Page 75 of His Scandalous Viscountess
Wolf grinned. The stubby weapon required close contact, and Wallthorpe wouldn’t be holding it for long.
With a cry of anger, Wallthorpe launched himself at Wolf. Prepared for the attack, Wolf easily batted the weaker man aside. Again, Wallthorpe ran at him. Again, Wolf socked the man and sent him reeling. With each attempt, Wallthorpe grew weaker, and more tired. Eventually his adrenaline would desert him, and then Wolf would take the knife from him and gut the conniving bastard.
Once more, Wallthorpe ran at him, and this time Wolf grabbed him, swung him around, and slammed him into the wall. The exhausted man ricocheted off of it and landed facedown on his stomach, with one arm awkwardly twisted beneath him. Disgusted with the weak showing, Wolf took a step near him, intending to pick him up off the ground and punch him again.
But then he noticed the growing pool of blood that had formed on the floor. Somehow the fool had fallen on his own weapon.
Using the toe of his boot, Wolf nudged the body and found him unresponsive. A soft whimper behind him reminded him that Jules was also still in the room. With a silent curse, he spun around and found her curled into a ball on the sorry excuse for a mattress, holding her bodice up as tears streaked down her filthy face.
His heart shattered as he took in the broken picture before him. Wide green eyes stared at him and drank him in, as though he might disappear at any moment. He dropped to his knees on the pallet, scared to touch her, but desperate to, all at the same time. Her whole body shuddered, racked by a sob as she reached out toward him. Then her trembling fingers made contact with his face, and suddenly she launched herself into his arms.
Chapter 30
He is alive!
Her heart thundered in her chest as her fingers collided with his skin and confirmed that he was real, and not a figment of her overwrought imagination. She’d launched herself into his arms because she’d thought she would never have that chance again. Tears streamed down her face, uncontrolled, from a mix of joy, solace, and love.
Wolf clutched her against his heaving chest, as safety and warmth chased away all her fears. Then his chest rumbled as he spoke. It took her a moment to tamp down her sobs so she could understand him, but by the time she did, he’d said the most important words.
“…I love you.”
After experiencing a brief glimpse of life without Wolf in it, she was no longer willing to live in fear or worry that she might lose him. Rising up on her knees so she could look him in his eyes, she cupped his sharply carved cheekbones in her hands and locked her gaze with his. “I loveyou, Grayson Powell, Viscount Wolfington, and I never want to live without you ever again.”
In that moment, she watched his fear and sorrow be replaced by all the feelings that currently overwhelmed her. Then he captured her lips with his and seared her very soul with a kiss. Eventually their heartbeats slowed until they fell into sync. All the while, they tasted and touched each other, savoring the knowledge that not only were they both alive, but they werein love.
At some point the authorities arrived, a blanket was procured to cover Julia, and questions were answered. After nearly an hour of such treatment, Wolf put a stop to the interrogation. In a few days, the officer in charge of the newly opened investigation could come by to speak with them both. For now, she was just grateful when Wolf swept her up into his arms, carried her to his carriage, and took her home.
~
That night, having soaked in a bath, she ate a hearty meal shared with her husband when he refused to allow her to come downstairs. Later, she lay next to him in bed unable to sleep. She could hear him breathing, light and shallow, but not the deep, sonorous tones of sleep.
“Thank you for rescuing me.”
He rolled onto his side. “You have nothing to thank me for. It was my arrogant assumption that you were safe with me that allowed this to happen in the first place. I figured that after the failed attack in the gardens, and our subsequent wedding, Wallthorpe would give up. I greatly underestimated him, and as a result, you were taken.”
Flags of red colored his cheeks as he spoke. It was obvious he felt responsible, but she refused to allow him to bear that responsibility alone. “I was just as sure as you were that I was safe. Once we’d married, it never crossed my mind that either of us might be in danger. Who expects to be abducted once they are no longer viable to be coerced into marriage?”
“Regardless, it was my responsibility to protect you, and once again, I failed you.” He looked down at the mattress for a moment. “If you wanted to divorce me, now that the threat is over, I would understand.”
Julia’s heart squeezed, a sharp pain slamming through her chest. She sat up, shifting to her knees. “Are you saying you don’t want me?”
He sat up, and looked at her from beneath his long blond lashes. They should have been feminine, but somehow, they weren’t. They merely softened all his hard edges.
“I’m saying that I would understand if you didn’t want me.”
She frowned at him. “Do you remember what I said to you this morning, after you rescued me?”
He looked up at her, his eyes glowing a golden brown. “I remember every word. I shall never forget hearing you say you love me. But it was a moment fraught with emotion. You’d just been rescued from a life-threatening situation and discovered I was alive. I shall not hold you to that declaration, now that things have calmed down and you are no longer so caught up in the moment.”
Dismay and anger flared to life within her. “Caught up in the moment?” She leapt from the bed. “You cannot be serious! You cannot mean to say that you think I said that in a moment of gratefulness?”
Wolf looked cautious, wary even. “Not gratefulness, exactly, but caught up in the emotions of being saved.”
“Why, you insufferable jackass! How dare you assume I would toss my love at you like some trinket for saving me?”
She started pacing the room, mumbling to herself about fool-headed men and their inability to reason effectively. She’d never been so angry and insulted in her life. She’d just told the man she loved him, and he assumed that she had lost all her wits.
“Jules.” He had climbed from the bed, and now stood wearing just his nightshirt, his hairy legs exposed by the short garment. “Jules, listen to me.”
