All About Seduction(39)

“Have a care,” he said, handing the glass back. “I want nothing bad to touch you.”

Her slight tremble as she took the whiskey spoke volumes. Her eyes were like liquid pools in her face and her chest rose and fell with her every breath.

It was everything he could do to stop himself from reaching out to her. “Especially not on my account. You have done too much already, and I know of no way I can ever repay you.”

She lowered her gaze. “I only want that you will be all right.”

“I will be.” One way or another he would find a way to get along in the world.

She swirled the contents of her glass and then raised it and gulped. She clapped her hand over her mouth as her eyes watered.

“Blow out,” he told her gently as he put his hand to her back. But he knew as soon as he touched her it was a mistake.

She jerked away and spun out of her chair. She stared at him as if he’d suddenly turned into a monster. Ignoring her outraged stare, he reached for the back of the chair. “Are you all right?”

He prepared to stand rather than watch her offer false assurances. He could have begged her pardon for touching her, but he’d been intent on helping her.

“What are you doing?” She cast a troubled look toward the door. “The doctor doesn’t want you out of bed unless necessary.”

“I just need to stretch a minute.” Tired of lying about, he needed to move. Restlessness invaded his limbs like a pot ready to boil over. If she didn’t move away from him, it was only a matter of time before he pulled her to him. Her spinning away suggested she wanted nothing to do with that. Her distaste couldn’t have been more obvious. Except she moved around the chair, her hand out to steady him.

They were so close he could smell the liquor on her breath, and she tilted slightly toward him. Did she want him to touch her or not?

He wanted to climb the stairs and kill the man who’d brought her to drink like a Bedouin after forty days and nights without an oasis. But he needed a hell of a lot more strength before he could even contemplate stairs. Already his breath had shortened and the strain of just standing using only one leg seemed monumental.

He took the glass from her hand. He dashed the remaining liquid on the fire. Blue flames hissed.

“I could get more,” she said.

“Don’t. You will regret it.” He handed her the empty glass. He searched her eyes, which were clear and focused. “And you should not be alone when the drink kicks in.”

Her chin dropped. “Don’t worry. I won’t be.”

He heard the tinge of bitterness in her tone, slight but there nonetheless, like a hint of castor oil in Davidson’s Elixir.

Hell with it. He nudged her chin up with his fingertips. Her skin was soft as a whisper and she smelled sweet like springtime. He could almost feel her lips against his, taste her breath, feel her heat. He leaned closer, allowing her every chance to pull away. The blue of her eyes was just a rim around her pupils. Her lips parted. The wonder of it took his breath. She was going to allow him to kiss her, and he wanted it like nothing he’d ever wanted before.





Chapter 8



Jack’s rough fingers slid ever so slightly along her chin, and the air seemed thin. Her head felt light and her pulse thrummed wildly. His striped nightshirt covered a body that was hard with muscles formed by labor. He was not of her class, not a man with soft hands or bound by the restrictions of propriety.

He was not a man anyone would think she should use to father a baby, but she didn’t fear him the way she did most men. She wanted to know what his kiss was like. Perhaps she’d wanted to know him in that way for a long time.

The door rattled, and she sprang back as if bitten.

Her head spun and she gripped the back of the chair to keep from falling. What on earth was she doing?

“Sorry, I’m late, ma’am,” said the footman swinging through the door. “One of the gentlemen required a bath.”

“Would you be so good as to fetch my cloak?” she said to him, wanting a minute to let the furious flush in her cheeks cool.

“Certainly, ma’am,” said the footman. She could hear the surprise in his voice, but the servants knew better than to question her, unlike Jack.

“He will be back shortly,” she hissed.

“I didn’t mean to scare you.” Jack reached back for the headboard, putting a decorous amount of space between them.