“And?” Samantha asked eagerly.
Alex sagged back against the settee, looking bleak. “And … nothing. I gained no information as to who might be responsible.”
“But, Alex, who would want Drake dead?” Samantha demanded in a fierce whisper.
“I honestly don’t know. But perhaps between the two of us we can figure it out.”
“My God,” Samantha breathed, staring at Alex with awe and respect. “You have been shouldering all of this by yourself, dealing with it alone, these past days?”
“I didn’t want to frighten you.”
Samantha shook her head. “You will find that I am stronger than you think, Alex. I’ve had to be. And if it means protecting Drake, there is nothing I won’t do.”
Alex squeezed Samantha’s hand, feeling relieved and proud. Sammy had all of Drake’s strength of character and fierce loyalty to those she loved. Alex was honored that they were friends and sisters.
Sebastian paused outside the closed drawing room door, frowning. So this was where his sister and Drake’s little wife were hiding. He had searched everywhere else, but to no avail. Having left Allonshire on the morning after the ball, Sebastian had expected to return from London to find a houseful of guests still enjoying the lazy days in the country. He had been surprised and a bit uneasy at Humphreys’s explanation that the guests had all departed and his grace had left three days ago on a sea voyage of indeterminate length. Something was definitely amiss … and he intended to discover what it was.
He could hear Alex and Samantha whispering in the drawing room, but he could not make out the words. Whatever they were saying, it set off a warning bell in his head. Forcing himself to relax, he knocked.
For a moment there was silence, and then he heard Alex’s voice call, “Yes?”
He opened the door, the usual charming smile pasted upon his face. “Hello, ladies, I suspected you were in here.”
Samantha looked surprised. “Sebastian, I thought you were still in London.”
“My plans changed,” came the short reply. He leaned casually against the wall, his gaze, in contrast to his stance, as alert as a hawk’s. “What is this I hear about Drake being away?” His eyes were on Alex.
“He is testing our new ship.” It was Samantha who answered, regarding her brother coolly, with none of the tenderness or sparkle that lit her face when she looked at Drake. “He should be home any day now.”
“And our guests?”
“They departed yesterday.”
Sebastian’s expression grew predatory. “Am I to understand that you ladies have been here unattended?”
Even Samantha could not miss the obvious gleam in her brother’s eyes. She frowned. “We have a houseful of servants, Sebastian. We were hardly alone.”
“Just the same, I am glad that my business concluded sooner than expected. This way I am here, should you need me.”
Alex felt sickened by his innuendos. “What I need now is some warm food and a good night’s sleep.” She rose, averting her gaze. “If you will both excuse me, I will go to my chambers and dress for dinner.”
Samantha watched Alex’s pale face with concern. “Are you all right now?” she asked anxiously.
“Why? Were you ill, Alexandria?” Sebastian jumped on his sister’s words.
“I am fine. Only a bit tired.” Alex shot Samantha a warning look, which the younger girl understood immediately.
“Good.” Samantha stood also, her tone cheery. “Then let us go and dress for dinner.”
Any opportunity the women might have had to continue their talk was thwarted by Sebastian, who insisted on accompanying them to their rooms. He was undaunted by the clear message Alex conveyed by shutting her door firmly in his face, for he could sense victory … and it was close at hand.
Dinner was torture for Alex.
She wondered how long she could tolerate Sebastian’s presence without Drake at her side to put a damper on his brother’s lewd comments and suggestive leers. Even Samantha’s chatter could not ease Alex’s discomfort. She spent most of the meal staring indifferently at her food and pushing it around on her plate. Pregnancy had already diminished her usual hearty appetite, and Sebastian eliminated what little she had left. The evening could not end soon enough.
They were still savoring their apricot tarts when Alex pushed back her chair and stood.
“I hope you will both forgive me, but I am truly exhausted.” The apology in her eyes was for Samantha, who nodded her understanding at once. “I am going to retire for the night.” She gathered up her skirts and headed for the door.
