding to the abduction to her father to McGregor, and she nearly became sick.
What had started as a beautiful morning had quickly turned to disaster, all due to the selfish actions of two men who couldn’t see beyond their own circumstances.
Although it had ended as it began with Levi by her side – and really, what else mattered?
She opened her eyes to find him drowsily watching her, and she determined, then, to never let anyone and or anything interfere with what the two of them had found in one another.
“Levi?”
“Yes?”
She gripped his hands tightly. “I love you. So much.”
The smile that broke out on his face – such a rare occurrence – warmed her right through.
“I love you too. More than you could ever know.” He ran his hands over her cheeks. “How do you feel?”
“A bit stiff and sore, but better than I would have thought.”
“When you were in that building, I…” He seemed at a loss for words, but Siena understood, for she had felt the exact same when she had seen him lying on the ground outside.
“I know,” she said. “But all ended well, thank goodness.”
“And now? Are you happy remaining here with me, knowing that your parents don’t approve of us, that society will have questions?”
“Must you truly ask that?” she said, raising her eyebrows. “Do you forget that I ran away from the wedding that society was expecting? I don’t care what anyone thinks, Levi. I’m here with you, and I will stay with you.” She paused. “Thank you for coming for me. And for coming into the fire after me. I can only imagine how torturous that must have been.”
“Yesterday made me realize that it is not the fire itself that scares me. It is the thought of losing someone to it. Yet now that we have overcome it, somehow it doesn’t hold such power over me anymore.”
“It is interesting, is it not, that the tragedy of losing your brother to fire only furthered McGregor’s need for more fire, while it convinced you to avoid it completely?”
“I suppose that is the difference between setting the fire and being trapped within it.”
“I suppose.” She paused for a moment. “I do feel sorry for him.”
Levi shook his head. “You are too kind. I cannot find it within myself to overcome what he did to you. What he did to my brother. Even through the circumstances.”
“He is a troubled man, that is for certain.”
