Trapped with the Duke by Annabelle Anders

All In

“Good dogs.” Addison knelt on the carpet in his study as he scrubbed both hands along Zeus, who ducked his head and leaned into the rubdown. Hera stood by, gazing at him in adoration, her tail wagging back and forth in excitement.

“They took up quite a ruckus.” Collette’s brother tugged at his cravat. He looked as worried as Addison felt—only without the dust and dirt in his hair and on his face. “Thank God.”

“I sent them back. One time I’m happy as hell they disobeyed.”

It was Rowan who’d realized something was wrong. Because when the dogs had returned home, they’d persisted in barking until the humans realized something was amiss. Addison didn’t know how they’d known, but they had.

And just in time.

A shudder ran through him.

Most of the structure had collapsed behind them just before he’d glimpsed freedom. If he hadn’t gotten them out of that room—if help hadn’t arrived at that precise moment that it did—Addison ran a hand down his face. They wouldn’t have survived.

If he could have walked out of there, he could have carried her. Having to crawl, he’d had to be more creative. But he’d been driven. Not knowing the extent of her injuries, he would have gone to hell and back if necessary to save her.

He very nearly had.

With the return of his canine friends and the arrival of both of their brothers and then several of his manservants, Addison had never felt more relief in his life. Rowan had added supports while Chaswick and one of the manservants pulled them free.

And when she came to once they made it into the open air, managing a weak laugh, he’d nearly cried.

But she wasn’t out of the woods yet. Black rimmed his vision at the memory of her poor little foot.

He would be with her now if Lady Chaswick hadn’t ordered him away.

Chaswick paced across the room for the hundredth time and Addison would have been pacing too if he wasn’t so bloody exhausted.

Every inch of his body ached from moving planks and bricks. Recalling how his mother had demanded the doctor look at him first, his disgust with her threatened to return. He would have banished her from his life, put her on a carriage for one of his distant estates, but he had Fiona to consider. So instead, he’d ordered her to her chamber and she’d saved herself by going without argument. Had she finally realized that she’d pushed too far?

His mother had hurt the love of his life, and then he had nearly gotten her killed.

He’d spend his life trying to make it up to her. She would be happy.

They both would.

“Your Grace, my lord.” The doctor appeared in the open doorway, a black leather bag at his side. “Although several muscles are strained, a few possibly torn, I don’t believe her foot is broken. But I’ve ordered her to stay off of it for at least eight weeks. If she follows my instructions, she’ll have a full recovery.”

“And the rest of her?” Addison had to be sure she hadn’t been injured anywhere else. “A few planks fell on us while I was bringing her out. I’m fairly certain I was able to cover her, but I need to be sure…”

The memory summoned black around the edge of his vision.

He hadn’t cared about his pain, but there had been moments when the weight had nearly been too much for him.

“Aside from a few bruises, your fiancée shows no signs of any other injury.” The doctor’s brows furrowed in concern.

“Bedwell, you need to be checked out.” Chaswick, who looked lighter already with the physician’s report, stared at him in reproval.

“I’m fine.”

“If you would, Your Grace, allow me just a moment, I can be quick with my examination.”

“But I need to go to her—”

“You’ll be no good to her if you’re dead,” Chaswick said. And at Addison’s look of disgust, her brother added. “Allow the doctor ten minutes. She’ll murder me if she discovers I didn’t insist you have your injuries treated.”

“Miss Jones is resting now. I’ve given her a tincture for the pain,” the doctor added.

Addison wanted nothing more than to assure himself she was all right—to hold her. But at the same time, his body protested with every movement he made.

And Chaswick had a point.

It would behoove him to live, especially seeing as he fully intended to marry her tomorrow.

“Ten minutes,” he conceded.

The doctor stepped into the room and placed his bag on one of the small tables. “Let’s take a look.”

Addison raised his hands to remove his jacket, only then remembering he’d wrapped it around Collette. Which had been a blessing. She’d had some protection while he dragged her through the debris. When his fingers fumbled at the buttons on his waistcoat, he glanced down.

Dried blood mingled with a few open cuts.

Chaswick noticed at the same time and crossed to the bell pull in the corner of the room. When a servant appeared not ten seconds later, the baron helpfully ordered hot water and towels.

“I’m always wary of infection,” the doctor explained as he assisted Addison out of his vest. By the time Addison had the tails out of his shirt, and managed to get it over his head, his arms nearly gave out.

“Good God,” Chaswick’s expletive had Addison glancing down. Cuts and abrasions all but covered his chest. He imagined he had some colorful bruises on his back as well.

“You’re lucky to be alive. And Collette…” The baron’s voice caught. “I’m forever in your debt for getting her out.”

“We wouldn’t have made it if you and my brother hadn’t arrived just in time.” Addison scrubbed one hand down his face. “She wouldn’t’ have been in there if not for my stupidity.”

“Mother of God.” Rowan announced his arrival from the door with an expletive of his own. “I will kill whoever caused the collapse.”

His brother’s black eyes looked cold and hard.

“Vandals.” Addison barely had the strength to speak, standing there as the doctor’s hands probed along his back.

“I realize most of this is going to be somewhat painful but tell me if anything hurts worse than the rest.”

“Umph.” Addison grunted. All of it hurt. But he would heal. He was going to be fine.

“This went beyond vandalism. Three of the main supports were sawed through. It was criminal, and trust me, they will hang for this.” Rowan wasn’t one to exaggerate.

“I’m sorry, Row,” Addison managed.

“It wasn’t your fault.” His older brother insisted.

And yet, somehow, Addison felt that it was.

