Secrets, Scandals, and Scorn: A Regency Romance Box Set by Quenby Olson

Author:Quenby Olson [Olson, Quenby]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: World Tree Publishing
Published: 2019-09-10T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter Fifteen

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Emily awoke to the sound of water sloshing followed by the clink of metal against crockery. She had no wish to open her eyes and put an end to the previous night, but William’s absence in the bed was noticeable, her skin prickling with gooseflesh each time she stretched out a limb and encountered the cool sheets beside her.

She rolled onto her side, towards the edge of the bed, and found her husband standing over the washbasin, his head tilted to one side as he carefully scraped his razor along the edge of his jaw. There was something mesmerizing about his movements, the swish of the blade through the water, the glint of light on the metal as he raised it to his face, half of his chin still white with lather.

What a pleasure it would be, she thought, to awake like this every morning, to watch William at his daily ablutions while she yawned and blinked the last of the sleepiness from her eyes. She smiled then, at the realization that there was nothing preventing each and every morning from beginning in such a way, that from this day onward, their every night would be spent together.

William wiped the last of the soap from his face and turned, his own eyes widening slightly upon learning that he had an audience. “I thought you were asleep,” he admitted, and pushed a still-damp hand through his hair. He was dressed for the most part, though his shirt had yet to be tucked into his trousers and his collar hung open, revealing a broad expanse of his upper chest. Emily’s gaze drifted along the line of his throat, of his collarbone, of his shoulder, before a faint blush warmed her cheeks and she glanced at the wall behind him.

“There’s too much to be done for me to sleep the day away.” She sat up, the covers sliding down from her shoulders. It had not been a movement intended to distract William from his current task, but it wasn’t until the sheet pooled around her waist that she recalled her lack of clothing from the previous night.

She paused, one hand reaching out, ready to snatch at the blanket and cover herself again before she realized she no longer suffered from the same shyness that had afflicted her during the first few days of their marriage. But then, William was now her husband. Not only because of vows exchanged in a church before her family, but because of the night they had spent together, their first—truly—as man and wife.

Her nightdress sat on the floor, a pile of fabric tangled with William’s clothing, everything that had been so hastily discarded after he’d carried her up to the bedroom in the middle of the night. Abandoning the warmth of the bed, she stepped over the clothing and padded barefoot to her trunk.

She sensed William’s gaze on her, and her skin warmed at the attention. Without looking up, she selected her clothing

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