by Jenna Hart
It was done.
She was married and was now the Duchess of Averton. Her head still spun with everything that had transpired over the past few days.
Serena set the nosegay bouquet down and took her seat beside her husband to enjoy their meal. They sat in silence with each other, only saying an occasional thank you to the well-wishers who stopped to offer their congratulations.
"I'll do my best to keep you comfortable," Hadden said, low enough for only her to hear.
"That's all I could ask for," Serena said weakly. It was a lie, she knew, but she wasn't quite sure how to respond to her husband saying he would keep her comfortable.
She would prefer happy! And content! And loved!
Serena sighed. Wishful thinking.
Perhaps in time, they could have grown to become fond of each other, but with the way Hadden had told her he would be away most of the time, she doubted they would have any time to get to know each other.
Hadden heard her sigh and knew she was pondering their future together. He wanted to tell her what he would be doing and that her safety was a critical factor in his decisions, but he couldn't.
By now, all of England knew of his marriage, and he had no doubt that included Charlotte and those she worked with. This increased the threat to Serena.
Tomorrow, he would take her to Averton Park. Her family would be free to visit and stay as long as they liked, but he had to keep Serena where he knew no danger would come to her.
Hadden hoped she would understand, but he had a feeling his new wife would not take to kindly to being left alone, a day after her wedding.
Seeing his brother, along with Devlin and Lennox, making their way towards them, he stood, walking around the table to meet the men.
All three men were in good spirits. Hadden wished that was the case for him, as it should be, but he wasn't one to begrudge others of their merriment.
"Congratulations, brother," Greyson said, giving his brother a firm handshake. "Your bride is as beautiful as her sister."
Greyson gave Hadden a wink, causing the duke to warn his brother.
"Don't," Hadden said. "I've had enough with marriages of late, don't want to be attending anymore anytime soon."
This caused the three men to laugh.
"It could be worse," Lennox said. "You could have Lady Stratdale as your mother-in-law."
Hadden nodded his agreement.
He was married to one of the most beautiful women he had ever seen, and he knew there was a fire between, begging to be ignited. But when one played with fire, they often were burned.
"Yes, cheers to your wedding, old boy and your lovely bride," Devlin said with a grin, slapping Hadden on the back. "We'll think of you tonight at the Rose."
"Many thanks," Hadden added dryly.
Hadden watched his brother and friends depart for their evening of delights at the famed Rose Garden, one of London's most exclusive pleasure houses.
He, on the other hand, would be in for the most uncomfortable night of his life.
Serena sat across from Hadden in the carriage, her thoughts running wild about what was to come.
She knew what to expect on her wedding night and knew this might be the only chance she would have with her husband.
"I'm sure you will like Averton Park," Hadden said, unable to cope with the silence any longer. "I imagine it would be a lot like Danerly Hall, as you described it. I have a private stable full of horses for you to choose from."
Serena smiled at the peace offering. He was trying to be accommodating, given the circumstances.
"Thank you," Serena said. "I'm sure I'll find it lovely. I do so enjoy the country."
The carriage stopped in front of Hadden's townhouse. He exited first and offered his hand to Serena to help her down.
He continued holding her hand as they made their way up the stairs.
Hadden greeted the man at the door warmly. "Piterson, allow me to introduce my wife, Serena.
"Your Grace, a pleasure to meet you," Piterson said. "I am the head butler of His Grace's London residence, and if you need anything at all, please do not hesitate to ask."
Serena and Hadden followed Piterson inside. "I dismissed the rest of the staff for the evening, per your request, Your Grace," Piterson continued.
"They will be delighted to meet you in the morning." Piterson bowed before ascending the marble staircase, looking back to speak to the couple.
"The rooms are ready, as well, Your Grace," Piterson said, stopping at an ivory-colored door with gold trim. "Good night," Piterson said before departing back down the hall toward the stairs.
Hadden opened the door allowing Serena to enter first.
