2010 by The Smuggler & the Society Bride

Author:The Smuggler & the Society Bride [Smuggler, The & the Society Bride]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2011-08-30T08:26:49+00:00

Chapter Thirteen

Honoria galloped back to Foxeden, arriving sufficiently in advance of sunset that neither the staff nor her aunt appeared to have grown uneasy about her absence. She was relieved her aunt would be calm when they met at dinner, for after her interlude with Mr Hawksworth and Eva, Honoria was unsettled enough for both of them.

She went up to her room to prepare for dinner, then changing her mind, sent Tamsyn off with a request that her aunt meet her in the library before the meal, where they might talk privately. Honoria didn’t want the whole staff buzzing about her plans for Eva before she determined whether or not they were feasible. After finishing her evening toilette, Honoria repaired to the library to wait for her aunt.

Matrons of a more conventional turn of mind might view with disfavour the idea of dealing with such a child, or dismiss the entire project out of hand. But Honoria knew Aunt Foxe would not prejudge Eva or her skill, but thoughtfully consider before giving her opinion on the concept’s value and probability of success.

Anxious as she was to find a way to guarantee a decent income for the Steavens family and make it possible for Laurie to escape the protection of the unsavoury John Kessel, Honoria knew that was not the true reason behind her excess of nerves—but her fraught interlude with a mesmerizing free-trader.

For a moment, she wished the exceptional sketch Eva had produced this afternoon had been a likeness of the captain, so she might have something tangible to remember him by.

Though what could she do with it, if she had obtained one? Hide it in her room, pretending it was just a pleasant example of Eva’s skill? Trying to deny the powerful mix of admiration, desire, curiosity and longing Captain Hawksworth inspired in her?

She hardly needed a portrait of him to prompt her memory or induce sighs, so indelibly seared into her being were his image and actions.

She could scarcely touch her palm against the door handle without a reminiscent shiver—and would probably never be able to eat an orange again without heat suffusing her body. Even envisioning the fruit now without its peel led her to inappropriate, erotic thoughts.

How fortunate that Eva had accompanied them that afternoon, she thought as she entered the library. She’d been attracted to the captain from the first—but never with such powerful intensity as today. Had he kissed her after eating that orange from her palm, she would not have objected. Nay, had she not been so conscious of Eva’s curious gaze upon them, she would have surrendered to the compelling urge to throw her arms around him and pull him close, ravenous to feel his arms around her, his hard, lean body next to hers.

Ravenous for more. She’d burned to explore other, more hidden places—those manly parts she’d seen often enough when swimming with her brother, who’d never troubled to hide his nudity when they were both children. Parts he hadn’t begun

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