My Lord Immortality (Immortal Rogues #3)(22)

Her brows pulled together in concern. Surely he had not left the house—not after her stern lectures.

Standing in the center of the room, Amelia more sensed than heard someone enter behind her and she swiftly turned to find her housekeeper bustling in with a tray to clear the table.

"Oh, Mrs. Benson, have you seen William?" she demanded, before she could stop the words.

Rather than responding with her usual fuss, Mrs. Benson merely smiled with a surprising satisfaction.

"Yes, he is in the front salon with his visitor."

Amelia blinked in surprise. "A visitor?"

"A Mr. St. Ives. William appeared right pleased to have him call. A nice change from moping about with his long face."

Sebastian.

Suddenly Amelia was aware of that familiar tingle that was racing through her blood. Of course. If not for her distraction, she would have already known that he was near. Perhaps a ridiculous fancy, but one she could not dismiss.

There were times when he rose to mind that she could almost believe that she could actually feel his thoughts and emotions.

Ridiculous, indeed.

"Thank you," she murmured, already moving toward the door. She needed to see Sebastian.

She wanted to ensure that her hasty words of yesterday had not made him utterly despise her.

"I'll be having a nice tea tray prepared in a few moments," Mrs. Benson called after her, in a considerably happier frame of mind than she had been in some days. Amelia could only presume the poor woman had wearied of merely having William and herself as dis-tractions. Any guest would be a blessing.

Resisting the urge to rush down the hall to the front parlor, Amelia instead kept a stately pace and man-aged to enter the room with every semblance of composure.

That did not mean her heart did not instinctively leap at the sight of his striking features and the bronzed hair that had been left unbound to fall against his shoulders. Or that a disturbing heat did not pool in the pit of her stomach as his silver gaze ran an appreciative gaze over her slender form. Only that she managed to hide her fierce reaction with at least a resemblance of equanimity.

The moment she stepped through the open door, Sebastian was swiftly at her side, a rather guarded expression on his face.

"Good morning, Amelia."

She smiled warmly, simply happy to have him near. "Mr. St. Ives."

"Please, I prefer Sebastian."

The behavior that her mother had drilled into her for years insisted that such intimacy was improper, but Amelia gave a mental shrug. She had abandoned propriety the moment she had left her parents' home. She would always consider herself a lady, but the binding strictures that had so consumed her life in society now seemed more than a little ridiculous.

"Very well, Sebastian."

His slow, heart-stopping smile was reward enough for her weakness, and Amelia made no protest as he reached out to gently grasp her hand in his own. The dangerous sensations tingling through her body were a worry for later.

"I brought a few guests with me. I hope you do not mind?"

"Guests?" She lifted her brow in surprise.

"Very important guests." Slowly shifting his body, he allowed Amelia to catch sight of William happily settled upon the window seat with six black kittens curled upon his lap. Her smile abruptly widened at the sight of William's unabashed pleasure.

"Oh, bless you. William has been quite anxious to know that the kittens are well. You have greatly eased his mind."

"I feared that he might be fretting," he admitted softly.

Her gaze returned to meet his watchful look. "It was kind of you to go to such an effort."

He wrinkled his nose at her sincere gratitude. "It was no effort. I simply scooped the box from the kitchen floor."

Amelia gave a choked laugh, her eyes wide with disbelief. "Never say that you have taken the kittens into your home?"

His own lips twitched with suppressed amusement. "Much over my housekeeper's protests, although I have noted she devotes considerably more effort to seeing to the comfort of those creatures than she does to my own. I am commanded to return them within the hour for their feeding."

"She sounds a lovely woman."

Sebastian gave a teasing frown. "Fah. She is a frightening old tartar who bullies me unmercifully."

Impressed far more at his kindness toward her brother than any lavish gift he might have brought for her, Amelia reached out to lightly touch his arm.

"I. . ." Her words of gratitude failed as her gaze moved over the oddly familiar features and abruptly caught sight of a half-healed cut upon his temple. There was also the unmistakable darkening of fading bruises upon his white skin. "You have been injured."

She felt him stiffen beneath her fingers before forcing a wry smile to his lips.

"It is nothing."

Her heart clenched fiercely. The thought of him being hurt brought her physical pain. As if she had taken the blows herself.

"What occurred?"

"A brief altercation in the lane."

"With whom?"

His lips twisted wryly. "I fear I did not take the time to note his identity."

Her fingers unconsciously tightened upon his arm. "Could it have been the murderer?"

"I think not," he retorted, his tones oddly clipped.

Her brows drew together. "How can you be certain?"