It had awoken something within him.Shehad awoken something within him. Despite his lack of sleep, he felt soalive. Last night his restlessness had not been due to worry, or fear, only excitement and...
Happiness. Elation.
When he thought back on the touch of her, the feel of her beneath him, her scent swirling around him, her warmth seeping through him to the darkest, coldest corners of his being...it filled him with wonder. And pleasure. And joy.
There had been such purity, such unguarded gentleness in that kiss. She had opened herself to him, and he to her, in a way he’d never known before. He had found comfort and pleasure with women he’d encountered over the years. But with Rebecca... Everything had melted away as he’d folded himself into her, offering, receiving. And then...
She must have felt it, too; he knew it. He’d seen it in her eyes when she’d pulled away. The possibility beneath the simplicity. The passion, which, left unchecked, would consume them until nothing at all was left of who they were before. Had she not found the strength to move away, there was no doubt of what might have happened. What could have happened.
What couldstillhappen.
What he desperately wanted to happen, had since the first moment.
‘Was there anything else, my lord?’ Rebecca asked that evening as she set down the master’s coffee tray.
Though he’d been true to his word, and asked nothing of the staff all day, he had asked Lizzie to have some coffee brought up when she’d seen to him. Rebecca remained the only one who hadn’t gone to him as requested, so she’d reluctantly volunteered herself to bring up the coffee.
‘And Mr Brown bade me ask if you wished him to attend to you this evening?’
‘Tell Thomas he is not to attend to me, he is to enjoy the rest of his day, as instructed. As for you, yes, there is something else,’ Liam said with a wicked glint in his eyes as he reached into the top drawer of his desk. ‘I have not forgotten you, though you’ve been intent on disobeying again, and have not come to collect your gift, as instructed.’
‘I, that is, I was...’
Pretending to read. Gnawing at my fingernails. Reliving that damned kiss incessantly.
‘Enjoying my day, as instructed.’
‘Indeed,’ he said, offering up a neatly wrapped box.
Rebecca gaped at him hesitantly, eyeing the box as though it might bite her. She’d hoped he might be sensible and decide that it was best, after the previous night’s events, to forgo the tradition. It was with that hope that she’d steered clear of his study, despite his instructions.
Liam gestured for her to take it, looking increasingly embarrassed as the silence thickened between them.
‘You need not have gone to the trouble,’ she said, flustered, finally taking the box. ‘But thank you, my lord.’
‘My pleasure, I assure you, Miss Merrickson. And no trouble at all.’
The dangerous heat returned to his eyes and Rebecca swallowed, unable to break her gaze away from his.
A log shifted in the fireplace, saving her by bringing her sharply back to the room.
‘Goodnight, my lord,’ she said with a curtsey, fleeing as quickly as possible without it appearing a flight at all.
‘Goodnight, Miss Merrickson.’
Proper daft you are, thinking everything would go back to the way it should, she thought, nearly tripping over herself in an effort to put as much ground between them as possible.
All day she’d tried to convince herself that thingscouldgo back to the way they should be. That what had happened meant nothing, changed nothing. And then, at the first gesture of thoughtfulness, the first moment alone with him, all those hopeful thoughts had fled, leaving only a rapid heartbeat, flushed cheeks and a stomach full of butterflies.
Slipping into her office, Rebecca threw the box onto her desk reproachfully. Why couldn’t he have forgotten her, or at least pretended to? Made everything easier for her?
Because it’s easy for him. Last night meant nothing, and he’s trying to prove it.
Yes, that was it. She should be grateful. She was overreacting.
Right ninny.
This was nothing. A token no different from anything the others had received. For Thomas it had been his own grooming set. Tim had got a new carving knife. Mrs Murray an apron with her name embroidered on it. Lizzie had been given a delicate ivory hair comb, and Gregory a book on roses. Sam had received a new cap, and Betsy some fur-lined mittens. All thoughtful gifts, simple tokens of appreciation.
