"I was a coward." Ash laughed bitterly. "I fled the minute Lucy died. I could not live with myself, did not want to live."
Oh, how Hunter knew the feeling. He slapped his brother on the back and sighed. "Let us discuss it later. Thank you. It seems you were not a second too late."
Ash laughed. Hunter noticed a piercing in Ash's ear and then he pulled back his sleeves, exposing a small tattoo of an axe with the word Reaper on the handle. Ash had changed, that much was certain.
"Lainhart woke me." Ash pointed to Lainhart, who was at the moment examining his gun as if he did not believe he was able to shoot with one hand, either. "He began yelling and yelling — moaning is more like it. Finally, I knew something was wrong, and he showed me the chalkboard."
"—Saints alive, is that a dead body!"
"—Devil take me, I need a whiskey."
The noise all came from the same door Lainhart was blocking, where Montmouth and Dominique stood. Both men looked at Wilkins' lifeless body in shock and then back to Hunter.
"How did you know where we were?" Hunter asked.
Dominique stepped around Lainhart and examined the room before pulling Gwen into a hug. "We received a note from Lainhart."
"Called in reinforcements, just in case, eh?" Hunter teased Lainhart. He shrugged and offered a smile before pointing to the gun. "Yes, I imagine you were worried about being able to shoot that beast on your own."
"'Bout stopped my heart," Ash admitted, giving Lainhart a pointed look.
"What the devil happened here, anyway? The note was vague. But it said to bring pistols. I thought I was going to get a chance to finally shoot you, Hunter," Montmouth joked.
Hunter glared. "Sorry to disappoint."
Montmouth waved him off. "It is only a matter of time, I assure you."
"Right."
Gwen came up beside Hunter, laid her head against his shoulder, and sighed. "May we go home now?"
Hunter took a look around. "Yes, I think we should. I have evidence to turn in."
Silence fell heavily upon everyone in the room as they stared at the scene. Two men — one dead, the other unconscious — and a roaring fire, as the morning sun peeked between the curtains into the room.
A fresh start. That was what it felt like, and then Hunter shook his head. "I do not believe it."
"What?" Gwen asked.
"What is the date?"
Dominique cleared his throat and spoke up. "It is May 31."
The anniversary of Lucy's death. Their first anniversary, a year after being married. Either God was insanely cruel or generous, for he had been given a gift on the memorial of the worst day of his life.
"Home," he whispered in Gwen's hair. "Let us go home."
Montmouth and Dominique left with threats that they wanted details of the happenings of that day, or Montmouth would carry out his threat and truly shoot Hunter.
Ash pushed Lainhart through the door and wheeled him down the three stairs toward the carriage, which had been waiting a block down the street. Hunter and Gwen held hands and followed them out, but Lainhart began yelling again.
"Aghhh!" He swatted Ash's hand and pointed up.
Hunter ran to him. "Is it your hand? Did you get burned from the powder?"
Lainhart shook his head and pointed down, then grabbed a piece of chalk and pointed at Ash.
Ash reached into the carriage, pulled out the old duke's chalkboard, and handed it over.
Lainhart stuck his tongue out and concentrated hard as he wrote the word across the chalkboard. Hunter waited, still holding Gwen's hand.
After a few seconds, Lainhart smiled as a tear ran down his cheek. He held up the chalkboard. It said Proud.
He pointed at Hunter and pointed back at the chalkboard, over and over again, until he began sobbing. Hunter released Gwen's' hand and embraced his grandfather as the old man cried on him.
Chapter Thirty-two
Red—
Never again. From this day forward, you may never leave the house. I am locking you in our room and you must carry a pistol with you at all times. Never hesitate, just shoot. I do not care if you shoot into the air when a pigeon scares you. You will protect yourself even if it need be from animals!
—Wolf
It had been two days since the incident, and Gwen had seen Hunter a total of three hours in those days. Today was the day the questioning was finished. He refused to let Gwen leave the house, even though he'd allowed her to begin hiring a staff to clean up the forest.
