Page 42 of The Duke's Tempting Widow
Cassian… and Weston in chains. Something about the sight made her want to lose the meager breakfast that had all but left her system.
It was something that she was never going to forget. Weston was bleeding from a cut just above his hairline and seemed rather uneasy on his feet. Cassian, clutching his forehead was leaning on one of the far walls for support. He seemed to be in a daze, and disoriented. Weston must have hit him somehow.
Without allowing herself to think about it, Lydia curried to Weston’s side, attempting to find where he was restrained so that she could liberate him.
“You… bastard…” Cassian wheezed, finally seeming to realize that they were not alone any longer.
“Stay away!” Lydia screamed at him. “I heard everything! You deplorable little roach!”
She only wished that she knew even worse words that she might have been able to throw at him. If ever she wished she knew the language of sailors, it was now.
Cassian’s face twisted, slowly staggering toward them as Lydia desperately fiddled with the pin and release system on Weston’s chains.
“The Bow Street Runners will be here at any moment! Stop! Before you make things worse for yourself!” Lydia screamed desperately as Cassian advanced.
Just when she thought that she got the chains—Cassian swung for her.
“Watch out!” Weston gasped, attempting to knock her out of the way with his shoulder.
Lydia screamed and fell to the side. She scrambled away from Cassian as he advanced on her.
“And when they arrive, they will find two dead bodies with only one witness. Guess things will work out for me after all!” Cassian hissed, sweat pouring down his face as he lunged for her, swinging madly.
Lydia curled in on herself, screaming in fear as she waited for the attack to land—but it never did.
Weston had finally freed himself. Whatever she had done must have been enough. She was still frozen, curled into her space by the wall as the two men fought. She had never heard the sounds of a man punching another quite that hard—and her stomach twisted all over again. She could not endure it.
Finally, with a sickening crunch—Weston landed a punch square on Cassian’s jaw. His head snapped to the side, and he went down. She could have sworn that the ground shook when Cassian fell. It was almost comical how his tongue lolled out of the side of his mouth.
“Lydia,” Weston called to her.
Slowly, she turned look at him. It was obvious that this was not the first time that he must have called out her name.He had one arm braced on the wall over her head and the other extended out toward her.
Her hand trembled as she extended it toward him. Carefully, Weston pulled her to her feet, pulling her into his arms. She folded into his chest without resistance as she blinked blearily at Cassian’s unconscious form. Why could she not look away?
“Are you all right?” he asked, attempting to check her over. She could not answer. Weston carefully let her lean against the closest wall before he moved to chain Cassian with the same chains that he had used on him moments before. At least that would hold him for however long it took the Bow Street Runners to arrive.
“Lydia, look at me.” Weston asked softly, lifting her chin to focus on him instead of Cassian. Her heart fluttered in her chest, all of her emotions seeming to catch up with her the moment that her eyes locked onto his.
Tears swam in her vision as she sagged forward, and he enveloped her tightly in his arms. She had been so frightened. Clearly, she was right in thinking that something truly terrible could have happened to him if she had been only a little bit later than she was.
“You were right, you know.” Weston said after a while, teasing her softly. “He is far more pleasant unconscious like this.”
She hiccupped a laugh. It felt like a lifetime ago when she had tied him up. So much pain could have been avoided. What a terrible, terrible man.
Weston guided the two of them into the hallway where she finally felt as if she could breathe again. She inhaled sharply, filling every bit of her lungs with air to try to steady herself. Weston lifted her chin to look at him once more, his eyes full of concern for her, as if he was the one who had not been in chains just moments ago.
She lifted her hand to cup his face, needing to make sure that he was truly here, and that she had made it here in time to save him. She had been so frightened. So many things wanted to roll off of her tongue, but she could not seem to utter a single one.
It was as if he could read her mind, pulling her closer until it left no space between them and slanting his lips over her own. Every panicked thought flew right out of her mind.
She twisted just enough to wrap her arms around his neck, pulling him down closer to her as she feverishly kissed him back. She could not stop the tears from running down her face despite her best efforts. She had come far too close to losing him. She did not know what she would have done if he had truly been lost to her once more.
Weston backed her against the closest wall, a comforting hand wrapped around the small of her back, keeping her close to him as he deepened the kiss. She needed to feel him against her, needed the heat of him to wrap around her fully so that every cell in her body could believe that he was here and safe.
A scandalized gasp breaks their kiss before things can get any more carried away.
Lydia turned her head to see Kitty and William standing at the foot of the stairs, her sister gawking at them both. Lydia’s face flushed with heat; she knew that she was blushing furiously. Her sheepish smile not nearly enough to properly convey her emotions.
