Page 44 of How the Earl Entices

“But Ididcommit treason. I stole those names and carried them out of France—”

“To save the life of every man on that list.” Her voice was as quiet as the sleeping inn around them. “That wasn’t treason. That was heroism.”

He squeezed his eyes closed against the doubts that whispered inside his head, putting voice to his worst fears. “And if I prove no better than Wentworth in the end?”

“You’re already better.” Her fingers curled into the hard muscle of his chest, as if she could hold his heart in her hand and keep it safe. “So much more than you realize.”

A shudder tore from him, and in its place came comforting warmth. Her touch proved to be a benediction. It was the belief in him that he’d been seeking since that afternoon, when he’d revealed everything. The forgiveness and blessing he needed to keep going, to survive.

They stood together like that for a long moment, with his heart beating strong beneath her fingertips, and the closeness of her made him ache. Unable to resist, he turned toward her and cupped her face in his palm, then lowered his head to kiss her—

She moved her mouth away only a hairsbreadth before his lips touched hers. Stepping back, she slipped away from him.

“That’s not…” She swallowed hard and twisted her hands in that tent of a night rail she insisted on wearing, as if distrusting herself not to reach for him. “That’s not a good idea.”

“Seems like a fine idea to me,” he murmured, wanting very much to find solace in her arms tonight. “One we’d both enjoy a great deal.”

Her lips parted delicately from the temptation he presented. She was a widow and knew the pleasures a man could give her, and a longing for exactly that showed in every inch of her. She wanted him as much as he wanted her.

But the stubborn woman shook her head and took another step backward, increasing the distance between them. Instinctively he knew not to follow, no matter how much he wanted to.

“You’re wrong,” she countered.

“I’m not.” He arched a brow to punctuate his point. “You kissed me twice in front of the soldiers.”

“I had to convince them we were married.”

“One kiss would have done that. There was no need for a second, unless you simply wanted it.” He pinned her with a look so blatant in its declaration of desire that she shivered. “If you wanted something as small from me as a kiss, just think of what other pleasures I could give you if you allowed yourself to accept them.”

Accept them…as if he were giving her a gift. He nearly laughed at the irony. The truth was that the gift would be his, to show him that she trusted him enough to make herself vulnerable to him in the most exposed way. To prove that she glimpsed the good still inside him.

“None of that matters,” she whispered, yet he noted with a tightening of his gut that she didn’t deny it. Even now her voice dripped with so much need that it trembled. “What matters is Ethan.”

Thatsnapped him up straight. What the blazes did her son have to do with this? “I told you. You’ll have my help with his inheritance. Nothing will change that.”

“Not if we…if we…” She gestured her hand toward the bed, unable to say the words. After all, speak of the devil…although at that moment, Ross would have sold his soul for one night with her and the absolution he knew he’d find in her arms. “It will only cause problems between us.”

“That won’t happen.”

She challenged, “So you’ve walked away as good friends with every woman you’ve ever bedded? You’ve never had a bad parting afterward?”

Christ.He couldn’t answer that, not without lying. Her sharp mind was one of the things he liked best about her. Until right now.

“Then you’d better stay on your side of the room,” he warned, deadly serious. “Because if you touch me again, I won’t be able to resist stripping off that frumpy gown of yours.” He paused to emphasize exactly how serious he was. “With my teeth.”

Her eyes widened like moons at that declaration, one he wholly meant to keep if she dared come closer. Understanding how completely earnest he was, she took another step away.Smart woman.

His frustration burned hot. To tamp down his rising desire—and other shamelessly rising things—he moved to the other side of the window, putting further distance between them. He forced his thoughts away from Grace and back to London and what awaited them there. It was as good as a dunk in cold water.

“If I’m to have any chance of being exonerated,” he said quietly, “then I have to get to St James’s Palace to see the king.”

“They’ll arrest you as soon as you arrive.”

He slid a sideways glance at her through the shadows. “Then I have to get there very carefully.” When she didn’t find his dry attempt at humor amusing, he turned back toward the window and the now deserted inn yard below. “I’ll need help.”

“We’llneed help,” she corrected, unaware of how that single word, uttered with such resolve, pierced him with pleasure. “You’re thinking of your brother, aren’t you?”

Not taking his eyes away from the window, he smiled. She’d begun to understand how he thought. “Yes.”