She was, in a word, lonely.
Her sisters visited her often, but her thoughts were always far off, dreaming of Hunter and wondering if things would ever be the same. He shared her bed at night but other than kissing her on her cheek, he did not make love to her, nor did he say a word. He merely held her in his arms until she fell asleep.
Gwen could not help but wonder if he regretted marrying her, or if she did something wrong? Perhaps the fear of losing her had been too much. It felt as if he was pushing her away.
She walked into the ballroom, now empty, and sat in front of the fire, not caring that her new satin blue dinner dress would be crushed.
The light from the fire was all that illuminated the large room. With its impressive ceilings and murals on the walls, it was a sight to behold. She would have never dreamed that Hunter had the money that he did.
But she'd discovered that, next to Stefan and Dominique, he was alongside some of the richest men in England.
But riches did not warm her at night.
She sighed and watched the flames flicker.
"I thought I'd find you here," came a voice from behind her. Instinctively, she grabbed the knife from her bodice and held it out in warning, as Hunter sat down next to her.
"Ah, Gwen, always prepared." He chuckled and handed her a glass of wine. "We have a few things to discuss."
Here it was. Her heart ached as she watched Hunter — her Hunter, the man she loved — curse and run his free hand through his hair.
"Wilkins had been smuggling for a few years. When he got desperate, he began smuggling weapons to the French. The ciphers he left at my house were an attempt to implicate me for smuggling for the past nine years. The codes had documentation of my records. Who had paid me, and so forth. The idea, it seemed, or from what Hollins was willing to say, was that he would decipher the codes for the War Office, they would find me a traitor, and I would be put in prison or die."
Gwen closed her eyes as a tear ran down her cheek. "But why? Why you? I do not understand! He could have placed it on Redding's shoulders. He could have done anything. Was he truly that jealous of you? Or that angry at Ash? I'm sorry, Hunter, I just do not understand."
"And that is what I have to talk to you about." Hunter placed his wine on the table between them and turned his golden eyes upon her. "Ash and I have just been informed. Know that I had no idea of this woman's existence until now."
Gwen felt as if she had just lost all the air in the room as it whooshed out of her lungs. Woman, did he say woman? She felt tears form in her eyes as she watched him struggle to put into words what he was trying to say.
"Just say it," Gwen blurted. "Tell me there is someone else, that you do not love me, but please hurry! I cannot take the silence. I cannot do this! I love you!" Her chest heaved with the exertion of yelling at him.
Hunter's head perked up, and then his lips quirked into a smile before he threw back his head and laughed.
"I'm leaving." She rose from the chair and bolted for the door, but Hunter grabbed her by the wrist and flung her back against his body so she was sitting on him. "I have a knife."
"Then use it," he growled into her ear. "But please be sure to be naked like last time. I found it quite distracting."
She struggled to get free of his grasp, but he held her firmly and chuckled. "Yes, and please with your naughty foreplay."
Gwen huffed and stopped struggling. "Are you finished making fun of me?"
Hunter lifted her off the c
hair, and while holding her in his arms, kissed her firmly across the mouth, plunging his tongue into its depths. This was no invitation of a kiss. This was not polite — it was hot and needy. He groaned as he knelt down and laid her across the rug, then began slowly undressing her as he kissed her neck.
"I love you, Gwen. I will always love you. I have to admit to being the worst sort of husband these past three days, but there were things that needed to be settled, and finally I realized something."
Gwen gasped as he bit her lip, then swirled his tongue with hers, and pulled back again. "What is that?"
"It is not my job anymore." He sighed against her chest and began kissing across her neck.
"Because, oh…" She arched her back. "Because you retired?"
"Yes, and because Ash has taken responsibility for… what must be done. I was worried about having to take care of a situation and trying to find a way out of it, but now it seems — You are absolutely…" He ripped at the sleeves of her dress, exposing her corset. "Fully…" He growled as he bit her neck. "Completely…" He moaned as he exposed the top half of her body. "Mine."
