Colin made a sweeping motion toward the door. “Take your chances, then. I invite you.”
Thia was shaken to the core. Unfortunately, Colin made sense and she was torn between refusing to help him abduct Peyton and following through simply to avoid the embarrassment and controversy that was sure to arise as a result of his libelous blackmail.
She turned away from him, her mind and soul being ripped in two by her indecision. Thia was not evil; she was brash, aggressive and rude, but she was not a sinister character. The desperation resulting from an unwanted betrothal was sucking her deeper and deeper into a bottomless hole; the further she sank, the harder it was to climb free.
Aye, she wanted to be rid of Peyton. The fact had already been established. But her conscience was gaining the upper hand against her will to be done with her brother’s wife, even as the force of self-preservation fought for control.
She did not want her secret to be known. As much as she regretted what she must do, she must preserve herself above all.
Thia was shaking when she turned to Colin once more. Her gaze was guarded. “I shall do as I agreed as long as you swear to me that there will be no marriage between us, and that you shall not leave a trace of my brother’s wife. He shall never know my part in this.”
Colin smiled faintly, thinking of simple Paul as he attempted to blackmail him with what he had overheard. He could easily kill Thia as well; but, somehow, he rather liked the fact that they would share a dark secret between them. It would make her far more receptive to his desires in the future, as she would hold the future baron’s ear.
“That is the bargain,” he said quietly, fixing her in the eye. “Now, my lady. You will get me out of here.”
*
Peyton was sodrowsy she could barely keep her eyes open. Pulled against Alec’s warm torso as he conversed with Edward and Brian, her head resting on his massive shoulder, it was all she could do to remain lucid. But she was losing the struggle; Alec’s delicious heat combined with his deep, soothing voice had a hypnotic effect on her and she yawned more than once, trying desperately not to be rude. She did not realize that Celine was well aware of her plight.
Alec’s mother rose from her chair and made her way to Alec and Peyton. A sharp nail tapped her son on the shoulder.
“You have been so busy chattering that you have failed to notice your wife’s exhaustion,” she chided softly. “Release her, Alec. I intend to put her to bed myself.”
Appalled at his lack of consideration, he faced his wife full of concern. “Are you well, sweetheart? I did not mean to ignore you.”
She smiled as Celine frowned. “You are a rude, insensitive man,” his mother admonished. “I shall deal with you after I have settled your wife.”
Peyton laughed softly. “Truly, my lady, Alec wasn’t being rude in the least. I am more comfortable in his arms than anywhere else.”
They smiled tenderly at each other as Celine practically lifted Peyton to her feet. “Come, dear. You belong in bed, resting.”
“She shall not be resting after I join her,” Alec mumbled into his cup.
Peyton giggled as Celine pinched her son on his rock-hard bicep. “Enough, Alec. I demand you leave your wife alone. You have done your duty; now allow her to complete hers unhindered.”
He laughed then; a loud, obnoxious snort. “Duty, did you say? I would hardly call it a duty. And if you think I am going to leave my wife alone for the next eight months, you are out of your….”
Celine slapped him on the shoulder this time, interrupting the conclusion of his sentence. Ali, seating on the other side of his wife, heard the statement and chuckled heartily, lifting his tankard in agreement to Alec’s assertion. The two men snickered and snorted as Celine grew more outraged.
“Louts, the both of you. I shall not have it,” she had Peyton by the arm, pulling her away from the table. “Come along, Peyton dear. You must be positively ill with fatigue.”
“Hold, Mother,” Alec rumbled, setting his goblet to the table. Wiping his mouth, he rose to his full height and stepped around his chair. Peyton saw the look in his eye, having seen it many a time before. Always before he made love to her.
His smile broadened as he approached his wife. Peyton returned his smile, her heart thumping madly against her ribs as his massive arms encircled her slim torso. In spite of LadyCeline’s pleas of control, Alec bent his wife over backward and kissed her so passionately that the entire room went mad with approval.
Alec heard the roar of favor, lost in the depths of Peyton’s honeyed mouth. He could feel his mother slapping weakly at his arm, demanding he unhand his pregnant wife. But he ignored her, indulging himself in a kiss seldom used outside of the bedchamber. It was a farewell, an invitation, a promise until he joined her later.
He was grinning as he released her. Peyton, flushed and dazed, returned his gesture.
“God’s Blood, Alec. No wonder the woman is pregnant,” Edward quipped, joining the laughter at the table.
Celine spanked her son across his taut buttocks as she grasped Peyton once more, assisting the blushing woman from the room. Alec resumed his seat, his warm gaze lingering on the brilliant red head until the foyer beyond swallowed her.
Christ, how he loved her. Had his mother not been standing in such close proximity, he would have told her so. Well… mayhap.
… coward.
By the time Peyton and Celine reached the stairs, their arms were linked companionably and they were laughing softly at Alec’s display. In truth, Celine wasn’t appalled by the lack of control; she thought it wonderful that Alec had married a woman he was so entirely smitten with. Soft conversation bounced between them as they mounted the stairs.
