When Strangers Marry (Vallerands #1)(18)

Irénée finally found her voice. “Thank you for your help, Max. I will see to her now.”

Max picked up a comb from the night table and began to work on the mass of snarls in Lysette’s hair. “You are exhausted, Maman. Go get some rest. I’ll take care of her.”

Irénée did not know how to reply to such an outrageous statement. “What? What a ridiculous suggestion. Completely out of the bounds of propriety. Besides, men don’t know anything about nursing. It is a woman’s concern. There are duties required—”

“A woman’s body is hardly a mystery to me. As for nursing the fever, I took care of the twins when they had it. Remember?”

That silenced Irénée for a few seconds. “Indeed, I had forgotten,” she admitted. “You were very good with the twins when they were ill. But they were your sons, and this an innocent girl….”

“Do you think I’m going to ravish her?” Max asked with a twisted smile. “Even I am not that degenerate, Maman.”

“Mon fils,” she asked suspiciously, “why do you wish to take this upon yourself?”

“Why shouldn’t I? I have a vested interest in her welfare. Now go and rest. I’m capable of looking after her for a few hours.”

She stood up reluctantly. “I will tell Noeline to take your place.”

However, Max did not allow Noeline or anyone else to replace him. From that moment on, he spent every minute by Lysette’s bed, his shirtsleeves rolled above his elbows as he labored to break the girl’s raging fever. He was inexhaustible and astonishingly patient.

Irénée had never heard of even a husband doing as much for a wife. It was all too shocking. She was dismayed, but unable to think of a way to intercede. She had no control over Max. Perhaps if his brothers had been home they would have volunteered to coerce him from the sickroom, but day after day went by without their arrival— and Max remained in the girl’s bedchamber as if it were his right.

———

A wolf prowled through Lysette’s dreams, stalking until she ran and stumbled to the ground. He loomed closer, his teeth gleaming as he crouched over her prone body, and suddenly he was ripping her to pieces. She screamed as she felt herself being savaged and torn apart. Suddenly the wolf was gone, banished by the sound of a low voice. “I’m here… it’s all right. Shhh… I’m here. I’m here.”

She was surrounded by sweltering heat that scorched her skin and blistered her lungs. Crying out in agony, she fought to escape it. She felt a cool hand stroke her forehead. Restlessly she sought more. “Please,” she gasped, and groaned with relief as the life-giving caress returned, coolness moving over her body, easing the unbearable fire.

The wolf eyes were watching again, glowing devilishly in the darkness. She whirled away in panic and came up against a man’s hard chest and taut arms. “Please help me—”

“You’ve been promised to me,” she heard the voice of Etienne Sagesse, and she looked up at his face in horror. Desire flickered bright in his heavy-lidded eyes, and his lips shone with moisture. She twisted away from him and came face-to-face with her stepfather.

Gaspard’s face was blotched with rage. “You will marry him!” He struck her and raised his hand again.

“Maman,” she cried, seeing her mother nearby, but Jeanne backed away, shaking her head.

“Do what your beau-père says. You must obey him.”

“I can’t….”

The hard rim of a cup pressed against her lips, and she recoiled from a bitter taste. A steely arm behind her shoulders would not let her retreat.

“No,” she choked, her head falling back against an unyielding shoulder.

“Don’t fight me, petite. Drink it all. Good girl… just a little more.” She opened her mouth with a gasp, obeying the gentle prompting.

She saw the dark shape of a man moving through a thick mist. He would help her… he must. Frantically she chased after him, ran and ran until her way was blocked by a tall iron gate. She grasped the bars and shook them violently. “Wait! Let me in! Wait….”

The wolf was behind her. She could feel him drawing near. His low snarl pierced the misty night. Terrified, she tugged at the gate, but it would not open. Powerful jaws closed around her neck.

“Hush. Be still, you must rest.”

“Don’t let him hurt me….”

“You’re safe in my arms, ma chère. Nothing will hurt you.”

A wet cloth stroked over her back, legs, neck, arms. Again the cup was raised to her mouth. “Once more,” came a quiet command. “Once more.”

She submitted while the wolf circled around her stealthily. He snatched her up greedily in his jaw, dragging her into the shadows while she cried in terror for him to stop… but he would not let her go… he would never let her go….

———

Lysette emerged from layers of darkness, struggling upward until she broke through the surface of a deep, dreamless sleep. She was lying on her stomach in a dimly lit room, an amber glow coming from a lamp in the corner. Blinking, she shifted toward the light and rested her cheek on the mattress. Her body and head and arms were as heavy as if they had been weighted with bags of sand. Long, cooling strokes moved over her back, and she made a faint sound of gratitude.