Leopold tried to remember but could only recall snippets.
“I will wash the blood from your face when Jason returns with the basin. For now, I will untie the ropes which will make it easier for you to move.”
“Thank you,” Claybrook croaked, his voice hoarse and mouth dry.
Now he recalled trying to move earlier, when he had awakened in the middle of the road, but he’d been unable to.
Lifting his head, he glanced down to note that he was completely encased in a blanket and then a rug with a rope about his ankles, which Lady Bethany was in the process of untying, and another was about his chest, which pinned his arms against his body.
Once the first rope was untied, she tossed it aside and began to work on the one about his chest. Despite the pain he suffered each time he moved, Leopold still enjoyed the sight of Bethany over him. As she worked at the knot, her teeth biting her bottom lip, her bodice gaped just enough to give him a delightful view of her full, creamy breasts and the one part of him that remained uninjured was beginning to respond.
“There,” she finally said as the rope loosened. She pushed against his shoulder to move him to the side.
“Sorry,” Bethany apologized when he winced and then pulled the rope from beneath him before letting him rest on his back again. She then opened the rug and Leopold let out a sigh with the weight being lifted from his chest.
“There is dirt and mud on this blanket. I’m going to remove it and get something warm and clean over you,” she was saying as she reached to open the folds.
His heart raced. There was a reason Lady Bethany should not remove his blanket, but what was it? In a flash he remembered. “No,” Leopold managed to say just as she unwrapped the blanket to reveal his naked body.
For a moment she did nothing. Instead, Lady Bethany stared down at him with wide eyes. It took but a moment, and then red, nearly the color of a poppy spread across her cheeks.
“I am sorry…oh dear…I am so very sorry,” she hastened to say as she covered him once again.
Leopold would have laughed if it wouldn’t have hurt so badly, but then he sobered with the realization that his future and fate had just been sealed.
“Rule twenty,” he murmured. Never allow an innocent miss or lady to see you naked, nor should you view her in a state of undress or there will be no choice but to marry. It was one that was never listed but should have been. Leopold just hadn’t thought of it until now.
“I do not even want to know which one that is,” Lady Bethany bit out as she straightened and fisted her hands on her hips. “The first nineteen on your Rules on How to Avoid Matrimony for the Duke in Training, were bad enough, yet you have managed to embrace each one, even though you are long past training.”
Leopold frowned. The rules weren’t for him. They’d been for his cousin, the Duke of Ellings, not that they did any good. Except the new rule twenty was what would see Leopold married to a woman who despised him.
Bethany couldn’t turn away from Claybrook quickly enough. She also should not have stared, but she’d been so shocked to discover he was naked that she wasn’t certain what to do. She’d never seen a gentleman who was not fully clothed before and even though she was mortified, she’d also been fascinated.
Though, she shouldn’t have been surprised by the muscles in his chest and flat abdomen. When he’d come out of the Serpentine, he had removed his jacket and waistcoat, which left his linen shirt clinging to his body. The memory had often kept her warm at night, but it was nothing compared to seeing his flesh.
Goodness! Not only were his shoulders, chest, and abdomen impressive, she was quite fascinated when her eyes glanced further down.
That was what a male member actually looked like? In paintings and sculptures, they were usually short, fat and small, and not at all impressive. In fact, impressive had not even been a word she had considered before when such was observed. It was more of a curiosity given what little she knew about intimacy. Except Claybrook’s was different. Not short, but longer, and hard, like a muscle.
Blast! Now her face was on fire.
She should have never viewed him in such a state. It was not at all proper, though she was not sorry either.
Why did he have to go and mention one of his blasted rules. “I can promise that I shall never tell anyone what has occurred so your precious bachelor state will not be threatened.” If anyone ever learned what had happened in this room today, she would be ruined beyond repair.
She strode to the window, which she was tempted to open if only to bring coolness into the room. Was she warm because of what she had viewed or because his mention of his rules brought her anger to the surface?
“Why are you naked?” she finally asked.
When he did not answer, Bethany turned, afraid that he had fallen asleep once again. He had suffered a hit to the head and there was a danger each time he lost consciousness. Instead, Claybrook frowned.
“Do you not remember?” That also occurred sometimes when someone was struck on the head.
“I have vague…” he cleared his throat. “Water, please,” he asked. “I am parched.”
“Yes, of course.” Bethany crossed to the table and poured a glass of water from the pitcher a maid had delivered when they were shown to the room. Doing her best not to look at His Grace, she held the glass so that he might drink.
Just because he despised her and Bethany held on to some anger toward him, did not mean that she would not take care of him. He was injured and she would see to his comfort.
