Chapter 8

Two Weeks Later

“Ican’t believe it!” Alice laughed in relief.

She rushed into three sets of arms quickly, tears of happiness pricking her eyes.

Things with Duncan had become incredibly confusing. Their interactions were now always short and terse, with an underlying tension that seemed to make them both agitated. They were barely able to have a conversation without sniping at one another. But then, in some twisted way, she would always end up in his arms. Her body hot, sensitive, and trembling as they pawed at and kissed one another. And then he’d leave her in the most sudden, frustrating way that made her body ache with pain she couldn’t quite comprehend.

“I thought the maid had made a mistake when she said it was you three!” Alice added, wrapping her arms around Lydia as she pushed the thought away.

Seeing her two sisters and best friend was a most welcome distraction.

“Of course, it is us.” Lydia laughed, peppering Alice’s hair with kisses. “We have not heard one word from you since your wedding.”

Alice felt a pang of guilt about that. She had wanted to write to her sister, badly. But every time she started a letter, she couldn’t bring herself to put her thoughts on paper. She should have at least sent her something, though. Even if it had been just a summary of her new duties as a duchess.

“I am so sorry for making you worry,” Alice said, hugging her older sister tightly again as a bout of emotions hit her.

“Now, now, it’s all right. You are well, and that is all that matters,” Lydia soothed, rubbing small circles on her back.

Once the two sisters let go of one another, Alice laughed and pulled Barbara into her arms next.

“And you! What are you doing here?” she asked gaily, giving her friend a tight squeeze.

“Unlike Lydia, I was not worried,” Barbara answered sassily. “And I needed a break from London.”

She then winked to let her know she was kidding.

Alice winked back, knowing her friend’s dry sense of humor well.

“Lydia was worried the Beast of Baxter had eaten you,” Juliet replied matter-of-factly, choosing to be the first one to break away from the warm welcomes.

“I did not say that,” Lydia countered quickly, shooting her a glare as the girl began to help herself to a tea sandwich. She then turned back to Alice and smiled sweetly. “I was, however, worried,” she admitted, “and I needed to see for myself that you were well.” She quickly looked down at Alice’s figure and then back up to her eyes questioningly. “Are you well, my darling?” she asked gently.

It was a wonderful question, and also one Alice wished she could answer. She could not write her feelings, but with her loved ones surrounding her, perhaps she could speak of them. Even if they were… of a stranger sort.

“May I speak freely to you?” she asked, glancing toward the maid standing nearby, then the door.

The maid quickly bowed, then scurried out of the drawing room, closing the door behind her.

“Of course,” Lydia said with complete seriousness.

“What is it, love?” Barbara asked, her usual wit gone.

The three of them walked to the table laden with teacups and a light lunch. Juliet had already picked her seat and had a full plate in front of her. She stopped her nibbling and looked up at Alice with concern as they all took a seat.

“Sometimes, I wish I believed Duncan hated me,” Alice confessed, finally able to let it out.

Her sisters and Barbara all looked back at her with the same puzzled expressions, followed by a stretch of awkward silence.

“Darling, we’re going to need a bit more than that,” Barbara coaxed, blinking rapidly in shock.

“He warned me he was not an affectionate man,” Alice began, trying to get her pent-up, jumbled thoughts into some semblance of order. “In fact, he reminds me of that quite a bit, but sometimes his actions say otherwise.”

“How do you mean?” Juliet asked curiously, leaning forward on her elbows.

Lydia quickly patted her arm, and she sat up straight again, going for another one of her treats.

“Well—” Alice paused, a blush coloring her cheeks.

Gosh, was she really going to talk about this?

“When he touches me, it is just so…”

“What?” Lydia breathed, her face going frighteningly pale. “Does he hurt you?”

“No!” Alice gasped, but then she groaned as she dropped her face in her hands. “And yes.”

“Again, clear as mud, my darling. You must get better at this,” Barbara said hastily.

“His touch is just so intimate,” Alice confessed in a rushed whisper. “It’s the most wonderful thing I have ever felt. And when he stops, it creates a pain that is most unbearable!”

“Oh, goodness,” Barbara said as she dissolved into giggles.

“Alice!” Lydia hissed, her pale face turning beet red. “Juliet is right?—”

“Not like that,” Alice quickly cut her off, her blush growing hotter. “He has not even come to bed with me!”

She left out the night Duncan had accused her of wanting his friend, and the deliciously wicked thing they’d done that had made her come apart—that was far too private. Besides, it had not happened since, and with each passing day, it made her body grow tighter with tension.

“I mean when he takes my hand or touches my waist or face. Even when he looks at me. It feels so… intimate,” she finished when she saw her friend and sisters’ expectant looks.

Alice watched Lydia and Barbara look at each other, Lydia with a worried face and Barbara with a most amused one, and then Lydia turned to Juliet with a sweet smile.

“Darling, why don’t you take your plate out onto the veranda? There’s a door over there—we’ll join you soon.”

“But I want to stay and hear more about my new brother.” Juliet pouted, making her look far younger than she was.

