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William left the room, closing the door behind him and shutting her from whatever happened in the common area. Still, Pippa smiled, thankful he would not venture outside. That they would share the bed would be perfectly permissible and should hold no threat to either. The marquess clearly did not want her, and she was not about to deceive her heart and expectations again.
CHAPTERNINE
Ihave more self-respect to not deliberately compromise a man who is not interested in me.If Lady Pippa only knew what she did to his famed control. The one his friends normally mockingly admired because he had visited a bordello with them and not been tempted to indulge even when the most sensual woman was splayed before him. As evidenced by the night before he traveled down to Hertfordshire. Despite the many offerings, he had not taken any lady to bed on that occasion or since becoming acquainted with Lady Pippa. He was more than damn well interested in the chit. She had stolen something he had not planned to hand over, his bloody control and sanity, for she crept into his damn dreams every night and teased him with possibilities he had never before considered.
The ache in his shoulder grew unrelenting, tugging him from thoughts he’d rather not analyze. The sofa was damnably uncomfortable. William growled at the ceiling, wishing he had decided to traverse through the storm and see if he could have Pippa rescued from his cottage. The lumps beneath his back and shoulders reminded him that he should have changed out this sofa instead of holding onto it because of sentimentality. His feet dangled uncomfortably over the edge, and there was no space for him to turn and relieve that damn pain traveling along his shoulders.
Even though he had implied that they would share the single bed when it had been time to retire, he had allowed her to sleep alone to preserve her modesty and sensibilities. Every instinct warned him that he should not share close sleeping quarters with the delectable lady. Though at times she acted beyond the bounds of propriety, the lady blushed so sweetly and the artless way she had responded to his kisses informed William of her true innocence. He also liked her far too much. Many ladies who had taken such a nasty spill from their horses would not have remained so unflappable. William quite enjoyed her testy nature and her spontaneous and uninhibited temperament. What he felt toward her went deeper than mere physical attraction. He was irresistibly drawn to her lovely nature, and there was nothing he could do to deny its pull. It was simply what it was; however, even though that pull existed did not mean that William had succumbed to his attraction to the little minx.
Perhaps he should have taken the floor. Surely that would be a damn sight more comfortable than this. Cursing beneath his breath, he launched from the sofa and padded toward the front door. Opening it, he found the path to the cottage awash. Hartford Hall was built on higher ground than the cottage, so William doubted that they were inconvenienced in any way. There were only inches of water, but he guessed that the nearby stream had burst its banks, and as the road to Hartford Hall dipped, it was probably too dangerous to try and attempt the journey. That meant, like it or not, he would have to sleep in the cottage. With that knowledge, the comforts of a real bed and Lady Phillipa’s delectable charms became an overwhelming temptation.
William stepped back into the cottage from the stinging lash of the rain on his face and naked chest. Walking back into the small parlor, he grabbed a shirt and put it on before padding to the bedroom. He eased the door open, not wanting to wake Pippa, only to falter at seeing her sitting in the center of the bed, wrapped in a blanket to her chin, and her mass of raven hair tumbling about her shoulders. The glow from the fireplace washed over her skin like warm honey, and he arched a brow at the ire on her lovely face.
Those magnificent lavender eyes narrowed. “Took you long enough,” she muttered, shifting to drop back on the bed. “Now hurry and get in the bed.”
William smiled. “If I had known you were waiting, my lady…”
She wrinkled her nose. “I could not sleep because of the thunder. I usually enjoy the rain but not when it is this fierce.”
“Why didn’t you come to me?”
She tossed him a look of incredulity. “I did not tell you to take the sofa. Why should I forgo my pride and come to you.”
William said nothing to that, merely slipped into the bed, carefully keeping as much space as possible for respectability between them. How the hell had he ended up in this situation, alone in a cottage with the only lady who had ever tempted him with just a smile? Pippa sniffed a few more times and snuggled down into the bed. The fragrance of her natural womanly perfume drifted through his senses, and his damn mouth watered. This would not work. He would have to suffer the damn floor for however many days they were trapped together.
“I cannot recall if I told you the rabbit stew was delicious,” she said after a few moments of uncomfortable silence.
“You did while eating your third bowl.”
She choked but managed to say, “Your bowls are incredibly small, my lord.”
William smiled, only to lie stock still when she reared up and tugged the coverlets over him.
“I have no wish for you to catch a chill,” she murmured, yet he felt the heat of her blush and the minute tremble in her frame.
William resisted the urge to tuck her into his side. “Why does the storm scare you?”
“It is rather silly.”
“I am listening if you wish to share.”
“There is no special reason. It has happened ever since I was a small girl. Once thunder and lightning crackle in the sky, I cannot sleep, and my heart pounds. The fear is rather nonsensical, yet I cannot get past it. Yet I find rain beautiful and soothing.”
Thunder cracked, and the damn chit scooted closer to him.
“Normally, when I was scared, I would slip into my brother’s room. He would allow me to stay, though once papa discovered it, he forbade me from entering his room.” She laughed softly. “Yet whenever there is a storm, my brother always finds himself by my side to keep me company.”
“You love him.”
“As all sisters should love their brothers,” Pippa said fondly and with a wide yawn afterward.
Silence fell between them, and her chest lifted on even breaths. Several minutes passed so, and William gathered she had fallen into slumber. Sleep would not come for him when she was this close to him.
“Fucking hell,” he whispered under his breath.
“Why do you curse?”
He damn well jerked and she giggled. “I thought you slept, or I would not have been so vulgar with my words.”
