AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Lingering uncertainty cleared, and her eyes lightened with her smile. Those luscious lips beckoned.
“How about we seal this with—”
A knock interrupted his proposal. Catherine jumped, ducking under his arms and moving away from the door. She flew across the room and jumped into the bed, pulling the covers up to her chin. He laughed.
“You were not so shy a few moments ago,” he teased. A pillow flew across the room, hitting the doorframe. “Hellcat!” Lord, he loved her spirit. He opened the door to the sitting room.
Langdon balanced a tray on his hand, grinning from ear to ear. The heat of embarrassment washed Nicholas’s face. How long had Langdon been standing there? Nicholas was grateful the door blocked both of them from Catherine. She would be mortified.
He grabbed the tray. “Get out of here, you ruddy, old goat,” he growled, keeping his voice low.
“Now, that’s not at all nice, my lord. After I, a wounded man”—he dropped his maimed arm, letting it dangle—“went the great length of this house to ease your ravenous lady’s hunger.” He positively vibrated with his amusement.
Nicholas kicked the door shut in Langdon’s face, but the man’s roar of laughter was entirely audible. Nicholas smiled. Langdon had a right to his glee. He’d been Nicholas’s confidant in all things and knew how long Nicholas had waited for this. Catherine still clutched the blanket to her chest, her creamy shoulders as enticing as her entire body.
“Langdon,” he said in answer to her perplexed look. “He’s a good man. You’ll get used to him.” He laid the tray on the table, grabbed the two cups, and strolled to her.
Closing her eyes, she sniffed the air. “Chocolate!” She took it from him and waved it beneath her nose. “Mmm. Heaven in a cup.” Then she batted those dark lashes at him. “However did you know?”
He sat beside her. “However could I forget? You whined for it every time you entered Nan’s kitchen.”
“You beast!”
He held his tea at arm’s length while she hit him limply with a pillow, both of them laughing. He could not remember when he’d last felt this playful and relaxed.
He took the cushion and tucked it behind his back. “Careful. You won’t have anywhere to lay your pretty head if you keep tossing your pillows away.”
Her eyes narrowed. “I will just have to find somewhere else to lay my pretty head, then.”
He chuckled, wrapping his free arm around her shoulder and pulling her close. “You have played into my hands perfectly, my lady. Directly into my hands.” He definitely wanted her in his room, not two doors away.
“Oh, pray tell, sir, how is that?” She sipped her chocolate.
“Well.” He took a drink of tea. “Ah, perfect,” he said, smacking his lips, taking his time in responding. “Nan always gets it just right, don’t you think?”
“Nicholas,” she warned.
“Hmm?” He pretended distraction, raising his cup again. He truly had missed the perfection of the brew.
“Playing into your hands?” She elbowed him, and he grunted, feigning pain. She gazed up at him through her eyelashes, a smudge of chocolate on her lip.
He leaned down, licking the bitter brew, her soft flesh beneath delectable. “Mmm. That is good. In fact, too good not to have some more.” He slowly leaned toward her again, eyeing that delicious pout, dying to take it between his lips and taste it thoroughly.
Her eyelids fluttered closed in response.
He grabbed her cup, sat back abruptly, and quickly took a sip. “Oh yes. Definitely tasty.”
She opened her eyes as he swiped his tongue across his lip.
“Oh, Catherine!” He laughed out loud. “If you could only see your face right now.”
“You fiend!” She slapped his chest. It made him laugh all the harder. “Put down those cups. I cannot fully attack an unarmed man.”
A rap sounded on the sitting room door.
“Go away, Langdon.” He got up, putting the cups back on the tray. There was nothing that could not wait. Not when Catherine was poised to attack. She had thrown back the covers and lay on her side, patting the empty spot beside her. He drank her in, following the flow of her curves. A live Rubens.
The rap came again, more insistent. “I said, go away.”
“Urgent” came the muffled reply.Damn.Langdon would not be insistent were it not important.
“I fear I must see what he wants,” Nicholas said. “I’m sorry.”
Catherine had already pulled at the counterpane and was sitting up. She smiled, but disappointment was written on her face. “Me too.”
