Wagers and Wallflowers 02 - Marry Me, if You Dare by Clarke Alyssa

Author:Clarke, Alyssa [Clarke, Alyssa]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Romance - Historical
ISBN: 9798506109242
Google: YIQxzwEACAAJ
Amazon: B08N5GRXQV
Publisher: Darkan Press Inc.
Published: 2021-07-15T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eleven

Thaddeus woke to the damp smell of rain. His skin was chilled. His cheek pressed into something soft and musty. Something else dug into his ribs—a woman's stays, as he discovered when he sat up. There was no sign of the woman herself, aside from a couple discarded articles of clothing. His heart jumped into his throat. Still clutching the stays, he shoved himself to his feet. He redressed and combed his fingers through his hair as he searched for and hid all of the evidence of their lovemaking. And there, on the steps leading up to the folly, was a piece of cloth from her gown. It might have hitched on something, and she did not even realize it. That told him she had fled with great haste.

Like a dazed fool, he picked up the tiny piece of cloth. Thaddeus held it in his hands, gut twisting, as he squinted through the gloom to try to guess the time. Not full night. Past that, maybe. He heard a lone robin in the symphony of bird calls around him. He shut his eyes, trying to hear past the beat of his own heart to identify the other bird calls around him. Warblers, whitethroats, goldfinches. Was that a Great Tit, perhaps? The robin did not call again.

That told him it was past dawn. Thaddeus had been more tired than he had realized to sleep through the night on the chaise. On their journey he had slept light at the inns, vigilant in the event any ruffians slipped down the corridor to sneak into the ladies’ room, so he would be aware enough to protect them. With a sigh he opened his eyes and craned his face up to the sky. Clouds still thickly covered the sky, making it difficult to tell from which direction the ambient light came. The house, at the other end of that baffling labyrinth, held pinpricks of light in the windows. Someone in the house was awake. Had Perdie woken and decided to go inside, where she would be warm? He wouldn't fault her for that, except…

Why hadn’t she woken him? Why hadn’t she fully dressed? The entire time he’d known her, she'd worn those breeches beneath her clothes like an act of rebellion. For her to leave them behind boded ill.

Before he thought twice about it, he started down the steps. He tried not to twist the breeches when he so desperately wanted to do something with his hands to release the frustration he felt. Despite passing through the gardens a few hours before, he decided to go around. Better that than find himself hopelessly lost without her.

Even if that was how he felt.

Where had he gone wrong? He’d lost his head, let passion take them too far, to be sure. But even if he hadn’t wanted to stop, he’d taken every opportunity to ensure she made the decision to carry on with him. Oh, how she’d flown. She dug her fingers into his back and wrapped her legs around his hips and moved with him.

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.