Dutifully, she raised her arms and her day dress fell into place. It was a little wrinkled, but that always happened when she worked in her studio.
“Turn around.”
She did as he commanded, and he tied up the back. When he finished, she turned to face him again, but he was already lifting his own shirt over his head. A sense of disappointment swept through her. She was beginning to prefer him naked. Would he undress for her more once they married? She found herself wishing she’d added that to her counterproposal.
Smiling to herself, she moved to the painting where she could view him sans clothes. Once again, she felt as if his image was alive. “This truly is amazing.” She lifted her hands and looked at them. “I have no idea how I accomplished this. Or even how I knew you would make this happen.”
Fully dressed now, he came to stand next to her. “You were able to do it because you have a gift.” He smirked. “And you had such a willing model.”
She chuckled. “I would have said challenging model, but be that as it may, the combination melded into something beyond us, I think.”
She stood silent next to her artwork and looked up at him. The sense of pride on his face filled her with pleasure right down to her toes. Finally, he spoke. “Do you have enough to finish it?”
“I do.” She pointed to her table of sketches where her sister’s book also lay, closed now. “I have sketched the Parthenon and lions from the Tower of London. I imagine I can have it finished in a couple of days. You inspired me. I’ve never done a human figure in just an hour.”
He stepped away. “Then I shall view the final piece when I return.”
“Return?” Her heart leapt. “Are you leaving?”
“I must return to Lyonsmere Hall to spend Christmas with my mother and brother. Lord Harewood plans to join me. I also need to take care of some business at home. But I will return in the new year.”
In her enjoyment of his company, she’d completely forgotten about his family. Of course he would return to them for the last of the season. That was only a fortnight away, yet her disappointment was real. She would miss him. “The painting will be complete by then. You can decide if you wish it to grace the halls of Lyonsmere.”
His eyebrows rose. “I doubt very much that the halls would be the place for it, but perhaps my bedroom…or yours.”
She smiled. “Oh, definitely mine.”
Her answer appeared to please him as his face had taken on the triumphant look of his painting. “I must leave you now, but I promise I will call upon you as soon as I return to Sunnydale.”
She stiffened, but then relaxed. There was no longer a need to hide their alliance. “I think I will miss having you to myself here.” She gestured to the room.
He stepped up to her. “Soon, you will have me all the time. I have a feeling you will be telling me to go away.”
She laughed, finding it hard to imagine such a scenario. “I suppose.”
He pulled her into his arms. “Now give me a kiss to remember me by and keep me warm on my travels.”
Happily, she looped her arms around his neck, pressed her body close and lifted her face to his. As his lips descended, she opened to him and tangled her tongue with his. In an instant, the fairies in her stomach started to dance and her heart started to race. She moved one hand down and cupped his buttock and squeezed.
He broke the kiss, his breathing rapid. “You’re a vixen.”
She shrugged one shoulder. “You said you wanted to remember it.”
His laughter filled the room. “So I did and so I will.” He dropped his arms and moved to the door.
She couldn’t seem to make her legs move, so she watched as he donned his coat. Then as he stepped toward the exit, she flew across the room to stop in front of him. “Do take care and don’t grow ill on me.”
“I promise to do everything in my power to return to you whole and hardy.” He wiggled his brow. “I have much motivation to do so.”
She rolled her eyes, but heat rushed to her cheeks, nonetheless. “Now go, so you may return as soon as is feasible.”
He leaned down and brushed a kiss across her lips before opening the door to the frigid, but thankfully, dry air.
She stood in the doorway, watching him dash across the gardens and finally into the forest that bordered their land. Stepping back inside, she shivered. Quickly, she moved to the fireplace and added more coal, before returning to her painting. A sigh of satisfaction wafted through her.
It had been a verysatisfyingday.
—