“We will be out soon,” Alice assured her.

Juliet huffed, before eventually picking up her plate and doing as she was told.

“You mean to tell me you have not consummated your marriage?” Lydia asked, her voice still low even though she was watching Juliet through the windows.

The girl was a safe distance away, seated at one of the stone tables.

Though she didn’t know why, Alice felt a bit of shame as her sister asked this. “We have not,” she admitted grudgingly. “He won’t even entertain the idea. In fact, the only time he gets as cold and ruthless as he warned me he could be is when I try to push it.”

“So he hasn’t forced himself on you?” Lydia asked, letting out a huge sigh of relief as she leaned back into her chair.

Alice looked at her, shocked. “No!” she half-whispered, half-hissed.

“He sounds like he’s got a few cogs missing in his clock,” Barbara stated, helping herself to some tea. “I would feel grateful that he doesn’t want to consummate the marriage and listen to him. Tell me, how is your life here, aside from that?”

Alice was not amused by her friend’s turn of phrase, but she did answer her.

“He has kept his word on letting me have free reign. I am learning much from the staff about what my duties are, but when I am ready to retire for the day, I do as I wish. I read, write, and spend time reorganizing my new library. I go outside quite a bit. A guard and my handmaid follow me, of course, but it is easy to elude them. I am as free as he says.”

“And how do you like your new duties?” Barbara asked.

Alice shrugged. “I am not yet confident in them,” she confessed. “But I am learning.”

“So you have gotten the freedom of a spinster, the protection of a marriage, and a role that you certainly know you can successfully fulfill?” Barbara followed up, sitting up straighter as she grinned. “Sounds like the perfect situation to me.”

“Do not jest so,” Lydia snapped at her, scowling. “I do not trust this,” she added, turning back to Alice with a worried look.

As she did so, the doors of the drawing room opened, and Alice felt a stir of longing and tension as she saw Duncan stride confidently inside. He looked particularly handsome today with his dark gray suit pants, white shirt, and black cravat. He’d left his jacket somewhere, and his sleeves were rolled up to his elbows, showing off his well-muscled forearms. His mask, as always, rested protectively over the right side of his face, hiding his scars.

“Forgive me,” Duncan said politely, taking a look around the room. “I was not aware we had visitors.”

“Are you even aware you have a wife?” Lydia muttered bitterly.

Alice quickly kicked her sister’s leg under the table and was rewarded with a glare and pinched face as Lydia snapped her mouth shut. When she looked back up at Duncan, though, ready to apologize, she was relieved to see that he appeared amused.

“I suppose I do need the reminder now and again,” he relented shamelessly, taking a seat beside them. “My life was busy before I got married. This in no way slows things down.”

“Not even to make an heir?” Barbara asked boldly, smirking at him.

He let out a surprised laugh as Alice jumped to her feet, her cheeks burning, and hauled her sister and best friend up with her. She had not told a soul about the conversation she and Duncan had in the library regarding the subject, but she knew the issue was quite sensitive for him.

Despite how agitated he had made her over the past weeks, she still felt deeply protective of him. Though the idea that someone like her could protect someone like him was laughable at the very least. Still…

“I think that is enough discussion for today,” she stated, dragging the two of them toward the veranda door.

She was trying to hide her mortified expression, but she was sure that she was failing miserably. Juliet only made matters worse when she apparently heard the commotion and spotted Duncan through the windows. Before Alice could think to stop her, the youngest Knight sister was on her feet and running back into the room, before throwing her arms around Duncan.

“Brother!” Juliet squealed, having no idea her actions just knocked the breath out of every woman’s chest. “It is so good to see you again! Why have you not visited us?”

Alice, Barbara, and Lydia watched, half-mortified, half-afraid, and unsure about what would happen next. To Alice’s great surprise, Duncan’s face broke out into a smile, and then he chuckled. With great care, he set the young woman back on her feet and took a polite step back.

“It is good to see you, Juliet,” he replied in a kind, paternal voice that shocked Alice even further. “We have not had much time to get to know one another, have we?”

“No, we have not.” Juliet pouted, acting more like a toddler than the fifteen-year-old she was.

Alice felt concerned as she saw this. Their father barely gave them attention, and it had affected them all in different ways. Lydia did not trust men at all. Alice herself was overly critical of them. And it appeared Juliet was showing signs of intense attachment to those even remotely close to her. This would not bode well for her in the future if they did not get ahead of it, and when Alice glanced at Lydia, she saw her oldest sister had the same concern.

“There is not much for you to know about me,” Duncan told Juliet, again in the same paternal voice. Affectionate but not sensual. And… was Alice picking up some sternness? “Other than I am a very grouchy man, as your poor sister can attest,” he finished.

Alice let out a breath of relief that turned into a strange laugh that she did not recognize, and then forced a smile as she turned to her little sister.

“It is true,” she confirmed as she drew close to Juliet.

Duncan took another polite step back, his smile still casual and not at all threatening.

“I am sure it is not,” Juliet protested, but he gave her a look that made her shut her mouth.

