The Duke's Bed Warmer-Chapter 27: Going Together

"You think you can fool me?"

Alina jerked her arm, trying to pull free, but his grip only tightened.

"Let me go."

"You think I don’t know every way out of this castle?" He said. "I know every door, every gate, and every corridor. I know when a latch is lifted and when a door is opened." He leaned slightly closer.

"I know when the woman in my bed is pretending to sleep and what she is planning."

She stopped struggling. There was no point. He had found her, and she knew he wouldn’t let her go.

"I just wanted to see him," she said in her broken voice. "I just wanted to say goodbye. I know he sold me...but he is still my father." She sobbed.

"He wasn’t always like this. There was a time when he loved me. And how he’s dying, and I just wanted..."

She could not finish. The tears came all at once. She sobbed so hard that it shook her whole body. She covered her face with her hands and just cried without restraint.

Austin loosened his grip on her arm and slowly let go. He didn’t say anything or move closer to her. He just stood there in the cold night air, watching her cry, not knowing what to do.

When she finally stopped and removed her hands from her face, he spoke.

"Tomorrow."

She looked up at him.

"You can go tomorrow."

She stared at him in disbelief.

"What?"

"Go back to the room," he said quietly. "Before someone sees you."

"But..."

"No more discussion. You can go tomorrow. Go back now."

She walked back through the servant’s corridor, feeling his presence behind her. The moment they reached his room, he spoke again.

"Don’t try to run again," he said. "It’s a waste of your energy. I will find you, no matter how many times you run."

"I wasn’t running away," she said. I was just going to see my father. Then I would’ve come back."

"I know."

She looked at him in surprise.

"Then why..."

"You should be thankful it was me who found you," he said, not letting her finish. "And not someone else."

She frowned.

"What do you mean?"

He hesitated for a moment, then spoke.

"My enemies. The ones who pretend to be my allies, the ones who are waiting for my one mistake, an opportunity, for anything they can use against me." He smiled faintly.

"You running through the servant’s corridor in the middle of the night would have given them exactly what they’ve been waiting for."

She thought of the fish and how the investigation revealed someone was playing a longer game than anyone realized.

"I just wanted to see my father," she whispered. "I’m sorry...I didn’t think about the consequences."

He nodded.

"It’s okay. Now go and sleep."

She lay down on the bed thinking about her father. She stared into the darkness, listening to his steady breathing on the other side until exhaustion finally pulled her under.

In the morning, she woke to find Austin sitting in the chair by the window. He looked dressed for some travel and was watching her.

"Get ready," he said. "We leave in an hour."

"We?" She asked, surprised.

He stood up.

"You think I’m going to let you go alone?"

She opened her mouth to argue, but the look in his eyes stopped her.

"The alternative is not going. Choose quickly."

She chose and walked back to her room to get ready. When she came out, she found him waiting for her in the corridor.

They walked in silence to the carriage waiting for them near the gates.

This carriage was different from the black carriage that had brought her to Ravenmoor in the rain. This carriage looked regal and luxurious. It looked like it belonged to a duke.

To her surprise, instead of the driver, Austin himself opened the door for her. She climbed in. He followed and sat opposite her. The door closed and the carriage began to move.

For some time, neither of them spoke. Then, like most of the time, Alina broke the silence.

"You don’t have to come with me," she said.

He did not look up from the documents he was already reading.

"I’m aware."

"If you were so worried I would run away, you could have sent a guard."

"I don’t trust my things with others."

Things.

She was a thing. He never failed to remind her that she was just his property and nothing more.

She turned her face to the window and did not speak again. The carriage rolled on throughout the morning. Soon, the landscape began to change outside the window.

Austin was busy reading his documents. Occasionally, she found herself watching him, when he wasn’t looking and noticed how focused and absorbed he was.

The road suddenly became uneven, the wheels jolted over stones, and the carriage swayed. She gripped the edge of her seat and tried to brace herself. But the next jolt was worse. The carriage lurched hard to the right, and she was thrown from her seat into his lap.

His one hand caught her waist, steadying her. His other hand shot up, bracing against the window frame to stop her head from colliding with the glass.

She was pressed against him, her hands on his chest, and her face inches from his. The carriage

steadied but neither of them moved. They just stayed in that position, lost in each other eyes.

After a minute or two, she finally looked away, quickly pulling back to her seat, her face burning.

"I’m sorry. I’m sorry. The road...I didn’t..."

He didn’t say anything. He just bent down to gather the documents that had scattered on the floor.

She looked out the window. Her heart was pounding and her hands were shaking. She pressed them on her thighs and tried to breathe. The silence suddenly felt heavy and awkward now.

The road divided and they took the left path, away from the direction of her home. She frowned.

"This isn’t the way."

He looked up.

"What?"

"My father’s house is in the other direction. The road splits near the old mill. We should have taken the right turn." She pointed behind them. "That way leads to..."

"I know where it leads." He set down his documents, and for the first time since they left, he smiled. "But we’re not going to your father’s house."