“This is you not being hurt?”
“T-tis nothing. Why-why are you here and not—”
“The family came down with some odd illness. Nothing dangerous,” he added quickly as the breath hissed in her throat. “Your siblings could not travel, so as I was coming here on business, James asked me to collect you.”
“Oh, d-dear.”
“Why did you not take a cabin for the crossing, Samantha?”
“P-Penny gets ill.”
“So you stood out on the deck with her in the rain and fierce swells?” His words came out as a growl. “Because your maid needed you?”
She didn’t answer as her teeth were still chattering. He was about to say something about her foolish actions when the door opened, and a young girl came in carrying a tray with two glasses. After depositing it on the small side table, she hurried to light the fire.
Warwick took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. He needed to calm down. Nothing would come of him roaring at her.
“Th-thank you,” Samantha said to the maid before he could.
Her luggage arrived next, and then baths were brought and filled. A screen was also set up. He still felt the embers of rage knowing she could have been taken from him,them,he amended silently. He would not contemplate life without Samantha in it. The last year had been too long. A lifetime would be hell.
“Sip this.” Warwick held out the brandy for her.
She didn’t argue, just took the glass and gulped. She coughed as it caught the back of her throat.
“You would think by now you would understand what sip means.”
“Be quiet.”
“No. Now get into the bath.”
She had sapphire blue eyes that had caused a few men to fall at her feet claiming they were the loveliest they’d ever seen. They were now narrowed at him, which if he was honest, they’d spent a lot of time doing in the years they’d been in each other’s lives.
“I d-do not need you ordering me about, Warwick.”
“Clearly someone has to.”
“I have managed just fine for the p-past year.”
“You were tucked away on hundreds of acres in the wilds of Ireland, inside a house full of artists. I doubt there were many threats other than paint stains.”
Hers was a face that was hard to forget or for that matter, resist. Some of his peers had told him they adored her, to which he’d replied that Samantha was surrounded by protective people, one of whom was him. They had then not spoken to him about her again.
“I-I was not tucked anywhere!”
He knew every inch of her face, but looking at it now, it felt like he was seeing her for the first time. Soft alabaster skin and a mouth that tended to curve up at the corners, which was why she often looked like she was smiling. She was a beautiful woman and growing more so each year.
What the hell was wrong with him?Clearly, he was still unsettled from finding her in distress.
“I must th-thank you for coming, Warwick.”
“Yes, you must. Now get in the bath, Samantha.”
She hissed out a breath.
“Bath. Now.”
“I-I need s-something to change into.”
