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She hesitated. Then she shrugged.
“I guess my stupid soft heart wouldn’t let me walk away. You may be a killer, but you’re still a person. And I felt a tiny bit of sympathy for you.”
“You did.”
“It’s not going to happen again,” Victoria added quickly.
“Of course not,” Rafe murmured. “You don’t want sympathy for a ‘killer’, do you?”
They stared at each other. Rafe had expected Victoria to get up and leave. In fact, he had thought she would practically run from the room in her haste to get away. But she hadn’t moved. She was still staring at him. Rafe could see something shift behind her eyes, and her tongue snaked out to lick her lower lip. He bit back a groan. She had no idea how enticing she was.
Could he sneak a kiss from her? Just a quick one, that’s enough. Surely, that would be permitted without getting slapped.
Rafe leaned in and saw Victoria’s eyes start to close as she tilted her face up. Was she actually going to accept this? Then she gasped and practically sprang off the bed as the door opened and Manning came in. The valet stopped when he saw them.
“Oh. Forgive me, my lord. I didn’t know I was interrupting something.”
Rafe bit back a growl and shifted back on the bed.
“You didn’t interrupt anything, Manning,” he said in a clipped voice. “Lady Blackmore was heading back to her bedchamber.”
Victoria didn’t respond. She just avoided Manning’s look as she hurried from the room, barely looking back. Rafe really wanted to call her back, but he let her go. He scowled at Manning.
“You have good timing, don’t you?”
“I didn’t know you were being….” Manning cleared his throat. “Did you manage to sleep better? I think you scared Mr Mayfield and myself last night.”
“I slept better.” Rafe watched as his servant moved around the room, getting on with his work. He looked like he was grimacing as he moved. “Are you all right?”
“I’m fine, my lord.”
“You look like you’re in pain.”
Manning paused.
“Let’s just say you have a hefty kick on you, sir.”
“I kicked you?” Rafe winced. “Forgive me, Manning. I don’t normally lash out like that when I’m dreaming.”
“It’s nothing I can’t handle. At least I can still walk.” Manning went to the wardrobe. “Are you going out today, my lord? I can get your outdoor clothes ready.”
“I might do. I haven’t decided yet.” Rafe shifted to the edge of the bed. His erection had now vanished, thanks to the valet. “Do the rest of the household know about this latest…incident?”
“I’m sure they do by now. You were shouting quite a bit.”
Wonderful. Now he would have the household looking at him oddly again. Something they seemed to do every other day. It wasn’t something he wanted, but Rafe was still plagued by the dreams. It was not fair.
“Maybe you can find out something about what happened that day,” Manning suggested. “You did mention doing that a while back.”
“I doubt anyone’s going to remember, Manning. None of the current household know anything about it.”
“That’s because they weren’t present. But I know someone who was.” Manning brought out two shirts. “Do you remember Benjamin Millinchip?”
Rafe blinked.
“Didn’t he go to join the army and fight in France? I seem to remember he was talking about wanting to serve his country like his brothers.”
“He left about the same time you went to America. He’s a lieutenant now, in charge of his own company.”
