AllFreeNovel
Share Us
He was grateful for an excuse to move. He stood up, walked to the divan, and picked up a lap rug. He brought it back and squatted down before her. They were so close now that he could see the flames of the fire dancing in the reflection of her eyes. He could see a tiny freckle at the corner of her mouth, and more of them scattered across her nose. He could see how darkly gold were her lashes and how plump were her lips. He draped the lap rug around her shoulders and tucked it in beneath her legs. She remained perfectly still, watching him. And when he was done, he lingered there, looking at her, fighting off the urge to kiss her. His gaze moved to her lips. Plump and full and begging to be kissed. Or was that him, wishing lips could beg? Wishing he could find the courage to kiss her again? Wishing he was a different man?
A strong gust of wind followed by a sharp bang against the window startled them both and broke the spell. The dogs bolted awake, Merlin crashing into Amelia in his surge to his feet. They began to bark and Amelia put her hands over her ears.
“Quiet!” he said loudly. He walked to the window to see what had happened. A shutter had come loose and was banging against the window. Joshua opened the window, which prompted the dogs to bark even louder. In a blinding rain, he caught the shutter and fastened it to its mooring. “It’s really raging out there,” he said as he shook the rain from his sleeve.
The dogs were still unsettled, pacing around the room, whimpering. “Pardon me,” he said to Amelia, and to the dogs, he pointed at the door. “Come.” He marched them to the door of the drawing room and opened it. “Butler!”
Butler did not answer.
With a sigh, Joshua went out into the hall and, seeing no one, walked on to the kitchen, the dogs trotting behind him, their concern with the window forgotten.
He found Butler in the kitchen, placing pails beneath two roof leaks while Mrs. Chumley mopped around him. Joshua looked up at the ceiling and frowned. “We should see that repaired.” Nothing like stating the obvious to two people in the throes of cleaning up. “Do something with these dogs, will you?”
“Of course, Your Grace.”
With a curt nod, Joshua turned and walked back to the drawing room.
He expected to find Amelia still sitting before the fire. But she was lying on her side, curled up under the lap rug, her head pillowed on a bent arm. He moved closer and looked down at her. She was fast asleep.
He went down on one knee and tucked the lap rug around her. The only thing free of the cover was the long braid of hair. His eyes followed the trail of white from her crown, as it wended through the braid all the way to the tip. He lifted his hand—hesitated—then ran his fingers along the braid, dusting off the memory of what it felt like to lose oneself in the silk of a woman’s hair.
This was madness.
He stood up and went to the divan and sat. He braced his arms against his knees, then covered his face with his hands for a long moment, trying to will some perspective into his brain. And when that didn’t work, he sat there watching the gentle rise and fall of her breath, the way the gold in her hair caught the light of the fire.
It had been so bloody long since he’d held a woman. He’d put away that want, had buried it under all the ashes in him. He hadn’t even thought of it until now, and suddenly, everything in him was burning with need.
It had been so bloody long since he’d talked with a woman. Really talked—a full conversation. A glimpse into something beyond the polite and superficial.
This longing was a familiar feeling, one he knew well. But it was not a comfortable feeling. The last time he’d felt the need to be with a woman had been Diana.
He’d killed her with that need.
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
AMELIAWOKEWITHa start, the result of a numb arm that had begun to burn. She sat up and looked around her, uncertain for a moment where she was, trying to piece together her surroundings while rubbing her arm back into use.
But when she turned her head, she saw the Duke of Marley in one of the chairs, quietly reading. He glanced at her over the top of his book.
Marley.Joshua?Was it really so informal between them now? Had she really fallen asleep on the floor? “What...” she said thickly. “What am I doing?”
“You were sleeping. And rather soundly at that.”
“How long?”
“An hour or so.”
The full day’s events were coming back to her. She didn’t hear the storm, but when she looked to the window, it seemed awfully dark outside. “Is it still storming?”
Joshua shook his head. “It’s passed. Nothing but heavy rain.”
Iddesleigh!Lila would be beside herself with worry, and Lordonna—oh dear, the poor woman would faint with fear for Amelia. She made a move to stand. “I have to get to Iddesleigh House.” But her legs were stiff and uncooperative. “They will be sick with worry—”
“Don’t fret—Theo returned with a message from Iddesleigh. His lordship bids you stay the night, as the road and paths are impassable at present. He’ll fetch you in the morning.”
Morning?She could almost hear her mother’s shriek across Europe at the idea of her unmarried daughter sleeping overnight in a man’s house without a maid or lady chaperone at her side. “I can’t possibly,” she said. “The imposition is too great. And people will say—”
“It is no imposition, and no one will say a word. Who will know? It’s not as if I picked you up in a crowd. No one, save my staff, knows you are here. And Iddesleigh is right—it is too dangerous to attempt to return to his house in the dark in this rain.”
