Entwined (Darkest London) by Kristen Callihan

Author:Kristen Callihan
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Published: 2013-11-04T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter Ten

Over the years, Lu had been given specific instructions as to what to do upon the night of her wedding. That her father had been the one to give the instructions had been both mortifying and aggravating. His words rang clear in her mind still. “Come to your bed in a gown of white. Wait for him and do as he says. No begging or pleading, girl. You are a Moran, whether you want it or no, and you will do your duty.”

She’d wanted to hit him whenever he spoke of it, to tell him that he could take his well-laid plans and get stuffed. But she’d been under his thumb, and they both knew it. Without money or a man’s protection, a woman’s world was a cold, dark place that often led to pain, degradation, and eventually death. Lu had been too cowardly to run off and try her odds. The unfairness of it had cut into her. Only Aidan’s letters and the promise of his love had staved off her rage. For Aidan, she would have endured anything.

Lu snorted. “See where that hope got you.” Her voice echoed in the cavernous space. The room was dim and cool, the fire’s heat barely reaching the high, canopied bed upon which she sat. Some maid had turned down the covers, and the fine linen was soft against the bottoms of her feet.

Knees tucked against her chest, and her obligatory white nightgown tenting over her legs, Lu had made herself as small as possible. Try as she might, she was frightened, and her heartbeat would not slow.

After Nan had fussed over Eamon and slapped a raw steak straight from the cooler onto the side of his head, they’d had a nice, quiet dinner. Eamon was easy to talk to and quite witty when he let his guard down.

Lu had found herself both comfortable and entertained. Yet all the while, a certain tension had remained between them, for they both knew what this night would bring. He’d left her at her door with a proper kiss to the back of her hand and a promise to see her at the turn of the hour. Lu hadn’t missed how Eamon’s eyes had gone molten blue, or the way his breath quickened to match her own. He wanted her. She understood it instinctively. And she wanted him. Even if she feared the act in equal measure.

Now she waited.

Nan had prepped the room, putting fresh, pure white linens on the bed and placing a large vase of sweet lilies upon the mantel. The clock ticked, and outside the wind groaned. When the clock struck nine, the door snicked open and Lu’s breath grew ragged. She forced it steady as a large shape filled the doorway.

Eamon. He paused for a moment then walked into the room on quiet feet, moving from the shadows into the light of the fire. So very tall. His shoulders broad and straight. He wore a linen nightshirt that reached his knees, and the color set off the mellow tone of his skin and the brightness of his hair.

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