Chapter Twenty-One

F lora rolled off the bed, dragging the sheet with her to wrap around her body. She had seen the desire building in Lennox’s gaze and knew his exact motive. For she desired the same. However, they had many unresolved issues to discuss before they moved forward. If not, uncertainty would continue to plague them. Even though she longed to forget everything and make love to Lennox throughout the night.

“Where are you going, lass? Get back here in bed.” Lennox patted the mattress next to him.

Flora giggled. “I am famished. A girl must eat if she plans to spend the evening with her husband in bed.”

Once she reached the door, she turned back toward Lennox and gulped at the sight before her, causing her to reconsider her agenda. Perhaps she had been too hasty to depart their bed so soon. Were the semantics of a discussion important in the grand scheme for today? Especially with Lennox lounging on the bed in all his glory. Her husband was a magnificent specimen who left her weakened with wanton thoughts.

Lennox lay sprawled across the bed with his arms crossed behind his head, wearing a sensual expression that tempted her to return to his arms. His amused smile only encouraged her to abandon her inhibitions and defy all common sense for the path she thought they must follow. Weren’t their confessions of love enough to sustain their future? Did their past even matter anymore?

The desire consuming Flora tugged her to move forward with an imaginary chain. The soft light streaming in from the windows highlighted Lennox’s form on the dark quilt. Her gaze traveled across the wide breadth of his shoulders she had just clung to, across his firm chest, and to the rippled muscles of his abdomen where her fingers itched to explore. Her gaze moved lower to the very sinful temptation she longed to touch. His cock lay against his leg in a state of hardness, which only grew harder the longer she stared. She licked her lips with eagerness to savor his essence on her tongue. Her wicked thoughts already knew he would taste exquisite.

“Drop the sheet, love.” Lennox growled his demand.

Damn the barbarian! He pulled her under his spell with such ease that she almost gave in to the temptation and rebelled against her common sense. She shook her head in defiance to clear away her wanton needs and tightened the hold on the bedsheet. Flora couldn’t give in to her desires or they would never resolve the problems still clinging to their marriage. She must stay strong against resisting the passion between them.

Lennox thought she would follow his direction when she bit her bottom lip in resistance to her agenda. Her indecision flared with the greedy gaze she focused on him. When her tongue stroked across her lips while she stared at his cock, he thought he would explode. Did the lass not understand what power she held over him? Her every action left him spellbound. When she reached for the doorknob, he realized she planned to stand firm with her decision. However, that wouldn’t stop him from attempting to draw her back to their bed.

He leapt from the bed and pulled on his damp trousers as she opened the door. “Flora!”

Flora’s laughter followed behind her as she ran into the hallway. However, she didn’t get far because her brothers stood near the staircase, blocking the path to her bedchamber. She came to a halt, and Lennox bumped into her.

Flora couldn’t help but giggle harder at Lennox’s irritated groan from behind her. Her brothers’ intimidating stares at their inappropriate attire only brought forth another bout of giggles. Nothing could destroy her happiness, especially her three bothersome brothers. They were too late to act protective. Where had they been when their mother and father decided her fate, regardless of her feelings?

She swooshed her hand through the air for them to move. “Please step aside, dear brothers.”

“Where are your clothes?” Brodie demanded.

Hugh and Malcom shook their heads at Brodie’s cluelessness. It always took Brodie longer to see the obvious before him.

Flora patted his cheek and whispered, “I left them behind in Lord Hepburn’s bedchamber.”

Malcolm snarled. “You bedded the bastard again.”

It wasn’t so much a question but a slander against her husband. Flora needed to inform her brothers that she had forgiven Lennox for his actions. It would be no easy feat, but Ailsa could help her. At least with Hugh, anyway.

Lennox growled. “I believe my mother and father would beg to differ. In fact, I believe you have offended them with a grave dishonor.”

