Page 70 of Duke of Seduction

“No, I-I think I am all right,” she replied, her voice gentle, as though she was trying to comfort him.

“Did you swallow anything from the bottle?” Morgan asked, his heart twinging with pain as his fingers passed gently over her bruised neck and jaw.

Helena shook her head. “No, I do not think so.”

Morgan felt relief explode in his chest, and he pulled her to him as he burrowed his face into her neck.

“Thank God,” he whispered, his lips pressing against the thrumming pulse in her throat.

“I thought, I thought…”

“Youkilledhim,” Luke groaned from behind them, his voice full of raw pain.

Morgan turned at once, noting the pale, bruised, unmoving body of Reuben on the floor.

Not yet.

Morgan watched the subtle rise and fall of the man’s chest. Reuben would die if a doctor did not come soon to patch up his wounds.

“Stay where you are,” Morgan heard Ezra warn as his ears also picked up the sound of metal gliding against the bare floor.

Morgan rose from his knees just as Luke lunged towards him with his own dagger, but he caught Luke’s clasped hands just as they were about to sink the blade into his chest. Morgan pushed him forward, overtaking Luke easily due to his broken fingers, and pried the dagger from his hands. Before it could fall to the ground, Luke freed his good hand and caught it, plunging it into Morgan’s side.

Pain bloomed from the wound like an explosion as Morgan heard a fearful, piercing scream fill his ears. His vision brightened, throbbed and blurred as he took a struggling step back, glaring at Luke with surprise.

Luke looked as surprised as Morgan, seemingly unable to believe he had actually done it, when Helena suddenly stepped between the two men.

Morgan reached for her as he staggered backward, only able to brush her hair with his fingertips before he saw her small body fly into Luke’s. As Morgan went down, so did Luke, who stumbled backwards into the edge of a chair. He continued to fall backwards and struck the back of his head on the edge of the table with a resoundingcrack.

“Helena,” Morgan called, the room swirling with darkness as he searched for her. Where was she? Where was the dagger?

“Helena,” he roared, fear overtaking him.

“I am here,” Helena gasped, her voice trembling as she suddenly appeared above him, her hands pressing tightly into his wound. “I am here.”

Relief began to seep through the fear and pain that soared through Morgan’s body. The room was suddenly filled with the noise and chaos of the arriving officers. Pain stabbed, hotter and brighter into his side again, and he winced as another wave of exhaustion swept through him. He could vaguely hear her whispers of assurance as he began to go under, and his heart stumbled in his chest. He was supposed to protect her, yet she had protected him.

“I am sorry I failed you,” Morgan murmured, summoning the rest of his strength to reach for her cheek.

“You did not, Morgan,” Helena sobbed, pressing his hand tightly between her cheek and shoulder.

But, as he lost consciousness, he knew he had not saved her from anything.

CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

“He is going to be fine, you know,” Ambrose stated, handing Helena a glass of water.

After hours of chaos, the house was finally quiet again. Reuben was being stitched up at the local jail. Luke’s body was carried away. Josiah was taken home, and Morgan was upstairs, still asleep from the small surgery he had needed. The doctor had assured them that he and Helena would be fine.

Upon hearing that she had been being drugged with nightshade, the physician had immediately performed a physical, then prescribed her a tonic that would quickly flush the sedative from her system. Ambrose had mixed the powder into the water as the doctor instructed and was now looking at her to drink it.

Helena drained the glass without a word and sat it down on the table as she stared at the floor. Now that it was all over and her secret was out, she could not look at him. Reuben had seen. Perhaps not everything, but enough to ruin her if word got out.

“How long has this been going on with Morgan?” Ambrose asked, his tone patient.

“Just over a month,” Helena replied. She did not want to lie anymore. Not after seeing everyone else’s lies and deceptions unfolding before her. The pain and suffering they had all been put through. All because of so many deceitful lies.

“Do you love him?” Ambrose asked.

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