Page 89 of Rules for Heiresses
Finally.The strings went slack.
“I don’t need anyone to save me.”
And with that, she yanked her trusty pistol from her pocket—the very same one she’d pointed at Courtland a lifetime ago—and fired. There was no hesitation with a man like Sommers. But she was no killer. She aimed for the hand holding the gun and shot his shoulder.
When the slimy bastard dropped the weapon and went down mewling like the sack of shit he was, Ravenna bared her teeth. “I’m not your fucking darlin’.”
* * *
If it wasn’t the screaming aristocrats running down the streets with fear on their faces, the sound of the gunshot had Courtland nearly diving from the carriage before it came to a final stop. He was closely followed by Embry and Waterstone as they dashed up the steps of the residence through a door that lay drunkenly on its hinges.
Fear filled him in that moment, but the sight that greeted him would stay with him for forever—his magnificent wife standing like a vengeful fury over a moaning Sommers as he lay on the floor clutching his bloody shoulder. Her hair tumbled around her face in a halo, her beautiful eyes sparking fire at the man who dared enter her domain without permission. Courtland’s mouth went dry. Fuck if she wasn’t the most glorious thing he’d ever seen.
“God above, I leave you for one hour,” he said, striding into the room and tutting under his breath.
Her eyes lit with happy relief. “In my defense, Husband, he shot first.”
Courtland didn’t wait to sweep her into his arms, his mouth finding hers with unerring accuracy. Neither of them cared as footmen poured into the room at Waterstone’s direction and the wounded Sommers was secured. Embry hustled over to the dowager, whom Courtland dimly heard saying she was uninjured thanks to Ravenna.
He broke the kiss, his gaze searching his wife’s, but he didn’t release his hold around her body. “He didn’t hurt you?”
She lifted a pistol he recognized. “I didn’t let him.”
“I thought you left that thing in Antigua,” he said with a slight frown. “Though I’m glad you didn’t. Just never point it at me again, please.”
“I’d never shoot you, Cordy,” she said grinning. “Unless you provoked me, of course.”
He wrapped his arms tighter around her. “Remind me not to do that.”
Courtland only deigned to release his wife when Waterstone’s men swarmed into the room to collect the evidence and to listen to the accounts of what had happened. Embry escorted the dowager from the room to where the family physician had been summoned to make sure that she wasn’t in a state of shock or in need of medical help. The duchess was a tough old bird, Courtland knew, but even the hardiest of men or women could be traumatized by a shooting.
His fists tightened as he realized how close he’d come to losing Ravenna when she recounted how the first shot had shattered the window and that Sommers had meant to shoot at her. As if she could sense his distress, she reached across to grasp her husband’s palm and squeezed. He knew she was capable, as she’d clearly demonstrated with Sommers, but the thought of not having her in his life was unbearable.
It didn’t take much longer for Waterstone and his men to clear out, and after Embry confirmed that the dowager had taken a tincture and was resting comfortably, Courtland escorted his wife to their waiting carriage. She stared at him in the coach as they headed for home. “Stop looking at me like that.”
He shifted guiltily. “Like what?”
“Like I’m a fragile piece of glass.”
“It’s not that. I know you’re not fragile and you can take care of yourself.” He let out a breath. “You’re important to me and the thought of losing you…”
“You won’t lose me.” She shot him a wicked grin that went straight to his groin. “I’m a flesh-mongering beetle, and we don’t give up our delicious prizes so easily.”
Courtland’s mouth fell open. He’d never actuallytoldher that, had he?
“Rawley, that loose-lipped shit,” he muttered, just as she burst into laughter, confirming his suspicion. “In my defense, that was before I knew you.”
“Don’t worry, I’m certain I called you much worse when I was in my cups on theGlory.”
He let out a chuckle. “Like Hades?”
“Precisely, so consider us even. I’m a greedy beetle and you’re a vengeful god who steals maidens away to his domain.”
“If it’s any consolation, you’re the most fearsome beetle I’ve ever encountered.”
Smirking, she stuck out a pink tongue, making his blood heat. “It’s not, but I know of a way you could make it up to me.”
When they arrived at their residence, Courtland couldn’t help taking her into his arms again in the foyer. For some soul-deep reason, he could not stop touching her and reassuring himself that she was all right. It was because of the earlier incident, of course, but he had an inkling that it would be a good while before the restlessness in his body settled and accepted the fact that she was safe. Nuzzling into him, she didn’t seem to mind.
