Page 97 of A Rogues & Gentlemen Christmas

“You look like a dream,” he said, with far too much emotion in his words. He cleared his throat, aware of how easily he could be distracted, with her being the embodiment of every dream he’d had since the moment she’d fallen into his arms. “I’ve put water on to boil,” he said, moving to take the jug from the nightstand. “I’ll bring it up for you.”

“Thank you,” she said, and Ned would not allow himself to look back at her as he hurried from the room.

He didn’t dare. The desire to join her in the bed was so fierce he thought he’d go mad with it, with the desire to slide beneath the warm covers, between her warmer thighs, inside her lush heat….

Oh, God. He almost broke his neck he ran down the stairs so fast. Stupid bastard.

Once she was washed and dressed, they ate a hasty breakfast, and Ned ran back up to the bedroom and took blankets from the bed. Silently, he banked the fires and secured the house, instructing Rufus to stand guard, before taking Grace’s hand and leading her outside. She paused on the threshold, looking about her and taking a deep breath.

His heart lurched.

“If… If you’ve changed your mind….” he said, wondering how he’d survive if she backed out now.

“Of course not,” she said with a huff, giving him such a look of reproach he wanted to laugh with joy and relief. “It’s just nice to be out of doors, that’s all.”

He let out a shaky breath that clouded about him and tugged at her hand, not wanting her out in the open for too long.

“Hurry, love.”

He’d harnessed the horse to the cart in one of the barns, just in case whoever watched them was more diligent than Ned supposed. He helped her climb in and frowned as she removed her bonnet and curled up on the blanket he’d laid down for her.

“I’m sorry—” he began, but she sat up and pressed a finger to his lips.

“I’m not,” she said, and laid down again. “Cover me up, if you would, please, Ned.”

Ned hesitated and leant down, pressing a kiss to her lips. She closed her eyes and sighed, and some of his tension eased.

“Thank you,” she said, smiling. “I needed that.”

“Not nearly as much as I did,” he murmured, winking at her, and then covering her with two more blankets, before throwing sack cloth over the top of that. Hopefully, if they were observed, it would just look as though he was off on errands to the town.

Ned climbed up and gathered the reins, sent another silent prayer to the heavens, and urged the horse into motion.

Grace curled into the blankets. Though they’d been going barely ten minutes, she’d lost the feeling in her toes and longed to get up and stamp them, but she didn’t dare budge. The rumble of the cart over the rutted road shook her bones but was nothing she couldn’t endure.

Now the movement had stopped, however, and she strained her ears for Ned’s voice.

He’d stopped to rouse one of the labourers he employed and arrange for him to see to the farm in Ned’s absence. Though Ned had assured her before they’d stopped that he’d seen no sign of them having been followed, her senses were all on alert. The sooner they were wed, the happier she would be. She smiled beneath the blankets as she realised how true that was. It wasn’t just for safety, to get her away from the brother who’d betrayed her and a man she feared, it was because he made her happy. He talked to her and listened when she spoke; he admired her efforts and never laughed or belittled her even when she made a mess of things. Ned supported her and encouraged her with that gruff voice and the gentle words he found for her, and he looked at her as if she was the beginning and the end of everything… and he made her heart pound.

It had been a week, only a week, since they had met, but in those days—in the intimacy of his home and hours of private conversation—they’d come to know one another. Likely she knew him far better than she might have if he’d courted her properly. That would have meant chaperoned outings where it would have been hard to speak freely. They’d had no such restraint between them, and Grace had no further doubt in her mind. Ned was a good, honest, kind man, and he’d be a wonderful, caring husband. Whether or not he’d ever feel for her like he had for his first wife she might never know. She knew he didn’t like to speak of Sarah, but when she’d coaxed him he’d painted a picture of a caring partnership. Sarah had been just as invested in the farm as he was, his triumphs hers. His sorrow at never having had children had been obvious too, and Grace prayed this was something she could give him that Sarah had not. She worried there was little else until she learned how to be a help to him, but he desired her at least, that much was obvious. It was a start. The rest might come in time, if she was good to him.

She had every intention of being good to him.

Voices reached her ear, and she stiffened, holding her breath and not daring to move until she heard Ned’s voice. He commanded the horse to walk on, and then Grace heard the jingle of tack as the cart rocked and moved on once more. She still didn’t speak, knowing he would tell her when they were safely out of earshot.

“Are ye all right, Grace?” he asked.

“Yes,” she said. “Quite all right.”

In truth, she was terribly cold.

“We’re almost there. Once we’re wed, you can sit up beside me. Can ye bear it?”

“Of course,” she said, touched by the concern in his voice. “I’m tucked up in my blankets. Don’t worry.”

There was a sigh which sounded sceptical.

It seemed an age before the carriage halted, and Ned’s face was taut with concern as she emerged from her blankets. They were covered with snow, which still fell in slow, graceful flakes. Grace’s teeth chattered as she blinked in the glare. Although the sun had still not fully risen, the snow covered everything in a pristine white cloak and, after the dark of her hiding place, it was blinding.