“See what?” I wipe my palms against my dress again, but it does no good. I can still feel Montgomery all over them.
“I want to see your hands for myself and find out why you wouldn’t let me hold them.” He takes my wrists from behind my back, turning them this way and that. “Is this your blood? You said you weren’t hurt.”
“No, it’s his. But he…” I know he won’t think less of me, but I don’t want to tell him. Jedidiah takes Cornelius’s place as the older man leaves with the children, and the air grows heavier as Warren waits for my answer. He deserves to know the truth. “He made me…I had to touch him…between his legs,” I say quietly, wincing inside as his shoulders straighten. All the shame Montgomery wanted me to feel then comes full force now. “But it wasn’t for long because when he was distracted, I hit him there. And I don’t want to touch you when I haven’t had a chance to wash them.”
“Let’s take care of that, shall we?” Catching sight of the pail on the table, Warren dumps it out unceremoniously and refills it from the pump. Then he picks up the flat bar of soap, flashes a hard glare at Montgomery, and pulls out his knife to shave away the top layer. “C’mere, wife, and let’s get you all washed up.”
I never want to leave the safety of his arms as he tenderly washes my hands, especially when his husky words hit my ear. “I’m so fucking proud of you right now, Mara. It was you dropping the ribbons, wasn’t it? Of course it was, because you’re smart like that. And then you waited until the man’s guard was down before catching him rightbetween the legs. Do you know how fucking strong and amazing you are?”
A flush of pride pools with the shame. “But I had to touch him.”
Warren’s hands still. “You wouldn’t have had to if I’da gotten here sooner.”
My poor husband. “Don’t think about that. One thing I’ve learned is dwelling on what-ifs never does any good. I knew you were coming. You got here as soon as—the house!” I stiffen in alarm as I remember exactly why he couldn’t get here sooner. “Is everyone okay?”
“Yes, everyone’s all right,” he soothes. “Momma and Dove and Patches, too. The house is fine, and the back field will grow back.”
“It was him. He started the fire.” I close my eyes, trying to force back the phantom feelings of helplessness.
“That’s what I figured,” he answers grimly. He gently nudges me around and uses his own wet shirt to dry my hands as best he can. It’s in this moment, this mundane yet impactful act of servitude, that it hits me all over again that he’s really here and I’m safe. That the children are safe. Then he hugs me again, and by the tightness of his arms, I think he needs it as much as I do.
“It’s all right. If you wanna cry and let it all out, I’ll hold you and—is this…?” He tips my chin up and moves my hair from my cheek. “This is a fucking handprint. He hit you?”
I know the anger in his clipped tone isn’t directed at me, but it takes everything in me not to draw back as I nod. Rough thumbs wipe away salty wetness from the corners of my eyes before a soft, feathery kiss is bestowed upon my bruised cheek. “He’s gonna die for a lot of things, but especially for that.”
The brown of his eyes seems to darken the longer hestares at it, so much so that I almost want to hide it with my hair again. But with a gentle squeeze to my waist, he steps back and rolls his sleeves up. “Turn him over,” he tells his brother.
Jedidiah does so none too gently. I grimace when Montgomery’s flaccid cock comes into view, but the brothers’ anger ignites.
“Shit,” Jed swears in a mutter.
They both look at me sharply in question, but Warren’s jaw works back and forth. “Other than what you’ve already told me, did he do anything else to you that I need to know?”
Jedidiah turns his head to give us a semblance of privacy, but I have nothing to hide anymore.
“He intended for me to undress before…” I wave a hand at Montgomery’s crotch as Warren turns to stone with every word. “But he thought making me stay in my wet dress would be more miserable for me. To…to punish me for hiding myself from him. I didn’t care if I caught cold or not because at least he wouldn’t see me unclothed. I just had to hold him off long enough for you to get here.” I waver before telling him the rest. But he wants the truth, and he deserves to know. “I had to nurse Emmaline in front of him because she was scared and kept crying, and he”—I can’t stop the shudder as I recount the horrific scene—“he rubbed himself as he watched.”
My husband’s usually tanned face grows an alarming shade of reddish purple in front of me.
“Warren?” Is he even breathing? I worriedly place a hand on his chest, and he comes back to life with a low, pained groan.
“I’m sorry. So fucking sorry this happened to you and Emmaline.” There’s a fine tremor to his hands as hetenderly gathers mine and brings them to his mouth. “I thought I knew what it was to feel rage when you told me what happened before this. But seeing his trousers undone with his fucking cock out, and knowing what he intended to do with it if you hadn’t stopped him? You’re such a strong woman, Mara. I’ve told you that before but I mean it a million times over after this. But you’ll never have to be that strong again,” he swears fervently against the backs of my palms, a dark, violent storm brewing in his gaze.
“Justice has turned a blind eye to you and favored Blackwood for far too long. But Vengeance has been chasing after him all these years, and now that I’m here, this is the end of his road. I swear this to you, Mara Shay—you will have your vengeance before the sun sets. Both you and our daughter.”
I’ve never seen him this furious, almost vibrating with the force of his emotions as the veins in his forehead protrude. But he doesn’t scare me as he claims my mouth in a fierce kiss before crossing the room. This is the face of a man seeking retribution for his family.
“Hold him down,” he tells Jedidiah. Metal flashes as he drops down beside Montgomery and slaps his face. “Wake up, you son of a bitch.”
The man groggily opens hazy eyes that dart around the room as he tries to understand his situation. When they focus on me, Warren punches him so hard his face jerks to the other side. “Don’t fucking look at my wife,” he growls. “You need to look at something, you look at me.”
My wife.Warren’s possessive words make my heart flutter, even in this heavy moment. No man has ever protected me the way he does at every turn. The way he has since we first met.
Montgomery blinks in confusion, likely already addled from the beating I gave him. Warren digs the knife in underhis chin and forces him to look up. “I made a promise to my wife when I married her. Only one man, I swore to her. And I’ll be damned if you make a liar of me.”
In the next blink of an eye, Montgomery emits a guttural howl as dark red blood drizzles steadily from his groin. I lift a freshly-washed hand to my mouth as my mind tells me it didn’t see my husband just sever my rapist’s cock from his body.
But blood doesn’t lie.