“Sleep well, Alex,” Samantha called after her. “Perhaps Drake will return with the new day.”
Alex met her gaze with silent understanding. “I hope so,” she replied in a wistful voice. She climbed the stairs to her room, praying that Samantha’s words would become reality. Now that she carried Drake’s child, Alex found that she needed her husband more than ever—needed him and wanted him by her side.
The night deepened. Gradually all activity at Allonshire ceased, and the lights were doused as the great house settled into slumber.
Alone in his chambers, Sebastian paced back and forth across the room, pausing only to take frequent gulps of brandy. He was frustrated and angry, for his plans had been thwarted at every turn. In truth, he had left for London on the morning after the ball because he had been unable to feign brotherly love for Drake any longer. The blasted man led a charmed life. Instead of being dead, he was very much alive … and being treated like an injured hero.
Sebastian lifted his glass and blazed a fiery trail of the dulling liquid down his throat. Things had been progressing so nicely; he had come so close to having it all. And then Drake had returned from the dead, just in time to assume his title—a title he had no use for and did not even want. Damn him to hell.
Sebastian raked his fingers through his hair, his mind searching for a new alternative. He sensed that Drake and Smitty already suspected something sinister. He could not afford to arouse their suspicions any further. But there had to be a way. A way to have Drake’s title, Drake’s power … Drake’s wife.
Sebastian’s head shot up as the reality of the situation struck him. Drake was away. It was very late at night, and the entire household was asleep. No one would hear him or try to stop him. A slow, satanic smile spread across his face. He might have to wait a bit longer for the title and the power, but tonight Drake’s wife would be his. …
Alex welcomed her solitude with a great sense of relief. Anxious to be alone with her thoughts, she had dismissed Molly early, insisting that she could tend to herself this one night. She stood at her curtained window, staring out at the moonlit gardens below. Idly she drew her brush through her thick hair, which hung in loose waves down the back of her lemon yellow night rail. Her thoughts were of Drake and of their future together.
The sound of her bedroom door opening made Alex’s heart leap with joy. She spun about, making no attempt to conceal her pleasure. “Drake?”
“No, Alexandria, not Drake.”
A chill of dread replaced her joy. “What do you want, Sebastian?” Instinctively she backed against the wall.
“Need you ask?” He gave a harsh laugh and closed the door behind him, pausing to light a small lamp on the nightstand. He wanted there to be no chance of her escaping him.
Hands on hips, clad only in his breeches, Sebastian turned to face her … and waited.
Their gazes locked across the room—his, hungry; hers, alarmed.
Weaving slightly, he moved toward her. “There is no need to look like a frightened doe,” he taunted. “I have no intention of harming you.”
Alex swallowed. “Then what do you intend to do?”
He grinned, his eyes glassy. “Surely even you are not that naive, my dear. I intend to give you pleasure … and to pleasure myself in return.”
Alex pressed herself more firmly against the wall, as if it could somehow protect her from Sebastian
’s onslaught. “You are foxed, Sebastian.” She struggled to keep her voice from trembling. “And you are not thinking clearly. Go now, and I will say nothing of this incident to Drake.”
He threw back his head and gave an eerie, hollow laugh. “Do you think I give a damn what you tell Drake?” he demanded, moving closer. “After the enticing spectacle you made of yourself on the evening of the ball, do you honestly think he will believe you did not invite me to your room tonight?” He loomed before her, fury and lust blazing in his drunken gaze. “In truth, your actions were a puzzle to me as well. My attentions are not good enough for you, but a roomful of strangers will suffice?” He placed his hands on the wall on either side of her head, his foul breath touching her lips.
In a flash Alex ducked beneath his arm and sprinted toward the door. She was two steps from her goal when Sebastian’s powerful arms closed about her waist, dragging her back into the room. She struggled, kicking and fighting frantically, but to no avail. With an unnatural strength born of hatred, Sebastian flung her onto the bed, his body shaking with rage.
“You defiant little bitch!” he ground out, pinning her down with his body. “So this is the way you want it? Fine. So be it.”
