Page 82 of Barbarous

The familiar lassitude swept over her and she was already drifting toward sleep when he lowered himself to his forearms and then rolled alongside her.

Daphne groaned when their bodies parted, missing him already. “That was . . .”

Hugh chuckled. “Yes, it was.”

“I’m so . . .”

“Hmmm?” He stroked her hair and she smiled, pushing and snuggling against him, molding her body to his. She wanted to stay awake but her eyes were so heavy and she was so tired—as if the worries of the previous months and weeks had finally taken their toll.

“I just need to close my eyes for a moment, Hugh,” she mumbled.

A featherlight kiss landed on her lips. “Rest, sweetheart, just rest.”

Chapter Nineteen

Daphne woke at first light, her eyes bleary and her neck oddly sore. She extended her arms over her head to stretch and realized she was nude. Utterly nude. Memories of last night came hurtling into her half-awake mind with breathtaking clarity. She grabbed the pillow that still bore his imprint and buried her face in it: bergamot.

It hadn’t been a dream!

Daphne had finally made love—three times—at the grand old age of twenty-seven, and it had been world-shattering—she yawned hugely—and apparently exhausting. Well, she had nothing to do today. Nothing at all. She cradled the pillow in her arms and drifted back toward sleep—

Only to be shocked bolt upright: she was nude.

Rowena!

Daphne glanced at the clock: ten after eight. She jumped out of bed and grabbed the nightgown Rowena had left laid out the night before and fastened the buttons up to her neck.

Her dress and underclothes from last night—which she’d left on the floor—were now draped over the back of the chair. The same chair where Hugh’s clothes had been after he’d stripped for her. Daphne closed her eyes and put her hands to her flaming cheeks. What an evening. What a wanton she’d been. The things she’d done were—

“What happened?”

Daphne’s eyes flew open to find Rowena standing in the open doorway.

For a moment, Daphne thought her maid meant what she’d done last night—in her bed, with Hugh—but then she saw that Rowena’s horrified gaze was on her throat.

* * *

It took Daphne the better part of an hour to convince Rowena she was fine. Even after she’d told her about the late earl’s letter and her confession to Hugh, the woman still looked haggard and scared. She only left Daphne’s chambers because she needed to fetch something to hide the worst of the bruises.

Once she’d gone, Daphne lowered herself into her bath, hoping she could dress in time to join Hugh at breakfast. Thinking about seeing him made her flush—both with pleasure and embarrassment. She couldn’t help looking at her body with an entirely new eye. Her figure, which she’d always thought too tall, angular, and thin, now struck her differently and she saw herself as Hugh had: as a desirable woman.

She watched the water moving over her body, remembering where his hands had roamed so freely the night before. Even though she was alone she blushed at the memory of the things they’d done. The night had been magical in every way.

It was true that all was not perfect; there would be scandal to face and Hugh would still pursue his life at sea—a life that was dangerous and would take him away from her. But those were small concerns compared to what she’d faced only yesterday at this time. Daphne closed her eyes and allowed herself a little time to luxuriate in her happiness.

* * *

When Daphne came into her dressing room she saw one of her new gowns laid out, a yellow walking costume.

“Am I going someplace?” she asked as she sat at her dressing table.

“You promised to take Lucien and Richard to the park. They’re mad to try out that contraption Lord Ramsay gave them. They broke one of the schoolroom windows chucking the wretched thing about inside. I thought the yellow would be best as it has such a high collar.”

Daphne nodded absently, her mind on Hugh and whether he might join them in the park. He’d found the toy—more of a weapon, it sounded—on one of his journeys, perhaps it had been Australia? She would invite him at breakfast.

She hadn’t paid attention to the yellow gown when Rowena had showed it to her, but now she saw how flattering it was. It was trimmed with three rows of ruching around the bottom of the narrow skirt and had a lovely crushed velvet spencer with a keyhole to show the matching ruched panel across the bodice and then buttoned again at the neck. Even Daphne, with her chronic lack of interest in clothing, could not help but admire the gown.

Still, it was all she could do to sit patiently as Rowena fussed with her hair and then clasped pearl earrings in her ears and a five-stranded pearl bracelet on her wrist. Daphne opened her mouth to protest the jewels but then looked at her reflection and realized she looked quite nice. She warmed at the thought of Hugh’s reaction and stood.