AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Do you like me Theodosia?” he murmured.
“Yes.”
He almost faltered at the surety of her answer.
“You are not at all uncompromising or boorish. A tad arrogant but that is to be expected. You are very kind, and a wonderful lover. You are very likable, Your Grace.”
Suddenly it felt absurd that he hadn’t known her before this. If not for Perdie’s folly he might have missed ever getting to know the woman he carried, and that felt like a travesty.
“Am I too heavy?” she whispered. “You’ve slowed down.”
“No,” he said, hitching her legs a bit higher onto his hip.
A happy sigh and another snuggle into his neck. He trudged along the path, amusement rushing through him when she started to sing.
“Will you not even spare my ears?”
Her gasp of affront had him chuckling, and in retaliation, she nipped his ear. The sensual sting had him pausing and centering himself against the rush of need.
“Where are you taking me?”
“To your bedchamber.”
She yawned indelicately. “How excessively boring and entirely disagreeable of you.”
“You need sleep. I believe you will be thankful in the morning.”
“Sebastian?”
“Hmm?”
“Perhaps we could watch the stars a little bit. I spied the most delightful garden earlier, but I did not get a chance to explore it. Will you take me there?”
He felt a strange clutching at his chest. “This is something you’ve longed to do?”
“Hmm, but I do not fancy being in the dark by myself. None of my friends ever dared to sleep outdoors with me.” Her hands tightened a bit around his neck. “Papa always took out George…my brother to stargaze.”
“But not you.”
She made no reply, and he did not push her, simply taking the path that led to the immense and well-tended gardens at the southern section of this estate. Once they arrived, he gently lowered her down and opened the wrought iron gate.
Theodosia inhaled deeply, glancing about the gardens. “Oh, it smells remarkable even if we can hardly see it.”
They only had the stars and moonlight to guide them. Holding her hand, he guided her through the maze of shrubbery and toward a wide-open area with well-tended lawns. Seb shrugged from his jacket and spread it on the grass. With a wide grin, she tumbled down with a gusty sigh, staring up at the sky.
“Do you know the constellations?”
He lowered himself beside her. “Some. I have a telescope back in Maidstone.”
“Why are you sitting? Are you afraid to lie beside me?”
Bloody hell!
“I need your chest as a pillow of sort, so if you are going to act skittish, that will not do.”
A quick glance showed she laughed at him. Her eyes were wide with humor, and she had tugged off her gloves, tossing them carelessly onto the grass. Somehow she had also toed off her shoes, and now her stocking-clad feet swished across the grass as if she were unable to stay still.
She stared up at him, an unfathomable look in her eyes. “I do not want to mistake the significance of our friendship. Is it safe for me to rest against you…and watch the stars a bit?”
