Page 40 of Lady of Charade
“Very true,” he said. “I find it difficult to sleep in a new place.”
“You never seemed to have any issue in my rooms,” she said, smiling into his chest. “Your snores certainly proved otherwise.”
He laughed then, a true, hearty laugh, one she enjoyed listening to.
“I do not snore.”
“You do.”
“You wound me, Sarah,” he said, with a hand against his chest in mock pain, but then shook his head as he turned serious. “Would you like an escort back to your room?”
“I shouldn’t,” she said, pushing away from his chest and sitting up now. “Someone could see us.”
“I shall be most discreet,” he responded, his hand now molding over his heart in a promise, and she sighed and smiled.
“Very well,” she said. “Though then, of course, you will know where to find me in the future.”
“You have determined my ulterior motives all too well,” he said with a feigned sigh, and she laughed but then stood, holding her hand out to him.
“Come,” she said, and he followed along beside her, one arm on the small of her back. It felt altogether too right, but as much as she knew she should put some space between them, she was enjoying the feeling of it more than she wanted to admit.
“Where to, my lady?” he asked with a smile, and she shook her head and scolded him.
“I am not a lady.”
“You are, in all the ways that matter,” he said breezily.
She knew he said the words with levity, yet they warmed Sarah right through, with even the possibility that he could see her in such a way. She caught him looking over at her, but she ducked her head to hide what she was sure were pink cheeks.
“So tell me,” she said as they climbed the stairs, “Did you find what you were looking for upon Lord Berkley’s shelves?”
“Not quite,” he said with a sigh, “For I was seeking a book of sonnets with which to woo you.”
“You were not!” she said with a laugh, and then looked at him with a more serious gaze. “Besides, I’m sure you already have all the lines.”
“Not for a woman like you, I don’t,” he said, shaking his head with a sigh, and then gestured down the corridor when they reached the landing. “Which direction shall we take?”
“This way,” she pointed. “And hush, now. We do not need the entire house to assume we are having some late night liaison.”
“Oh, are we not?”
“No,” she said in whispered tones, swatting at him. “I should, in fact, be returning to my roomsalone.”
“I am escorting you like any gentleman would,” he said, and she rolled her eyes at him, and then held a finger up to her lips when she heard voices from within one of the rooms they were passing.
He said nothing until she stopped in front of her doorway.
“Here I am,” she said, suddenly feeling quite awkward, unsure of whether or not to invite him in. She knew she shouldn’t and yet…
“Goodnight,” he said, making the decision for her, and leaned in to place his lips upon hers. The kiss couldn’t be called chaste, for he lingered far too long and tasted her ever so slightly, but it was a promise of more to come.
When David pulled back, his eyes were dark and hungry, but all he did was smile, nod, and take his leave.
CHAPTER18
David awoke the next day with a renewed sense of purpose. While they had hardly spoken of anything of consequence, his interlude with Sarah last night had been one that reassured him, providing him with a sense that everything would be all right between them, would it not? She had joked with him, had laughed with him, and surely there was nothing that they could not overcome together.
He was well aware that she had desired him as much as he did her, but as much as he wanted to make love to her again — whether within the library or upon the return to her rooms — he had settled with a brief kiss goodnight. He was worried about giving her the impression that all he wanted from her was to come together physically once more. Then there was, of course, the potential of being discovered, but that he was willing to risk.
