Page 26 of Victorian Bride

“I find I'm rather fond of everything about you,” he said, tipping his head down with the words and stealing a languid kiss.

When he stepped back, Mya was reluctant to let him go, her hand lingering against his shoulder until he stepped out of reach and once more gave her his arm.

“You are a flatterer, is what you are,” she said, looking at him from under her eyelashes. “I do not know what prize you think you will receive for such a speech, when I have already taken you to bed.”

“Maybe I would just like to end up in your bed again.”

“Is that so?”

Kayden turned his eyes down to her, and she gave him an expectant look.

“It is so,” he said.

“Hmm. I suppose I shall consider it,” Mya decided gravely. “Though of course in such circumstances, one must also think of—”

She didn’t get to finish. “Mya, look,” Kayden cut in, voice hardly louder than a whisper.

Mya turned to follow the direction of his gaze and found the white stag. It stood on the hill, head lifted, and watched them both with wide, dark eyes.

“I wish I had my gun,” Kayden said. “Look at that rack.”

“What?” Mya spun back to face him, staring. “You can’t kill him.”

“Why ever not? They’re animals. And they make good winter provisions.”

“Because you…” She paused, trying to come up with an answer that would satisfy him. “You just cannot,” she said finally. “It feels wrong. He’s not just a deer. Look at him.”

“I am looking at him,” Kayden said. “And he looks like a deer to me.”

Mya huffed, hooking her arm through Kayden’s and bodily pulling him back toward the house.

“Mya.” He laughed, letting her do it. “I don’t understand. What is the problem?”

She shook her head. “Just trust me on this. You cannot kill him. There’s something special about him. He’s… You can’t do it.”

“Fine,” he said. “I will not, then.” He stopped walking, and Mya was forced to stop with him, turning to look up into his face. “I will not hunt it. I promise.” He brushed a lock of hair back from her face, and Mya leaned into the touch with a sigh.

“Thank you,” she said, feeling a little silly despite the conviction that she had done the right thing. “I know that I can’t really explain it, but it’s important.”

“If it is important to you, it will be important to me.”

She leaned up on her toes and kissed him, and he smiled against her mouth.

“Maybe,” she said when she drew back, “I will let you into my bed again after all.”

His laughter followed them back to the house.

Chapter 11

“I was thinking about inviting Kayden for supper,” Mya said a few days later.

Lottie, who was sitting in front of a mostly empty canvas painted with a few strokes of green, turned around in her chair, eyebrows lifted. “Were you, then?”

He had become something of a fixture in the house since the day after the ball, though he had restricted his visits to proper calling hours. Which was beginning to frustrate Mya a little; she wouldn't have actually minded having him in her bed again, and she was half convinced that he was doing it on purpose to make her come out and say so. She was very near just giving in and letting him have the satisfaction of it.

“It might be nice,” she said to Lottie, lifting one shoulder in a shrug and letting it fall. “Unless you have some objection to it?”

“No objection at all.” Lottie glanced back at her canvas, head tilted thoughtfully. “Though I might take some care in the matter, if I were you. I have heard rumors that someone else is maneuvering for his affections. Do not take it for granted that you are the only one he is speaking with, if you are not officially courting.”