Page 81 of More or Less a Countess
And his skin. Smooth, stretched taut over all those hard angles, and dark hair, just enough to be intriguing but not enough to overwhelm, and…
Nipples.Strangely tempting.
Violet jerked her gaze away, her face bursting into flame.
“Lady Dare? I asked you a question. What are you doing in my bedchamber?”
His voice had deepened to a low rasp and her skin prickled with awareness. “I thought we might…that is, I thought you might…”
“Yes? You thought I mightwhat, my lady?”
Was she imagining the suggestive note in his voice? “Take me on a tour of the estate. Your aunt showed me the gardens and the house yesterday, while you were…otherwise engaged, but I’d like to see the park, as well.”
It was the wrong thing to ask, because Nick’s face went hard. “Have my aunt take you today, then. She’s far more enthusiastic about the place than I could ever be.”
No, his tone was not at all suggestive, or even friendly. It was dismissive. Violet’s chin rose a notch. “I’d prefer to go with you, my lord.”
His gray eyes narrowed. “You’d best get accustomed to disappointment, Lady Dare. I’m fatigued, and don’t choose to ride out today.”
Today, or any day.
He didn’t say it, but Violet could see Nick’s future unfolding before her eyes as clearly as if she were looking into a gypsy’s glass ball. He’d spend his days sleeping and his nights drinking until, inevitably, he put a child in her belly, and once he did, he’d leave England and never return.
She didn’t doubt he was fatigued. Despair led to a numbing, exhausting inertia, and if she let him succumb to it today, it would be that much more difficult to rouse him tomorrow. But how to convince him? He clearly considered the matter settled, because he’d already disappeared back under the coverlet.
This courtship wasn’t going at all well.
Violet turned back toward the door with a frown, ready to retreat and marshal her forces for the next day, but she paused with her hand on the door.
That day he’d taken her to Execution Dock, he’d insisted on standing between her and the Thames while she took her sketch. His brow had furrowed with increasing anxiety with every step she’d descended, until at last he’d sacrificed his boots to a watery ruin to position himself so he’d catch her if she slipped.
His lordship might feign indifference, but underneath it he hid a fiercely protective streak. Perhaps it wasn’t quite fair to use such a noble trait against him, but itwasfor his own good.
“Very well, my lord.” Violet took care to keep her tone bland. “I beg your pardon for disturbing you. I can tour the estate alone. If I’m back by teatime, perhaps we can—”
She didn’t get any further.
“What the blazes do you mean?” He shot upright in bed and fixed her with a ferocious glare. “You willnottour the estate alone, Lady Dare.”
“Why ever not?” Violet lifted her shoulder in a shrug, and did her best not to stare at his glorious chest, which was once again on display. “Now I think on it, it’s been ages since I’ve had a ride alone in the country. It sounds just the thing.”
“You’ll take my aunt and a groom with you, my lady, or you won’t go at all.”
“Oh, no. I’m afraid that won’t do. Your aunt is fatigued from the journey yesterday, and intends to spend the day resting.” Violet bit her lip guiltily, but then she didn’t know for certain it was a lie. Perhaps Lady Westcottwasfatigued. “And I prefer a solitary ramble. But you needn’t concern yourself, my lord. I’m an accomplished rider.”
He snorted. “You could be the bloody cavalry, and I still wouldn’t permit you to ride out alone.”
Violet jabbed her hands onto her hips. “The cursing is unnecessary, my lord, and as to my riding alone, you’re being silly. I’ll be perfectly fine—”
“Silly!” He sputtered with indignation. “There’s nothing silly about—”
“Oh, go back to sleep, my lord.” Violet turned her back on him and reached for the door again, but before she could open it, his low growl stopped her.
“Not one step further, Lady Dare.”
Violet heard a rustling as the bedcovers were tossed to the floor, and pressed her face against the door to hide a smile.
* * * *