In awe of the room, she gave Hadden a brilliant smile. It was beautiful. Cream and gold satin lined the fluffy bed, with gold tasseled throw pillows adding to the plumpness.
A picture of the countryside, with rolling hills and a large lake, hung on the wall, adding a touch of soft blues and greens to the neutral tones.
"This will be your quarters whenever we are in London, or if you venture to come alone," Hadden told her. "This room adjourns to a private bath, as well, as a private drawing room and a private dressing room."
He watched Serena, taking in the beautiful surroundings. He was pleased he had decided to update the room and that she seemed to appreciate it.
"Thank you, it's absolutely wonderful," Serena said, turning to thank him.
"Your welcome. If there is anything you should ever need or want, please, ask me," Hadden said, his eyes falling on her full lips.
He watched as her teeth bit her bottom lip, rubbing back and forth across it.
He had sworn not to bed her, not wanting to cause her any more pain. There would be the issue of needed consummation, but no one had to know it wasn't done. Not yet anyway, until he could figure out something else.
"Hadden," Serena said, her voice coming out in a whisper. "I want yo-
Hadden's lips touched Serena's before she could finish.
She sighed, wrapping her arms around him, welcoming his lips. Trailing his lips down into the crook of her neck, he placed light kisses there. He moved across her chest, peeling down the lilac gown she had changed into, her breasts pushing through the chemise underneath, begging for freedom from their prison.
A pounding at the door stopped him, as his hand slid under her dress.
Damn it!
"What?" Hadden asked, his voice strained from fighting back the urge to toss Serena to the ground and make love to her and the urge not to throttle whoever had interrupted them.
Serena pulled her dress back up, her cheeks turning pink.
"Your Grace, hurry, please," Piterson shouted through the door. "Your brother, he's been shot!"
Tearing himself away from Serena, he snatched the door open, revealing the frightened butler.
"One of Lord Sutton's men is here to get you. Seamus, I believe. He said to hurry."
Hadden's stomach sank.
They had gone after his brother! Serena would be next.
Just as he feared.
"Stay here and lock the door, open it for no one," Hadden told her before rushing out.
CHAPTER NINE
"Open the bloody door!" Lennox ran ahead and begun to bang on the door of Hadden's house. "NOW!"
Piterson, Hadden's butler, opened the door, a look of terror showing on his weathered face-likely brought on by Lennox's loud yelling and banging.
"Lord Sutton!"
Piterson, in all the years he had known the marquess had never seen the usually calm and stoic man in this fashion.
He saw the duke assisting in carrying his brother up the stairs with Lord Ryden, and hastily ran to down to help.
Now, Piterson was the one yelling. "Get the doctor. Immediately!" "I'll get some towels and hot water."
"Out of the way, Piterson!" Lennox yelled as he ran by.
"What is going on?" Serena emerged from her room, running down the stairs at the sound of the
loud commotion happening below her. She left her room so fast that she had only grabbed a dressing robe and had thrown it over her nightgown.
“Sanders, he shot Grey as we came out of Roses, then he ran off,” Lennox yelled. “I’ll kill him with my bare hands, I will.”
She had been in a fit of worry over Hadden's brother since he had left.
Her heart almost stopped at the sight before her. Hadden's shirt had come unbuttoned about halfway down, exposing the curly mat of dark hair.
Covered in blood, he carried his brother's limp body.
"We must get him to a bed." Serena immediately took charge, directing the group of helpless men around her.
"Piterson, more hot water, and towels." Piterson darted off quickly, followed by Hadden's footman in search of more towels, as there were no maids presently available to assist; all hands were made ready to help at a moment's notice.
"Lord Sut- She started, turning towards Lennox, who had finally calmed down and stopped running. He stood, looking down at Greyson, raking his hands through his thick black hair.
"Call me Lennox, please no need for formalities, given the circumstances."
"Lennox, please send your best man to Lord Mauldin's to fetch Dr. Blake with the utmost urgency. He’s been hired to oversee Lord Mauldin’s care."
