Page 5 of Abducting his Duchess

Glancing over at the dowager duchess, I note her expression. I’m not sure if it’s my imagination or delirium threatening to take hold of me again, but it seems as if the older woman is nearly glowing, bursting with anticipation. It’s as if she knows something but isn’t revealing it. Granted, with the way the younger girls huddle in on themselves, perhaps she’s attempting to be optimistic for their sakes?

If only it would work on me. Instead, it does the complete opposite. Now, instead of just worrying about some rogue highwayman, I’m concerned for her health. Could she be descending into depths of delirium? I long to cry out to Blackport, to warn him of his mother’s potential condition, but I dare not drag his attention away from the foe about to beset us.

“It will be quite all right, Elizabeth,” the older woman nods. “Robert is an expert at dispatching with unpleasantries. He will protect us.”

“Yes, but…your vision.”

Her face crinkles for a moment, as if unsure of what the younger sister is talking about. “What do you mean, child? What vision?”

“About Robert,” she wails, burying her head in her hands. “Is this where he takes an arrow to the knee? Will he even still be able to defend us while crippled in such a way?”

For a moment, silence descends on the interior of the landau. The dowager duchess blinks at Lady Elizabeth before dissolving into a peal of laughter. “Oh child, how I envy that imagination of yours.”

Before I can interrupt, to explain what this phrase means, the door opens, revealing Blackport’s face. I search his eyes, looking for some reassurance, but finding none. His lips thin as he peers in at us. “We are beset,” he grumbles, his tone still devoid of any actual inflection. “We will not make it out of here with our lives.”

Next to me, the dowager duchess throws her hand over her eyes and flops backward, as if in a faint. “Oh my. Whatever shall we do? This cannot be the end.”

Suspicion niggles at my brain as I watch the theatrics before me. Neither she nor Blackport have even a whiff of fear coming off of them. It’s as if they knew this was going to happen and are merely playing their part. While the older woman moans and rocks back and forth, Blackport looks off down the road, his expression more bored and annoyed than actually concerned.

“Oh. Oh my,” he cries out, rolling his eyes. “You have cornered us. Whatever shall we do?”

“Your sword,” Lady Margaret shrieks out. “Use your bloody sword!”

“Language,” the governess, Blackport, and the dowager duchess cry out at the same time.

For a moment, Blackport’s gaze drifts over to the governess, where he locks eyes on her. “If you are to be their guardian, then I expect her mouth to remain pristine. I never want to hear another oath fall from her lips. Are we of an accord?”

“Yes, Your Grace,” she whispers, her face turning crimson.

“I take no issue with filling your mouth with a cake of soap if I catch her saying something like that again.”

I blink as I watch the interaction between the two. Blackport seems to cast aside all notions of a highwayman so he can be a demanding oaf. Unfortunately, it’s made all the worse as a slight tendril of arousal drifts off of her. From there, her blush becomes even redder, as if she’s fully aware we know the effect his words have on her.

“Oh, Robert. Be kind to the poor girl. After all, are we not beset with a madman descending upon us?”

“Oh. Yes. Yes, you are quite right.” Clearing his throat, he pulls away from the door and draws his sword. “Behold. It is he. Come forth and fight me like a man or slither off like the coward you are.”

The man draws into view as the dowager duchess alternates between gripping her hands and pressing them against her heart. “Oh, shall we yet be saved? Shall Robert keep this ruffian at bay?”

Before I can remark, a familiar scent teases my nose. William! Though he’s cloaked in a garment I’ve never seen before, I know the breadth of his shoulders and the width of his hips anywhere. He moves with a fluid grace, brandishing his sword high in the air.

“I have come for your bounty,” he roars, my heart flipping at the decadent sound.

“There is no bounty to be found,” Robert intones, his voice flat and despondent.

It confirms what I was hoping for all along. They did know about it. Now that I’m certain it’s my husband and not some stranger set to defile me, I can breathe easier. More importantly, I can now play along.

“Stand aside. I shall judge for myself whether or not there is a prize to be found in this landau.”

“No. You will have to get through me first.” At this point, Blackport seems so bored with it all, unable to even muster the strength to put in a good fight.

However, to the sisters, this is all too real. They stare out of the windows and watch, their mouths agape. There’s no way this will not affect them. I’m not sure how they will feel after the farce is revealed, but for now, it’s as if they see their lives flashing before their eyes.

Unfortunately, I’m unable to comfort them as the sound of metal upon metal rings out. I watch, transfixed, as my husband and his brother spar. With William’s mouth covered like it is, I can’t see the smile on his face, but the crinkle around his green eyes tells me everything I need to know.

More than that, the bond hums between us, nearly sizzling with sexual tension as he glances my way. Lust pours over me, hot and heady as he steps in for the attack. Though I’m not sure how long this interlude between the two was supposed to play out, Blackport seems to just want it over with.

Raising his arm, he allows William to slide the sword home, pretending as if he has been struck down. “Oh, life. Oh, horror. Shall I now die while my family is ravaged? I shall haunt you from beyond the grave.”