Flora sighed at having to play peacemaker. “It would appear I have spent the afternoon in my husband’s bed. Which is none of your concern. Now, please move. I need to dress for dinner. I am famished and wish to hear word from home.”

Hugh pulled his brothers out of Flora’s path. “Let our sister make herself presentable before we give the servants room to gossip. We shall speak with her in private after the evening’s meal.”

“Like hell,” Lennox muttered low enough only for Flora to hear.

Flora smirked at the ire the gentlemen held for each other. The evening before them hinted at being quite entertaining with the hostility surrounding them. Hopefully, Flora could soothe their temperaments so they might enjoy a pleasant evening. While forgiving Lennox, she found it in her heart to forgive her family too. She wanted to rejoice at being reunited with them.

Flora strolled past her brothers to her bedchamber. Before she walked inside, she turned to find Hugh gripping Lennox’s arm, holding him back while Brodie and Malcom trailed behind her at a discreet distance. She wanted to roll her eyes at how they protected her after she reunited with her husband, instead of preventing the marriage from ever happening.

She pressed up to her tiptoes to watch the exchange between Hugh and Lennox. They spoke in low tones, but Flora noticed the harshness between them. She overheard snippets of the conversation to understand her brother threatened Lennox. Her husband’s furious expression showed his displeasure at Hugh’s threats.

Flora rushed inside her bedchamber to dress so she could stand by Lennox and defend him. The irony of the situation didn’t go unnoticed, but when one opened one’s heart to forgiveness, it gave one a different perspective.

Flora fluttered around the bedchamber, humming a romantic Scottish tune while she donned a fresh chemise and brushed her tangled hair. A dreamy smile graced her face while she lost herself in memories of their lovemaking. Lennox had tangled his hands in her hair in the heat of their passion. As Flora stared at her reflection in the mirror, a soft pink blush lit her skin. Lennox’s attention left her feeling cherished beyond her wildest dreams.

She stood in front of the wardrobe, undecided about which dress to wear for dinner. She wanted to impress Lennox and see desire flare in his eyes. However, the few garments she owned limited her choices. Her attire consisted of garments a prim and proper governess would wear, not the wife of an earl. However, Lennox had declared he had fallen in love with her when she was a carefree Scottish lass who roamed the Highlands, not the proper wife his mother expected.

She chose her loveliest gown and kept her hair unpinned and flowing around her shoulders the way Lennox admired. Flora opened a box she kept her most private trinkets in that reminded her of home. She drew out her wedding ring, a symbol of their union she had removed from her hand when she fled because it reminded her of Lennox’s deceit. However, she had refused to part with it. It also represented hope. But now, it stood as a testament to their love.

Flora sat on the bed as she slipped on the soft slippers she had worn to the theatre. She lay back on the mattress with her arms spread wide and closed her eyes to calm her nerves. It was unclear why she was so nervous about seeing Lennox. It must be because, instead of enjoying a pleasant meal with her husband, she must endure the tension her brothers caused with their brusqueness.

Flora frowned when her hand brushed against a piece of parchment near the pillows. She didn’t recall leaving anything out when she left that morning. She sat up, drawing the paper closer to see if perhaps her brothers had left her a message earlier. However, the strike of penmanship across the parchment turned her perfect day into a nightmare. She had been waiting for the threat since Lennox’s arrival.

Lovely Flora,

My dear, oh, how you have blossomed since your husband’s return. I have been indecisive if the rosy blushes on your cheeks are from a rise in your temperament or the stirring of passion for Lord Hepburn.

You have been a naughty minx with the secret you have kept hidden. Your proper friends must have been aghast with mortification when they learned the ever so prim Miss Grant was actually a wanton Scottish hussy whose family whored her out for status and control.

Tsk, tsk, my dear. You thwarted my revenge by already sinking your claws into a peer of the nobility before I grasped the chance to meet you. However, I will overlook your parents’ greed because you have intrigued me. I am eager to learn what scandalous qualities you hold to keep a groom beholden enough to watch you from afar and attempt to seduce you under his spell once again.

