Anthony enumerated her assets. How she made light of a situation to defuse tension. Her instinctual sense of peopleLord Ward, Captain Johnson, Joseph Banks. Her insatiable curiosity in the workings of science, her amusement and amazement even in the smallest things like birds that flew through the forests and the frost scintillating in the winter air. Wasn’t she the antithesis of his predictability? Didn’t she stand up to his ire, encouraging him, divining her confidence and determination, knowing he’d succeed? Didn’t she match his own work ethic and gratification in achievement? Wasn’t she sympathetic, an attentive listener, cheering him on no matter how small his successes were? Most endearing was her wry sense of humor, no matter the predicament. She made him laugh at life, pulling him from his dark grimness to her light.
Then there was her compassionate and responsible nature, caring for her younger brother, administrating a shipyard and all its workers. How she treated people with kindness, right down to the idiotic blacksmith and his meddling aunt. With Rachel, he opened his eyes to the good in humanity and the world. She was his life rope.
He nuzzled the top of her head, inhaling lavender and lemon balm, her scent, experiencing the most extraordinary torment. He reclined stiffly as she stroked his chest, then grabbed her hand to end her simple exploration before something started that he would not be able to rein in.
Her eyelashes swept down upon her cheeks, long and sooty and he watched the rise and fall of her breasts, warm, full, enticing. So, while the stars played in the skies, Anthony contented himself until she fell asleep, and then carried her upstairs. She sighed then, and nestled her face into his chest before he laid her on the bed. Glancing down upon her silken head, her chestnut hair, gleaming in the meager light and fanned across the pillow in splendor, brought warmth to his heart.
“Anthony,” she murmured and stuck her hand out searchingly.
He pulled a deep breath. He was the last thought on her mind. How he would like to crawl into bed with her. The whole world could be damned. She was his and he made up his mind to court her. He closed the door to her room and shook his head.
All I wanted was a husband and children.
He’d give her all her dreams on a silver platter.
Chapter Fifteen
Bathed a hundred times, brushed, combed and clipped, Rachel’s stray had been cleared of lice, and the two open sores on the legs had healed. Boasting a high glossy brown and white feathered coat, and with doe-like eyes, and a docked tail, wagging to show its pleasure, the dog presented an irresistible companion. Easy to train and loyal to the end, she slept on the floor next to Rachel’s bed. Now with the dog trotting at her heels, Rachel burst through the door of the laboratory.
“You’re late,” Anthony announced, eyes narrowed. “I’m allergic to dogs.”
The dog circled twice, flopping on the bed Rachel had made beneath the windowdespite Anthony’s protestations. “You’ve told me a million times. And you are not allergic. You haven’t sneezed once in the past five days.”
“I walk twenty feet away and can still smell the dog. And how did you get my father wrapped around your finger? Never did I believe he’d allow that beast in the house. It belongs in the kennels.”
Rachel lifted her nose in the air. “Your father says she will be an excellent guard dog.”
“I noted when she ran off while we were attacked by the highwaymen. The mutt doesn’t even have a name yet.”
Rachel tossed her hair behind her shoulder. “She was kicked by a bull of a man if you remember. And I’ve decided to name her Caia Caecilia, calling her Casey for short, because she likes to sleep next to the hearth.”
“After the Roman Goddess of Fire? Why not, Dimwit, a name she can live up to?”
Rachel rubbed Casey behind the ears, reassuring the animal. “You are being provocative. Your father says she is a champion and very intelligent.” To demonstrate, Rachel rolled a bottle across the floor. The dog tore across the slippery tiles, sliding and snatching the bottle in her dazzling white teeth.
“Let it retrieve bones like a normal dog.”
His disapproval pierced her with the precision of an archer’s arrow. Rachel straightened. Anthony’s real frustration was on the negative results of his experiments. Wasn’t it? She felt herself heat from her toes to the roots of her hair, remembering the way he had touched her in the library and a million times since, finding excuses to steal kisses from her, his breath hot on her ear as he nibbled her lobe. How he shuddered when she ran her hands over his broad shoulders and muscular chest. If he touched her now, she feared she would incinerate, and if he didn’t, she’d die.
“Casey likes bottles.” Rachel threw a sock doll across the floor to demonstrate. The dog ignored it. Then she rolled a bottle. “Attack.”
The dog attached her teeth to the bottle and shook her head with a ferocious growl.
“Useful. Think of all the butterflies and sparrows the beast will take down.”
“You are too cynical and need to be less critical. This dog will protect us.”
“That’s after she runs off after an imaginary squirrel.”
The dog let go of the bottle at Anthony’s feet, dropped to the floor, resting her head on her front paws, and blinked.
With a grudge, he patted the dog. Rachel smiled. Wars were won by inches.
She hung up her coat, tied on an apron, and turned, caught Anthony staring at her with rabid intensity, just as he had at the ball when she was wearing her emerald silk, freezing her into place and melting her all at once.Kama Sutra.Oh, my. Was he thinking of those sensual images, too? A crackle of energy passed between them, hot and raw and carnal. With certainty, he had those erotic images branded on his mind.
Oh, the things he did to her without final consummation, watching her, touching her, kissing her in her most intimate places. To have to bite down on her lip, to muffle her screams. How was it possible? And didn’t she experiment with him too? Delightful, wicked torments, to experience the delicious power she had over him.
Impossible to stop the constant state of arousal she was in next to him. To sweep the bottles off the counter and demand he take her now. She cleared her throat and looked away.
