“Yes! Of course,” she remarked, helping him to sit up in the bed before reaching for a glass from the nightstand and filling it with water from the pitcher beside it.
He took the glass with trembling hands and she placed hers over his to assist him. It was then he noticed that the sheet had slipped down from his chest. He quickly grabbed at the linen, knowing how inappropriate this situation had become.
“You shouldn’t be here alone with me, Angel,” he murmured once he found his voice, “although I am grateful to any assistance you may have given me in my recovery.”
“I haven’t minded taking care of you with Dr. Thornberry’s additional help. I brought things over from the local apothecary that I thought might aid you from the headaches you’ve had in the past and your wound. I was told you and Major Dawkes got into a brawl after I left,” she said while tears welled in her blue eyes. “I don’t know how I would ever forgive myself if I had been indirectly responsible for you, or anyone, to suffer.”
“You were hardly at fault.” Gideon watched her when she put both of her hands over her face in anguish. He took one of them and with his thumb made a slow lazy motion across her skin. “You must know I would do anything to protect you.”
“But… why? You are not responsible for me and we barely know one another.”
The pad of his thumb—his whole hand, really—tingled as he continued to skim it over the softness of her skin. Unable to stop himself, even though he knew it was inappropriate, he turned her hand over and placed a kiss at the base of it, at her wrist. He could sense when her pulse began to race as his lips lingered there. He lifted his eyes to hers and began to search their depths.
“I think there is no sense in denying that there is some kind of a connection between us. Your pulse tells me you feel it too,” Gideonspoke, his tone husky in the moment of intimacy that had fallen between them. “When I am well, will you allow me to escort you throughout the Season to see if we might suit?”
“I… I don’t know. I had planned to return home after the incident with the major,” Angel replied in a shaky tone. “I am not confident that he won’t try something else in my future.”
“All the more reason for me to stay close to your side for your own protection.” Gideon gave her hand a gentle squeeze. “Won’t you give us a chance, my lady?”
“I’m not sure.” Her voice shook with her uncertainty.
“We can take this one step at a time and go as slow or fast as you’d like. We can even keep our nicknames for one another if this is what you want. We can learn about one another day by day with no expectations, other than allowing me to ensure your safety. What do you think?” He hadn’t realized he had been holding his breath waiting for her answer until she finally replied after several uncomfortable moments.
“Very well, Sir Knight, but only after Dr. Thornberry has given his approval that you are well again. Your head wound required several stitches.”
He gingerly touched his head and felt where the doctor had sewn his wound back together. “Then I will look forward to getting out of here and being allowed to accompany you around town,” he replied and for the first time in a long while he felt hope for his future.
She gave a light laugh. “I can see for myself that the prospect brings you much joy,” she declared, reaching over for a jar on the nightstand. She put some of the ointment on her fingers, rubbed them together and then came to sit on the edge of the bed to massage his temples. “By the way… you really don’t need that stupid patch over your eye, Sir Knight. If you keep it covered all the time, how am I to gaze adoringly into those magnificent green eyes of yours?” she said with a cheeky smirk.
A gasp escaped him as he immediately reached for the patch that always covered his right eye to find it missing. “It’s a ghastly scar for any woman to gaze upon.”
“We should get this straight from the start, Captain,” she began with a warning look, “I amnotjust any woman. There is nothing wrong with your eye. You should see the world for all its beauty without covering a scar that only shows the sacrifices you made for our country. I will be proud to be seen with you just as you are.”
“You will?” he asked, aghast that he might have just found the one woman who could accept him for who he was… a wounded soldier with a prideful character that could only be tamed with the right lady at his side.
“Yes, Sir Knight, I will.”
The smile she gave him melted the ice surrounding his heart. Yes… she truly was an angel sent from the heavens above. How did he ever get so lucky as to have found her?
Chapter Eighteen
Violet sat inAsher’s study penning correspondence to her parents to keep them informed of her visit with her cousin. How interesting that with one swift and foolish move from an annoying, would-be suitor that her situation would completely change. In fact, the major’s insistence that they form something between them that was far from respectable, ended up being a turning point in Violet’s life.
With Sir Knight on the mend, Violet would wait to receive word from him through Mrs. Dove-Lyon in order to keep things between them casual. He didn’t seem to mind that she either referred to him by the nickname she had called him or referred to him only as “captain.” How odd that they didn’t even know each other’s names but still wanted to see if they might make a match She preferred to keep things simple between them still on the off chance that they would not suit. But she wanted to be able to spend more time with him before they started to attend society functions. After those began, the truth would come out and their identities would naturally be revealed. They could hardly hide who they were once they began being seen in public.
But for now, keeping things hidden would certainly make thepossible hardship of never seeing him again somewhat easier if by chance things didn’t work out. Or so she told herself on a daily basis. Her heart, however, told her differently. After a week of not seeing him, she couldn’t believe how much she missed him. She was falling for a man she barely knew and was looking forward to being on his arm at some future event. But would he be disappointed when he learned she was merely amissand not a titled lady?
Upon her last visit to see him at Dr. Thornberry’s, the captain had made it clear that while her administrations to his wellbeing were indeed appreciated, he felt that they had become far too intimate and he needed to heal on his own. She had to admit that she could only agree seeing as how she was beginning to feel like this was more of a wifely duty and not something from a casual acquaintance or even a nurse.
The memory of his furred muscular chest laid bare before her after the sheet fell to his waist when he first awoke still stirred a memory in her that was hard to ignore. Every time she thought of the sight, her breathing accelerated, making it hard to even think clearly. How she would ever get such a display erased from her mind was anyone’s guess. Even the touch of his soft lips to the inside of her wrist had branded her as his, whether he knew it or not. If this was any indication of how she felt about the man, she was doomed to find a happily-ever-after. Not such a bad thought considering she had once assumed she would remain a spinster her entire life. Now, Sir Knight had changed all that and for the first time in a long while, she looked forward to what tomorrow might bring.
Her pen hovered over the letter while she had become lost in thought but it was the sound at the entrance to the study that caused her to raise her head. The man of her musings stood there with a look of complete shock. It must have mirrored her own features since he was the last person she expected. How had he found her?
“My word, Sir Knight. Whatever are you doing here?” she inquiredsetting down her pen and coming to a stand. She was pleased to see that he had taken her advice and was no longer wearing his eye patch.
A frown of confusion formed on his brow, causing his scar to pucker while his mouth clenched in suppressed annoyance. “I might ask you the same thing. I am at a loss as to why you are comfortably sitting at my brother’s desk.”
“Y-your b-brother?” she managed to stammer with her own sense of confusion. She began to wrack her brain but it obviously didn’t take her long to realize now who this man was as all the pieces began to fit into place. “You’reGideon Tyler.”
