Page 53 of The Haunted Duke

“Thank you,” she breathed, pulling the collar of his jacket up to her lips.

His heart skipped a beat as he watched her close her eyes and inhale deeply, as if using his scent to further her comfort.

“It is the least I could do after ripping your pretty gown,” he replied, wrapping an arm around her lower back. “I should not have done that.”

“No,” Helena quickly negated, glancing up at him with forgiving eyes. “No, it was too tight. I could not breathe. I fear I was just a few seconds away from a fainting spell.”

Though relieved that he was so quickly forgiven, Evander still could not relax and revel in his moment alone with her.

“Tell me what caused this,” he commanded gently once more. “What did he tell you?”

For a moment, Helena hesitated, and in that brief time, Evander watched some of her fear return to her eyes.

“He said… He said he enjoyed hurting my mother and me,” she whispered, beginning to quiver in his lap. “He said that he would enjoy breaking me open.”

Evander’s grip tightened around Helena’s thighs as his vision tinged with red and his nostrils flared. He forced a breath into his lungs, managing to loosen his fingertips so as not to hurt Helena.

He was drowning in fury. No man dared threaten the love of his life and remained unpunished.

“He will be dealt with,” he vowed, feeling the muscle in his jaw tick with irritation. “Immediately.”

Chapter 18

“How?” Helena croaked. “What can we even do?”

She was grateful that Evander had found her. She was even grateful he had ripped her gown. It had been strangling her chest and cutting off her air as she had struggled to control her panic—yet despite her feeling calmer now, despite wanting to believe that Evander could protect her, her mind was still shrouded with unease.

“He did not stop when he discovered that I was to marry into the Winterbourne family,” she went on, watching curiously as Evander removed his black leather gloves and laid them carefully to the side. “He did not even stop when I told him I could pay back our debts. How will you convince him to leave us alone? I do not believe it is money he cares about.”

“I assure you he will stop after I have a talk with him,” Evander answered quickly, his deep voice full of promise as he stared deeply into her eyes. “You will not worry about him again after tomorrow, I swear to you.”

“You swear it?” she whispered.

“On my life,” he said, and something in the flat certainty of his tone left no room to doubt him.

Helena swallowed as she saw a threatening look cloud Evander’s piercing blue eyes.

“What are you going to do?” she asked, feeling her fear shift toward something else as she became suddenly aware of how good it felt to be in Evander’s lap.

“Nothing you need to concern yourself with tonight,” he murmured, his hand sliding beneath her jaw to tilt her face up to his. “Tonight, you belong to me, and I intend to remind you of it.”

Evander leaned forward, inching down the collar of his jacket from her throat. A sigh escaped Helena’s lips as she felt his soft, caressing kisses at her neck, further pushing away the fear she had been holding onto.

“First, I am going to take care of you,” Evander’s deep voice rasped as kisses sensually traced from the top of her throat, down her neck, and to her collarbone.

Such kisses sent tiny, delicious tingles throughout her entire body, and slowly, the tight grip she had on his jacket relaxed, giving Evander the ability to pull it down to continue his line of kisses.

“Then I am going to take care of your problem,” Evander huskily went on, shifting her off his lap and onto the chaise until her head was laid gently atop the pillows. “You will never have to worry about that scoundrel again. I promise.”

“All right. I trust you. Will you… Will you touch me?”

“Oh, sweet Helena, I plan to do so much more than touch you.” He kneeled over her, his shadow swallowing what remained of the firelight. “Tonight I intend to ruin you for any other man.”

“Evander—”

“Say you understand me,” he said, his voice low and unyielding, though his fingers were gentle as they traced the curve of her jaw.

“I understand,” she breathed.