She tugged on Yuri’s sleeve and leaned close enough that the elevator attendant wouldn’t hear their argument. “It’s not too late for you to get your money back for the room.”
Yuri just shook his head. “I have enough money to pay for a hotel room.”
“Yes, but you don’t need to. I’m fine, see? I’m standing completely by myself.”
“And how badly do your ribs hurt?”
She winced. Quite a bit since leaving the ship. All of the moving from the ship to the carriage to the hotel was taking its toll, but Yuri didn’t need to know that. “They’re fine. They’re still bound from when we left Sitka two days ago.”
“Exactly. We need to rewrap the bindings somewhere private that doesn’t involve a rocking ship or moving train. I also just might happen to want my wife to rest for a few hours on a bed that’s not moving too. You can’t convince me you slept well last night after your nightmare.”
“But . . .”
“But nothing. You can argue all you want, but I’m not going to change my mind.”
The elevator creaked to a halt, and the attendant slid the gate open and unlatched the outer door, revealing a carpeted hallway lined with crown molding and tall windows.
Yuri extended his arm and she took it, but he led her only a short distance before stopping in front of a heavy wooden door and inserting a key into the lock.
The room was just as well appointed as the hallway and lobby downstairs. A velvet chaise sat angled near a window framed by brocade curtains, and an intricately carved walnut bed stood in the center of the north-facing wall, dressed in crisp white linens and a satin coverlet. A marble-topped washstand gleamed in one corner, and beside it was a small writing desk and padded chair.
Her eyes moved back to the bed, and she let out a small whimper. Maybe Yuri was right. Maybe spending the day here wasn’t such a bad idea after all.
“I want to take your bandage off and let your ribs rest for a few hours, like Nathan said.” Yuri had moved farther into the room and had already set their suitcase on the stand beside the dresser. “You’re supposed to practice breathing too, remember?”
Breathing. Right. She pressed a hand to her ribs. They were painful even now, but not nearly as painful as they would be with the bindings off. Nathan had been right about them helping with the pain. Before Kate had bound her ribs for a final time, Nathan had forced her to take a few deep breaths. Yuri hadn’t been in the room, so he didn’t understand how excruciating the pain had been.
Still, if taking those deep breaths would prevent her from getting pneumonia, she would do it.
Yuri took a few items out of his suitcase and set them on the polished dresser.
“I’ll step into the hall while you change out of your dress, and then I’ll come back to help with the bandage. After that, you can lie down under the covers, and I can leave again as long as you’re not in too much pain.”
She didn’t want him to leave, pain or not. They might not be in Seattle—where most people probably assumed they’d be headed after leaving Sitka—but they were close enough for her to be nervous, especially without knowing where her uncle was or if her father had been released from jail. In fact, she didn’t think she’d stop being nervous until she left Washington, DC, for the hiding place Yuri had promised to take her, somewhere her father would never find her.
Yuri headed for the door, his back stiff and his steps quick. Was he mad at her? For what? Objecting to the hotel room? She’d already changed her mind about that.
He’d reached the door and was in the process of opening it before she told him to wait.
He paused and turned to her, the door open a couple of inches.
“I... ah...” She licked her lips. “I can’t get out of the dress by myself. Do you mind helping with that too.”
He should have known as much. He’d helped her into the dress that morning before she’d left the ship and out of it after they’d boarded in Sitka. But for most of the trip, she’d worn only her nightdress, yet another thing Kate and Nathan had told her to do. She hadn’t left the captain’s cabin on the ship once, but she’d likely need to wear a dress on the train, even with their private car.
“Right. I’m sorry.” He turned and rubbed a hand over his face. “I don’t know what I was thinking. I just want to give you privacy, but I suppose that’s not always possible.”
“It’s the reason we’re married, remember? Because it wasn’t going to be possible for you to tend to my needs and me to have privacy on this trip.”
His Adam’s apple bobbed. “Right. Of course.” He marched back into the room, his gait still stiff.
She turned and presented her back to him, standing right there in the middle of the room. Her hands trembled slightly as she gathered her hair to one side, and she had the sudden urge to look at anything and anyone other than her husband.
Which was ridiculous. He’d helped her button her dress that morning.
But he hadn’t helped her step into it. She’d been able to take off her nightgown and pull her dress over her head by herself. It was just the buttons at the back that she couldn’t manage.
Yuri came up behind her, and she almost swore she could feel the heat from his chest radiating into her back, never mind that they weren’t even touching. Then his fingers brushed the base of her neck. It was all she could do not to flinch.
