Page 21

“If I’m dismissed without a letter of reference, I’ll never find work again,” she said, wringing her hands.

“I will not let that happen.”

It was such a simple statement—something a man might throw out to placate a worried woman—yet she believed the conviction in his voice. In his own quiet way, he’d shown her how solid and steadfast he truly was. This man wouldn’t leave her side.

Almost before she knew what she was doing, Jane cupped his face, her thumb grazing over the swell of his cheekbone. His eyes flicked up to hers, melting her heart like spun sugar in hot water.

“Jane,” he murmured, his voice rough and just a little strangled, as though he were using every bit of his strength to hold himself back.

“Yes, Nicholas?”

But she was never to get her answer, because the stable boy popped his head in and announced that their horses were ready.

Nicholas let out a long, frustrated breath and stood. “Let’s go.”

Nicholas wasn’t sure whom he hated more: the Marquis of Harlewood for happening to stop at the Gray Dog or himself for wanting to risk getting caught just so he could kiss Jane in the tack room.

He was going to hell for wanting to corrupt her—that much was certain—and he’d go happily if he could just taste her once again. The tenderness with which she’d cradled his cheek had undone him. Never before in his life had he wanted a woman as powerfully as in that moment.

Passion throbbed through him with an urgency he couldn’t wish away. It wasn’t just that he wanted to bury himself in her until he forgot every worry about the money he was supposed to be getting from Merlin, his sisters’ seasons, and the future of the Hollings barony. If that had been all she was to him—a quick distraction from a turbulent time—that’d be one thing, but she was far more dangerous than that. He wanted all of her.

It didn’t matter whether she was laid out underneath him, like the day her horse had unseated her, or sitting across the room, hands folded in her lap as proper as could be. Jane made him want to know her completely: body and soul, heart and mind.

Nicholas was a man stuck between lust and honor, and honor was slowly losing out.

Silently, he boosted her up onto her sidesaddle as the stable boy held both horses’ reins. Nicholas would’ve liked to give the animals a longer rest, but there was no helping it now. If Jane thought this marchioness might recognize her, they had to leave.

When she was settled on the saddle, he handed her the reins the boy had passed to him. Her fingers grazed his, and all at once time seemed to slow. The rich blue of her eyes seemed to deepen as his heart beat wildly in his chest.

“Thank you,” she murmured.

Get on your horse and ride. Stop wasting time. You’re putting her in jeopardy.

Without another hesitation, Nicholas swung onto his saddle. He traded the reins for another coin he probably shouldn’t be spending and, with a nod to Jane, asked, “Are you ready?”

She pursed her lips but returned the nod. He could see the nerves that had settled in the little crease in her forehead. His hand itched to reach over and smooth them away, but instead, he gripped the reins tighter and urged his horse forward.

The stable boy had been right. The path through the fields was worse for wear thanks to the rain. It was slow going, with the mud squishing up through the dead grass and slurping with the horses’ every step.

Nicholas had to jump down to open the little gate at the edge of the first field. When he remounted, he found Jane still sitting straight up in her saddle, her shoulders around her ears.

“We’re clear of the inn,” he said.

Her gaze fixed on him, and all he could think was that he’d give up the world to have those eyes looking up at him after kissing her once again.

“I just keep thinking how close I was to being caught,” she said.

“How close we were.”

He’d intended to reassure her, but all it did was make her look down at her pommel. “I’m sorry.”

“Jane—”

“I understand the predicament I’ve put you in. I think I’ve always known it, I just didn’t think it would ever matter.”

His heart started pounding a little faster. “What do you mean?”

She didn’t look at him, only lifted her gaze enough so that she could stare out over the fallow fields to the tree-lined horizon. “If we were caught traveling together, there’d be a scandal.”