Page 24 of A Christmas Temptation for the Duke
His hands were strong around her waist and the moment that he had her, Alison felt for the first time since she fled her home a sense of safety and protection. She did not try and pull away. She did not lurch back or cry out. Rather, with Pickle tucked in one arm, she wrapped the other around him, needing the safety he provided like nothing else.
“Lady Alison,” Lord Grayhill began. “What is going –”
“Someone is outside my home!” she cried, looking up and finding Lord Grayhill’s eyes. “Please! You must help me.”
The last time Alison had been this close to Lord Grayhill, she had been overcome with both hostility and frustration. Whenever she and Lord Grayhill spoke or were alone, they traded barbs and insults. Mockery flitted through their conversations and there was an underlying current of tension which suggested that neither liked one another very much.
This time, Lord Grayhill looked down at her with apparent concern and worry. His brow was furrowed, his expression was hard, and his grip was strong around her. She had been shaking before. She had been panicking. But she felt it melt away because in the moment it seemed to her that nothing could harm her…
“Someone is outside your home?” he asked warily. “Who?”
“I do not know!” she cried. “But I heard them clearly. And they were speaking as if they meant to break in.”
“I was under the impression that you had left earlier today?” he asked. “Did your family not travel north? Why are you not with them?”
“What? That does not matter!” Her panic rose again. “Please, someone is out there! I know they are.”
“If that is the case, we best scare them off.” Lord Grayhill acted quickly, helping her to find her feet and then taking her hand. “Come with me.” He started to lead her across the foyer.
“What? Wait!” She pulled her hand free. “What are you doing?”
He turned back, confusion written across his face. “I am taking you someplace to warm yourself. You must be freezing.”
She balked. “What? No, that is not – did you not hear what I said? There were two men outside my home. And they sounded as if –”
“I heard you well enough,” he spoke over her with calm. “And they will be dealt with shortly. But what concerns me of the moment is not your home, or what might be stolen if given the chance. But that of your wellbeing.” He raised an eyebrow at her, daring her to argue. “Now, please, if you will allow me to do so, I will see you someplace warm.”
Alison stared at the Earl in shock and confusion. Never mind that he was treating her with such kindness and in ways that henever had before, but that he was so concerned about her health and her comfort. That hecaredabout her.
“But my home…” she said weakly, the initial force behind her objections fading quickly.
“Will be there in five minutes,” he said. “But as I explained, it is you who my concern is currently focused on.”
She did not know what to say. There was that part of her that felt the need to argue further, as that’s how it always was where the Earl was concerned. But Alison could not bring herself to do it, knowing that anything she said would be childish and petty.
“Y – yes,” she stammered. “Thank you.”
At this moment, Pickle yapped as if in agreement, a further confirmation that she was doing the right thing.
Lord Grayhill looked at her for a moment as if he expected her to push back on him again. When he saw that she would not, he nodded once and indicated for her to follow.
He led her through the manor and to the drawing room where a fire was already roaring. There, he directed her to the couch by the fire, at which point Godfrey rushed into the room with a blanket.
“This should do for now…” Lord Gryahill snatched the blanket from Godrey, knelt beside her, and wrapped the blanket aroundher shoulders. Alison had not realized how cold she was until it was on her, and she started to shake.
“Thank you,” she said again, feeling embarrassed at how aggressive she had been before. “I don’t know what to say.”
“Thank you will do for now.” His eyes searched her, and she looked away, not used to being watched so closely as that. To beingseen. “Now…” Then he rose, “let us see about this so-called robbery.”
It was only then that Alison noticed something else about the Earl. Something… odd. He was wearing a bathrobe only, tied at the waist but providing little real cover. His hair was wet, his skin glistened, and his bare chest was revealed. She glimpsed that same muscular physique she had seen only a few days ago.
Despite her coldness, a warmth rippled up Alison’s body…
“Wa -- wait!” she stammered as he strode across the room. “You’re leaving me?”
“I am.” He reached the doorway and turned back. “Is that a problem?”
It should not have been. Had Alison not come here for help? Did she not expect the Earl to rush to her estate and scare away the two men she had seen? Only now that he was about to leave, she felt suddenly… alone. Even scared, because she was safe with him like she had not known was possible.
