A mad thought took hold. She didn’t have to wonder if he’d done as promised. She could verify the truth for herself. So long as he slept, he’d be none the wiser. What would be the harm of tiptoeing into his chamber and peeking into the teapot?
Blood singing in her veins, she eased toward the open doors. Heat pooled in her belly the closer she got to the threshold. She drew a shuddering breath and resisted the urge to laugh at herself for her newfound, decidedly wanton inclinations.
For the first time, she thought she might understand the idiocy of moths.
Chapter Seven
Moonlight guiding herway, Georgina crept from the balcony into the guest chamber where Teddy slept, timing her footsteps with the crashing waves below.
Hands held out before her, she made her way, inch by slow inch, to the table where she’d left the tea tray. Her fingers brushed ceramic and metal. She dared not fiddle with the pot. She opted, instead, to poke her fingers into the cup itself. Relief flooded her when she encountered night-chilled liquid at the bottom, remnants of Teddy’s medicinal drink.
He had drunk the tea. She’d been so afraid she’d erred, pulling him from Brook Haven where he was assured of getting proper medical treatment, by hook or by crook.
She pivoted slowly and peered toward the bed, gratified by the sight of the large man atop the medium sized bed, and the sure sounds of Teddy’s slow and steady breaths, in and out, in and out.
She glanced outside, then back at him. She simply could not resist one close look. Swallowing over a throat gone suddenly dry, she tiptoed to stand beside the bed.
Dear Heaven. He’d flung his arms up over his head and had pushedoff most of his bed covers, leaving his upper torso, the hint of one hip, and long, sinewy leg, bent at the knee, bare.
He was beautifully made. Broad shoulders tapered down to a trim waist. The lean, sculpted muscles of his pectorals and abdomen gleamed in the silvery moonlight. Her gaze trailed the dark line of hair from his navel narrowing toward his pelvis and disappearing beneath the bedcovers. If he shifted, if the covers moved even an inch…She drew a shuddering breath and knew a longing so profound it threatened to buckle her knees.
She had to get out of here before she went totally mad. Never taking her eyes off him, she backed toward the open doors.
His soft urgent moan stopped her in her tracks. His head began to turn to and fro on the pillow, and then garbled words spilled from his lips. “No…no, wait.” The desperate plea sounded torn from his depths.
Without thinking, she hastened to his bedside and crouched beside him.
“Drake…no.Damn it, no.” His arms crashed down to his sides and he grappled with the covers, legs kicking. “No,” he said again, louder, and somehow the single syllable conveyed a world of anguish.
“Shh,” she breathed, smoothing her palm over his forehead. His skin was hot and slightly damp.
He moaned and opened his eyes, then turned his head to stare at her. Somehow she knew he was not seeing her, but was still caught in the dream.
“I’m sorry. I’m sorry…all my fault…Drake,” He pinched his eyes shut as if trying to blot out the vision.
Georgina cupped his face between her hands and a shudder rolled through him. “It’s all right, darling. You’re only dreaming. It’s all right,” she whispered.
His eyes opened again. This time, when he looked at her, she saw the light of recognition and dawning confusion.
She withdrew her hands.
“Georgina?” he croaked. “What are you doing here?”
He didn’t sound angry so much as confounded.
“You were having a dream,” she said.
He frowned. “There’s a funny thing about dreaming.”
“What’s that?”
He slid her an accusing glance. “It means a person is sleeping. Do you always sneak into a person’s chamber as he sleeps?”
She decided not to answer that. “You were having a bad dream. Calling out. I was worried.”
“I’m fine.” A visible shudder rippled through him, belying his words.
Rising to her feet, she went unerringly to the basin, picked up one of the small hand towels she’d stacked there, and poured cool water over it. She wrung out the excess and returned to his side.
