Chapter Twenty-Four
Hart turned atthe snick of the door shutting. Across the room, Lucy leaned against the door, her eyes shut. What was she doing down here? He set his drink down on the windowsill.
“Lucy?”
Her eyes popped open, and she straightened. She wore a white satin robe. Her russet hair fell over her shoulders in long waves. God, a man could get lost in all that silky hair. His fingers twitched.
“I was looking for you. You weren’t in your room.”
“You went to my room?” His voice felt hoarse. She had come to his bedroom. In her nightgown. To find him. His brain slowed as all the blood raced farther south.
He had escaped downstairs shortly after leaving her in her room. Being separated by only an unlocked door had been torture, and he had immediately regretted his big speech this morning. His cock didn’t give a rat’s ass whether she still had feelings for Murdoch. She had agreed to be his wife, and it turned out he was one possessive bastard. He’d sat on the edge of the bed for less than ten minutes before deciding to come downstairs and brood over his choices.
He had been sure it would take time for her to come to him. More time for him to flirt and to kiss and to seduce. More time for her to get used to his ugly scars. But here she was, searching him out like an angel, all dressed in virginal white.
She floated toward him. “You said you’d be waiting.”
The catch in her voice had him moving to her. He searched her face for clues to how she was feeling. “I didn’t think you would come so soon.”
“I didn’t like being alone in that big bed with the ugly canopy.” Her eyes were luminous in the lamplight as they gazed up at him.
“Ugly?” he couldn’t help but smile.
Lucy nodded. “But mostly lonely.”
“That’s no way to spend your wedding night,” he murmured. Entranced by her fingers as they played across his chest. He took her hand and brought it to his lips. “Are you sure you are ready?”
Lucy pulled her hand away and stepped back. “Why is it you’re still reluctant? Do you still see me as the girl you are responsible for?” She turned her back to him. “I know that your offer of protection is the reason for our marriage. But am I so hideous that you cannot bear to bed me?”
God, she was so adorable and so very wrong.
Hart wrapped his arms around her from behind. “I have not thought of you as a girl in many years. Why do you think I sent you with Trudy to travel on the continent?”
“You did not want to be bothered with me.”
“No, because it was my responsibility to protect you, and all I wanted to do was defile you.” He leaned down to nuzzle her ear. “You bother me plenty.”
She relaxed against him. “I do?”
“Yes, and I know that this marriage was not your first choice. That you had other plans with your beau. I just don’t want to rush you. You are definitely not the hideous one in this marriage.”
“You are not hideous!” She twisted around in his arms. Then she shut her eyes and sighed deeply. “There was never an understanding with Mr. Murdoch.”
“So, he was just seducing you without promising marriage? Rogue! I’ll kill him myself.”
“No, I mean I made it all up. Mr. Murdoch doesn’t even know I exist.”
Hart stared down at her flushed cheeks.What?
“You looked at me with so much pity that day. Poor Lucy, no prospects except money-grubbing fortune hunters. So, I made up a beau. And when you asked for his name, the first name that popped into my head was Murdoch. Violet is always telling me what a handsome flirt he is when he comes to see her father.” Lucy shrugged.
No Mr. Murdoch. No lovers at all. He grasped handfuls of her robe and tugged her close. “There is no one else that you wish to be with?”
Her hands rose and cupped his face. “Oh, Hart, there’s never been anyone but you.”
He saw the truth of it in her eyes. That truth scared him. Just like it had a year ago. But he would not turn her away again. He did not know why she would pledge her heart to a damaged rogue like him, but she was his wife.Mine.He bent and captured her lips.
Lucy slid her arms around his neck and sank into the kiss. Her lips opened for him on a sigh, and he dipped his tongue in to play with hers. Her kiss incited a fire low in his belly, the burn of arousal like a shot of fine Irish whisky. Hart was suddenly desperate for every inch of her. He slipped his hands into her hair, running through the waterfall of glossy strands. It was just as soft as he imagined. “Lucy, will you show me what you are wearing under this robe?” He murmured against her mouth.
