“Well, I owe a bundle of children wooden swords and dollies, it seems,” Charlotte said with a laugh. “Once the bridge is back open, I hope you’ll come with me to town and help me pick their prizes.”
He tilted his head to look at her in the dim carriage. “Your kindness is so effortless, isn’t it? You don’t even think about it.”
She shifted, as if that statement made her uncomfortable in some way. “My father may have had his…issues…but a lack of kindness was not one of them. I like people, I like hearing their stories. It reminds me how similar we all are.”
“Some ladies of your station wouldn’t see it that way.”
“Far too many,” she agreed with a frown. “But if my home were threatened by a flood, I would react the same way those women did today. That is ahumanreaction—it has naught to do with station or class or fortune.”
“That is a good way to think of it,” he signed as he settled back against the carriage seat. He pondered her words for a moment and then his hands began to move, signing more almost against his will. “I felt…separate from everyone around me for so long, it’s harder for me to make those connections.”
She leaned in closer. “You were always able to connect with your friends. With me.”
He shrugged one shoulder, though he was unable to look away from her face. It was so close now. He could just reach out and trace her cheek. Claim her lips.
She must have read his intention, his desire, for she scooted across to his seat. Slowly, she peeled her wet gloves away and tossed them back on the opposite seat, then lifted a trembling hand to smooth a lock of wet hair away from his forehead.
“You are very handsome…wet,” she whispered.
Suddenly Ewan didn’t care if he was cold. He didn’t care if he was soaked to the bone. He only cared about the woman next to him. He only cared about the press of Charlotte’s body against his side, the feel of her fingertips as she traced his jawline.
He leaned in and kissed her. She made a soft sound of surrender in the back of her throat and lifted against him, like she was trying to get closer. He turned in his seat, leaning into her, pressing her back against the carriage wall as his arms came around her and his mouth became more insistent against hers.
Her mouth opened beneath his and he dove in, tasting her, drowning in her, reveling in her feel and her smell and her flavor that seemed to surround every single part of him. He was lost in her, he always had been, and this physical exchange only made that clearer.
He should have cared about that. He should have resisted it. But he couldn’t. Not when she was lifting her hips to his, not when her arms came around his neck and she angled her head for better access. Not when she was all that mattered in his world.
The carriage stopped and Ewan jolted, lifting his head in surprise. Had they been lost in kissing for so long? It had seemed like a moment since they left the others, but here they were, at the estate. He straightened and glanced at her in apology. But she looked anything but sorry. She was pink and smiling as the carriage door opened and a footman appeared to help him down.
He turned and helped her from the vehicle and they made their way to the house together. Smith waited for them at the door and Ewan could see the concern on his face at their dirty and wet appearances.
“Are you both quite well?” Smith asked as he began taking their wet hats and jackets and gloves.
“Very well,” Charlotte provided. “It seems Ewan and his men have built a dam that will protect the tenants.”
“If it holds,” Ewan signed, and Charlotte squeezed his arm gently.
“That is very good news,” Smith said, and Ewan saw him sag a little with relief. Again, Ewan was struck with what good people worked in his employ. He was very lucky that way.
“The arrangement you asked for is ready,” Smith continued, nodding to Ewan. “Would you like for us to provide the same for you or would you like tea first?”
Charlotte shook her head as she looked at Ewan. “Arrangement?”
He smiled down at her and signed, “I thought you deserved a steamy hot bath after all your work today. I sent word to have it ready when I requested the carriage.”
She glanced at Smith, then back to him. Then she signed, “And will you join me, Ewan?”
He swallowed, heat flooding his cheeks. But it wasn’t embarrassment. Smith didn’t know their finger language. No, this was the flush of desire. Of need.
And he knew he wouldn’t deny her. “Tell Smith I’ll be fine and not to worry. That we’ll want tea in…”
He shrugged and she smiled before she turned to Smith. “His Grace says you shouldn’t worry about him at present, but that he and I will take tea together in two hours.”
“Very good, my lady,” Smith said, then slipped off to leave them alone.
Ewan stared at her. “You may overestimate my prowess, my lady,” he signed.
She caught his hand and drew him toward the staircase with only a laugh as her answer. And he surrendered to her, because it was impossible not to. Especially when she offered him everything he’d ever wanted.
