Page 43 of Heart of Iron
She fetched her teacup and nervously put it between them.“I’m not the one he’ll retaliate against.You made a fool of him last night, Will.He won’t forget that.Promise me you’ll be careful.”
Leaning down, he rested his hands on the armrest on either side of her.Lena’s lips firmed and she rested her teacup in her lap.
“You ain’t goin’ to distract me,” he said, reaching out and capturing her chin between thumb and forefinger.
A mistake.Lena’s skin was silky soft, and the slight parting of her lips as she looked up nearly undid him.Her eyes softened, the breath catching in her lungs.For all her devil-may-care attitude, in that moment her expression was oddly guileless.Hesitant.Uncertain of herself.
The hint of vulnerability nearly undid him.
Will jerked his hand back as if scalded and turned away, the breath in him coming hard.“If he threatens you, you’ll tell me?”
Lena’s gaze dropped to her lap.“Of course.”
What the devil was wrong with her now?“You ain’t afraid of him?”
“I can handle men like Cavendish.”Putting the teacup aside, she muttered, “It’s certain other ones that give me a headache.”
“Colchester?”
“No.”A frown drew her eyebrows together.“Why would you mention him?”
“He scares you,” Will admitted, his voice lowering.“Do you want me to kill him for you?”
She surged to her feet.“Are youinsane?He’s a duke!Even if you could get to him, the Echelon would destroy you.”Those wide brown eyes met his and then she grabbed his wrist.“Will, promise you won’t do anything of the sort!Promise you won’t go after Colchester.”
The scent of fear was back.But this time she wasn’t afraid for herself.
Will rubbed at the back of his neck, eyeing her hand warily.Nobody had ever given a damn about him before.Apart from Blade.“I don’t let nobody touch what’s mine.”
“I can handle Colchester,” she stressed.
The tiny hint of doubt in her voice made his hackles rise.“How?By smilin’?By flirtin’?”
“By playing the game!By hiding in plain sight and not letting him get me alone.”
“Aye, and what’ll you do if hedoesget you alone?”
She had nothing to say to that.
Will drew her up against him.“Well?”
“There are…ways.”Her hands rested against his abdomen, trying to restrain him.“Let me go, Will.This is unseemly.”
“What kind o’ ‘ways’?”
Lena glared at him.“I submit.All he wants is blood.It costs me nothing.He can’t afford to take too much and have me die.I’m not…not just some poor, unprotected coal lass.”
The words pierced him like a knife.White-hot fury seared his brain, the world narrowing in around him until all he saw was Lena’s frightened face.“Like hell you will.”
Lena flinched as his hands tightened unconsciously.“Stop it, Will.Let me go!”
A gasp from the doorway caught his attention.Mrs.Wade stood there, her black skirts enveloping her like the sail from a ship.“I leave you alone for five minutes and this is what happens!Sir, you will remove your hands at once.”
He hadn’t even heard her coming.
Whatever expression was on his face, Lena whispered, “Don’t you dare.”
Her expression turned mulish, completely unafraid of him.It was that that earned Mrs.Wade a reprieve.Few people ever saw a man when they looked at him.Only a monster.He couldn’t sully his image in Lena’s eyes.Couldn’t act like the beast the world thought him.
