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There. That was better.
She liked her hair. It was thick and slightly curly. And without her breasts showing, she looked a little modest. She cocked her head to the side, surveying her reflection.
She turned sideways and studied her profile. Her bottom clearly jutted out, the soft material of the dress underlining her every curve.
No, she should never be seen like this in front of her husband. It was absolutely indecent.
The door adjoining her room to her husband’s suddenly opened.
Isabel squeaked and looked around in panic. She wanted to dash toward her bed and cover herself with sheets, but before she could react, Vane had entered her room.
* * *
Hadn’t David said this chamber was unoccupied? The sly little bastard. What was he trying to pull?
Isabel stood in front of the looking glass, her eyes frightened. At first, Vane ignored that little detail, as he just thought she was frightened of him entering her domain. But then his gaze swept down her length, and his eyes widened.
“What in the world are you wearing?”
Lady Isabel crossed her arms over her chest. “A nightgown. Do you not like it?”
Vane blinked, completely forgetting that he had been cold a moment ago. The chattering of his teeth subsided, and now he shivered for a completely different reason. “I do not see it,” he tried to say in his usual dry manner, but his voice betrayed him.
The nightgown she was wearing was a translucent piece of cloth through which he could clearly see the outline of her curves. One leg peeked out from a slash that ran down the length of the skirt, starting from her hip.
He could only imagine what view would greet him from above her waist if her dark mane of hair wasn’t covering most of her body. For a moment, his imagination ran away from him as he saw the white, soft globes with tiny red peaks—
“Vane?”
He licked his lips—for he’d started salivating—before meeting her eyes. “Are you alone?”
Lady Isabel looked around, puzzled. “I was about to go to bed, so yes, I am alone.”
Vane surveyed the room. Perhaps he was acting like a madman, but he wanted to ensure nobody was behind the curtains or in her dressing room. Why else would she dress so provocatively just before bed and act spooked when he entered her room unannounced?
His valet’s strange behavior and insistence that Vane spent the night in his wife’s room was suspect too.
Vane walked toward the window and looked out.
“What are you looking for?” Lady Isabel’s voice sounded utterly confused.
Yes, I am acting absolutely crazy.“I see your windows are sound.” He turned to her and crossed his arms over his chest, leaning his shoulder against the windowpane.
“Why wouldn’t they be?”
“You see, apparently, my chamber is being painted, and all the windows are unlocked. Which just means that my room is freezing cold. I can’t sleep there. And my valet helpfully suggested that I spend the night in this room.”
Lady Isabel blinked, and her mouth opened as if to say something. She closed it and walked toward his room. He wasn’t the only suspicious party in this marriage, as it turned out.
“Oh my Lord! That’s how cold I imagine it is atop Mount Snowden!” Lady Isabel exclaimed from his room. “My chamber was aired out recently, but I suppose I moved in once it was already warm.”
She walked back, shivering and chewing on her bottom lip. She leaned against the door, her skirt still swishing around her ankles and giving him a delicious view of her legs up to her knees.
Damn, his wife was undeniably enticing. His insides heated, and he felt a familiar jolt in his nether region. Vane shifted uncomfortably, leaning slightly forward to hide the bulge forming in his breeches. Why was she dressed like this?
“Well, I ordered the maids to prepare a room for you, didn’t they?” she asked with a vague hope in her eyes.
Vane tried not to take offense to her skittishness. After all, he was the one who’d told her he would not grace her bed unless she supplied evidence of her not being with child. “My valet informed me that all other rooms—the ones not occupied by humans—are just as bloody cold as mine. And he said they won’t be ready any time soon either. And I was not about to tell him that the environment in my wife’s room is just as hostile.”
