“Ah, I understand now.” He drained the remnants of his tankard and gestured for the wench. “Another,” he told the awful woman when she reappeared. He flicked a glance toward Catriona, a glint entering his gaze. “Rather, two more, if you please. My companion and I are thirsty.”
Catriona hiccupped.
She pressed three fingers over her lips, staying future, unladylike interruptions from barreling forth. The awful woman cast a disapproving look over her before turning back to Alessandro.
“Are ye certain, milord?” she asked. “Yer lady friend seems to have had plenty already.”
Catriona threw back her head and drained the awful, bitter dregs of her tankard. The good thing about such an action was that it served to kill her hiccups. The bad thing about it was that as the fermented beverage swirled through her stomach, she felt as if she were on the verge of casting up her accounts.
But she would do everything in her power to keep from showing her weaknesses, both to the man seated across from her and the hovering woman. She slammed the tankard down. “I do thank you for your concern, but I am well and quite ready for another.”
*
For the secondnight in a row, Alessandro had gotten his bride inebriated. He kept his arm around her waist, all the better to steady her, as they made their way to the chamber they would be sharing for the night. She clung to him as unabashedly as an ivy vine.
The first night had been unintentional.
The second night? Utterly deliberate.
He was not ashamed of his admittedly underhanded tactics, either. Nor was he sober either. He had just managed to drown himself in enough ale to dim the ferocious hunger threatening to consume him whenever he was in the presence of his wife.
His wife, whom he had been doing his damnedest to avoid since she had settled herself upon his lap and shaken him to his very core.
He wanted her too much. He liked her too much.
Everything was all wrong, and he needed some time to sort through the disastrous thicket his mind had become. But not tonight. Tonight, he merely needed quiet. And sleep. And no temptations.
Catriona hiccupped. “Forgive me, husband. I do think perhaps I should not have had the second tankard.”
Maldición. Her hiccup, like her giggle, was adorable. As was the way she called himhusband. He did not like it. He liked it far too much.
He needed to get her into bed so she could go to sleep and leave him in peace. They reached their lodgings for the night at just the right moment.
“Or the third,” he told her wryly as they crossed the threshold together.
She stumbled over her hem and nearly fell. Another hiccup punctuated her awkward movements. Alessandro swept her in his arms. He kicked the door closed behind them, then cast a glance about the chamber, in search of her lady’s maid.
His wife’s face was upturned, laughter flirting with her lips and the flashing blue of her eyes. “Was it three? Why did you not advise me better, husband?”
Because I wanted you too silly to present a danger to me.
But he would not say that. “Where is your woman?”
“Sadler?” She smiled up at him and waved a flippant hand. “I dismissed her hours ago.”
He stalked across the chamber, aware he was left with two options: either go in search of the domestic or play lady’s maid to his wife. Whilst getting Catriona with child was his primary aim, he had already determined it would be in his best interest to maintain the distance between them for the night. Some slumber ought to grant him the clarity he needed.
Because what he needed more than anything was to remember his country awaited him. He did not belong here in England. He never had, and he never would. As long as the French occupied Spain, he could not rest.
For Maria’s sake. For Francisco’s.
He settled Catriona gently on her feet. Her hands remained on his shoulders, clutching him.Step away, he cautioned himself.Create distance.
But the scent of jasmine hit him, and he was instantly reminded of the tenderness she had shown him in the carriage. “You ought to get some rest,querida,” he told her.
His cock was already hard.
She leaned into him, her smile fading. “I do not want rest.”