"But what about what you needed to talk to me about?" Gwen gasped again as Hunter licked the inside of her wrist and then wickedly began sucking on her fingers.
"It can wait."
"Wait? Until?"
But Hunter had stopped talking and was doing exceedingly well in making her forget what she'd been so worried about in the first place.
Two hours later, they lay in each other's arms. Hunter rose and stoked the fire.
"I am suddenly thankful we do not have a full staff." Gwen giggled. "I can only imagine what a stiff old butler would say to the duke and duchess of the house frolicking around in the ballroom."
"Frolicking?" Hunter paused, his smile making her stomach clench with desire. "Is that what we were doing?"
Gwen laughed as Hunter pounced on her again and whispered, "I thought I was making love to my beautiful wife, but if a good frolic is what you desire, who am I to stand in your way?"
Another hour later and Gwen finally had a new definition for the word frolic, and found that she would never be able to hear it without blushing profusely.
Chapter Thirty-three
Wolf—
That was one time! And the pigeon terrified me! I thought it was an intruder! What do you expect me to do? Swat it with my hand? All I had was a pistol. I cannot believe you would hold one tiny indiscretion against me! And no, I refuse to stay locked indoors. And yes, you are an animal. A complete and utter animal, in and out of the bedroom, you scoundrel!
—Red
Hunter nudged Gwen awake as the sun was beginning to rise over the horizon. He had taken her to bed without having a much-needed discussion with her, but the moment he saw the life die in her eyes, he knew he needed to remedy the situation immediately. For it had nothing to do with them, though it had looked that way. He was just so terrified of losing her again and exhausted over the most recent news that he found all he could do was hold her and pray it would fix itself.
For he had been asked to complete a task, something that he could not say no to. Dominique was his best friend. He would die for him, do anything to protect him. And though he wanted to say no, the delicate situation made it hard to. But he could not leave Gwen, so Ash had stepped in, said it was a way for him to redeem his many sins.
Not only had Ash changed from the easygoing brother Hunter had always loved, but he was unpredictable. He would be perfect, that is, if the woman did not kill him first.
"Love," Hunter murmured in Gwen's ear. "Love, you need to wake up. We should talk."
"This early?" Gwen stretched across the bed and moaned. Saints alive, how he wished he could possess his wife instead of having to have such a conversation, but it was necessary.
"Yes, I'm afraid so." He pulled her into his arms and leaned against the headboard while he played with her soft hair.
"What is it?" She yawned again.
"You asked before, why me? Why would Wilkins target me? When he could have set up Trehmont or Hollins, even Redding."
Gwen nodded in his arms. He took a deep breath and continued. "It seems, my love, that Wilkins had somewhat of a grudge against my family, against me."
He grinned and began his story, trying to make it sound as lighthearted as possible. "Once upon a time, there was a beautiful woman. Everyone loved her. Obviously she had the face of a goddess. After all, she was my grandmother by blood."
Gwen laughed in his arms, and he kissed her head. "A man, an untitled man, wanted her for himself. But she refused him. You see, she loved him desperately, but her parents would never approve of the match. So he ran away with her. But her parents intercepted them before they made their marriage legal."
"What happened?" Gwen sat up.
"She married another, and they had beautiful children. Handsome, strapping men, who then had even more handsome sons." He grinned as Gwen swatted him.
"Wilkins was the man?"
He nodded. This was the part he hated, the part that made him sick. "Wilkins was so angry, so bitter over what had taken place, merely because he did not have the station or the money in order to provide for her, that he developed a strong hatred for the gentry, for royalty, anyone in a higher station."
Hunter closed his eyes. "He never stopped loving my grandmother. She would be hard to forget. She often entertained royalty from other countries and on the night of a party, she entertained some of Russia's royalty. Wilkins snuck in uninvited. Grandmother and he had another fight and my grandfather, bless his heart, tried to kick Wilkins out, but Wilkins was drunk. He had a pistol. He shot my grandfather and then shot my grandmother."
