Lacybourne Manor (Ghosts and Reincarnation #3)(43)

As he had these thoughts, she whipped her head around and her hair slid along her back.

“I have to let Mallory out for a break.”

She said this in a quiet voice but he saw, with some surprise, that even though she’d obviously wiped her tears on the pillow, she’d been crying.

Something about this cause an unpleasant twinge of a feeling Colin never felt before to cut through his gut.

Before he could process the feeling, Sibyl twisted on the bed and got up. Walking quickly to her discarded clothes, she pulled on her jeans without putting her panties on. He rolled to his side and put his head in his hand, elbow to the pillow to watch her dress. He so enjoyed the show that, with disgust, he realised he’d watch her scrub a toilet and likely be aroused by it.

She reached into the wardrobe and pulled out a huge sweatshirt that said “University of Colorado” on it and yanked it over her head. Then she sat on the edge of the bed and leaned over to take her sexy sandals off.

“Are you going home?” she quietly asked the floor.

“No, Sibyl,” Colin answered. “I’m spending the night.”

She nodded, her shoulders slumped deeper and her hair shook with her head, shining in the light of the lamp. He had to force himself not to lean forward, wrap his fist in it and turn her head to his so he could kiss her again.

He remembered the taste of her mouth, it was just as intoxicating as the rest of her.

“Would you like me to come with you?” he asked, his voice gentle and he had no idea why.

He wasn’t normally gentle with women, nor was he rough or brutal or cruel, usually simply cold or reserved. They used him, he used them, it was the unspoken deal and both parties understood.

But he had been all those things to Sibyl and he didn’t understand his intense reaction to her or the reasons he was driven to these behaviours.

He was disappointed that she’d accepted his offer, proven herself to be everything every woman in his life had ever been.

However, Colin was used to that and should have been able to accept it but when she slapped the lid on the briefcase, he felt the need to punish her for not being what he wanted her to be.

Given that, when she’d said “thank you” in that soft, sweet voice as if the fifty thousand pounds was the answer to fifty thousand prayers, for some reason his chest had squeezed and a sharp pain sliced through his gut.

He’d never had that reaction either, not to anything, but the demands of his body wouldn’t allow his mind the delay it would need to understand his reactions and he’d dragged her upstairs and been anything but gentle with her.

At the current moment, though, everything about her screamed for gentle. She was walking around if she was made of glass and even a loud noise would make her shatter.

“He doesn’t like his walks, he’s too lazy.” She was talking about Mallory. “I won’t be long.”

She yanked out some shoes from the wardrobe, shoved her feet in them and left the room quickly. Then he heard her calling for the dog as she descended the stairs.

In her absence, Colin looked around the room. Even though he’d been in it for an hour, he was seeing it for the first time.

It was supremely feminine and somehow so personal he felt he was trespassing on some kind of sacred ground.

Colin saw a photo on the bedside table and he rolled to pick it up then studied it in the bedside light.

There were four people in the picture, the gorgeous woman from the portrait in the dining room (but older), a rather funny-looking, thin, bald man, Sibyl and what had to be her sister, almost her equal in magnificence, with red hair instead of blonde, blue eyes instead of hazel.

His gaze moved over Sibyl’s face in the photograph. He noted the colour of her eyes and it came to him there was another reason he knew she’d cl**axed. Her eyes shifted to the colour of sherry the moment before it happened. He knew, he’d watched in triumphant satisfaction.

He mentally shook off the pleasant memories of watching Sibyl’s orgasm and focussed again on the photo.

The family was obviously loving, their arms thrown around each other. Sibyl and her father were caught amidst laughter (something he had still never seen, although he’d heard it) while the two red-headed women, old and young, were making faces at the camera.

Colin put the frame down and his eyes moved to glance around the room. They stopped at the window seat which had a book sitting in it like someone had just been interrupted while reading. Then they went to the dressing table which had a feminine mess of cosmetics but also held a variety of delicate, exquisite bottles, all with no labels.

As he was studying the bottles, the cat jumped agilely on the bed and surveyed him curiously for about two seconds then lay gracefully on his side and started cleaning his back foot.

Colin had the distinct feeling that something was not right with this picture.

Before he could decide what that was, there was a clamour somewhere in the house and he knew that Sibyl and Mallory were back.

The clamour spread, Colin heard it come up the stairs and then the dog bounded in the room and stopped clumsily at his side of the bed. He lifted Colin’s hand with his nose and bumped it up so it was resting on the dog’s head.

“Do you want something to eat?” He heard Sibyl ask.

Colin’s attention turned from the dog to see Sibyl was standing at the door. Regardless of her makeup, she looked about sixteen years old.