Page 3 of A Lover for Lady Jane (The Welsh Rebels #5)

If he’d only been brought here to translate, he might not be one of Geraint’s friends.

Everything seemed to indicate he was not.

His manners were different to that of the other men, he was calling her “my lady” with deference, speaking in a soft voice, looking ill at ease. Yes, this man could well be an ally.

“Please,” she said, addressing herself to him. “You must see that it is impossible for you to keep detaining me in my condition.”

He cleared his throat before turning to Geraint to translate her words.

He’d added a detail of his own, she noticed.

The pregnancy was a difficult one and she’d been ordered to rest. This meant two things.

First of all, as she had suspected, he was on her side and secondly, the other men didn’t understand a word of English, otherwise he wouldn’t have dared risk them picking up on any discrepancies.

Jane took heart from this. She was not alone, she had an ally, an ally with whom she would be able to converse privately.

“Who’s the father? We weren’t told she was married!” Geraint roared. “This might well complicate matters, because now we’ll have an angry man looking all over the place for her.”

“I am not married, and the father’s identity is none of your concern,” Jane told Griffin, who had relayed the heated words in his usual calm manner. This was the only answer she could give, for who could she name at the risk of exposing him to the men’s violence?

Besides, not naming her elusive lover had given her another idea.

“Tell the men that if they think to use me to pressure my father into coming to them, they are wasting their time. He cares naught for me since…” She placed a hand on her fake stomach bulge.

Loath as she was to paint her father as a ruthless lord who would spurn his daughter for going to a man before marriage, she had to do what she could to get herself out of this, and making the men see that keeping her captive was useless was one way of doing it.

“He was incensed to see me dishonor myself and will have nothing to do with me.”

“Were you forced?”

Jane arched a brow. This unexpected question had come from Griffin, not from Geraint. Why did he want to know that?

“What difference will it make to your master if I were?” she murmured.

“To him, probably none. To me, it?—”

“What are you two blabbering on about now?”

The interruption made Jane jump. For a moment she had forgotten where she was and why. Lost in Griffin’s blue gaze, comforted by his concern, she had allowed danger to fade away.

“I was trying to ascertain whether the lady’s child was imposed on her by force,” Griffin answered.

Geraint made an angry gesture, not in the least impressed. “Who cares about that!”

“I do.”

“Why?”

“What do you mean, why? Can’t you see it would be an outrage if she?—”

“I see nothing. Are we going to have pointless discussions when we should be deciding what to do now that we have found out Sheridan is gone to Wales and will not bestir himself on behalf of his wayward daughter? It seems we’ve abducted her for nothing!

We can’t even use her for bed sport. I will not soil myself by touching a woman carrying someone else’s pup. ”

“Will you not? I’m not so fussy,” the giant laughed, eyeing her up and down with ill-concealed longing. “Not when there are ways to ensure that stomach of hers doesn’t get in the way. Besides, she’s not that big yet. Yes, I’d fuck her.”

“Yes. But you’d fuck anything with a pulse, wouldn’t you?”

“I can’t deny it!”

The two men laughed, and Jane focused on breathing and ignoring the vile words. Remember, you’re not supposed to know what they’re saying, unless Griffin translates it to you.

He did not.

Thank God the lady could not understand what was being said, Griffin thought, gritting his teeth at the men’s crudeness. How the hell had he ended up in this nightmare?

When Geraint and his men had come to his village the previous month to recruit someone who could speak English, he had immediately volunteered.

He’d been considering leaving the place at the time and this had sounded like the perfect opportunity.

The men had offered to feed him and even promised to give him a small sum of money once the mission was complete.

He’d imagined he would be asked to translate property deeds, oversee meetings with a disgruntled English lord, or some such.

But this morning he had discovered he was actually here to relay threats and insults to a lady who had been abducted by the band of men—and he was horrified.

Not only was the lady innocent of any wrongdoing, having been taken in order to blackmail her father into surrendering himself, but she had been injured.

There was no mistaking the reason for the large bruise discoloring her temple.

The men had hit her. As if that were not bad enough, he was now finding out that she was with child.

How could the men be so cruel as to keep her captive in those conditions?

He looked at her, so brave in her predicament.

She was stunning, unlike any woman he’d ever seen, and he wasn’t sure what was more remarkable about her.

Her eyes, of a clear, piercing green that rivaled the most precious gems. Her hair, falling in a sleek, dark sheet over her shoulders and all the way to the small of her back.

Her lips, red, full and inviting. But it was not just her beauty that captivated him.

It was the contrast between her otherworldly perfection and the vulnerability—or was it actually strength?

—he could see running underneath. She was alluring and innocent at the same time.

Yes, innocent…if you forgot her swollen stomach of course. Had she been forced?

He could not help wanting to know. Geraint had said that he didn’t care about the circumstances surrounding this baby’s conception but he, Griffin, needed to put his mind at rest. He needed to know if there was someone out there who should pay for his villainy.

Lady Jane had said she was not married… He doubted she would have found herself a lover.

Well born ladies didn’t do that. So, unfortunately, the possibility of her having been assaulted was all too real.

And it bothered him.

“Listen,” he said, putting an end to the men’s vile discussion.

