Deborah Hale - His Compromised Countess

He could no longer deny that Caroline loved their son. She might not have been the most attentive mother, but perhaps he had not been the most affectionate father. Faced with the dark dread of losing his child for ever, Bennett began to understand the desperation that had driven her to keep Wyn with her at all costs.

As more and more time passed with no sign of his son, Bennett found it harder to contain his mounting anxiety. Wyn was the only person in a very long time he’d permitted himself to love. There were others he might respect or admire, but none for whom he felt this consuming mixture of pride, protectiveness, fondness.

If Caroline was right, he had not done nearly enough to show the child how he felt. It grieved Bennett that Wyn might regard him in the way he had his own cold, distant father. Worse yet, what if he never got the chance to let his son know how much he cared?

That dread brought back wrenching memories of his mother’s abrupt disappearance and the grim silence that had met his anxious inquiries. After years spent protecting his heart from ever suffering that kind of ordeal again, he’d been powerless to keep from loving his son.

Now he feared he might experience that same torment again. Only this time it would be real. And it would never end.

‘Bennett!’ Caroline’s voice, faint and hoarse, called him back from the edge of the bottomless abyss into which he’d been staring.

His gaze flew towards the sound of it and he saw her standing near the house clutching Wyn.

In a daze of joy and relief more profound than any he’d ever experienced, Bennett ran towards them and caught up with Caroline as she reached the kitchen door.

She looked like a half-drowned angel with her golden hair hanging drenched around her shoulders and her eyes sparkling with unshed tears. Yet, never in all the years he’d known her had she looked so beautiful. Not swathed in the finest silk and decked with sapphires, nor gloriously naked in the throes of newlywed desire. For now she held their son in her arms, safe from dangers Bennett could not bear to contemplate.

He longed to wrap his arms around them both and clutch them tight to his heart. But if he did, he feared he might lose control of his tightly bound emotions. Instead he channelled his overwhelming relief and concern into practical action.

Throwing open the door, he ushered Caroline into the kitchen. The disagreeable smells he’d noticed upon first entering the house overwhelmed him, but he had more important things to worry about.

‘We need to get you both into dry clothes. Are there any here?’ He addressed the question to Parker, who swooped toward her mistress the moment they entered.

In answer to his abrupt question, Caroline’s maid bobbed a nod. ‘That fellow with the cart fetched them from the inn when he brought Albert and the young master.’

‘Good. Then attend your mistress while I see to my son.’ Turning to Caroline, Bennett opened his arms. ‘I can take Wyn now.’

But the child tightened his hold around Caroline’s neck and hid his face against her shoulder. ‘Papa will be angry with me for running away, like he was with you, Mama!’

Wyn began to shiver. Was it from the cold, Bennett wondered with a pang, or was the child trembling with fear?

‘No, son.’ He tried to pitch his voice in a way that would reassure the child, but he was not certain he’d succeeded. ‘I’m not angry. I was worried about you, that’s all.’

‘We both were very worried, dearest.’ Caroline nuzzled the crown of Wyn’s head with her cheek. ‘But it’s all right, now. Go to your papa. He’ll take good care of you.’

Did she mean that? After the insults and accusations they had hurled at one another such a short time ago, Bennett had his doubts. Yet when he scrutinised her tone for any barb of derision, he detected none.

‘Your mama is right, Wyn. You need not be afraid of me.’

Their efforts to transfer the child from Caroline’s arms to his brought them into unsettlingly close contact. The back of his hand rubbed over the bosom of her sodden dress. The soft flesh beneath yielded to his touch. His leg brushed against hers. Her lips issued a silent but insistent call to his. It took little to rouse his gnawing hunger.

Was that what Caroline wanted—to make him captive to his desires and slave to her whims? The mistrust Bennett had put aside came roaring back. Now that his wife had got a bitter foretaste of the life that awaited her outside the gilded bubble of their marriage, he would not put it past her to employ any means necessary to regain her position of privilege.

That included seducing the husband she despised.

Текст предоставлен ООО «ЛитРес».

Прочитайте эту книгу целиком, купив полную легальную версию на ЛитРес.

Безопасно оплатить книгу можно банковской картой Visa, MasterCard, Maestro, со счета мобильного телефона, с платежного терминала, в салоне МТС или Связной, через PayPal, WebMoney, Яндекс.Деньги, QIWI Кошелек, бонусными картами или другим удобным Вам способом.