As the young woman helped Tess into the garment, they both jolted at the sound of forceful knocks against the hall’s thick wooden doors.
The girl excused herself and went to see to the visitor.
Tess heard a voice that made her body hum to life.
She strode toward the sound and found him, clothes dripping onto the stone floor of the entry hall. Breath tangled in her throat at the sight of him. His dark hair hung damp and curling, a few strands clinging to his temples. His clothes clung to his muscular frame.
“I was just coming to find you,” she told him as she stepped closer. Only the maid’s presence prevented her from reaching up to brush the raindrop from his cheek.
“And I came to find you.” The edge of his mouth tilted up and he took her in from boots to brow as if he’d missed the sight of her despite the handful of hours they’d been apart.
Of course, what had happened between them last night changed everything.
“Good day to you,” Tess told Fenbridge’s maid. She and Dominic made their way out the front door.
They walked so close to each other that their arms brushed as they proceeded down the steps.
“The site’s secured,” he told her. “I knew you’d be worried.”
“Is that why you came to find me?”
“Yes and no.” He looked her way, and his expression wasso intense, it felt like a warm stroke against her skin. “I wanted to see you, and it was a good excuse.”
Tess smiled. “Your clothes are soaked through. Are you returning to the inn?”
He stilled her with a hand at her elbow. “Actually, I had another idea.”
“Oh?” Tess turned to him but told herself to keep a respectable distance as they were still in full view of the hall’s many windows.
“Would you like to join me on a little adventure?”
Dom held his breath as he watched her consider his question and only breathed again when she responded with an arched brow and the slightest of grins.
“What sort of adventure?”
“The sort a lady like yourself will adore.”
She half scoffed, half chuckled. “You know my sort so well, do you?”
“I know you love history, and since we’re in search of the Anglo-Saxons, I thought a visit to Castle Rising might be in order.”
“Father used to take us there.” A light sparked in her eyes. “It’s not far.”
“So, is that a yes?”
“Yes.”
Dom gestured toward the pony cart he’d borrowed from the innkeeper. “I’ve even secured a conveyance.”
“There will be more rain.” Tess tipped her head up to assess the cloud-covered sky. The rain had slowed to a trickle, but there were more dark clouds on the horizon.
“We can endure a bit of rain. Besides, you’re equipped.”He gestured toward the roomy mackintosh coat that obscured all her lovely curves.
“You’re not.”
“I find the rain invigorating. It’s a warm day.” A cool, damp breeze whipped at them as if to call him a liar.
Tess laughed again. “Shall we head off now before it turns torrential?”