“I will try to get to the bottom of this, find out if we need to worry about seeing the father of her child descend upon us with all his might. It will be quicker and easier to get an answer out of her if I don’t have to stop to translate all the time, and she might open up more easily if she doesn’t feel under threat. ”

He hated making the lady sound like a witless female who could be fooled by false reassurances, but the important thing was to be alone with her and assure her he would do what he could to help her.

“You want her for yourself, don’t you, English?

” Cynan snarled. The man had taken an immediate dislike to him when he had explained how it was he spoke English so well, but Griffin was not going to let it worry him.

He’d heard the same comments and faced the same disapproval all his life.

He would not let a man of the crass giant’s ilk intimidate him.

“I don’t want to bed her, I only want to be able to tell Geraint what the situation is,” he said as calmly as he could. “Besides, I’m hardly going to touch her with all of you within hearing range, am I?”

“Why not? I would not let it stop me, and I would make sure you all heard her screams of pleasure while I?—”

“Enough!” Geraint interposed. “This is not helping. Griffin, make sure she talks, find out what the situation is with the father of the brat. We’ll see you in the hall when you’ve finished. And make sure you bolt the door when you leave the room. She is not to go anywhere.”

“I will.”

A moment later, Griffin was alone with the lady. Oddly ill at ease, for he had never been in such close proximity to noble people, he waited.

“Please, I am detained here against my will. Are you willing to help me?” she asked, lifting her extraordinary eyes to him.

His heart skipped a beat, and he remembered telling Cynan he didn’t want to bed her.

It had not been a lie. This was not why he’d asked for a moment alone with her, and he knew she would not let a man like him touch her in a million years, but still, he was a man.

He could not stop his loins from heating when he imagined how it would feel to hold her in his arms.

He shook his head and focused on answering her question. She would understandably be worried to find herself alone with a rebel. He had to reassure her.

“You have nothing to fear from me. I’d like to help, but it will have to be our secret.

You must understand that I’m risking a lot simply by disagreeing with Geraint.

” This was true, even if he wouldn’t let it stop him.

He was alone against six ruthless men. If they understood he was working against them, he would not last long.

“I promise I will not betray the fact that we have an understanding.” To his relief, Lady Jane seemed to appreciate the gravity of the situation.

Besides, it was in her interest not to compromise the safety of her only ally.

Even with him on her side, she had little chance of escape.

Without him, she had none. “I don’t want to put you in danger. ”

He nodded, satisfied. Now, on to the reason why he was here. “Are you going to tell me who the father of your child is?”

A brief hesitation. “No. I’m sorry. I can’t.”

Griffin nodded again. He had not expected her to say anything else. “Will you at least tell me if you were forced?” This, he had to know.

She flushed a delicious color that gave him his answer—and sent spikes of desire through his spine. Dear God but she was delicious. “No. I was not forced. I chose to go to him.”

Well, then. If she’d gone to her lover’s bed willingly, then there was nothing more to say.

Lucky bastard, Griffin thought grimly. Not only had the man made love to this beautiful woman, but she had been the one going to him.

That surprised him. He’d imagined nobly born ladies did not behave as simple villagers might and valued their virginity highly.

Apparently, he’d been wrong. Either that or Lady Jane Hunter was like no other, which was a possibility.

From the start, she had struck him as different and bold.

Hadn’t she been brave enough to ask for his help, not knowing how he would react?

Wasn’t she standing up Geraint despite her fear?

A woman like this could well have gone to a man of her choosing to demand to be bedded.

What he wouldn’t give to have been that man…

“We should perhaps start by telling Geraint that he is a powerful man,” he said, pushing those unhelpful considerations aside.

“A mighty lord who will mount an expedition to get you back when he sees you’ve been abducted.

” It was most likely the case anyway. Who in their right mind would allow his woman to be taken?

Especially when she was carrying his child?

Or perhaps her lover didn’t know he had irredeemably compromised her.

She was hardly showing after all, perhaps she had not found the courage to tell him about the babe yet.

Still. The man would be mad not to want to keep Lady Jane. If she were his, he would?—

No. He would nothing. Thinking like this would lead nowhere. He might as well try to imagine what he would do if the English King decided to hand him the crown.

“Do you think it will be enough to make him release me?”

Griffin’s chest collapsed when Jane’s eyes lit up in hope because he knew it would not be that easy and he hated to disappoint her.

“No. But it could not hurt to try. The more obstacles and impediments to his plan Geraint has to face, the less likely he is to continue in this madness. He was already disappointed to be told your father was not at Sheridan Manor. Then he discovered you were with child. When I join him in the great hall, I will tell him he will now have an irate nobleman to contend with.” Griffin was only the interpreter.

He had no idea why the man was so intent on getting his revenge on Lord Sheridan, but surely Geraint would see that there were better ways to get to him than to threaten his daughter, especially if, as she’d said, he didn’t care about her now that she was with child.

“And if you could start behaving like a shrew, he might start to rethink the wisdom of keeping you captive.”

Jane’s lip wobbled. Not quite a smile but at least she didn’t seem afraid anymore. “I can behave like a shrew if need be.”

“Very well. Then I suggest you do your best to make him regret taking you.”