Jamie heard the steady thud of his feet as he ran away from them. Clearly Lady Alice’s footman felt Jamie could keep her in good health until he returned.
“How dare you!” She pushed Jamie hard in the chest. He didn’t move, instead deliberately intimidating her by leaning closer.
“You should not have pushed that woman, Lady Alice. You should have walked away.”
“And you should not have thrown me over your shoulder again!”
Her eyes were a little wild and angry, and Jamie had to say it added another level to her beauty. What did it say about him that looking at this woman, with her bonnet sitting crooked and her cheeks flushed, aroused him.
“I needed to get you out of there fast, because what is going on inside the Black Dog is not something a lady of gentle breeding, such as yourself, should be witness to. A stray fist could have flattened you or worse.”
“I can take care of myself, my lord, and have been doing so for many years. I need no man to ensure my safety.” The words were spat at him like they tasted foul. “Never manhandle me in such a way again.”
“And how,” Jamie said with deadly calm, “would you have done that in such a place if Ezra and I had not been there? You were bloody terrified. I heard that scream. It was panicked.”
“I would have found a way.” Her chin lifted. “And I was not panicked.”
“Are you always this ignorant to the dangers around you?”
Jamie raked his eyes over her face, taking in every delicate inch. The line of her small nose and the curve of her chin. Hethen reached up to right the angle of her bonnet. Her hands slapped at his.
“Don’t touch me,” she hissed.
He grabbed her wrists, holding them to his chest. “Who hurt you?”
Of all the words he could have asked, those were the ones that came out of his mouth?
“Wh-what?” She tried to back away but he held her close.
“Who hurt you, Lady Alice?” Jamie knew when someone was hiding pain, just like he knew the signs of someone who had been harmed by another. When you suffered, you recognized it in others.
Chapter Fourteen
“No one,” Alicelied.
“That’s not true, is it? Because when you have suffered as I and many others have, you know when someone else has endured pain. You were terrified in the Black Dog, as you should have been, but your scream was fear, and nothing like the control you usually exhibit when people get close to you. You put distance between yourself and others with an aloof façade.”
“Stop—”
“Who hurt you?”
“You don’t know me well enough to know those things,” Alice said quickly. Her heart was thudding hard inside her chest, and her palms felt clammy beneath her gloves.
Alice wanted to look away from those all-seeing green eyes, but couldn’t. What did he see when he looked at her?
“Let me go,” she said, and the word came out more of a whimper than with her usual strength.
“It helps to talk to others.”
“Did you…do you talk to others about your suffering?” She wasn’t sure why she’d asked that, but suddenly Alice needed to know that someone had been there for this man, as she’d been there for Charles.
He nodded.
“Lords Hamilton and Corbyn?” He nodded again.
“I’m so sorry,” Alice whispered, remembering her brother’s pain.
“Who hurt you, Lady Alice?”
