Page 75 of The Duke's Inconvenient Bride
Once she was fully nude, he reached for her as if to carry her again.
“I can walk,” Emma said.
He narrowed his eyes. “You may damage the ankle further.”
He wound one of his arms around her back, the other beneath her thighs, and lifted her. She flinched when she came into contact with his clothes, which were still soaking wet and chilled.
“You need to get out of those,” she said.
“I will as soon as you’re in the bath.”
He carried her through the door opposite the one that led to his bedroom, into her private bathing chamber. The tub stood in the center of the room, filled nearly to the brim with steaming water. He lowered her into the tub, submerging his arms as he did so, and set her down with the utmost care.
Tears sprang to her eyes. Against all odds, this union was becoming something to cherish. She yearned for his affection and would eagerly gobble up every little sign of it.
She tensed as the hot water started her blood circulating properly again, and her numb fingers and toes became prickly and uncomfortable. She screwed up her eyes so the tears that had gathered in them wouldn’t fall.
Suddenly, Vaughan withdrew his touch. She watched as he yanked off his own clothes, apparently not caring that his shirt tore. When he was bare, she saw that goose bumps had rippled over his skin.
The tingling of Emma’s extremities was beginning to fade. She pushed herself to one end of the tub and wrapped her arms around her legs.
“Get in,” she said. “You need to warm up too.”
Under other circumstances, sharing a bath with him might have seemed scandalous, but they were clearly both focused on comfort right now.
“Shift down,” Vaughan said.
Instead of getting in at the opposite end of the tub, as she’d assumed, he dangled his feet into the water behind her back, hissing at the contact. When she wriggled down as he’d asked, he slipped in behind her.
His arms encircled her waist, and he drew her backward so that she sat between his thighs, her back pressed to his chest, similar to when they’d been on horseback.
“Damn, that hurts,” he muttered. Then, “Excuse the cursing.”
Her lips twitched with amusement. He’d said plenty of other curses during their intimate moments. Strange how he seemed to forget that the rest of the time.
He reached past her to grab the cup from the table beside the tub. He scooped water with it and tilted her head back. She closed her eyes and relaxed as he poured the water over her hair. His fingers worked the tangles out, going slowly so as not to hurt her.
When he’d thoroughly rinsed her hair, he replaced the cup on the table and used the scented soap to work up a lather on his hands.
“Ah, so this is why you always smell of vanilla,” he mused, his hands gliding over her shoulders and arms, gently cleaning her.
“I didn’t know you’d noticed.”
His breath tickled her ear as he murmured, “I notice everything about you.”
A thrill shot through her. But just as she tried to turn and kiss him, she put pressure on her ankle, and it throbbed again.
“Careful,” he said. “Don’t move too much.”
Once he’d soaped her, he cleaned himself, and then they soaked in the warm water until Daisy knocked on the door and announced that the doctor had arrived.
Vaughan slung one of his legs over the side of the tub and levered himself out. Emma made to follow, but he gestured for her to stay put. He dried himself briskly, left the room, and came back only seconds later with a change of clothes that his valet must have left outside. He dressed, rolled his sleeves up, and held out his hand to her.
“Let’s get you sitting on the edge, so you aren’t stressing the ankle,” he said.
She allowed him to manhandle her into position, then perched on the edge while he grabbed a fresh towel and ran it over her legs. He helped her stand and took most of her weight while he rubbed the towel over her torso and down her arms.
She bit her lip as his proximity and the sensation of the towel against her nipples caused heat to rush to her core. She counted her breaths, focusing on keeping them regular so he wouldn’t know the effect he was having on her. It wasn’t the time for that.
