AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Chapter Sixteen
“Good evening, Eddy.”
More nervous than she ever remembered being, Eddy pulled the door softly closed behind her. “Good evening, Rhine.” Looking at him made all the memories of their last visit flood back. He’d left her breathless and eager for more. Now they were embarking on their first evening together and a different kind of nervousness took hold, one fueled by sensual anticipation.
“Are you as nervous as I am?”
She smiled. “Yes.”
“Then come, let’s go upstairs and see if we can’t put each other at ease.”
He gestured for her to go first. He brought up the rear and closed the door at the base of the stairs, effectively sealing them off from the noisy saloon and the world. The gaslight on the wall offered just enough illumination for them to see their way up. The last time she’d been on the stairs, she’d been carried down them in his arms.
When she reached the top she saw the closed door that led to his bedroom and more memories rose.
As if able to see into her mind, he said softly, “Welcome back.”
He ushered her a short distance down the gaslit hallway to the closed door of one of the spare rooms and opened it. “After you.”
The interior was sparkling with candlelight. She looked up at him questioningly.
“You said I could have candles.”
Smiling, she entered. That they weren’t using his bedroom eased the riot of butterflies in her stomach and she relaxed a bit. The table was set for an elegant meal. Over the years, she’d set many a fancy table. Never once had any of them been set for her personal enjoyment, however, and she was so moved tears stung her eyes. The gleaming china and glassware, the way the candlelight played over the white damask tablecloth, the beauty of the roses elegantly displayed in a cut crystal vase, were her undoing. The table was set as if she truly was a queen. “This is lovely,” she whispered around the lump in her throat.
“I hoped you’d be pleased.”
She took it all in again. “I’m usually the one setting a table like this, not dining at it.”
“Tonight is not the usual.”
She supposed it wasn’t. The Eddy of old could never have imagined herself in such a situation. Not here with a man like this.
“You’re not allowed to think about anything except having dinner.”
“You didn’t tell me there would be rules.”
“Just a few.”
“Such as?”
“That you enjoy yourself this evening and allow me to please you with my wit and charm.”
She chuckled. “Anything else?”
He reached out and used his thumb to slowly trace her lips. “Yes. You can think about me being endearing, incorrigible, and of course kissing you.”
Her knees melted.
Putting action to words, he gave her a series of soft humid kisses that slowly melted the rest of her. “Endearing enough, Your Majesty?”
Eyes closed, her body filled with a sweet trembling, she whispered in a voice as hushed as the room, “Very much.”
He stepped back and once again traced her lips. “Then I’ve passed the first test. Shall we dine?”
He helped her with her chair before settling into one on the opposite side of the table. The distance allowed Eddy to try and regain her wits.
Over a grand meal of roast beef and gravy, vegetables, and light-as-air biscuits, they were too busy eyeing each other to converse very much. Every time she looked up, his vivid eyes were waiting, filled with a power that warmed her blood and made the sensual anticipation rise higher.
