Roslynn’s eyes narrowed in a frown. “I’m only protecting myself, Nettie. Constant intimacy with him I don’t want to love him.”
“Ye already do.”
“I dinna!” Roslynn gasped, swinging around to glare at the older woman. “And I willna. I refuse! And I’ll be letting him decide. I dinna ken why I told you anyway.”
Nettie snorted, not at all perturbed by this outburst. “Then go and put it tae him. I saw him enter his room afore I came in here.”
Roslynn looked away, a cold knot of nervousness tightening in her belly. “Maybe I should wait until tomorrow. He wasn’t exactly pleasant when he left today.”
“The mon’s no’ been pleasant since ye moved oout of his room,” Nettie reminded her. “But perhaps ye’re seeing how silly is yer notion—”
“No,” Roslynn replied, determination back in her voice. “And it’s not silly. It’s self-preservation.”
“If ye say sae, hinny.” Nettie sighed. “But remember I did warn ye—”
“Goodnight, Nettie.”
Roslynn sat there at her new vanity another ten minutes after Nettie left, staring at her reflection in the mirror. She had made the right decision. She wasn’t forgiving Anthony. Not in the least. But she had come to the conclusion that she was only thwarting herself with the stand she had taken. Either she could go on hugging her anger to her breast and keeping Anthony at arm’s length, or she could get a child. She wanted the child. It was that simple.
But it meant swallowing her pride and going to Anthony. After his coldness today, she had little doubt that she would have to make the first move. But it was only temporary, she reminded herself. He would have to agree to that. She still couldn’t convince herself to accept him the way he was, even if she had agreed towhen they married. The truth was, she didn’t want him as he was anymore. She found she was exceedingly selfish in wanting him all to herself. But since that wasn’t to be, she had to remain detached, to keep in mind that she would never be the only woman in his life.
Before she lost her nerve, Roslynn abruptly left her room. Across the hall, she knocked sharply on Anthony’s door. The deed done, her presence known, her apprehension returned. Her second knock was so soft only she could have heard it. But the first knock had done it.
Willis opened the door, took one look at her, and silently left the room, leaving the door open for her to enter. She did, hesitantly, closing the door behind her. But she was reluctant to find Anthony in there. She stared at the bed instead, empty but turned down. Her cheeks flushed with color; her palms began to sweat. And then it hit her suddenly what she had come for—to make love to Anthony. Her heart began to pound, and she hadn’t even looked at him yet.
He was looking at her. His breath had caught and held at the sight of her in her white silk negligee, the material clinging provocatively to the soft curves of her body, the robe she wore open, of the same thin silk except for the long sleeves, which were transparent, revealing her bare arms beneath. Her hair was loose and flowing in red-gold waves down her back, making his fingers itch to get into it. And she was barefoot.
It was the bare feet that made Anthony consider why she had come to him. Only two reasons came to mind. Either Roslynn was a fool to think she could torture him with her scanty attire and escape back toher room untouched, or she was here to end his torture.
Whatever her reason for seeking him in the privacy of his room and giving him this tantalizing view of what she had been withholding from him all week, he wasn’t about to let her leave now. Whether she had set her own trap or was here to end their estrangement, his days of celibacy were over.
“Roslynn?”
There was a question in his voice. He wanted to know why she was here. Hell’s teeth, was she going to have to spell it out? Wasn’t it obvious? Willis had understood just by her presence, dressed as she was, and that was embarrassing enough. But Anthony was going to make her say it. She should have known this wouldn’t be easy.
She finally turned toward the sound of his voice. He was sitting in the overstuffed lounge chair that he had once threatened to tie her down in. She was embarrassed further, remembering that, and remembering that he had forced her to sit there while he had changed clothes that day. Staring at him, watching the way his inscrutable eyes moved over her, she couldn’t get any words out.
But her heart continued to pound, harder now that she’d seen him. He was wearing the same silver-blue robe over loose trousers that he’d worn the night they’d first made love, which brought more memories to heat her cheeks and turned that nervous knot in her belly to something entirely different.
“Well, my dear?”
Roslynn cleared her throat, but it did little good. “I—I thought that we might”
She couldn’t finish, not with his eyes locked to hers.They were no longer inscrutable, but quite intense, though with what emotion she couldn’t tell.
Anthony lost patience, waiting to hear what he wanted to hear. “Mightwhat?There are numerous things you and I might do. What exactly did you have in mind?”
“You promised me a child!” she blurted out, then sighed with relief to have it out in the open.
“You’re moving back in here?”
Hell’s teeth, she’d forgotten about the rest. “No, I…when I conceive, there won’t be any reason—”
“For you to share my bed?”
The sudden anger in his expression gave her pause, but she had made her decision. She had to stick with it.
“Exactly.”
