by Jenna Hart
"Resting will be the best thing for him." Dr. Blake continued, turning to address Hadden directly. "
Whoever did this, tried to knock your brother out with the hopes of him not waking up, going by the knot I found on his head. My guess is when they realized they couldn't take him down, they shot him."
Hadden frowned. He watched his younger brother as he laid in the massive bed, covers kicked off of him from his tossing and turning. Greysen had the same dark hair and green eyes as his brother, but his frame was larger, full of thick hard muscle and nearly two inches taller than Hadden.
It would have taken more than one or two to overpower him.
"It's the medicine causing him to turn like that, Your Grace," Dr. Blake answered, seeing the questions on Hadden's face as he watched his brother twist and turn. "I gave it to him to help numb the pain while I closed the wound."
"It should help ease the headache he is sure to have when he does wake up. I can give him another dose shortly, and I can stay until he is fully awake, but then I must attend to my other patients."
Hadden nodded his understanding, remaining silent.
"I'll come back and check on him after that. Now, if you will excuse me, I am going to see if I can trouble your cook for some tea and a sandwich, perhaps. I've been at Lord Mauldin's for several hours, and I missed a few meals, or so my stomach reminds me."
"Dr. Blake, thank you for your help. If ever you should need help of any kind please, do not hesitate to reach out to me," Hadden finally spoke, looking up from his brother's bed.
He would also make sure to generously compensate the doctor for his time and care that he had shown Greyson.
"Thank you. Hopefully, I will never have to take you up on your offer, but I do appreciate it." Dr. Blake felt a small amount of pity towards whoever had done this, for he was sure, they would not receive any mercy from this man.
Hadden watched the young man leave the room and turned his eyes back to his brother.
Whoever had done this would pay with their own lives.
CHAPTER TEN
Hadden untied the cravat around his neck and unbuttoned the top button on his white linen shirt.
He still wore the formal black attire he had downed for his wedding and pulled the jacket off, tossing it on his large desk.
He walked over and picked up the glass decanter filled with amber liquid and poured himself a glass. He took a sip, letting the warmth of the brandy trickle down, slowly burning his throat as he looked out into the dark street.
Nothing was moving at this dark hour.
A light rap at the door jarred him, a harsh reminder that these people were still out there, still plotting their next moves, and he took another sip of his drink.
"Come!" He commanded, moving to sit in the chair behind his desk, without looking up at his guest.
"Your Grace, I mean, Hadden, I'm sorry to bother you, but I wanted to ask you how your brother fared." Serena's soft voice felt out of place in the large, masculine study.
Much different than her father's, but yet, much the same.
He sensed her presence and knew her voice before she spoke to him.
"He's expected to recover, or at least that is what the good Dr. Blake says." Hadden looked up from the stack of invites on his desk.
He watched her as he stood, walking around his desk to face her. He made sure to keep a safe distance from her, remembering his last response to seeing her. She was staring at the floor, her hands crossed in front of her.
Serena had donned a simple cream-colored gown, one of her favorites, and her hair was pinned up high in a simple yet elegant fashion, wet, loose tendrils hanging out at the top of the updo.
She looked much different than the last time he had seen her-soaking wet, hair down around her shoulders in curls, naked in one of his tubs.
Hadden groaned inwardly. He did not want those images to come back to him, especially right now. He took a deep breath and a step towards her-unsure himself of why he was doing it.
"Serena?" Hadden took another step towards her, watching for any sign that she may wish to retreat.
Serena held her ground, not backing away.
"I' m…yes?" Serena had pulled her eyes from the floor and forced them to meet his.
To hell with the distance!
Hadden closed the small gap between them, grabbing Serena's hand and pulling her to his chest. His lips touched hers-soft at first, but as Hadden's desire grew more intense, more urgent, his kiss became demanding and needy.
At that moment he knew one thing, he needed her to want him!
Serena slid her arms around his neck, pulling him closer to her. She met his lips with as much demand as he had given hers, pressing her body into his. Parting her lips, she instinctively searched for his tongue.
She found it and began her assault, sliding around, teasing with secrets of pleasure that were starting to come to light.
She heard Hadden's low growl escape from his throat, and she started to ache with need. She had no idea what was happening or where the ache was building from, but she did not want it to stop. She wanted to stay wrapped in his arms like this.
He tore his lips away from hers and placed them on her neck. Tracing warm kisses into the nook of her shoulder, his hand wrapped around a mass of her hair, holding her to him. She gasped at the sensation, slipping her hands into his thick hair to keep him closer. Serena began to lift her leg, wanting him even closer than he was now.
Her response to him was undeniable. Her passion was on the brim of eruption.
Fuck, Hadden thought to himself, I'm going to bust!
"Serena, no!" His breath ragged as he ended the embrace, close to his end. "I'm sorry!" Hadden apologized, taking a step back from her.
Her lips looked swollen from the pressure of his, and her hair had come undone, creating a tangled mass of pale gold.