In one quick motion he tore her night rail down the front, flinging the remnants of material to the floor. Waves of revulsion racked Alex’s body as she found herself naked and helpless beneath Sebastian’s bitter, hungry scrutiny, utterly exposed to his violent assault. Tears of rage and humiliation burned behind her eyes. Until now, her only experience of lying completely unclothed before a man had been with Drake in tenderness and mutual desire. Nothing had prepared her for the horror of this moment, the sense of despair at this ultimate violation of her self. Everything inside her turned cold.
Seeing the full force of Sebastian’s hatred, Alex began to shake, sheer terror streaking through her blood. More determined than ever to fight him with every fiber of her being, she resumed her struggle, digging her nails into his flesh and kicking him.
“You really are a little hellcat, aren’t you?” Sebastian growled. He caught her arms with his hands and held them over her head, triumph gleaming in his eyes. Then he lowered his head and took her mouth in a brutal, punishing kiss.
Instantly, and without thinking, Alex sank her teeth into his lower lip.
Sebastian tore his mouth away, cursing violently. While he licked the blood away, Alex made one last desperate attempt to escape. But Sebastian’s grip was iron-hard. She was going nowhere.
“Try that again and I will make you sorry you were born,” he ground out, tightening his hold until Alex thought her wrists would snap. She whimpered with pain, feeling Sebastian cruelly prying her legs apart with his knees. In a frantic effort to escape his final invasion, she brought her knee up, attempting to catch him off guard and make contact with his groin. But Sebastian anticipated the move and caught her leg, forcing it cruelly down, then out, opening her farther to him. Hysteria bubbled up inside her and she cried out in pain. Sebastian leaned forward, momentarily pressing his full weight against her.
“For that, you will pay,” he snarled.
Alex winced, knowing that her action had cost her dearly. Now Sebastian meant not only to rape her but to hurt her as much as possible in the process. The baby, she thought to herself helplessly. Please, God, don’t let him hurt my baby. She felt the pressure on her wrists ease slightly and opened her eyes to see Sebastian kneeling above her, his hot gaze raking her as he reached for the buttons on his breeches.
“I am going to enjoy every moment of this,” he muttered, releasing one button at a time, his fingers unsteady from the large amount of alcohol he had consumed. “You have quite a body, my dear Alexandria.”
There was no escape. Alex froze as Sebastian’s swollen manhood sprang free, lurching toward her cringing flesh. The paralyzing realization of what was to come exploded through Alex like gunfire.
Sebastian was going to rape her … now.
The shrill, heartrending scream began deep inside her and split the eerie silence, vibrating through every corner of the room.
“Shut up,” Sebastian hissed, crushing her face with his hand. Alex felt as if her jaw might snap.
“Drake will kill you for this, Sebastian,” she choked out, fighting to keep back the tears.
He lowered himself to her, his words muffled by her hair. “You have that backwards, my fiery duchess. It is I who will kill—”
The end of Sebastian’s sentence was lost in a crash that exploded through the room, followed by a bloodcurdling roar of anger.
“Sebastian, you filthy bastard, get the hell off my wife!”
Chapter 29
DRAKE CROSSED THE ROOM in three strides, tore Sebastian off Alex, and flung him against the wall. Sebastian crumpled and sank to the floor.
Alex cried out Drake’s name, gathering herself into a small protective ball, her eyes wide with shock and horror.
Drake was shaking with the fierce primal rage of a wild animal, the sound of Alex’s scream still echoing inside him. Every muscle in his body was taut, sweat gleaming on his face, as he crossed the room and yanked his unsteady brother to his feet.
“You miserable son of a bitch!” Drake slammed his fist into Sebastian’s jaw, sending him back to the floor with the impact. It was still not enough. Drake fell upon Sebastian, blinded to anything but the explosive need to kill. His hands closed around Sebastian’s throat.
But Sebastian had recovered sufficiently to defend himself. Using the full weight of his body, he rolled Drake off him, then sent his fist into his brother’s stomach.
