***
“Charles—” Wells tried to speak but she stopped him short, his mistress stubborn as ever.
“Do not argue with me, Lord Wellesley.” She remained firm. “You are no good to anyone hurt, sick, or dead.” She let out ahuff. “And this likely needs stitching, damn you.” She cleaned the gash at his abdomen with her cloth. “Why did you not seek the doctor’s help?”
“Because he’d worse injuries to treat, woman, now stop fussing.” He didn’t like feeling vulnerable before her. He didn’t like when she had the upper hand.
She met his gaze with a look like flint. “It is my job to tend to you, my lord, and I will do my duty by you, whether you want me to or not.”
“And what of your other duty to me, woman? Your other job which you have neglected entirely of late?” He could no longer hide the hurt he felt at her rejection.
“I am available any time you desire me, my lord. It isyouwho have not sought my company.”
“Liar!” He hissed at the same moment she dug deeper into his gash. “Damn it, Charles, that stings!”
“Forgive me, my lord.” She again made him wince. “I need to clean it.”
“You wish to hurt me,” he grumbled.
“No, Roland, you are hurting yourself.”
She’d said it so softly Wells almost hadn’t heard her, and then he moaned, for she’d turned the cloth to his face, one hand palming his cheek as the other gently wiped blood and dirt from his neck. He wanted so badly to kiss her he ached.
She continued her gentle ministrations as he closed his eyes in pleasure and pain, relishing the touch of her hands on his skin again. And when she carefully removed his shirt altogether, checking his ribs all the way round, he found her touch almost excruciating, searing. It felt like ages since she’d touched him thus, and he longed for so much more.
***
Charles knew she ought to leave—ought to simply bandage his ribs, tuck him into bed, and then check on the men downstairs. But she couldn’t bring herself to go, not yet, not after touching him again after so many days of distance. She wanted to bury her face into the crook of his arm and inhale his musky scent. She wanted to pepper his body with kisses, as he’d attacked her that morning, ages ago. She wanted to hold him to her breast, stroking his unruly mop of hair while curled beside him in his bed. Shewanted.
And this want, it seemed, had a will of its own, for without her bidding Charles’s lips graced his lordship’s forehead, his eyelids, nose, and cheeks. Her lips landed at his own as he gripped her fiercely to him for a far deeper, darker kiss.
“Charles, I am not . . .” His eyes met hers. “I am no good at this, lass, but I want you,needyou tonight.”
“Roland.” She spoke his name as her hand stole back to his cheek, stroking.
“A man is dead because of me, Charles, and two others have lost their limbs. And now I . . .” Lord Wellesley’s face said it all.
“Of course I will stay, my lord. I will always stay if you ask me.” Her lips brushed his again, eliciting another low groan from his chest, before her hands reached down to help him from his trousers. She backed off the bed to lower herself between his thighs, not once taking her eyes from his face, until she bent her head to gently kiss his sex, tenderly taking him into her mouth.
She watched a tear roll down his cheek, surprising her greatly, even as he swelled beneath her tongue. She took him sweetly, lovingly almost, until he spilled himself into her, his release too fast, uncontrolled. And then Charles simply slipped out of her dress to crawl into bed beside him, bringing Lord Wells to her bosom, to cradle him to her. She held him there all night, knowing he needed comfort more than anything else.
She needed him too.
Charles awoke with a start and sat bolt upright. What if she’d been sought in the night and not found in her room, nor found this morning either?
An arm reached to steady her. “It is early yet, Charles. No one missed you.”
“My lord, I must return to my room. If something happened to one of the men . . .”
“I checked on them already. All is well.”
“You did?” She was stunned.
“Around midnight, after you fell asleep. Whatever girl you had on watch was up and tending to them. You did right to hire more hands when you did, woman.”
She flushed at his praise. “Thank you, my lord.”
“What happened toRoland?” He tipped her face to look at him, and she flinched to see his bruises in the daylight.
