A large hand gently cradled her head. “Stay with me, Beauty, stay with me.”
His tone reflected a desperation and she dearly wanted to adhere to his demand, but oblivion beckoned, refusing to be denied.
Chapter 3
The first thing Althea noted was the warmth surrounding her, the absence of the cold that had been such a part of her for so long. Then she was hit by a powerful rose scent that made her eyes water. Someone was alternatingly patting the back of her hand and rubbing it.
“That’s it, love, come on. Wake up.” The feminine voice was a rough rasp, reminiscent of someone who spent a good bit of time coughing.
Opening her eyes, she was greeted by the countenance of a woman she judged to be a few years older than her own twenty-four years, her hair a fiery red. The woman’s emerald eyes sparkled, and her smile revealed one front tooth overlapping another. Her kind expression was offering absolution, a shepherdess accustomed to taking in lost lambs.
“There, now, that’s a good girl. You had him worried, you did.” She jerked her head back slightly, and Althea looked past her to see Beast Trewlove standing with his right shoulder pressed against the dark green and burgundy patterned wall, near a window, his arms crossed over a massive chest that for some reason she thought she knew the feel of. Always before he’d been wearing a greatcoat and she’d thought it was partially responsible for his broadness. She was wrong. He was all brawn.
“What happened? How did I come to be here?”
Herebeing a dimly lit parlor rather garishly decorated with red fringed pillows as well as numerous statuettes and paintings revealing the taut buttocks and pert breasts of nude couples in various amorous positions. But it also contained the most comfortable sofa upon which she’d ever rested her weary body.
“Seems you swooned, love,” the woman said.
“I don’t swoon.” She’d never swooned in her life.
“Call it what you like, he had to carry you here.”
In those massive arms against that wide chest. Her mouth went dry with the thought.
“My name’s Jewel, by the way. Here, let’s sit you up, get a bit of warm tea into you.”
Placing her arms around Althea until she was cushioned against her plump breasts, she helped her rise slightly and scoot back into the corner adorned with plush pillows. Althea grimaced as dizziness assailed her and pain shot through her skull. She pressed her hand to her forehead, but it didn’t help.
“I’ve sent for a surgeon,” he said quietly.
She met his gaze. “I’m not in need of a surgeon.”
“The knot on the back of your head and the blood say otherwise.”
All of a sudden the memories assailed her, and she remembered being dragged into an alley, the pain reverberating through her head. The growl, the crunching.I threaten to break a good many things.She had a feeling tonight he may have broken the man who attacked her. “You were following me.”
“Not with any nefarious intent. I wanted only to ensure no harm came to you after your husband failed to show tonight.”
“My husband?” She shook her head, nearly cried out at the agony, pushed her fingers against her temples. Not moving seemed to be her best course. “Not my husband. My brother.” Then something else struck her. “How did you even know about him?”
He sported the look of a guilty man.
“You were following me last night as well.” He was the warm feeling against her nape.
“Only until I knew you weren’t alone. Then I went on my way.”
She was torn between appreciating his attentions and resenting them. “My brother will be worried. I have to leave.”
“Not until the surgeon gets here.”
“A surgeon costs coins.”
“I’ll see to that matter.”
“I don’t want to be beholden.”
“I imagine you already are, love,” Jewel said, holding a cup and saucer in front of her face. She lifted the cup—