Drake groaned, doubling up in pain, but refused to release his death grip on Sebastian’s throat. Panting, Drake rolled Sebastian beneath him and, holding him down with one hand, delivered blow after blow to Sebastian’s face.
Blood spurted from Sebastian’s lips and nose, but all Drake could see was the red haze of anger that clouded his vision—a vision of Sebastian raping Alexandria. He wanted his brother dead.
Alex’s voice broke through his frenzy.
“Drake, that’s enough! Don’t kill him! He’s not worth it!”
Still holding Sebastian by the throat, Drake turned his head slowly, really seeing Alex for the first time. She was naked, with only the sheet wrapped around her, her small body trembling, her eyes wide with terror. She swallowed convulsively, clutching the sheet that sheltered her from Sebastian’s hateful touch.
“Please …” she begged in a pathetic voice.
Drake turned back to look at Sebastian. His brother’s eyes were glazed from too much brandy, his entire face splattered with blood. He was a useless excuse for a human being, and his very presence sickened Drake.
“I want you out of my sight, you worthless bastard.” Drake lifted his brother by the throat, crossed the room, and kicked open the door. With a feral growl he tossed Sebastian into the hall. Several frightened, gaping servants, awakened by Alex’s scream, stood gathered in the hallway as Sebastian landed in a boneless heap.
“Take this slime away!” Drake ordered the stunned footmen, his emerald eyes ablaze. “I don’t give a damn what you do with him; just remove him at once!” He looked down at Sebastian. “If you ever so much as look at my wife again I will kill you with no questions asked.”
He strode back into the bedchamber, slammed the door, and turned to his wife.
Alex stared at Drake, white-faced, her body still shaking uncontrollably. She was at her breaking point, but at the same time, she was very much aware of the importance of this moment. Would Drake believe she was innocent or would he again believe the worst of her and assume that she had seduced Sebastian?
She waited.
Drake crossed the room and sat down on the bed, gathering Alex’s quaking body in his strong arms.
“It’s all right now, princess,” he murmured softly, kissing her hair and tucking her head beneath his chin. “I’m with you, and I swear that he will never come near you again.”
He paused, needing to ask … dreading the answer. “Did he hurt you, sweetheart?” he questioned at last, his voice raw. “Did he …” He couldn’t bring himself to say the word.
Alex shook her head against his chest. “No,” she whispered in a tiny voice. “You got here just in time.”
“Thank God,” Drake breathed. He rocked her gently in his arms, unwilling to think of what might have happened if he had arrived one moment later. The thought of Sebastian violating his beautiful, precious Alex made his guts twist.
Alex pressed her face against Drake’s shirt. “Please hold me. Just hold me. Make his horrible touch go away. Please,” she begged, burrowing deeper into Drake’s embrace.
“I’ve got you, love.” He tightened his arms fiercely around her, giving her his strength. “The only touch you will ever know will be mine.” His hoarse, protective vow seeped into Alex’s cold body.
And suddenly Drake’s words, the joy of being safe in his arms, was more than Alex could bear. Succumbing at last to the tears that she had held in check until now, she gasped, “Drake, oh, Drake, thank God …” Her words were incoherent, her body racked with sobs that gave way to a torrent of tears, which spilled down her cheeks, drenching Drake’s shirt.
Drake felt Alex’s pain as his own, felt her tears wash the past away.
“Please, sweetheart,” he implored her softly, “don’t cry anymore. I can bear anything but your tears. Please, princess … no one, nothing, will ever hurt us again. I promise.”
At Drake’s fervent vow Alex leaned back to look up into his anguished face.
“I did not encourage Sebastian,” she stated simply, watching Drake’s reaction. “I fought him off as best I could.”
Drake cupped her face in his hands, stroking the tears from her wet cheeks with his thumbs, his heart expanding with a feeling that he no longer wished to dispel. Smitty was wrong. He had been a bastard—a bastard and a damned fool.