Page 48 of Sir Hugo Seeks a Wife
This night is fate.
How deep I yearn.
Athene was waiting in the armchair, when Hugo knocked on the door from the dressing room where he’d retreated after dinner.An excellent dinner that she hadn’t tasted a bite of.Mrs.Treddle’s roast mutton had been wasted on her.It was impossible to think of anything beyond what would happen tonight.
“Come in.”Her throat was so tight that the invitation emerged as a croak.
Even so, Hugo must have heard, because he opened the door.He juggled two glasses and a bottle of claret.They’d finished the champagne after dinner.
She rose to help him, only registering the ostentatious emerald green dressing gown, once the glasses were safe on top of a carved chest.“Goodness me, I feel distinctly underdressed.”
When she’d packed to go away with him, she’d rued how dreary her wardrobe was.Gray, brown or black dresses that helped her fade into the background.Practical white undergarments.A shabby white wrap that she wore now over a plain flannel nightdress.
Hugo smiled and set the bottle down near the glasses.“You’re beautiful whatever you wear.”
She was grateful that he didn’t say anything about taking her clothes off, although she’d given him an opening.He’d been careful with her all evening.At dinner, they’d avoided controversial topics.He’d asked her about working at the shop and she’d heard about his visit to London.While all the time, a completely different conversation flowed beneath the small talk.
I want you.
I want you, too.
You make me burn.
I can’t live without you.
She twined her hands together, unable to keep them still.While she appreciated his consideration, every second heightened her suspense, until she was near jumping out of her skin.The attraction building between them was as taut as a violin string.
“Are we drinking more wine?”She’d had more than her share of the champagne, hoping that it might calm her nerves.It hadn’t.
He shrugged.“If you like.We can sit and talk for a while by the fire.”
“Talk!”she said as if the word was a curse.
He bestowed one of his sweet smiles on her, the ones that dissolved her into a puddle of treacle.“I’d hate you to think I’m only interested in your superlative body.”
Despite her agitation, she couldn’t help smiling back.“You haven’t seen it yet.You might be disappointed.”
“Never.”He approached her.“I love your hair.”
She’d unbound it when she’d undressed.“Thank you.”
He lifted one black lock to let it drift through his fingers.“I’ve imagined what it looks like loose.My fantasies didn’t do you justice.”
She couldn’t resist moving closer.How she wished he’d take her into his arms.She never felt afraid when he held her.“Hugo…”
“Shall we go to bed, my darling?”
“I don’t know why I’m so fidgety.”She swallowed to moisten her parched throat.“I’ve done this before.”
As so often, he was quick to see the vulnerability beneath her pretense at sophistication.“I’ll take care.Trust me.”
“I do.”Nonetheless her hands trembled, as she laid them flat on the cool silk covering his chest.He released a broken breath at the contact, but his arms remained at his sides.
Touching him helped.It always did.She hefted in a shuddering breath that stopped the butterflies in her stomach fluttering quite so high.She’d always been aware of his height and strength.He’d dwarfed her cramped office in Bond Street.Right now, he seemed to tower over her in a way that he never had before.His size didn’t daunt her.It made her feel protected.For so long, she’d had to rely on herself alone.Knowing that Hugo offered her a shield against the world was liberating.
Her anxious gaze raked his sculpted features, finding desire and concern and strain.Under her hands, he vibrated with tension.He was more on edge than he tried to appear.
“I thought you might sweep me away in a rush of passion.”She slid her palms over the bulge of his pectorals, bunching the silk.Beneath the material, his skin was warm.The butterflies settled.