“Never let the truth twist itself into a fantasy, little sister,” he warned wisely. “It is a sure way to get hurt. Take heed of your sisters’ advice in this matter.”

“On that note,” Lydia stated matter-of-factly, going to Juliet’s other side, “we shall leave the two of you to speak privately. Come, Juliet, Barbara. Let us wait for Alice on the veranda.”

Relief washed over Alice when Juliet did not protest and only bid Duncan farewell fondly before being all but pushed outside.

“I am so sorry,” Alice said as she walked out with the other ladies. “It will not happen again.”

“You have nothing to apologize for,” Duncan assured her, putting a hand on her waist to stop her.

Heat seeped into the spot his fingertips met her bodice, and she stilled.

“But I did come in here hoping to have a moment with you,” he told her once the other ladies were outside.

Alice looked back at him with surprise. “You did?” she blurted out.

Duncan gave her a small smile as he leaned against the doorframe and nodded. “If you are busy, though, I can try to find you later,” he offered.

“She is not busy,” Barbara piped up, putting her hands on Alice’s back and pushing her toward him. “We shall entertain ourselves out here.”

The force of her push sent Alice directly into his firm chest, but before she could bounce completely off the rock-hard surface, her husband’s hands were suddenly around her arms, steadying her.

“Babs!” she hissed, shooting her friend a dirty look before turning to face Duncan.

His smile grew a little wider as he stared down at her. Then, in no rush, he pushed away from the doorframe and let go of her so that she could come back inside.

“Are you hurt?” he asked, amusement lacing his voice.

In truth, she was. Her nose had collided with his chest before he’d steadied her and throbbed something awful. But she was not going to tell him that.

“I am fine. I am so sorry about them,” Alice huffed as soon as the door to the veranda was shut.

“Don’t be.” Duncan chuckled, casting a glance outside. “Barbara, is it?” he asked, nodding toward her friend.

Alice nodded.

“She reminds me of Morgan,” he told her.

“You mean the friend you told me to stay away from?” She raised an eyebrow at him.

Duncan’s warm gaze cooled as he looked back down at her. Then, with a defensive air, he moved away from her and the windowed door. As he did so, Alice walked to one of the side tables a few feet away, feeling the need to lean against something, and put her hand down on the warm wood.

“The one and the same,” he agreed warily. “Your little sister,” he asked after a pause, “does she jump on men often?”

“No!” Alice exclaimed, feeling mortified all over again. “She knows better. I do not know why she did that!”

“I do,” Duncan murmured quietly, his eyes still focused on some small detail on the opposite wall.

Pain flashed behind his eyes, and Alice immediately thought back to what Maurice had told her about his father. Like Owen, the former Duke had been distant, barely there. Unlike Owen, he had been unnecessarily cruel.

Alice pressed her lips together, wanting to ask, wanting to comfort him, but she could not think of the words.

“Is this the first time they’ve come to visit?” Duncan asked then.

The sudden change of subject surprised Alice, but she was also grateful.

“Um, yes,” she replied. “Is it too soon?”

“Not at all,” Duncan assured her quickly, looking back outside. “Your sisters and your friend should visit whenever you want them to. Especially your sisters.”

“Really?” Alice asked, surprised again at this.

Duncan nodded. “I do not have any siblings,” he confessed, giving her a peek into his life for the very first time. “But I always wanted them. I imagine if my sister got married and moved away, I would be visiting her as often as possible until I was sure she was truly settled in her new life. Besides, it seems Juliet could benefit from some protection. I will put a word out, let others know that she is not to be played with. If she and Lydia are here with you, that means there’s less of a chance of some overly cocky dandy taking advantage of her.”

Alice felt affection bloom in her chest as she took in the way Duncan looked at their visitors. There was a longing there—not sexual but familial, and the urge to protect, to be a part of them. The evident loneliness in him made her heart ache.

Suddenly, he turned in her direction, meeting her eyes with an emotionless stare, and she felt as if she’d just been caught doing something gravely wrong.

“Anytime,” he assured her, his voice heavy with sincerity. “They can stay any time.”

“Thank you,” Alice breathed, pushing away from the table. “You don’t know how much tha—Ouch!”

Though he had been across the room, Duncan was by her side in an instant. His giant form hovered over her protectively, his hand slipping around her caught one.

“What happened?” he demanded, his voice hard.

“I don’t know,” Alice gasped, fear breaking through her pain.

Is he mad because I am hurt?

“My hand—it is stuck!”

Pain sliced through Alice’s palm as she tried to pull her hand away, and she heard the sick sound of tearing flesh as her palm snagged on something sharp. Duncan’s eyes flicked to it immediately and then widened as a small pool of blood began to form on the tabletop. His hand gripped hers tighter, stilling her movement.

“Be still,” he growled, then went down on his knees to take a closer look.

A curse escaped his lips as he quickly rose back up and shook his head violently.

“Your hand caught in a splintered edge,” he explained, a bite in his voice as he met her eyes with an enraged glare. “Tell me, darling, why is it that danger always finds you?”