Please tell me you have not been so foolish as to spread your legs for him again. If so, I would feel great disappointment in your behavior. Because I have become quite smitten with you, Miss Grant, and believe we could share a meaningful relationship, so much so I would overlook your friends’ climb to gaining status with their marriages. I am so enamored with you that I will even overlook the budding attraction growing between Miss Sara Abbott and the duke, a matter I will attend to after I settle the affair between you and Lord Hepburn.

But since you have been foolish, you leave me with no alternative. Now I must seek my vengeance upon those who have wronged not only me but the society they believe accepts them because of those they have wed. When will you and your friends learn? You are not ladies but governesses, a station below what you esteem to be.

Until we meet.

Yours truly,

Flora’s hands shook, and tears dripped along her cheeks from the slanderous intentions of the letter. Revulsion rippled throughout her at the villain’s audacity. Then despair settled because their nightmare had resurfaced. She feared for Sara and the feelings her friend harbored for her employer. Only ruination and their demise led them along the path of their fate.

When the harsh reality of the letter sank in, Flora screamed and dropped the letter on the floor. She was the object of the villain’s obsession. She scrambled across the bed to get away from the vindictive letter.

Her happiness crumbled at the hands of a madman.

~~~~~

“U NHAND ME,” LENNOX ordered.

“You may have lured my sister to your bed with your seduction, but she will not remain there. She will return home with us when we take our leave,” Hugh declared.

“Over my dead body,” Lennox swore.

Hugh’s brittle laughter echoed along the hallway. “Which my brothers and I would be more than happy to accommodate.”

Ailsa appeared and loosened Hugh’s hold. “You will not harm my brother because you now hold a noble obligation to your sister. One you should have held before they wed. Now let us step aside so Lennox may dress in a more fitting attire for the evening meal.”

Ailsa attempted to urge her husband away, but he wouldn’t budge. “My wife, you do not understand the implications their union will hold. My sister was lucky their wedding night caused her no burden to bear, but she might not fare so well this time. On her return home, Flora does not need to suffer any shame because, in her weakened state, she was powerless to resist this barbarian.”

Lennox gritted his teeth and curled his hands into fists, ready to unleash his fury on Flora’s brother. Regardless of if Hugh was also his sister’s husband. While he found it adorable when Flora referred to him as a barbarian, it ignited his temper when others did so. He may have lived an uncivilized life of fighting and carousing and earned the title of barbarian before he met Flora. However, he was no longer that soul and deserved to be treated with respect to his title. Especially from the brute who had married his sister. The gentleman held no right to call him out when he treated Ailsa no differently. He should have bludgeoned the arse when he had the chance.

Ailsa stepped between them and tapped a finger against her husband’s chest, increasing the pressure with each word. “Your sister is a grown lady who will suffer her circumstances with grace. If a babe is a result, then I, for one, am thrilled. Because it will give our babes a cousin to play with. However, your stand only leaves me to wonder about the shame you hold being married to the barbarian’s sister who finds herself carrying another burden. What disgrace my children and I must bring to your name.”

Lennox’s eyes widened at his sister’s tirade. He had never seen Ailsa riled to that degree. Her usual serene demeanor brought calm to all those around her. But her passionate speech spoke of troubles within her marriage. Perhaps he was the brother who needed to defend his sister.

“You misunderstand,” Hugh pleaded.

Ailsa scoffed, walking down the staircase. “No, I do not believe so.”

Hugh scurried after his wife, attempting to repair the damage his words had caused. However, they both stopped on the steps when a heart-wrenching scream rent the air. Lennox tore down the hallway to Flora’s bedchamber, shoving her brothers out of the way. He flung open the door to find Flora scrambling across the bed. A letter lay crumpled on the floor.

The bastard had reached Flora with his threats.