She placed her hands on each side of his face and pulled his mouth to hers. The kiss was one of longing, joy, passion, and love. She poured every fiber of her being into it, unleashing the very essence of her soul, and saying without words how much he meant to her. How much she needed him. He deepened the kiss,leaning in to pull her body to his. She felt his hardness get even harder, and she didn’t mind—she relished it, this sign of life.
The warmth of desire stole over her chilled frame, and she moaned.
“What is it? Are you okay?” he asked, concerned.
She beamed at him. “I’m fine—more than fine—I’m great. Help me up, please.”
Before he could help her to her feet, the cellar door that the storm blew shut, burst open; its ancient hinges screaming in protest as they wrenched from the splintered doorframe.
Harry rushed through the opening brandishing a pistol, his countenance dark and alert for danger.
He stopped short before the crumpled body of Angelous Kroger.
He gasped. Another gasp followed, but this one came from behind him. They all glanced at the door to see Millie walk gingerly up to where Harry stood. She looked down at the body, up at Logan, and then gasped anew when she caught sight of Haven.
“Dear Lord in Heaven, what happened?” She made short work of throwing her cloak over Haven’s naked, shivering frame.
Harry’s face blanched, and his wide eyes glinted with disbelief.
“Logan, you killed him?” Glancing over at Haven, he inquired, “Are you all right, Miss Edwards?”
“Yes, I killed him. He kidnapped Haven, tied her to the table, and planned to do terrible things to her.” She couldn’t help but notice he’d left out everything that actually happened. How could anyone explain that she’d been tortured, cut to ribbons, and then stabbed before dying and being resurrected by an enchanted pocket watch imbued with power by three sister goddesses?
“I’d only just arrived when he brandished a knife and made to kill her. Thank God I stopped him in time.”
He shuddered.
Millie tsked and moved forward. “What are we doing standing around? Let’s get this precious girl home so she can get warm and fed,” she snapped.
More than willing to leave Angelous, the cellar, and the terror behind, Haven let Logan pick her up and carry her from the room where she’d died.
Her body shook even within the heat of Logan’s arms.
Overwhelming gratitude suffused her soul.
Burying her face in his chest, she sighed at the strong, steady heartbeat against her cheek.
Chapter Sixty-Four
Back at the manor, Haven lay alone in Logan’s bed. A new maid, one that had been vetted by Millie and Mrs. Roomer, had helped her dress in comfortable, serviceable night clothes, and tucked her up tight.
Breathing deeply, she closed her eyes and tried not to replay her day again.
It didn’t work.
After Harry and Millie arrived at the dilapidated cottage cellar, she’d been spirited back to the manor as if the ghost of Angelous Kroger were hot on her heels. She’d been a little out of it after her ordeal, but she remembered enough of her companions’ conversation to know that Harry and Millie, who’re left with Divinia Kroger at the Manor after Logan’s mad dash into the storm, grew suspicious at Miss Kroger’s sly and insidious manner. She’d acted as though she didn’t know what was going on, but Millie didn’t trust her—not that Haven could blame her.
When Millie had demanded Divinia drop the act and tell her the truth, she’d merely sneered, and said, “Once my brother is done with her, Miss Edwards will finally be worth something.”
Shocked and disgusted by what the she-devil had said, Millie and Harry had joined forces, promising Divinia if she didn’t tell them what they needed to know, they would tell the whole of theTon, eligible, wealthy bachelors and all, that Divinia was a power hungry, destitute, barren social climber who’d recently been cast aside by her merchant-class lover. When Divinia had paled at the prospect of losing her chance at a life of power and prestige, she’d easily told them where to find her brother. It seemed that though they were twins and bound together by their greed for perfection, she was easily swayed by selfish ambition.
Evil would always beget evil, and Haven knew that firsthand. She also knew evil could never defeat love. She’d been dead, but was now alive, and it was all because Logan loved her.
She knew, somehow, his confession had triggered the completion of Perez’s first task. Perez had inflamed true, love-borne passion between two opposing spirits. There weren’t two more opposing spirits than she and Logan. Hell, the man was a duke, and she was a foul-mouthed, barbeque-loving, time-traveling diva.
Ha! The diva and the duke. What a pair they made. A perfectly imperfect pair. Tilting her head back against the cushioned headboard, she thought about her new life. She’d have to learn new customs, new social cues, and dos and don’ts. She’d have to learn to like flabby boiled meats and two-day-old bread, and she’d have to learn to live without the many things she’d taken for granted. She didn’t need deodorant or spa treatments or—she thought of her now dead Bluetooth speakers and cellphone—her music collection. All she needed to live and thrive in 1817 was Logan.
A soft knock and a click announced his arrival. She smiled. He always seemed to know when she was thinking of him, which wasn’t difficult because she wasalwaysthinking about him.