"Hunter!" Gwen wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed his cheeks. "So he decided to kill off your entire family."
"No, I do not believe so, though his hatred was strong. I always knew my grandparents had been shot by a madman. I just hadn't known who had done it until now."
"Then how do you know this information? I guess I don't understand. It is horrible, truly horrible, Hunter, but how do you know?"
"He left a book of conquests, people he'd killed, things he'd done. Hollins offered it as a peace offering in order to lessen his sentence."
Gwen held him for a long time before sighing into his chest. "Are you happier, now that you know how your grandparents died?"
"Yes and no. It saddens me to think of their lives cut short, merely because of a man's jealousy and hatred. I'm surprised he was able to look at me, let alone stand in the same room as me." Hunter swallowed the dryness in his throat. "There is one other thing."
Gwen tensed. "The woman you spoke of earlier?"
"Love, it is not what you think. Calm down before I am forced to frolic with you again."
Gwen blushed bright red and pushed at his chest. He tightened his hold around her and sighed. "Dominique has asked me to go on a mission. A private one."
"No." Gwen shook her head. "We've just been through a mission, and you know I would not let you go alone."
"Don't I know it?" Hunter kissed her pouted lips. "Ash has it in his mind that he needs to do a penance for disappearing for so long, even though he saved our lives. Apparently it will never be enough."
"So he is to find a woman?"
Hunter kissed Gwen's neck. "Not just any woman, Dominique's cousin. I do not know the specifics, but she was forced into hiding. It is Dominique's wish to bring her here and give her a Season, thereby marrying her off and offering her his protection."
"Where is she now?"
"She was brought into Scotland a day or so ago and has been waiting for communication from Dominique, but considering everything that has recently taken place, it hasn't been a smooth transition."
Gwen said nothing for a minute and then turned to him and kissed him firmly across the mouth. "So you are staying?"
"As long as you want me."
"Forever," Gwen whispered across his lips.
"That, my dear, i
s a long time to live with a wolf."
Gwen leaned back and winked. "I'll be sure to keep my pistol loaded."
Hunter kissed her chin. "Good. You know how I like violence before frolicking."
Another blush stained Gwen's cheeks. "Stop using that word!"
"Frolic, frolic, frolic."
"Sheep, sheep, sheep, sheep," Gwen taunted. "Wasn't that your choice word before?"
"No." Hunter shook his head seriously. "I believe I also talked a great deal about nuts and breadcrumbs. And squirrels."
"You are a strange man." Gwen sighed and then giggled.
"It is why you love me so much. Life is too predictable with other fellows. With me you'll always be guessing."
With that Hunter pulled her into his arms and dove under the blankets.
Another hour later, Gwen rubbed Hunter's back and whispered, "I love you."
"And I you…"
"Good." She sat up in the bed. "Because we have to attend Dominique and Isabelle's house for dinner tonight."
"Will Montmouth be there?"
"Oh, I hope so." Gwen winked. "Perhaps he will get his wish and finally get to shoot you."
"One can only dream," Hunter said dryly, and then attacked his insatiable wife for the third, fourth, perhaps it was the fifth time that morning.
Epilogue
One month later, following the battle of Waterloo
Hunter glared as Montmouth placed his pistol atop the table, as was his custom every time Hunter and Gwen came to visit. He was convinced Hunter was going to slip up at least once, giving him the pleasure of being able to steal Hunter's life from him. At least now it was a joke, or at least Hunter told himself that so he wouldn't strangle the man. They had come to an agreement of sorts. Hunter kept his flirtatious comments to his own wife, which of course had been his intention all along, and Montmouth would keep his gun out of reach.
Dominique shook his head and rolled his eyes at Hunter as Montmouth polished the gun and then began clearing his throat.