He could not help but smile. “I confess that I did not expect your...annoyance.”
She inhaled and her eyes narrowed. “Is it customary for women of your acquaintance to welcome you addressing them with the name of another?”
“I have never done as much before. I strove to protect you, Mrs. North.”
“Protect me?”
“I knew you would be insulted but I believed you would leave quietly.”
“Quietly,” she repeated as if he spoke in tongues.
“I did not know that such passion was in your nature. Perhaps I failed to appreciate your affinity for temptresses.”
She considered him for a long moment and he held her gaze, letting her look. “And still your eyes sparkle. Did you enjoy my reaction so much as that?”
“I enjoyed my reaction as much as that,” he confessed, unable to keep himself from smiling.
“I am mystified, sir.”
“You have cured me of a longstanding affliction, Mrs. North, and I am grateful beyond belief.”
“How curious that I have no awareness of what I have done that resulted in such a marvel.”
“May I speak bluntly?”
“Please do.”
He leaned toward her and dropped his voice to a whisper. “You aroused me.”
Eliza lifted a brow, her gaze locking with his. Her confusion was clear.
“You came into my bed, you kissed and caressed me, and I,” Nicholas took a satisfied breath, feeling powerful and vital all over again. “I responded.” His smile could not be contained.
“And this is unusual?”
“It was not, until Badajoz.”
Her expression became one of concern. “That was five years ago, Captain Emerson.”
“And I assure you they have been a very long five years.”
“But.” She frowned and glanced out the window. “But Damien said you had traveled the Continent, sampling the favors of ladies.”
“A tale I knew he would find credible. In truth, I took solace in brandy.”
Her lips pursed and she averted her gaze, then studied him anew. “And you do not believe that had a part to play in your…condition.”
“The brandy was second. The condition was first.”
“Badajoz was first,” she corrected and he had to cede that point. “The battle was only part of your secret.”
“You are as astute as ever, Mrs. North.”
“And you are more accommodating than I know you to be, Captain Emerson.”
“I am utterly at your service, Mrs. North.”
She caught her breath and eyed him, a reassuring sparkle taking up residence in her eyes. “And what service do you propose to offer to me, sir?”
