His eyes glinted with a far too sensuous light. “After running from Hetty for so long, I venture to say with confidence I am fully restored, wife.”
Oh dear.
She delicately cleared her throat. “I am also a terrible sleeper. My toes might end up in your mouth.”
“I’ll simply lick or nibble them. There is no problem there.”
Aghast, she stared at him, glaring at the dark humor in his gaze. “Are you teasing me?” she murmured huskily.
He arched a brow. “Is it not the norm for a husband to tease his wife?”
“I…” Georgianna supposed it was. Her papa had teased her mama often, but they had been in love. She and the earl barely knew each other. Why was he so…frustratingly appealing? “I am not used to your teasing disposition.”
“Ah…we only burned in the throes of passion, hmm?”
“Y-Yes.”
A considering look entered his dark green eyes. “Are you with child?”
The shock of his question stuttered her heart, and then she realized why he asked it.
“Of course, you are wondering what motivated you to marry me.” Why did she feel so mortified and hurt? His opinion of her did not matter! “I am not with child, sir.”
“I merely wondered,” he murmured, a slight frown touching his winged brows. “How long did we know each other before we married?”
Her heart lurched, and she hesitated for a brief moment. “Only a few days.”
He faltered into remarkable stillness. “I married you only after a few days?”
“Throes of passion,” she said drily. “Surely you recall enough of your innate self to know you are a man of…strong emotions and passions.”
He laughed, the sound low and almost mocking. “Then why did we argue? I presume that is why you have no wish to share a chamber with your husband though we were so lasciviously caught in our mutual lust?”
Georgianna stared at him, feeling the oddest sense of bemusement. Not once did she imagine they might have a discourse such as this.At least not so soon.
“Your mistress did not approve of your obvious desire for me,” she said bluntly, feeling heartened that she did not lie.
It should not be so, but I loathe lying to you!Feeling that she was weak-willed, Georgianna crossed her arms at her waist, refusing to soften toward a gentleman who had treated her with such callous indifference.
A harsh frown cut above his brow, and tension invaded his shoulders. “I have a mistress?”
“Yes.” She unwaveringly held his stare, wondering at his thoughts.
“Do I still have this mistress?”
“When I left the yacht…you did,” she said cautiously. It was such a dangerous path she trotted on, but she preferred to keep to the truth as much as possible.
The earl’s expression veiled, and he said no more but attended diligently to eating his oatmeal. He lifted a brow at the first taste, peering into the bowl with a sense of surprise. “A simple dish but quite tasty.”
“The secret ingredients are cinnamon, nutmeg, and honey,” she said, standing.
“Nutmeg?”
“It is a spice from the east.” She went to the stone island, plucked the chopped nutmeg from the counter, and held it beneath his nose.
The earl inhaled and made a low noise of pleasure in his throat. That sound sparked a heated sensation low in her belly, and swallowing, she lurched away from him, hoping her agitation was not evident for him to speculate upon. Georgianna kept her back to him and set about kneading the dough to bake bread for their morning repast. Conscious of his gaze upon her, she did her best to attend to her task without peeking over her shoulders at him.
The bench scraped against the stone floor, and she presumed he stood.
