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The second the first word of that sentence flew out of his mouth, Evan knew it, but he couldn’t stop the rest of the words from coming.
Whorehouse tricks.
He stewed on it for two hours.
Stewed on the words, trying to rationalize them, trying to excuse them, trying to silently take them back. The damned stewing stopped him from following Juliet directly like he should have.
Apparently, it took time to truly understand the extent of one’s own stupidity.
And now he couldn’t find her.
Her room, Ness’s room, the library, the solarium, room after room and he couldn’t find her.
He’d even visited the stables to make sure she didn’t take a horse and leave. Not that he would blame her if she did. She’d agreed to come and charm his grandfather. Hold up this ridiculous ruse. That was it. Not to have to suffer his brother’s ire. Not to have to counsel a grieving woman through the loss of a babe. Not to have to walk these barren, empty corridors alone. Not to have an arrow slice through her.
Stepping back into the castle via the south door, Evan was at the point where he was going to wake up the entire household to help him find her, when he looked to his left.
The old east tower. Empty of people for the last twenty years, it was rarely gone into. It’d been left to dust and decay and he hadn’t even bothered to show Juliet the rooms in it. He’d shown her the undercrofts, but not these rooms.
Lifting the lamp he’d brought from the billiards room, he made his way into the darkness of the wing. Up a tight, stone circular staircase, he stopped at the first level, checking in the three rooms. Nothing.
Up another level and he checked in the first room. Nothing.
In the second room on that level at the end of the corridor he found her.
In an old bedroom with chamber furnishings that hadn’t beentouched in ahundred years. A wide, faded unicorn tapestry hung against the outer stone wall. Gilded lamps beside the heavy oak canopy bed. Dark velvet curtains extended down along all sides of the bed and the headboard had an inlaid painting of the same fanciful unicorn theme. Three beastly chests with iron straps holding them together lined the inner wall. Haphazard in the middle of the room sat two wooden chairs, the gilding on the back rungs mostly worn. Two cheval mirrors on opposite ends of the chamber reflected what little light his lamp lent to the space.To its credit, the chamber had décor—which was more than many of the rooms in the main part of the castle had. Aremnant from an ornate, extravagantperiod in the history of Whetland.
Facing him, Juliet lay on her side in the middle of the dusty, down and feather bed, fully asleep. Peacefully asleep. A candlestick blown out on the table beside the bed. Not wanting to be found.
But he’d found her.
She’d folded back the coverlet away from her to minimize the dust and dirt she was sleeping in, though she had snuggled under the sheet. Not nearly enough warmth for the chill of the night.
The last thing he wanted to do was wake her now. She would probably fall into a renewed rage if she saw him and it wasn’t fair to cause her a sleepless night when he’d been the ass.
But he wasn’t about to leave her alone in this cold room.
Lifting himself up onto his toes, he stepped as lightly into the room as he could, almost losing his balance twice. Tiptoeing to the other side of the bed, he set down the lamp on the side table andcut the light.
After pulling off his boots, he slid onto the bed as gently as he could, difficult with the brittle snaps of feathers below him. Moving forward, he slipped an arm about her waist and shifted, aligning his body to the length of hers.
A soft murmur from her, and he froze. But then her body twisted slightly, her backside snuggling fully against him, burrowing into the heat of him.
She may hate him at the moment, but her body still wanted his. His warmth at the very least.
Her breathing evened out and his muscles relaxed, his arm tightening about her waist.
It was ridiculous how fast he’d gotten accustomed to this. Her warm body snugged into the front of him. His arm around her. The steady lift of her body with each breath she took.
Ridiculous.
Yet undeniably right.
~~~
Dragged from the darkness by a whirling storm in front of him, Evan fought the intrusion, reluctant to leave the comfort of the deep sleep he was in.
Yet the storm wouldn’t stop, ever insistent.
