His Wicked Seduction novel Chapter 62

Cedric had only just finished washing his face when he heard footsteps in the hall outside his bedchamber. He pulled on his boots hastily and went to open his door. Horatia was heading towards her room. She looked tired and rumpled and she wore the same gown as she had on last night. Worry ate away at him as he strode down the hall, catching her as she opened her bedroom door.

"May I come in, Horatia?" he asked softly. She nodded and let him follow her inside. "You did not sleep here?"

"No. After hearing about Muff, I rather lost my mind. It brought too many memories. I went out into the gardens and lost myself. I fell twice I think, and if Lucien hadn't found me I might have frozen to death. He rescued me, took me to the gardener's cottage and warmed me up by the fire then watched over me while I slept."

"My God," Cedric managed to say, torn between what she'd been through and the fact that Lucien had been with her all night.

"I had hoped I'd feel better or safer today..." She did not have to finish her sentence for him to know she did not.

Her tone was laced with pain of the heart. Cedric had spent last night holding one crying sister and he did not want to repeat the experience. But he was a brother first and a selfish rogue second.

"Come here." He opened his arms and Horatia buried her face in his chest. She did not weep, the tears seemed to have drained from her long before. He rubbed one hand gently over her upper back in a soothing motion while stroking her hair.

"You don't always have to be so strong. Grief only rewards those who accept it, not those who fight it." Lucien had taught him this long ago, when Cedric had been convinced his life would end.

"You're right. But then who will be strong for you?" She gave a hiccupy laugh and pulled back to look up at him. "You are such a good brother, Cedric." She gently extricated herself from his embrace and he let her go.

Horatia approached her vanity and laughed at her mussed, wild, appearance. "Heavens, I look dreadful."

"Horatia, I'm afraid we must talk about something."

"Oh dear. I never like it when you use that tone. It makes me nervous." She tried to tease but her heart was not in it.

"You said Lucien found you and he stayed with you and watched over you last night."

"Yes," she answered cautiously.

"With another man, I might demand marriage if I felt he might have taken advantage of you."

"But not Lucien?" she asked, reading his tone correctly.

"No. That's why I am here. I know you still harbor some strong feelings for him and it has made me wonder whether Lucien has used them against you."

"Cedric, what exactly are you asking me?" Horatia demanded in frustrated exhaustion.

"Has he used you ill? You must tell me at once. I cannot allow him to do so."

"No. He has not." Horatia was slow to answer, but Cedric could not tell if she was deceiving him or not.

"I would not be angry with you if he had. Your feelings for him put you at a disadvantage. They make you vulnerable and he is cruel enough to-"

"Lucien is not cruel," Horatia protested. "He is your friend!"

Did that mean what he thought? Had Horatia and Lucien...?

"My God," he breathed, stepping back. "You've been with him, haven't you?"

She didn't blink. Didn't say a word. She just gave one small but firm nod and his heart sank. If only she knew what Lucien was like, how he enjoyed tying up his women to the bed and dominating them and more. Horatia wasn't the sort of woman to want that in her life. But she was besotted. How could he break the spell?

"I meant what I said, Horatia. You will not marry him and if you think to let him drag you off to Gretna Green you will no longer be welcome in my house or my estates. You will be a stranger to me. Is that understood?"

It was a bluff, he could never disown her...but he couldn't have her thinking he would allow her to marry such a man.

"You have such a cold heart. No, I take that back. You have no heart at all," Horatia whispered sadly, her dark brown eyes misting with tears as she shut the door.

"Pardon me, my lord, do you require anything?" a footman asked as he walked out of a chamber close by, carrying fresh linens.

"Actually, yes." He paused studying the footman. "Have you seen Miss Sheridan going off alone with Lord Rochester at any point since we arrived?"

The footman hesitated, licked his lips nervously. "I'm sorry, sir, but it wouldn't be appropriate to speak of such matters. I hope you understand."

"I do. Thank you." The footman had as much as told him that Horatia and Lucien were meeting in secret.

There was nothing he could say to make his sister understand why she couldn't be with Lucien. She was ensnared in his trap, and few options remained to him. Everything Cedric had done was to protect her, even if it was from his own friends. It was only then, when he saw a passing footman carrying holly boughs, that he remembered today was Christmas Eve.