“Pardon?” A shiver of anger clenched her jaw. “You have gone daft.”
He cackled, and the right side of his mouth quirked up. “Precisely so.” He turned from her and continued to stare out the window.
“Pardon?” A deep, bone-jarring chill racked her body. He admitted such a thing?
“You do so like that word, don’t you. Pardon? Pardon?” He raised his gloved hand, and his fingers half covered his mouth. “Pardon?” He shook his head, blew out a breath, and then turned away from her.
What was wrong with him?
“Indeed.” Carmen’s voice rattled her nerves. “Your husband is not well.”
Celeste rolled her eyes. She was not about to speak aloud to her in the cab of her husband’s coach. He already thought her simple and plain. And daft.
The carriage jerked to a halt, and Celeste slid forward in her seat, her knees slamming into Hudson’s.
Hudson’s jaw clenched, and he hit the roof with his walking cane. “What is this?”
The door flew open, and Jordan’s naked body filled the small opening. His fingers wrapped about her bound wrists and yanked her toward him. Her body lifted, and with a thud, she was draped over his shoulder. He slammed the door back on Hudson before either of them could respond.
Celeste screeched and dangled along his back. “Put me down, Jordan!”
“I shall, but not until we are in a safe location.” He spun from the carriage and strode toward the trees lining the road.
“Untie me. Please!” She pushed with her bound hands against the small of his back, trying to distance her face from his round, bare buttocks. He continued on a path through the trees. She glanced behind them, and the duke’s footmen scurried after them with Hudson not far behind. “He is coming.”
“He cannot do that to you.”
“I am not saying he can. Simply untie me. This is not how this needs to happen. Something is wrong with Hudson.”
“More reason to keep going.” He continued to cut through the trees, the earth slicing past her eyes. The smell of the sea surrounded her, and being hung over his shoulder, no matter how fine the view of his bottom, churned her stomach.
Her head spun, and her limbs shivered. This was horrid. “Put me down, please. My head is spinning, and you shall see for yourself how unwell Hudson is.”
Jordan’s footfalls stopped, and the world stopped with them. She inhaled a steadying breath that didn’t calm her one whit.
“Very well, but I am certainly not allowing him near you.”
Jordan’s feet continued. He turned to the left, beyond a grouping of boulders covered in grass and moss. “So much has happened the last two days. I have so much to tell you, but for now…stay here. I will go see what is amiss with Hudson.”
He dropped her down onto a rock. Her bottom hit the moss-covered surface, and the damp thud her body made reverberated through her entire being. There was no doubt that her pale pink skirts would hold the green hue when she stood. She stared up at Jordan.
His chest was smooth, and a light sprinkling of hair darted down from his belly button to between his legs. “Gracious. You need clothing.”
His sea-colored eyes thrashed in turmoil as if a storm roiled the sea. His brow tightened. “Not at the moment.” He turned and sprinted back out of view.
She stared down at her hands still bound in her lap and frowned. Did he expect her to sit here and wait? She glanced around. There had to be something she could use to release this binding. A stick or a sharp rock might do.
She stood, walked toward the edge of the path, and caught a glimpse of Hudson over the boulder.
Her heart tripled its pace, and she held in a burst of nervous laughter as she ducked behind the stone again. She peered out over the edge.
Hudson stood, arms down at his sides, his gaze aimed straight up the path. She followed his stare to Jordan, who stood a good head and more above Hudson. He too stared unwaveringly.
Jordan stood naked before one of England’s most powerful men. His hands unclenched, and his arms lay lax at his sides. My stars, it was as if he lounged in the middle of his library reading a book. What man stood outdoors without a stitch of clothing on and paid no mind?
Hudson’s pale white brow glimmered with the sheen of sweat. He straightened his shoulders and shifted his weight back onto his heels. “You have what you want. So do I. You want her? All you have to do is allow her to stay with me until the first comes.”
Jordan didn’t move. First what? He already had an heir and spare from his first wife.
“Of course not,” Hudson burst out without waiting for Jordan to reply. He waved his hands in the air as if shooing away a swarm of bees. “Why would you bow down to the likes of me?” Hudson’s once-sparking eyes narrowed.