“Played along,” he said. Then he pressed a quick kiss to her lips. “That makes it all the better, you know. To have someone—”
“Who plays along,” she said, suddenly understanding her husband on a new level.
He was a brilliant man, one with money and connections throughout London. But who in his life could match him for intelligence? Very few. And who in that world would dare play with him without fear? Powerful men like her uncle intimidated others with brutality. Powerful men like Reuben intimidated not from their actions but because others felt inferior just from standing in their presence.
She straightened up on her elbow. “You want a playmate.”
“Aye,” he rumbled, as he pressed his thick cock against her.
She chuckled. “Aye, indeed.”
Yes, he wanted that kind of playmate, but what they’d done was something better. They’d joined together in fun, and that was something few people valued as they should. As a woman who had spent her childhood with very few friends, this was something precious indeed.
So she teased him with her nose, rubbing back and forth against his cheek until they both grinned. And then he drew her close for a kiss, one that stretched and deepened. That made her heart speed up and—
“Let us see! Let us see!”
Reuben groaned, and she sighed. She was still cradled in his arms, supported by his body, which meant she felt how desperately he did not want the interruption. And she felt the power in his lungs when he turned his face to the door and shouted.
“Shut up, ye buggers!”
That didn’t work. If anything, it pushed them to greater excess. And so with a sigh, she rolled off him.
“You meant for them to come in,” she whispered as she motioned to the blood smear on the sheet.
He groaned as he sat up. “All right, all right,” he growled.
Another roar from the hallway, and Iseabail mentally apologized to the innkeeper and any other soul who might be trying to sleep this night. Fortunately, it would end soon, and then they could get back to what they were doing before.
She stood up and wrapped a blanket over her nightdress. He stomped over to the door but didn’t open it. Instead, he waited for her nod before he hauled open the door. His men tumbled inside, laughing with good cheer. Two scooped Reuben up on their shoulders in an unsteady display that had her gasping in fear and him slamming his hands out toward the beams in the ceiling.
“Easy, easy! Set me down!” he cried.
They ignored him, of course, especially since the other men shone a lantern on the blood smear. Another great roar of approval shot through the men and two came toward her to scoop her up as well. They meant nothing by it. She was merely to be held aloft as was her husband, but Iseabail had been trained from birth to fear large men. She feared them putting their hands on her body. She feared what they might do “all in fun.”
She shied backwards, scrambling for a place to hide as she sought any weapon—
“Leave her alone!”
Reuben’s bellow filled the room with a fury that stopped every soul cold including her. And lest anyone miss his words, he followed them up with ones that were designed to chill even a drunk down to his bones.
“If any man touches her without her leave, I will cut off his hands. See if I won’t.”
The two men who were closest to her jumped backwards, their heads averted. “We were just—” one of them began, but he never got to finish his words.
“She is my lady wife,” he bellowed. “And you will protect herbeforeyou protect me.”
Now their heads shot up, their eyes wide with confusion.
“Wot?”
Reuben grimaced and then jumped out of the arms that had been holding him aloft. He landed as sure footed as any cat, and then he went through his men, shoving or kicking them one by one onto a knee.
“Down, you damned fools,” he cursed.
Those he hadn’t reached dropped quickly to the floor.
“Do you not understand who she is?” he demanded. “Do you not know what the fairies would do if you frightened one of their own?”
