Catching Captain Nash (Dashing Widows #6)(29)

“Your information might help to defeat the pirates.”

“My report will probably end up in a dusty file nobody looks at.” This cynicism was new. The man she’d married had been unashamedly patriotic and idealistic.

“I don’t care,” she said emphatically. “You did your duty. And I’m proud of you.”

He looked startled and sat up straighter. “By God, are you?”

“Of course. And your daughter is convinced her father is the greatest navy man since Nelson.” She gave a shaky smile. “In fact, I don’t think Nelson gets a look-in.”

“She’s biased.” He looked touched and charmingly diffident. “So, my dear, are you.”

“Perhaps,” she admitted sheepishly, although she meant every word. “Do you mind?”

He sat back and folded his arms. “That my beautiful wife is inclined to admire me? Not in the slightest.”

It was her turn to look startled. “I’m glad you still think I’m beautiful.”

“You’re the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen.”

“Well, I haven’t had a lot of competition in recent years,” she said drily, even as she basked in his compliment.

She wanted him to find her beautiful. She wanted him to have eyes for nobody else.

He shrugged. “It wouldn’t matter. No other woman can hold a candle to you.”

How silly to blush like an ingénue. “I think you might be biased, too.”

He arched his eyebrows at her. “Not at all. This is a matter of fact.”

And as they rolled into the large coaching inn and the ostlers darted forward to change the horses, Morwenna realized with a shock that her tragic, damaged, troubled husband had just teased her.





Chapter Eleven





* * *



Robert returned to the coach and sat with his back to the horses. He and Morwenna had snatched a quick meal in the inn’s private parlor while a new team was harnessed, but neither had been inclined to linger.

“I should send ahead to reserve rooms at the next change,” he said, stretching out his long legs in the space between the seats.

“We’ll find somewhere when we’re tired.” Morwenna looked untroubled. In fact, instead of complaining about the inconvenience of their swift departure, she’d looked increasingly happy as they’d covered the miles toward Leicestershire.

She’d always been a champion girl, ready for adventure. He’d thought her the model of a naval wife. He suspected she’d be equally adept playing the gentleman farmer’s lady, too.

He realized he hadn’t yet told her about his discussion with Silas. “Silas has offered us the tenancy at Belleville.”

Morwenna frowned in thought. “Is that his manor in Devon?”

“Yes. The last tenants have left it in a bit of a state, apparently.”

“Won’t country life strike you as very dull after what you’ve been through?”

“Not at all.” He hid a shudder at the idea of facing more of what he’d just experienced. “It will give us a chance to have a real family life.”

“With Kerenza?”

“Of course with Kerenza.” And God willing, a brood of brothers and sisters. “A peaceful life in the country. Just what I need. Will you come with me?”

“Of course I will. I’ve...I’ve missed you so much, I can hardly bear to let you out of my sight. I think you’re going to have to accept a wife who is inclined to cling.”

“I’ll like that.” He reached forward to grab her hand. Her touch immediately calmed the currents of disquiet running through him. “You’re the one thing in creation right now that isn’t playing on my nerves. Surely you know that.”

Her blue eyes studied him, as if she sought to discover all his secrets. “No, I didn’t.”

“Well, you should,” he said shortly. “It’s only when I’m alone with you that I feel I can breathe. Every other person in this whole damn world, even God forgive me, my family, makes me feel like I’m suffocating.”

“Robert...”

“At least you don’t expect me to be more than I am.”

“I want you to do and be what you wish. In these last years, you’ve had enough freedom stolen from you.”

“A wife beyond rubies,” he murmured, as outside the coachman steered the horses out of the inn yard. The evening drew in, but the long twilight offered them a couple of hours of travel ahead.

“Well, at least a wife who likes the idea of a farming life.”

“You won’t miss London? You looked completely at home in society when I burst in last night.”

He spoke without resentment. Morwenna was always meant to be his. Garson, sadly for him, was a mere distraction. Although Robert had always loved her, this oneness was new. He’d felt it when he was deep inside her body, but the bond persisted beyond passion.

Although passion certainly shored it up.

He was more than ready to shore it up again, although he couldn’t regret the hours they’d spent talking. He’d almost felt like his former self, discussing things typical couples talked about, and not his extraordinary history of abuse and captivity. But as he caught a faint hint of Morwenna’s scent, his cock rose insistently inside his trousers.