Nearly a Lady by Johnson Alissa

Author:Johnson, Alissa
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: PENGUIN group
Published: 2011-04-18T16:00:00+00:00

Gideon allowed Lilly to fuss over the state of her friend a little before assisting Winnefred to the top of the carriage. Rather than return to his horse, he settled in the seat beside her. Purely for reasons of safety, he assured himself. Winnefred was better off supported between himself and Peter—a bit of logic reinforced when Winnefred’s head nodded and slid onto his shoulder within the first ten minutes.

But no matter how he justified his decision, a small part of him knew the truth. He wanted to be near her. He wanted to watch her sleep. He wanted the reassurance of her warm body next to his.

His world had stopped when he had found her on the ground next to the stream. When she’d whimpered in distress, it had started again with a slow, painful roll of his heart. He would have given anything in that moment to make her well again, anything she wanted. If she’d asked to return to Murdoch House, he would have turned the carriage around, and Lilly and his brother be damned.

And it hadn’t been humor at her illness that had prompted him to laugh when she’d begun to eat. It had been relief, pure and simple.

The extent of his affection for her was unnerving, but he couldn’t find a way around it, couldn’t find a way to lessen the desire just to be near her. He’d tried. Over the last three weeks he’d tried nearly every distraction known to man . . . to the men in Enscrum and the surrounding countryside, at any rate. He’d even thought of finding a pretty, willing woman in Langholm, but he’d not been able to gather any enthusiasm for the idea. That revelation had been particularly disturbing. He had no intention of taking Winnefred Blythe to bed, but he’d be damned if he spent the rest of his life celibate.

Winnefred moaned softly and shifted against him. The blanket he had wrapped around her slipped to her waist. He replaced it carefully, tucking it gently around her shoulders and under her chin. Her skin, he noticed, was slowly losing the color it had regained during their picnic.

He spoke quietly over her head at Peter. “I seem to recall an inn not far from here.”

“Aye, my lord. Not a mile down the road.”

“We’ll rest there for the night.”

Gideon let Winnefred sleep until the inn came into view, then rubbed her shoulder softly and whispered in her ear, just once.

“Winnefred.”

That was all it took. She woke with a start, bolting upright as if she’d been prodded with a hot iron. “What? What is it?”

He couldn’t help but chuckle at her wide-eyed dishevelment. “You wake . . . quickly.”

She looked at him and blinked eyes foggy with sleep. It was a few seconds before her brain seemed to process his words.

“Habit,” was all she said.

His amusement vanished. Two women, alone for years on an isolated farm. Yes, he imagined it was a habit learned quickly and well. The muscles in his jaw clenched until he thought his teeth might crack.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.