Though the pair lived apart – more so because of it – Eldridge would probably feel the need to defend her honor.
But that was the furthest thing from Wrengate’s mind at the moment.Rather, he sipped his drink while considering the blonde strands of hair he’d pulled from the intruder.They puzzled him on account of their length.Because if one thing was clear, it was that these strands did not belong to a man but rather to a woman.
A woman who knew how to hold her own in a fight.Who’d fled like a cat leaping over that wall.A woman unlike any other.
Only one such individual came to mind, and she just happened to have this exact shade of hair.
Mrs.Samantha Croft.
* * *
Torn between wanting to shake his slumbering wife awake so he could give her hell and letting her rest so she could heal, Adrian stared at her battered body.
“Looks like she’s been dragged through the streets by a team of wild horses,” Murry muttered, giving voice to Adrian’s thoughts.
He pressed his lips together and felt his brow pucker.What the hell had she been up to last night?Where had she gone and what in all of Hades had she been thinking to sneak out without informing him?Despite the progress they’d made in their marriage these past few weeks, this felt like a fresh betrayal.
When he’d initially woken and found her gone, he’d believed she must have risen early.But then he’d arrived at breakfast where Elks had informed him of her presence in the parlor and that she might be in need of assistance.
His initial response when he’d seen her slumped figure had been alarm.But then the questions had started popping into his head, mixing sympathy with anger.
Most worrying was the fact that someone had managed to overpower her somehow.At least that was how it looked.And with her commendable fighting skills in mind, he found this troubling.
“Look there.”Murry pointed toward a red mark on Samantha’s palm.“Must have made a hard grab for something.”
She shifted slightly and Adrian placed a firm hand on her shoulder.Her eyelids flew open, her body jolting as though she were ready to leap to her feet and do battle.Only for her to cry out in pain and fall back onto the sofa.Eyes squeezed shut, she groaned as she grabbed her right leg with both hands.
Adrian tracked the movement and saw that she was trying to move it into a different position.His heart cracked open while tension snapped his nerves taut with the need to avenge her.Yet her secretiveness stayed every compulsion he had to pull her into his arms and offer the comfort she probably craved.
First, he needed answers and whatever reassurance they might grant him.“What happened?”
She found his gaze and held it.When she finally spoke, there was a bite to her voice.“I went to Wrengate House.”
The irritation in her tone smarted.As if she found his demand for an explanation affronting.His muscles flexed with annoyance even as Murry grunted his disbelief.
“What the hell were you thinking?”Adrian demanded.
Her chin found a stubborn angle that only made him all the more furious.“I know it was risky and—”
“Demented?Dangerous?Deceitful?”By all that was holy, he wanted to strangle her.More so when she frowned at him as thoughhewere the madman in this scenario.
“That’s a lot of ‘D’s” she muttered.
He glared at her while trying to wade through the myriad of emotions assailing him.
Several seconds ticked by without anyone saying a word.Murry eventually cleared his throat.“Anything I can do to help?”
“A slab of meat for my knee would be nice,” Samantha told him.
“Right,” Murry replied.“I’ll go and, um…fetch that then.”
He was out the door in a flash.
Adrian crossed his arms.“Well?”
Samantha blew out a breath and sagged against the cushions.“I was only trying to help you.”
“Don’t make this about me when you are the one sneaking about behind my back.”His muscles were coiled so tightly he was almost shaking.“Not for the first time if I may remind you.”
