“Oh yes,” she laughed. “He said that you were glaring at him. I pretended not to notice. But why were you glaring?”
He sat near her, and she realized that his shirt had deep vee cut in the middle. It gave her an enticing glimpse of a strong chest dusted over with dark hair.
She blinked. “Are you in your sleeping shirt?”
“Yes,” he shrugged, then pointedly mentioned. “Does it matter? You are in your nightdress and a wrapper.”
Laughing, Rachel rested her head on his shoulder only to have him shift and place her head on his collarbone instead while wrapping an arm around her. “I was glaring because I did not want him touching you at all.”
“But that was—”
“Before I realized what you meant to me?” He asked. “Yes, it was, but I told you, sweet, logic does not match up with emotions. My heart knew that I wanted and desired you long before my mind realized it.”
“I had a horrible dream,” Rachel admitted. “Strathmore had trapped me as his wife, chaining me down in a silk dress.”
He kissed her temple. “You deserve silks.”
“Once upon a time, I would have given in to have the luxury he is dangling in front of my face,” Rachel admitted. “But not now. Not when I know that I have someone who cares for me. I would not trade that for anything. Not for lavish clothes or diamonds, or trips around the world.”
“You would give up on living in luxury?” He asked.
“Money does not give one peace of mind,” Rachel said. “I know, I have loved it from the day I was born, and little do I know true comfort.”
“That is utterly heartbreaking to hear,” he murmured in her ear.
Shrugging, Rachel held tight to him. “And I would not have known much of the difference if you had not walked into my life.”
“I do not know if I should be proud or broken by that,” William replied. “I’m glad that you know that you need a man who understands who you are and that you want love and acceptance instead of pomp and power. I want to want to give you what you want, but I cannot, and that cuts me deeply.”
“I’m sorry.”
Kissing her cheek, he said, “You have nothing to be sorry about. You had not chosen the life you were given and nor did I.”
“I keep dreaming about another existence where we had met in different circumstances,” Rachel said. “It does not matter if I were a princess trapped in a castle and you came to rescue me or if I were a milkmaid and you were a stable hand. All that matters was that we were free to be together.”
“What a fanciful mind you have,” William laughed as the sun began to break through the grey clouds. “I have dreamed about us as well, but nothing so tame.”
A spike of arousal ran through her chest, “What was it then?”
He leaned in to kiss just under her ear. “If I told you, you would be scandalized. The things I want to do to you, to your body, will turn your soul red. It is that wicked.”
“How wicked?” She dared asked.
“I won't tell you,” he replied. “It's rather scandalous.”
Leaning in, Rachel rested a hand on his knee. Peering at him with a plea in her eyes, she asked, “Please tell me, scandalous or not.”
He gave her a long assessing look before whispering, “I want to have you in my bed and kiss your body until you are whimpering under me,” he stroked her cheek. “And I want to part your legs and drink from your nectar.”
His words had her body flashing hot and cold. She reached out and found that her fingers were trembling. Gripping his shirt, she asked, “You can do that?”
“And more,” he whispered while pulling away. His eyes were smoldering, and the image of him kissing her there made her pulse race. “You should go in, sweetheart. I want to have a few more weeks with you, and if your parents discover me with you here, I will not be able to.”
Touching his face, Rachel smiled. “I want that too.”
She left the gazebo with a final touch and headed to the house, only to pause at the door and look over her shoulder. He was out of sight, but she could still feel his presence with her. Entering the house, she made it to her rooms without discovery.
She knew that her luck about meeting William so many times without discovery would soon run out. One day one of the gardeners or a stray maid would spot them and go tattle about it to her parents. She had to keep their secret interactions to a minimum.
