Page 22 of Truly, Madly, Daring

“Perhaps it seemed the furniture moved around if the family did not explicitly instruct the staff to keep things in the same place.”

“He was insane!” Rex retorted, unaccountably angry now.

“Really? My friend’s aunt believes in fairies. They live in her garden. Other than that, she’s entirely sane.”

“Your point?” he demanded.

“My point is that there are degrees of madness, and some people are not mad at all, only eccentric or misunderstood or… or perhaps there really are fairies in the garden, and only my friend’s aunt has the capacity to see them.”

Rex did not know what to make of that. His expression must have been one of utter bewilderment, because the next thing he knew, Emmeline took his hand in hers.

“Don’t take other people’s word for your future, Wrexham,” she said, and with such warmth in her voice, such tenderness that his heart squeezed. A wave of emotions, so long beaten into submission, all rushed to the surface, leaving him raw and vulnerable and rather cross with her for having made it happen. “Perhaps you are correct and that will be your fate, but let us discover the truth for ourselves. You are not your uncle, you are entirely yourself, and only you can discover what you are capable of.”

“Don’t fool yourself into believing a fairytale, Emmeline,” he warned. “This is the best you can hope for. I have seen every doctor and they all agree my sight will not return. Many thought it likely I will end up like my uncle.”

“Likely, not definite,” she said briskly, releasing her hold on his fingers. “And you ought not to underestimate just how good your best is.”

She returned to removing his waistcoat, leaving Rex with his mind whirling, entirely wrong-footed and trying desperately not to read too much into her words. Either she was deluding herself or… or she….

“Take two paces back, please. The bed is behind you. If you would sit, I will try to get your boots off.”

Rex sat, too stunned to argue. His boots were apparently rather a challenge, but she managed the job after a deal of huffing and pulling. He thought perhaps he heard a muttered curse word, too, which amused him a good deal.

“I can manage the rest,” he said, too unnerved by their conversation and her nearness to allow her to help him further.

“Very well. I shall turn my back to give you privacy,” she said, all prim and proper again, in contrast to her earlier forthright words. She was a puzzle, his lady wife, and one he was finding far more interesting—and challenging—than he had expected.

Rex stripped off the rest of his clothes, laying them on the end of the bed. He kept on his small clothes so as not to alarm her and was about to ask for his nightshirt when he realised he could hear her undressing. His breath caught as he imagined what was happening just a few steps from where he stood, desire hitting him so hard and fast his skin felt too tight and too hot. He ached with the need for her to touch him.

Irritated muttering reached his ears, mercifully distracting him, at least momentarily.

“Is something the matter?”

“My corset. I ought to have asked Janet to unlace me, but the poor thing looked ready to drop, and I can usually manage, but the knot… I think…. Oh, drat and bother! It’s all tangled.”

Rex rubbed at his mouth to hide his smirk. “Why don’t you let me help? I could do this with my eyes closed before I went blind. I doubt anything has changed.”

There was a taut silence.

“Very well, though you needn’t sound so dreadfully smug about it.”

“I beg your pardon,” he replied, fighting to sound sincere when he felt more like his old self than he had believed possible.

“Well, here I am. Get on with it, then,” she said, tersely, though he suspected it was nerves as much as irritation that made her waspish.

With his heart beating in his throat, Rex reached out and found her, his hands settling upon her waist. His pulse leapt as he discovered her shape, the way her narrow waist flared out into the generous swell of her hips. She was curvaceous in the best way.

“The laces are in the back,” she said, sounding rather breathless.

Rex gave himself a mental shake as he realised he’d done nothing but stand with his hands upon her, unmoving.

He cleared his throat and moved to where the laces should be. Concentrating, he ran his fingers over the tangle, finding the knot at the centre and testing to see where the resistance was. Little by little, the knot slackened, and he felt a surge of triumph as it came free.

“Thank you,” she said with a sigh, and went to move away but Rex held onto the laces, keeping her where she was.

“Let me loosen it for you, pet.”

Rex tried his damndest to behave himself, remembering the deal they’d made, no matter her willingness to consummate the marriage. She was doing that for her own security, after all. If the marriage was annulled, she’d be ruined. No doubt she saw it as a duty that must be suffered through once and never repeated. The thought cooled his ardour more comprehensively than a dunking in ice water, so when the corset sagged he did not give into the temptation to pull her against him, to hold her and kiss the back of her neck and discover just how voluptuous his sweet little bride really was.