Serena touched Greyson’ s head. He was cold, and his breathing was getting more raged. They had to move quickly.
Before she knew it, Lennox was out the door, going himself to get Dr. Blake.
"Lord Ryden," Serena said, pointing to Devlin. "Let's get him to an empty room.
"Devlin. Call me Devlin," he said, shifting most of Greyson's weight onto himself.
"Hadden?" Serena wasn't familiar with the house, so she had no idea where the nearest bedroom was.
"This way, first door on the right," Hadden said, moving down the hall. Serena ran ahead, pulling the covers back from the bed.
Once he was in bed, Serena started removing Greyson's shirt, searching for the wound. She found it and immediately began to wash it with one of the bowls of fresh, hot water Piterson had brought in, along with a large stack of hand towels.
"Hold here!" Serena ordered Hadden, taking his large hand and pressing it on top of the bandage Serena had made to cover the wound to slow the bleeding.
He had made his way over to the bed when she had first started working and wanted to offer her help.
She continued to clean the dried blood around the area, careful not to lift Hadden's hand off of the wound.
Hadden marveled at the woman Serena had transformed in to. A mighty titan sprung forth from a tiny wildflower, buried deep inside. Hadden felt as if the titan had been there all along, waiting for its chance to emerge.
She worked carefully, trying to keep Greyson talking throughout the ordeal and encouraged Devlin to speak to him as well, if not but to give him something to focus on, as the poor man looked frightened to death.
He had lost a lot of blood and was nodding in and out of consciousness.
Strands of pale blonde hair had started to fall in her face, and she shrugged both shoulders, trying to move the hair out of her face. Hadden could see that the hair was becoming a bother, but she couldn't let go of her hands.
With his free hand, he reached up and gently tucked the hair behind her ear, hearing her breath catch in her chest.
"Thank you." She said softly, surprised by the gesture.
Serena felt a heated shiver pass through her body, her cheeks warming. She could feel Hadden's gaze upon her. She continued working, trying to block the thoughts of their kiss earlier and the feelings it had aroused, hoping Dr. Blake would soon arrive, and she could remove herself.
Serena lifted her eyes, meeting Hadden's.
His eyes were heavy, much as they had been when he had kissed her. He stared deeply into hers as if searching for her very core. Her eyes traveled to his lips. They had been hard and demanding when they had claimed hers, and a part of Serena ached to feel them again.
"Hello?" She heard Lennox calling in the foyer, his voice drawing closer, snapping her attention back to what was going on around her. Hopefully, he had located Dr. Blake.
"Your Grace!" Dr. Blake rushed in, peeling his outer coat off and opening up his medicine bag on the bed.
"I am going to need the room clear!" Dr. Blake told the men as he began examining the wound on Greyson's side. "And more towels and hot water."
"Along with a bottle of brandy!"
Piterson made his way into the room, awaiting instructions. As soon as the doctor told them what he needed, he rushed off in search of the items, with a promise to return right away.
"If it's alright, I would like to stay and help," Serena told the doctor. "I cleaned around the wound as best I could and then covered it."
"You did excellently," Dr. Blake told her, smiling warmly at her.
Hadden felt a sudden urge of jealousy with the way the doctor was looking at Serena.
It may have been a look of appreciation for the fact that Serena had taken action to help save the young lord, but Hadden was not leaving the room-not with the way the doctor kept smiling at Serena.
"Your Grace, Lord Sutton, if you two could help roll him over a bit and hold him down gently. I've got to clean out the opening."
Dr. Blake had taken some small white packets out of his medicinal bag and mixed them with some of the whiskey that Piterson had brought in.
Whatever it was, it smelled horrid and looked even worse.
"It will help clean out the wound from anything nasty that may have worked their way in," Dr. Blake explained to Serena, after catching her curious stare.
"I'll put this in, leave it for a few minutes and then clean it out." He added, "it usually stings a bit, but I doubt he will even notice."
