Dark Duke(51)
Absolute blinding fury racked him. He turned to his once-friend and the howling beast within him roared.
If the McCloud had so much as touched her, he would rip him limb from bloody fucking limb.
“What the hell?” Ewan muttered beneath his breath. He took a step toward Kaitlin. “I thought I locked you in the tower?”
And a red tide descended. Edward’s vision blurred.
The McCloud had stripped his woman. Locked her in the tower—and hell, he hadn’t even bothered to mention she was here!
A growl emanated from the depth of his being. Without so much as a thought, he did what Ned had been threatening to do for a week. He planted his fist squarely in Ewan’s face. As the big man fell with a resounding thud, absolute satisfaction scudded through him.
Kaitlin stopped at the bottom of the stairs, staring at the fallen hulk. “Edward! You hit him.”
He stormed to her side and dragged her into his arms. “He locked you in the tower!” His brain couldn’t move beyond that thought. That and the fact she was nearly naked.
She grinned. “It was a very old lock. I have hairpins.”
Annoyance and then anger replaced his relief. Why was she here? “What the hell are you doing here?” he snarled.
She nibbled her lip, dropped her gaze. “I came to marry him, of course.”
He growled.
She was not fucking marrying him. No. She was not. “The hell you are. And what are you wearing? I swear to God, if he so much as touched you, I’ll kill him where he lays.”
“It’s the McCloud’s shirt.”
His vision blurred.
“Oh relax.” Violet patted his arm. For some reason that didn’t soothe him in the slightest. “Kaitlin gave me her dress. Mine was…torn and this was all we could find.” Edward’s attention snapped to her. His sister. God. He hadn’t even given her a thought. Once he’d seen Kaitlin, everyone else had faded away.
His heart thudded painfully. He yanked Violet into a harsh embrace and held her close until she squirmed. “Thank God you’re safe,” he muttered, over and over again. He buried his face in her hair to hide the tears prickling his lashes. When he’d recovered, he pulled back and cupped her face and looked at Violet again. Just looked at her.
She was so beautiful. He’d never noticed quite how beautiful before.
It took a moment for the hideous bruise ravaging her cheek to filter through his joy. His mood turned. He thumbed it gently. “What happened here?”
She swallowed. Her features arranged themselves into a very brave configuration. “I fell.”
Like hell.
He glanced back at the McCloud. Maybe he should have killed him after all.
Violet put her hand on his chin and turned his attention back to her. “I. Fell.”A certain expression flitted across her face and his pulse stuttered.
“And how did your dress get torn?”
Violet sighed and glanced at the mound of man motionless on the flagstones. “Never mind.”
“Violet. Damn it—”
“Please, Edward. Let it go.” Her shoulders drooped. She looked exhausted. She looked—
Edward frowned as a nasty suspicion curled through him. “Are you…all right?”
She nodded, then glanced at the McCloud once more. Shivered. “Can we just go?”
“Yes,” Ned snapped. “Let’s go. Before he wakes up.”
Well, yes. That was a good idea. “We won’t all fit in the skiff. Ned, You take Violet and Kaitlin and then come back for Transom and me.”
“I’m not going.”
Three words in a soft, sad, sweet voice. They were like knives in his gut.
Edward spun around and fixed Kaitlin with a glower. She winced. “What do you mean, you’re not going?” he snarled.
She shook her head, dashing at the tears gathering in the corners of her eyes. “I promised to marry him.”
“You’re not marrying him.”
“I promised!”
“You’re not fucking marrying him! You’re marrying me.”
Several gasps shot around the stony chamber. Edward wasn’t entirely sure where they all came from, and he didn’t care.
“You’re mine.” He yanked her into his arms and crushed her lips in a brutal kiss. He’d been starving for this, aching for this. He invested every bit of his love, his passion, his need into the gesture.
Still, when she pulled away—pulled away to fucking walk across the hall and stand next to the unconscious man on the floor—there were tears on her cheeks. “I will love you forever, Edward. I will. But I made a promise. He agreed to release Violet because I came.”
All of that nonsense ran through his mind like whiskey through a funnel—all but one little bit. He stalked to her side. “You love me?”