“No, I’m sorry for all of this. For this nightmare of an evening. I was a fool to think mother would be fair—to think she’d ever see people the way I do.” Addison turned to Chaswick. “I hope you’ll accept my apologies for the way you and your wife were treated tonight. It won’t happen again.”

“You are thinking to send the duchess up north?” Rowan was watching him, one brow raised, reading his mind.

Along with the dukedom, Addison had also inherited the marquessate St. Alastair, which came with a decent-sized estate off the Loch Ryan.

“Perhaps her sister will be willing to reside with her there.” His Aunt Irene wasn’t much different from his mother.

“But not Fiona.”

“No.” For the first time, he was happy his sister had decided to go to the school.

And although a part of him was saddened by the idea of sending his mother so far away, he refused to subject Collette to her venom.

Addison flinched at a particularly painful prod. “Bloody hell.”

“Cracked ribs, Your Grace,” the doctor announced. “You’ll need to rest as well.”

Rowan stepped deeper into the room to allow Addison’s valet, who was carrying a robe, to enter. “A hot bath is being prepared.” Mr. Brown frowned when his eyes flicked over Addison’s condition.

Addison brushed the doctor away, snagged the robe from Brown, and summoned his last morsels of strength.

“After I’ve seen my fiancée.” He shot a glance across the room to Chaswick. “Tomorrow I’ll be obtaining a special license.”

The baron’s brows rose, and for a moment, he seemed to be weighing the meaning of Addison’s declaration. But then he nodded as though comprehending what the others in the room did not.

“In that case, don’t take too long having those wounds attended to.” Chaswick said.

Addison dipped his chin in agreement and then turned to the doctor. “Mr. Brown will show you to my chambers. I’ll meet you there shortly.”

“Of course, my lord.” The doctor nodded.

“This way, sir.” Mr. Brown gestured for the physician to follow him.

Addison didn’t wait to hear anymore. Oblivious to everything but his desire to be at her side, he made his way upstairs to find Collette.

* * *

She wasno longer trapped under that small cot. Her eyes were heavy, her foot throbbed and her body ached, but she was alive.

Addison had saved them.

Being practically entombed beneath the debris like that had been terrifying for her; it would have been terrifying for anyone. It had to have gone beyond his worst nightmare.

But he hadn’t panicked. Rather than being crushed beneath the weight of his fears, he’d found the wherewithal to free her foot.

And then gotten both of them to safety.

Vague memories of fighting for consciousness, knowing she was a burden to him, niggled at her. He could have left her there and gone for help. He could have escaped the nightmare without her. She would have understood. It would have been terrifying, but she would not have blamed him.

He’d refused to leave her.

The door creaked open, and she knew it was him before she even opened her eyes. Was that because he possessed her heart?

Or because she possessed his?

“Collette?” The slow rumble of his voice reached across the room.

“Addison.” She fought off the heaviness of her eyes so she could look at him. Even in the soft glow of a few tapers, a light of love burned in his eyes.

Halting halfway inside, he stared at her. “I’m so sorry.”

“Sorry?” His apology had her pushing herself up to sit. “For what?” Had he changed his mind about wanting to marry her? It would be ironic now that she saw their future differently.

“For my mother, for putting you in danger, for almost getting you killed.”

“Oh, Addison, no.” She reached out to him. “My love.”

Overflowing tenderness washed through her when she noticed the cuts and scrapes on his hand.

“I never should have walked out of your mother’s dinner. It was my fault. You simply followed me.” How many times had he followed her one way or another? She’d been a fool not to realize the depths of character in this man before tonight.

“You made love to me,” she added.

And it had been wonderful. Before the sky fell in. Before they’d both nearly been killed.

He lowered himself onto the mattress beside her, one corner of his mouth tilted up. “For the record, I am not sorry for that.”

“Neither am I.” She covered his hand with her other. “Not at all.” Which was something of an understatement. “You didn’t panic. You didn’t leave me. You… saved us. How did you do it?”

He shuddered. But then he shook his head, staring at their hands.

“All that mattered was you… saving you… getting you out of there.”

Tears welled in her eyes. “All that mattered was you.”

Me.

“I’ll never be able to thank you enough.”

“You never have to thank me.” He jerked his gaze back up to hold hers. “Just love me. Marry me. Be the mother of my children.” Hope and pain flickered in his expression. “Be my duchess.”

“Yes.”

“Yes?”

“To everything.” She no longer had even a single reservation. “Yes, to loving you, yes to marrying you, to children. Yes—to everything. You… overcame your fears—for me. I was going to allow fear to decide my future, our future. But not anymore. I want to be a duchess, not just any duchess, but your duchess. And if it takes the rest of my life, I want…” The strangest sensation crept over her.

“What do you want, love?”

“I want to be a most excellent duchess.” She smiled at him, feeling incredulous. Would he laugh at that?

Of course, he would not.

“I will make mistakes,” she quickly added. “Possibly many, in the beginning. And I’ll likely get frustrated. But as long as you’re my duke, I’m honored to be your duchess.”

He raised her hands to his mouth, pressing a kiss to her fingers. “There is only one thing that would make me happier right now.”

Collette hadn’t ever imagined him quite like this—a full smile tilting his lips and his eyes so clear it was as though she could look right into his heart. Very deliberately, he pulled her into his arms, wincing slightly as he did so.

“You’re hurt. You should be the one in this bed.”

He slid her a glance that was far from proper. “As I was saying… there is but one thing that would make me happier right now.

“A kiss?”

“I’ll settle for that if you will.”

And very gingerly, he dipped his mouth to meet hers.