Dr. Blake laughed gently at Serena's wide eyes, explaining more to her, as he continued to stir the mixture in the wooden bowl. "
It's the best thing, to make sure the wound stays clean after I close it. If it's not cleaned properly, the wound can fester-and with the amount of blood lost, that's the last thing he needs."
Serena nodded solemnly, taking in all of the information Dr. Blake had given her.
"Alright, I'm ready." Dr. Blake told the two men, cleaning his hands thoroughly with a bowl of the hot water and a bar of hand soap Piterson had thoughtfully left.
Both Lennox and Hadden also started rolling up their sleeves with Serena doing the same before getting ready to move Greyson. She looked exhausted, but given everything that had transpired today, she had a right to look however she wanted.
It was in that moment, as he watched her tug at her dressing robe, that he had realized that she had been wearing a robe the entire time-made of soft lavender, that she had thrown on in her haste to find out if Greyson was alright.
There had been no time for her to change into something else, and with everything happening so fast, he doubted anyone had noticed what she had worn.
After an hour or so passed, Dr. Blake finished mending Greyson's wound, and he was now resting comfortably, his breathing much better than before.
He wasn't entirely out of the clear, but Dr. Blake was sure he would pull out of it. Mostly in part, to Serena's quick action to help him.
"I'll stay with him," Dr. Blake said. "Best to get some rest while he's stable."
He could see Hadden's hesitation. "Your Grace, I'll send for you and your wife if he changes."
Hadden nodded.
"I'll have a bath drawn for you," Hadden told Serena. She was covered in Greyson's blood as was he.
"What about you?" Serena asked.
"I'm going to change, but I need to figure out what happened to my brother," Hadden said, his green eyes clouding.
Serena nodded.
Alice, having arrived shortly after Hadden's departure, prepared a steaming bath before heading down to see if she could locate some tea and a few bits of food in the kitchen.
Serena sunk deep into the tub, a
llowing the hot water to ease the tension in her aching muscles.
She heard a soft knock at the door and assumed it was Alice.
That was quick! But then again, Piterson had more than likely already suspected they would be hungry and had notified Hadden's cook to fix something to hold them over until breakfast.
"Come in!" Serena called out, sinking as deep as she could and then dunking her head into the water. Her back was to the door, and she assumed Alice was setting up whatever she had been able to procure from the kitchen.
Hadden stood still, watching Serena as she sat in the large, clawfoot tub. He had not expected her to be in the bath just yet. Truthfully, he had not intended to seek her out in her room so quickly.
Hadden knew that if she had known it was him that had knocked, she wouldn't have let him in while bathing, so she must have been expecting someone-probably her maid.
He had to leave before she came back and before Serena realized he had been watching her, but he couldn't seem to make his feet move or tear his eyes away from her.
Her hair started to curl, so long that pieces of it fell over the side of the tub. She arched her back up, moving around in the tub to get comfortable and let out a soft sigh as she lifted her legs and place them over the side of the tub, small beads of water sliding down her legs.
He could see her full breasts, pushing out over the water, her pink nipples hard, begging to be sucked.
He wanted to run his tongue over them, to taste them-taste her, all of her.
He felt himself getting hard at the thought of touching her. Oh, how he wanted to climb in the tub with her and pull her close against him and satisfy his sudden urge, his aching need to feel her wrapped tightly around him.
Hadden backed out of the room as quietly as he could.
This is going to end badly, he thought, shaking his head as he headed down the stairs to check on his brother.
He knew he was going to have to stay away from Serena.
Hadden entered Greyson's room, met by Dr. Blake, still watching over.
"He should make a full recovery, Your Grace." Dr. Blake turned his blonde head in the direction of Greyson's bed.
He had found the wound on Greyson's side to be deeper than what he thought, but he was able to close it up successfully-with the help of a hefty dose of laudanum to accommodate Greyson's size. He had tossed and turned even with the medicine; caught in a restless slumber he couldn't wake from.
