Many made the mistake of thinking Hew was a cuckolding rake, trysting with women for the sport and thrill of it.
But it was never so.Never had he lain with a woman he didn’t love, heart and soul.
Trysting was but the culmination of the fierce and powerful love that came before.A union born of passion and devotion.A heavenly merging of bodies that echoed the merging of spirits.It simply happened more swiftly for Hew than for others.
Even now, his affection for Carenza was growing rapidly out of his control.Every glance, every smile, every touch she bestowed upon him took root in his heart, spreading through his veins like an intoxicating elixir.
How then could he resist her?
And if she felt the same way about him…
He sighed.He’d be lucky to last another sennight.
Carenza swallowed down the last of her oatcake and met his gaze.Realizing he’d been staring at her, he averted his eyes, but not before the image of her licking a drop of honey from her finger was imprinted on his brain.
“I think I should lie down,” she decided.
Hew thought so as well.In this bed.Next to him.Naked.
“That’s probably best,” was what he said.
She tucked herself modestly into her own pallet and pulled the coverlet up to her chin.
Without warning, intense pain pressed down on him like an ocean wave breaking over his head.Pain far worse and demanding than the discomfort of his burns.
It wasn’t from his accident.
It was from the medicine.
He would somehow have to endure the throbbing, because he planned to take no more.
He had no desire to become like a few men he’d known—men who had never found relief from their pain except in greater and greater measures of the poisonous flower.Better he should endure the anguish of his injuries than inflict new wounds where there were none before.
Besides, it was a sacrifice he’d gladly make.There was nothing more rewarding than serving as a guardian angel, watching over the one he loved.
Even as he had that thought, he silently cursed his eager heart.Already he was calling her “the one he loved” when she’d given him no assurance of her affection.None whatsoever.Only gratitude for what he’d done in saving her and her coo.
Her coo.
Thinking about the great beast touched off a memory.
In the wee hours of the morn, when he’d been in the throes of opium, they’d spoken about the night he’d first seen Carenza at Dunlop.
But what had they chatted about?He strained to recall.
Oh aye, she’d asked him why he’d been lurking about the castle.
He’d told her he was following someone from the monastery.
He exhaled on a groan.God’s eyes.Why had he told her that?
Naturally, the curious lass had immediately wished to know why that should interest Hew.
He’d had no choice but to confide in her.
Nay, that wasn’t true.The opium had made it feel like the right thing to do.As if confiding in the lady would be wise and sensible.
Holy hell.Just how much had he shared with her?