Her blue eyes, revealing her desire for him, shined with confusion, confusion over what had happened, and more so over her reaction to him.
"I'll go, Your Grace!" Serena turned to dart out of his room, stopping to curtsy briefly to him. "I am glad to hear that your brother will be alright."
Before he could reply, Serena was out the door, running for her room, as if the devil himself might be in pursuit of her.
Hadden remained standing in his study, staring at the closed door that Serena had fled.
Trying to steady himself, Hadden poured himself another drink, swallowing the liquid in one full gulp. He slammed the glass down on the tray, gripping the top of it until his knuckles ached. He was digging himself into a black hole with Serena. This was a disaster powered by an attraction that was growing stronger by each moment they spent together.
No more.
He knew she was attracted to him-that was evident in the way she had responded hungrily to him, devouring his lips with hers when he had kissed her. It had felt so good to have her in his arms. To taste her, to hold her close to him-feelings, Hadden had never experienced with any woman before.
He heard Lennox's voice coming towards his door and walked to meet him, opening the door as his friend started to knock.
"We have the address." Lennox and Devlin moved into the study, as Hadden read the address on the piece of paper handed to him.
"Seems our friend is worse off than we thought if that's where he calls home," Devlin said, moving over to pour himself a drink, pouring one for Lennox as well. He walked back over, handing Lennox the glass, then moving to sit in one of the large, plush armchairs.
"Drink up, mate. You're going to need it before we're finished," Devlin told Lennox, as he drained the contents of his glass, jumping up to grab one more from the wooden bar.
"And you're sure this is where he is?" Hadden asked, feeling a bit uneasy at the address given to them. Not that they couldn't handle whatever came their way, far from that. Hadden did not want to waste even more valuable time running after dead ends than they had already lost.
"Mmmmm," Lennox gar
bled noisily, as he turned his glass up again and drank the burning liquid down as if he would never have another drink.
"I've sent Seamus and Graham to have a lookout. They are going to be waiting for us. If anything is out of sorts, they'll let us know when we get there."
Lennox sat the glass down next to the one Hadden had used. He looked at his friend, his disheveled appearance as much out of character for him, as were the two glasses of brandy Lennox himself, had just devoured.
"Best you go change, Bear, lest you think we shall have time to stop and attend another wedding somewhere," Lennox smiled at Hadden, his perfectly white teeth gleaming as he propped himself up against the back of the armchair he had just sat in, his arms folded across his chest.
"Bloody hell, you bastard. I ought to knock those teeth out of your pretty head," Hadden cursed, as he left the room to change.
"No bastards here, every bit as legitimate as you."
The door slammed on the sound of Lennox and Devlin's laughter following him, a welcome sound to the hell that seemed to be closing in around them.
After changing his clothing and checking once more on his brother, Hadden wanted to find Serena and try and explain. Or at least, apologize to her. Again.
As he went to knock on Serena's door, Alice greeted him on her way out.
"Good Morning, Your Grace." She gave him a curtsy and smiled, her eyes large and doe-like. She was pretty enough but not the type of pretty that made men forget themselves. Her cheerful nature was her calling card, always smiling, always a friendly greeting.
"Morning?" Hadden asked. He had lost track of time with Devlin and Lennox, and Alice was, in fact, correct.
With the early morning hours upon them, he needed to make this fast. They were losing time with Sanders.
"I am looking for my wife." The word sounded strange on Hadden's ears. "Do you happen to know where she is, or may I speak with her for a moment if she is inside?" He asked, pointing to the door as she moved past him, into the hallway.
"She's outside, Your Grace," Alice told him, as he followed her down the stairs. "She loves the early morning time the best, she does."
Hadden thanked her and went out to the garden area.
He found Serena sitting on one of the white-washed iron benches he had positioned in his garden. His mother had always loved flowers and had grown this garden for many years. Hadden had it tended to in her honor every day by the same groundskeeper his mother had employed.
It wasn't an area he came into often, preferring the solitude of his study, but it was indeed a beautiful place.
Her back was to him, and he could see she held a small book in her hands as he walked over to her.
"Serena."
"Ohhh!" He had startled her, causing her to drop the book. They both bent to pick it up at the same time, and as they came up, they end up knocking heads.
"Your Grace. I mean, Hadden. Forgive me." She said, rubbing the side of her head that had struck his. "Seems I cannot get used to using your given name." She said shyly, letting out a very soft laugh, her eyes on the book still on the ground.
"Are you alright?" He asked.
"You startled me, and that's why I dropped it," Serena explained.
She was enchanting-her blush, her rambling. Everything about the woman was enchanting.
"My apologies, as I did not intend to startle you, my lady." He said, bowing to her. "I wanted to talk to you about earlier."
She started to shake her head and hastily stammered out, "No need to apologize, I should not have…returned the kiss.
Hadden intended to apologize for making her feel as if he were angry with her or that she had done anything wrong. He had not meant to be reminded of their kiss or have it play through his mind…again.
