“Be still,” Jonathan snarled. “Quit fighting me.”
“Get your hands off her.” Dylan found it hard to speak past his fury. “I’ll kill you for this, you bastard.”
Jonathan whirled around, his pale skin flushed with passion and anger. “I’m only taking what should have been mine all along—”
Dylan punched Jonathan into silence. The force of the blow reverberated all the way up his arm, giving him a moment of sweet satisfaction.
Jonathan stumbled. Dylan hit him again, his fury and confusion driving several more punishing blows.
Peripherally, he was aware the duke and several male servants had come outside. Natalia cringed against the hedge, her mouth buried in her hands, her eyes wide and horrified as she watched the violent scene play out before her.
Is she all right?His momentary inattention allowed Jonathan to land a blow of his own. Dylan staggered and tried to shake off the unexpected pain in his jaw.
“I wanted you to fail.” Jonathan caught Dylan under his chin with another quick jab. “All my life, you’ve beaten me, but I thought that little bitch would finally be the one to put you in your place.”
“Don’t call her that.” A red haze of fury obscured Dylan’s vision. Jonathan would pay for daring to put his hands on her…
“Stop, sir. You’re going to kill him.” The calm and soothing voice pulled Dylan out of his murderous rage with an abruptness that left him reeling.
Dylan blinked, disoriented. As his mind focused, he found himself straddling his enemy’s prone body. Jonathan was unconscious, his aristocratic face battered nearly beyond recognition.
“It’s all right, sir.” Clayton’s butler crouched, his face carefully neutral. “We’ll handle the matter from here.”
Dylan glanced around. Clayton’s servants, none of whom would meet his gaze, surrounded him. In the corner, the duke tried to calm Natalia. She trembled, her face buried against her father’s chest.
“Tie him up and take him down to the cellar,” Clayton instructed his men as he stroked his daughter’s dark hair. “I’ll send for the magistrate. We’ll let the authorities deal with this piece of filth.”
Dylan stood and found he, too, trembled. Clenching his hands, he pressed them behind his back so they wouldn’t betray him.
His own violence stunned him, sickened him. He’d tried so hard to lock this side of himself away, afraid of what he was capable of when he gave into the demons of battle that haunted him. But as he stared down at Jonathan’s inert form, he couldn’t be sorry.
The bastard had dared to put his hands on Natalia. Death was too good for him.
* * *
Natalia knew she couldn’t hide from her brutal attack. Her cheek and lips stung from Jonathan’s angry slap, but she wasn’t really hurt. Just frightened and overwhelmed by the violence of the last few minutes.
Tentatively, she lifted her face from her father’s chest. Her gaze locked on Jonathan’s battered form. Unconscious, he’d obviously taken the worst of the battle.
Dylan stood beside her attacker, looking rather dazed. His beautiful mouth was bloody, and his dark hair fell over his desolate gray eyes, giving him the wild, dangerous appearance of a pirate or highwayman.
Although she’d been horrified by the violence, his actions comforted her. He’d protected her in the most primal way. Every time she thought she knew him, he did something completely unexpected. His complexities both frightened and intrigued her.
“Come along, Natalia. You certainly don’t need to see this.” The duke tried to lead her away, but she shook off his hand.
“No. I want to talk to Captain Blake.” When her father looked as though he meant to argue, she gave him a tremulous smile. “Please. It will be fine.”
The duke gave a deep sigh as the servants dragged the unconscious man toward the house. “I don’t know how he got close enough to you to do such a thing. I refused to allow him to court you a few weeks back, but I never dreamed he’d try something like this.”
“No one could have,” Natalia assured him. “But I’m fine now, and Captain Blake and I have a lot to discuss.”
“Certainly.” The duke squeezed Dylan’s shoulder in passing. “Well done, young man. I owe you a great debt.”
Dylan shook his head, seeming beyond speech. As soon as the duke disappeared, Natalia sank down on the edge of the bench, certain her weak knees would no longer support her.
“Did he hurt you?” Dylan advanced toward her, then stopped uncertainly a few feet away. “Christ, when I saw that man touch you…”
“You rescued me.” She gave a lost laugh. “You really are a hero, aren’t you?”
