“I’m not when I am with you,” she admitted.
“However, I was worried that you would think too hard about what we were doing and shy away. I wanted to gain your trust.”
“Trust in your mastery?”
He grinned and rolled his eyes. “But this is better. Just a raw explosion of feeling. A hot mess. Nothing planned.”
She nodded. “And nothing held back.”
In all her married years, she had never lain unclothed beside Shoreham.
It felt so natural with Rob. She was nestled against his bare chest, her bosom pressed against his warm skin, and all she wanted was to stay this way all night.
And tomorrow she was going to swim with him.
She did not know what this signified beyond two friends going into the water together. She had several bathing gowns—most were wool and designed for modesty by the shore, but not for actual swimming. The material was too heavy when wet and would weigh her down.
For this reason, she’d had two others made for her that were of black cotton and more practical for going into the water. She did not know how easy they were to remove when wet, but Rob was a resourceful fellow and would figure out a way, assuming they were going to do something more than take an innocent swim together.
He worked his magic on her once more that night, stealing her breath and her soul as she soared to these newly discovered heights of passion.
Starlight surrounded her again. Beautiful, glittering, and silvery.
Would this always happen with him?
Alwaysonly meant these next seven days, she reminded herself.
His gentle caresses lulled her to sleep. The next thing she knew, it was morning and the sun was shining into her bedchamber. She liked to sleep with the drapes drawn open because she enjoyed waking up to the warmth of the sun on her face.
When she turned to greet Rob, she found the other side of her bed was empty. It was as though he had never been here.
An ache tore through her heart and left a gaping hole in it.
She glanced down at herself. Her chemise was back in proper order, which meant he must have adjusted it sometime during the night. She hadn’t felt a thing, no doubt because she had been thoroughly satiated and fallen into a deep, restful slumber.
The gown she’d worn yesterday was neatly folded and placed atop the back of a chair. It was as though all traces of him had been removed from her room.
Except she still felt him on her skin, his warm lips and that devil of a tongue having branded her as his.
She also caught the musky scent of him on her sheets. It was only the slightest trace, but this was still dangerous. A servant with a sensitive nose would smell it and know. Since she did not want any gossip going around, she scampered out of bed and grabbed a bottle of her favorite perfume.Desirewas what they called the fragrance, and she now sprinkled several droplets onto his side of the bed. “There, good as new.”
She tossed on a robe and went to her balcony to peer out.
The sun was rising above the horizon and shedding its light all around, but a morning mist still lingered at the edges of the trees. Because of the mist, Fiona knew it was still early. Probably not quite seven o’clock in the morning, by her guess.
To her surprise, Rob was not only awake, but he appeared to have taken a morning ride. He was dressed casually, just a plainwork shirt and buff riding breeches as he strode back toward the house.
He looked up, saw her, and smiled.
She waved. “I’ll meet you downstairs. Have you had your breakfast yet?”
“No, I was waiting for you.”
“I’ll be down in fifteen minutes.” She rang for her maid to assist with her gown, but did not wait for her to appear before tossing water into her basin to wash herself. She then grabbed her hairbrush.
She had just finished brushing her hair when there came a soft knock at her door that she recognized as that of her lady’s maid, Molly. “Come in,” she called out, bustling to her armoire to decide what to wear this morning. Her swim with Rob would not take place until this afternoon because the seawater did not properly heat up until the sun had beaten down on it for hours. “Oh, Molly. I need your help. What shall I wear?”
Her maid smiled. “The duke is quite the handsome devil, isn’t he? Here, you ought to wear this pale blue with the flowers embroidered on it. You will steal his breath away.”