All Hadden heard was the word kiss-all of her other words, his subconscious had blocked out. He had kissed enough women to know that the kind of kiss Serena had returned was full of want and desire, urgency, and lust. He had felt it when she pulled him tight and locked her arms around his neck.
Those feelings, coupled with her innocence and curiosity, made a dangerous combination for both of them.
The morning fog was starting to lift, dampening the air. This caused Serena's hair to curl up in loose pieces, and he wanted to wrap his fingers in them again.
"You left rather quickly; I feared I had upset you," Hadden continued, hoping to put any uneasiness she had rest. "I do apologize if that was the impression I gave."
"Thank you," Serena told him. "I did think that at the start, but then I realized that you have a lot of other things to worry about, no time to waste any emotion on me."
She managed a weak smile.
"That's where you wrong, Rena!" Hadden told her, his voice heavy and low.
"I beg your pardon?" Her body started to ache again when he used her nickname and also by the way he said. No one had ever spoken it with such meaning or intent.
"I have plenty of emotions I need to share with you." He took a step closer to her. This time he would allow her to come to him. His green eyes filled with desire, hooded by long dark lashes, stared into hers.
Serena couldn't move. She couldn't breathe. She was being pulled to him, some invisible, magnetic force pulling their cores to each other. It was just the two of them, engulfed in the morning mist as the daylight started shining its light onto the fragrant flowers that filled the area.
She finally took two steps toward him and stopped, staring at the man before her. Hadden didn't move, didn't breathe.
He watched Serena, watched her passion grow, and watched as she had no idea about what was happening, her innocence awakening her desires.
A hunter with their prey.
Serena bit her bottom lip, holding his gaze, her blue eyes heavy, drifting down to his full lips. This man had turned her world upside down, and she had turned it back around, and yet she wanted to be near him always.
A small growth of dark hair still crossed his lips and cheeks, and Serena felt the urge to reach up and touch it.
And she did.
Her soft hand rested on his cheek. Hadden felt as if he had been shocked by lightning, the power from her touch, shaking him to his core.
Serena titled her head up, bringing her lips to his as her hand slid around his neck, locking him.
So sweet, Hadden thought, as her lips continued to move on his.
He felt her trace the tip of her tongue on his bottom lip, and a low growl escaped him. His arms slid around her tiny waist, pulling her right up to him.
Serena opened her lips, letting his tongue search for hers and finding it again. She could feel his hardness pressing into her belly. Her hand started to move to touch it, curious as to what it would feel like.
Hadden felt her hand moving slowly, and as much as he wanted her to touch him, he had to stop her. He threaded his fingers in hers, bringing her hand back around her neck as he deepened their kiss. Christ, he wanted her!
AHEM!
Hadden heard the sound before Serena did, his eyes flying up to see Lennox standing there behind them, wearing an amused smile, arms crossed on his chest, and white envelope dangling out of one of his hands.
"I hate to interrupt," he said, his amused smirk, now turning to full-on grin.
"We have some news." He told Hadden, giving the white envelope a shake.
"Right!" Hadden said, not yet looking at Serena. "I'll be right there."
"Serena, nice to see you again," Lennox told her as he left to return inside.
"I am sorry, yet again," Hadden said, turning back to Serena to apologize. He took her hand and placed it to his lip, kissing it softly.
He bent down and retrieved the book that she had dropped, handing it to her as he walked away.
Serena watched him leave.
She knew she had to stay away from him, or her world would be turned upside down again, and this time, she wouldn't be able to fix it.
Husband or not.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
They had Sanders's address, but when Graham and Seamus reported back to Lennox that the residence looked to be uninhabited, they knew they would need more to locate Sanders.
It was the lead they were waiting for.
"The guards tried to stop her, but she was able to escape. They said she looked to be about 11, maybe 12." He continued as Hadden read the contents, passing it to Devlin when he had finished.
"Seems they're using children now," Devlin said. "Doesn't surprise me."
"Alright, so Rain's Keep, it is." Hadden looked at the other two men, nodding in agreement. "Best change up our plans. We need to split up. I'm sure they have someone watching us waiting for our move.
"We will need the night cover. Don't particularly like the idea of having to wait for night, wastes too much time, but seems to be the only way right now," Devlin added.
Hadden was thankful they at least now had something to go on, but still fearful that they were running out of time.
"Bear, have you thought about what you're going to do once you get Sanders? What if he refuses to tell us anything?" Lennox, ever their voice of reason asked.
Hadden knew this would be one instance where he would have to keep his emotions locked away. He couldn't allow Sanders to goad him into losing his temper.
"You two together, and I'll go alone, yes, then we'll meet outside Rain's?" Hadden asked as he got up to check on Greyson. He had been resting peacefully since Dr. Blake having given him another dose of laudanum, and Hadden wanted to make sure he was alright before they ventured out.
He would also need to check on Serena as well.
