“It’s possible he knows people in Canterbury, but I cannot recall any.”
“But, Mama!”
“I’ll take her,” Bash interrupted, voice thick with disuse. “Unless you think I’d be of more help here,” he added as a conciliatory afterthought.
“What?” Sophie asked.
“I’ll take her to the Kent house. No harm will come to her, I swear it.”
Wayland’s gaze met his wife’s, and a silent discussion took place. It was difficult to determine who was in favor and who opposed, but in the end, Wayland offered a gruff, “Bash, pack a bag. You’ll leave at first light. Sophie, enough protests. We will not offer him another victim for the taking.”
Yet fruitless discussion continued.
The answer was obvious, and Benedict grew more anxious with every passing moment. Did they not understand that with every word, Eliza moved farther from him—trapped in a carriage with a known villain and Lord knew who else?
Every breath cost Eliza miles.
Chapter Forty
The earthbeneath Eliza swayed back and forth.
Light flickered over her closed eyelids.
Unintelligible bickering washed over her.
Inexplicable tears seeped down her cheeks.
Every so often a shiver overtook her, but the fabric of her gown clung to her sweaty legs. And her head threatened to pound right out of her skull.
Eventually, the pain faded enough that she drifted back to sleep.
Benedict pulledher tighter to his bare chest. His long fingers trailed through her loose curls, smoothing them back with an amused smile on his lips.
“What?”
“They look no different,” he teased. “I’ve raked my fingers through every curl, and they are precisely as wild as they were when I let them down. No more, no less.”
She lifted a hand to smooth them down, but Benedict intercepted it. He brought it to his lips and pressed a kiss on her wrist that made her heart flutter and her stomach tighten.
His eyes narrowed, noting her reaction with a pleased smirk.
Ignoring the implications of that smile, she settled her cheek back onto the flat planes of his chest and listened to his heart thump, thump, thump away.
“Eliza, my little violet… I know I’ll never deserve you. But I understand now—I am capable of love—as long as it’s you. There’s nothing I won’t do to earn your love.”
“I know,” she whispered. “I think I’ve always known it was real. Even when my head told me it was a lie, my heart knew better.”
“You’re the truest thing I’ve ever known. Stay here a little longer. Dream with me. And I’ll keep you safe.”
“But there’s danger out there.”
“I know. But you’re safe here. When you must go back, you can take me with you. In your heart.”
She pressed up against his chest with one hand, leaning over to catch his lips with hers. Benedict broke away and trailed hot kisses down her throat. She sighed. “A few more minutes,” she said as she pulled him closer.
Eliza woke only long enoughto roll to one side before she retched all over the edge of whatever she was lying on. Masculine complaints responded. Sobs punctuated each heave of her stomach. The effort made her already dizzy head throb, and she wondered if it might burst as she fell back into darkness.
The next time she woke,she had more clarity. And a pressing need.
