The Unlacing of Miss Leigh by Diane Gaston

Author:Diane Gaston
Language: ron
Format: mobi, epub
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Her touch roused thoughts of sharing her bed and the delights they could create beneath the covers.

She put her hand back in her lap. “Even a spinster wishes to experience life.”

“A spinster?” It seemed the wrong term to describe her, especially when his body ached for her.

She blushed. “I am three and twenty and have no prospects for marriage. As I said, this might be my only chance.”

Graham slanted a glance toward her. “Are you certain you are a vicar’s daughter?”

She laughed. “Yes. I am afraid I am.”

“There is something of this that makes no sense.” Mere curiosity did not explain it, nor sacrifice for a brother.

She looked down at her tea.

There was something she was not telling him, he was certain of it.

“Shall I play the pianoforte for you?” she asked.

“Only if you wish to.” He thought of pressing her for the whole truth. He, however, had no intention of explaining himself to her. He would not tell her he was the younger son of Baron Veall, nor what his regiment had been, nor how his face had been slashed nor how he’d almost died of fever. Better they not truly know each other. Better that this interlude feel like a dream, allowed to fade upon wakening.

She cleared her throat. “Shall I read to you?”

“No.” His mind could not attend a book.

She glanced away and back. “Would you desire to play cards?”

“No, please.” He could not concentrate on cards. His mind was filled with thoughts of bedding her.

She averted her gaze again and sipped her tea. The silence between them stretched on.

He forced himself to speak. “Forgive me.” He could not tell her what consumed him—the thought of undressing her, of running his hands along her bare skin, of plunging inside her and at last feeling release. “I am unused to entertaining.”

“I thought I was to entertain you.” She peered at him. “What did you do in the evenings when you were alone?”

Besides drink? he wanted to say. “I sometimes took walks outside. When it became dark, that is.”

“You walked in the dark?” Her lovely brown eyes widened.

He frowned. “I do not go out in daylight.”

“For fear you will be seen?” She put down her teacup. “That is nonsensical, Graham. Is it not an injury you have, nothing more? It cannot be so dreadful that you must hide in the dark.”

“I will not speak about my injury,” he said through clenched teeth.

“I am persuaded that you ought to talk about it, Graham,” she spoke earnestly. “You have altered your whole life around it.”

“Out of necessity,” he snapped. “Do not presume to advise me on what you know nothing about.”

Her eyes were full of concern. “I want to know of it, Graham,” she said in a quiet voice.

He stiffened. “You want me to remove my mask.”

She nodded. “How else am I to understand?”

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