She bit her lip to keep the words from spilling out, to stop herself confessing with her mouth what her traitorous body could not withhold even knowing he was sending her away.
His triumphant shout as he spilled his hot seed into her seemed to punctuate his victory over her. She wanted to weep in that moment, though not with regret, but joy. It made no sense. Love made no sense.
Still buried inside her, he lowered her feet to the floor. For several minutes, they stood like that, bodies linked in the most intimate way possible, hearts pounding almost as one, the scents of their lovemaking filling the air around them.
Finally, he heaved a heavy sigh, then he spoke, his words a low rumble in her ear. “I truly must depart before the daylight is no more and I’m forced to spend the night off the island.”
She nodded, but snuggled closer.
“Think of this when you pack for your holiday, madam wife, and let us hear no more of your wish to extend our time apart.”
“Why not? You find me a hindrance.”
“Ah.”
In one fell swoop, she’d undermined all her efforts to prove herself unaffected by his rejection. An idiot would hear the sullen inference in her words, and Sterling was no idiot.
“Annabelle—”
“Never mind. Go.” Humiliated, ashamed, she tried to disentangle herself from him and push him away. To no avail. He held her fast.
“I will speak as plainly as I know how. I strongly oppose you remaining overlong in Harrogate without me. When we return to London, I would have you by my side, on my arm, and in my bed.”
Her heart seemed to skip a beat. Several beats. He wanted her with him. If that was true, then why was he casting her aside, now?
“Why?”
“Because you are my wife.”
Disappointment swamped her. Her own fault, of course. She knew better than to harbor expectations. What was she to him but what she’d been groomed to be? A pretty face, a boon to make others envy him, an object to be desired.
And, at times, a hindrance.
“I will consider your request to join you…from Harrogate,” she told him, tightly.
“Request,” he scoffed. Then his expression softened. “Consider well, madam wife. I think you know I enjoy you, Annabelle, and have no wish to be deprived.”
Heenjoyedher. No wish to be deprived. Like a child with his favorite toy? Or was he implying something more?
She told herself to stay silent, but the evidence of her own weakness for the man spilled from her lips, nonetheless. “Why, then, are you sending me away?”
He straightened, righting his clothing as he edged backward toward the door. “It is a matter of expedience. Nothing more. And Annabelle?”
Hope flared to life in her chest before she could stop it. “Yes?”
“Kindly refrain from going out during my absence.” In the next moment, he was gone.
Chapter 35
After she was certain Sterling had departed, Annabelle ventured downstairs to the parlor to join her sister-in-law for afternoon tea, as had become their practice.
Caroline was already seated in the armchair she typically favored. Upon noting Annabelle’s arrival, she set the leather-bound novel she’d been perusing aside, and sent her a genial smile. “Good afternoon, dear. Shall I pour?”
“Please,” Annabelle replied, attempting a chipper tone. She took the adjacent chair and righted her skirts. “I suppose Sterling told you of the plans he made for the two of us in light of his steward’s delay?”
“He did,” Caroline said as she filled Annabelle’s cup. The scent of rich cocoa filled the air. She added a thick dollop of cream before offering Annabelle her beverage. “Are you”—she hesitated—“looking forward to the journey?”
Annabelle sipped. “Did you think I would not?”
