Page 39 of Never Kiss a Scot
“Ash, calm down,” Godric, the Duke of Essex, said. “You knew we not likely to reach them in time. There’s nothing to be done now.”
“Isn’t there?” Lennox snapped. “If we take Joanna home now, we can still annul the marriage.”
“You can’t,” Brock said. “We are fully man and wife now.” He couldn’t deny the relief he felt in that moment. He hadn’t wanted to rush Joanna into consummation, but this was the very reason why they had. Thank God their passion had swept over them so quickly.
“Oh Lord,” Lucien, the Marquess of Rochester, muttered. “You consummated it, didn’t you?”
Brock answered with a nod.
Lennox, rather than throwing another punch, went very still. “I ought to shoot you.” The cold menace in his tone would strike fear in any other man, but not Brock. He had grown up with an abusive father. There was very little Lennox could do or say that would frighten him.
“I swear to you, I will be a good husband to her,” Brock replied quietly. “She’ll want for nothing.”
“Because you’ll use her fortune,” Lennox said. “Does she know you married her for her money?”
“It wasn’t about the money,” Brock assured him. “I wanted her for her.”
Lennox harrumphed. “Of course you would say that.”
Anger rose within Brock, despite himself. “Are you calling me a liar?”
“Time will tell. When she comes home with a broken heart…”
“She won’t.” If anyone risked a broken heart, it was him. Joanna could decide he and his home weren’t enough, and she might go back to England. It was why he was so determined not to love her. He would care for her, but never love her. She would break his very soul if he dared to give her his heart.
“I want to see her. Now.”
There was no winning that argument. Brock sighed and walked back to the inn, Lennox and his friends following once they put their horses in the stables.
“Wait here. I’ll bring her down. You’ll only upset her if you go barging in.” He nodded to a large empty table in the common room. The men all took their seats except for Lennox, who stood, arms crossed, at the base of the stairs to await his sister.
Brock climbed the steps, heart heavy as he ran to the room he’d shared with Joanna. She’d rolled onto her back in the time that he’d been gone, and he couldn’t resist walking over to the bed and leaning over to kiss her. She sighed dreamily, kissing him back before she opened her eyes and stretched out like a contented cat. Lord, why did he have to ruin this moment by telling her Lennox had caught up with them? If he’d had the ability to stop time, freeze it to just this moment, where he held his wife in his arms and kissed her…
But he was no sorcerer, no keeper of time, and he was powerless to stop whatever would come next.
She looked over his clothed body. “You left?”
“Yes, I went to check on the horses.”
“What happened? Your eye’s red, and your mouth… Is that blood?” She bolted up in bed, briefly aware that she exposed her perfect breasts to him when the blankets dropped to her waist. “He’s here, isn’t he?”
“Aye. Lennox and his friends are downstairs. You should get dressed and go speak with him.”
“Oh Lord…” She leapt out of bed, rushing to her saddlebag and retrieving a clean set of clothes.
“Did he hurt you?” she asked while changing.
“I’ve had worse.” He couldn’t help but watch the adorable sway of her rounded bottom as she hopped into her petticoats and pulled on her stockings. He assisted her with her stays and gown, although he was a bit clumsy with the buttons on the dress. She dragged a comb through her hair and used one of the pink hair ribbons that had handfasted them to tie her hair back at the base of her neck. It made her look young and vulnerable in a way that tore at him. Brock’s heart ached at the thought of what she must be feeling, knowing she was soon going to face a very angry brother.
“He is down in the common room,” Brock said when she turned to him, ready to leave. She followed him downstairs and clutched his arm when she saw Lennox and his gang waiting for her.
“Joanna, are you all right?” her brother asked in a rigid voice that matched his posture.
“Of course I am.” She let go of Brock’s arm and moved to stand in front of him like a shield. Warmth filled him as he noticed her protectiveness, not that he needed it. Or perhaps he did, just not in the way she imagined.
“I would like to speak with youalone,” Lennox said.
“Whatever you wish to say, my husband can hear as well.”
