When it came to life and death, there was no honor. Only survival.
He eyed Amanda, all curled up in a ball, and his muscles hardened to stone. She didn’t need his honor, his concern about insulting a friend by having an affair with her. She needed to come out of this exile to the other side, whole. And she wanted to do it, indeed had started the journey, by exploring her sexuality. Who was he to curb her impulses?
But first, she needed to get her lovely arse out of her hiding place.
He offered her his hand, palm up. “Reggie needs you to stop quivering in your wardrobe like a little mouse and take him downstairs.” The gold flecks in her brown eyes sparked like fire, and Julius smothered his triumph. Newgate hadn’t been able to beat out her pride and that’s what would get her through. “So, stop sniveling, take my hand, and get up.”
“I do not now, nor have I ever, sniveled.” She lifted her chin.
He believed her. “Prove it.” He bobbed his hand in front of her and prayed she’d take it soon. His shoulder was starting to ache from holding his arm in front of himself for so long.
“Fine,” she bit out. She slapped her palm in his, and even though that jarred his shoulder further, relief coursed through his body. Whatever demons had driven her into hiding were no match for her spirit.
Standing, he pulled her up with him and helped her over the lip of the armoire. Reggie shifted against her chest, and Julius reached for him.
Amanda adjusted her hold on the pup and twisted her hand in Julius’s, threading her fingers through his and holding on tight. A dull flush colored her cheeks, but she didn’t loosen her grip.
She needn’t have worried. Julius leaned close and whispered, “Don’t worry, mouse. I wasn’t going to let you go.”
Her dark eyes flashed at the nickname, and Julius realized just how entertaining it was going to be to tease this woman. Make her so inflamed she had no recourse but to burst out from her shell. He strode for the door, Amanda scampering after him. So very entertaining.
Chapter Eight
Julius shut the door behind the animal doctor and ignored Carter’s huff of displeasure at an earl doing a footman’s job. He was nearing the limit of his endurance and appeasing a pompous butler would push him over. Standing in the doorway to the morning room, he watched Amanda kneel next to Reggie and stroke his ears. All afternoon Julius had been watching Amanda. First to ensure she’d recovered from her earlier fright. When the color had returned to her cheeks and her hands had stopped trembling, Julius had relaxed. And then his gaze had dropped elsewhere.
He’d watched Amanda’s arse as she’d bent over the settee, cooing over the dog. Watched as her breasts, unrestrained by any underbodice, heaved with her sigh of relief when the doctor had declared Reggie’s ails temporary. Watched as strand after strand of her lustrous dark hair slipped loose from the messy knot at the back of her head.
He really should hire another maid for her. One to dress her properly and pin up her hair.
She stood, and sunlight turned the thin cotton of her gown semi-transparent. Every soft curve of her body was on display, her breasts shifting naturally against the fabric. The valley between her legs became a tantalizing shadow.
His cock thickened. The maid could wait. An artless Amanda was a sight to behold.
She met him at the door, Reggie in her arms. “I’m going to let him rest in my bed. It’s more comfortable than the settee.”
He nodded and followed her up the stairs. Her round bottom shifted from side to side in front of his face, and a groan escaped him.
Amanda paused. “Are you in pain? Should we call a doctor for you, as well?”
“I’m fine,” he ground out. At least, there was nothing that a doctor could fix.
“Hmm.” She continued up the stairs. “I thought perhaps your bruises were ailing you. They look quite painful.”
“And yet you’ve only thought to inquire of them now. Your lack of concern wounds me.” His face was a mess, purple staining his skin from his left eye to his lip. His ribs looked worse. Yet he wished he’d let Audley get in a couple more hits. A beating was a sad penance for getting a young man killed, but it was something.
Pushing thoughts of last night away, he followed Amanda to her room and waited at the door as she settled the dog in the middle of her bed. She tucked a pillow behind his back and drew the coverlet up to cover Reggie. Julius would have rolled his eyes over such attentiveness to a dog, but her actions had her bending over the bed, presenting her pert behind for his viewing pleasure yet again.
It was quickly becoming his favorite part of her body.
Sunlight turned her gown translucent once more, and Julius could no longer resist. Striding to the bed, he fitted his body to hers. She froze, her arms planted next to the dog. Julius ran his palms down her arms and encircled her wrists.
“I think Reggie needs uninterrupted rest. We should leave.” He pressed a kiss to the back of her neck and gauged her body’s reaction. Just because he’d found her in his bed once, he couldn’t assume she wanted more.
“Where would you suggest we go?” Was that a hint of flirtation in her voice? The small wriggle of her backside against his groin confirmed it.
He had an idea about that. He only hoped she’d be willing. “Follow me.” Taking one of her hands, he led her out of the room and down the hall.
When they passed his door, she hesitated. “We’re not going to your room?”
