The air around them was charged with tension. Finally, she said, “Very well. I won’t force you to do something you don’t wish to do.”
With that, the door softly shut behind her and Hunter collapsed on the edge of the bed, his head in his trembling hands.
***
Sephy shut her bedroom door, and then leaned against the hard wood. In all her years of being taught how to pleasure a man in every way, finding a way toa man’sheart was something she didn’t know how to do.
Hunter was the one man she desperately wanted to satisfy—in every way.
But how could she get past that tough, outer shellif she didn’t even know why he chose to closehimself off from her?
Perhaps it was time she began to make a few discreet inquiries about her protector. Until his return, she had been too focused on living the comfortable life of a courtesan, but she realized how foolish she’d been, that those fantasies were built on nothing more solid than a pile of sand. With the snap of his fingers he could have her thrown out and sent back to her mother’s house where she would become the Whore of Babylon that she was always meant to be.
However, after five years on her own, living a lavish lifestyle, she knew such a life was no longer enough for her. She would become a seamstress before she fell so far as to follow in her mother’s footsteps. She might have been trained as a harlot, but shepreferredto be likethe BiblicalRahab, aruinouswoman of virtuous deeds.
But before she left Hunter and they went their separate ways, she intended to rescue him from whatever demons haunted his soul. It was the least she could do after he’d saved her from LordAlabasterGregory’s perversions.
Determination replaced any disappointment she had as she walked over to her writing desk and sat down to pen a letter to a trusted confidante.
Chapter Three
Hunter walked in the dining room with a bit of reservation. He wasn’t sure what his reception would be from Miss Welton this morning after he’d rebuffed her advances the night before. In his experience, many womenactedrather nasty afterbeing ignored, but the sight of the angel seated at the head of the table looked anything but vengeful. In truth, the very sight of her caused a desperate ache of longing in his chest.
She looked even more appealingthan she had last nightwith herglorious red-goldhair pulled up into a charming chignon.She wasat the head of the tableeating eggs and ham while she perused the latest gossip rag. It was such a perfectly charming sight that he stood in the doorway for a moment just to appreciate the sight.
However, she must have felt she was being watched for she lifted those enchanting blue eyes and offered him a smile that nearly struck him down with its brilliance. “Good morning, Your Grace.”
“Good morning,” he murmured in return, forcing his legs to carry him over to the sideboard where he selected a few tempting delights, although none was as mouthwatering as the woman seated at his table.
As he walked over tojoin her, she started to rise. Her cheeks reddened slightly as she began to move her things. “Pardon me. I’ve just become so used to sitting here—”
He waved her back down and took the seat at her right. “Pray, don’t change anything on my account.”
She frowned slightly, and he had the overwhelming urge to kiss that furrow away. “But as the master of the house, it’s right that you should take precedence.”
He picked up his knife and fork and began to cut his ham. “It will take some time to accustom myself with English ways again. Propriety was something that I didn’t have to concern myself with when I was abroad. Things weredefinitelymore simple.”
She sighed. “It sounded absolutely splendid from the way you described it in your letters. I kept every single one of them and read your exploits until they became permanently creased.”
“Did you?” He smiled at that, imagining her before bed curled up with one of his letters. And then, before she snuffed out the light, she might allow her hand to drift down below the covers…
His grip tightened on his silverware. Those were dangerous paths to cross.
“It was a way for me to stay…connected to you,” she admitted softly.
He paused to look at her. “I feel as if I’ve wronged you by keeping you here on your own. I should have hired a companion—”
“Oh, no. That’s not what I’m saying at all. Please don’t think I’m complaining about my time here. It’s been an absolute dream.” Her focus turned distant. “I’ve felt like a princess in a storybook waiting for her prince to return.” Her blue eyes warmed as they lit on him. “And here you are.”
Hunter had to choke down the last bite of eggs, and thenhepushed his plate away as the food he’d just consumed turned to ash in his stomach. He wiped his mouth with his napkin. “I’m far from a fairytale hero, Miss Welton. You should know that right now. I’ve done dastardly things all in the name of justice. One might even say, for someone who wants to see a man hang badly enough that he is willing to give up five years of his life in pursuit of enough evidence to send him to the gallows, that I am a villain.”
When he would have stood, she reached out andclasped his hand. Her gaze beseeched him. “What happened to cause all this animosity toward Lord Gregory?”
He hesitated, torn between confiding in her and burying the secrets of the past that had changed him irrevocably. “Let’s just say he did terrible things, unconscionable grievances against my sister that I can never forgive.” His jaw clenched. “I pray that he burns in hell for the rest of his days.”
With that, he stood and strode out of the room.
***
