Page 41 of A Dark and Stormy Knight
“I thought so.” His hands clasped behind his back in a regimental pose and they stood like that, staring at each other for longer than was comfortable.
It struck her in that moment how little she knew this man. How little she understood him.
He stood like a soldier, but wore white-tie finery. Just today he’d been a blackmaileranda bridegroom. He was a Chief Inspector. A vigilante. A knight. Her lover. A husband.
Herhusband. One who had certain rights. One to which she had certain marital duties.
Despite herself. Despite everything, a little flutter of excitement spread through her belly.
“Well.” Morley cleared his throat and skirted nearly the entire room to avoid her in a controlled dash for the door. “Good evening to you.”
“Good evening?” She parroted his words back to him as a question. Wasn’t this their wedding night? “Where are you going? That is…are you…coming back?”
He stopped in the doorframe, his wide shoulders heaving with a long breath before he slowly made an about-face to regard her with a strange and vigilant wariness. “Only a base creature would expect you submit to the marriage bed after such a traumatizing few days.” His expression turned hesitant. “You don’t know me very well, but I assure you, I am not a man who is prone to—the kind of behavior I demonstrated upon the night we met.”
The realization that he was being considerate warmed Pru a little. “It seems that night was out of character for us both.”
His eyes skittered away. “Yes. A hard-won lesson of our mutual folly.”
Something about that statement tempted her to argue but she could find no words. “I appreciate your consideration, and you’re correct. I don’t know you at all…” Pru fiddled with her wedding ring as she took a tentative step forward, latching on to an idea. “Perhaps you could stay for a while. We could talk. We could…become acquainted. I don’t relish the idea of being alo—”
He retreated a step to hers, shaking his head decisively. “I’ve work to do.”
Pru frowned. “Work? You mean… as the Knight of Shadows?”
“Among other things.” His features locked down and everything about him became as hard as granite, including his voice. “You do realize if you utter a word about the so-called Knight of Shadows, the house of cards I’ve managed to build around you will collapse entirely. Any notions of ruining me will only lead to your own damnation.”
Perhapsthiswas why he’d been so cold. So distant. He thought she might reveal his secrets to the world, thereby ruining his life. He hadn’t cause to know otherwise, it wasn’t as though they’d a relationship built on trust.
“I’d never,” Pru vowed. “You have my word.”
She tried not to let it hurt her feelings that her word didn’t seem to allay him in the slightest. “Very good.” He gave her a stiff nod that might have been a bow, and his weight shifted to take a step away.
“Wait!” she called, evoking the brackets of a deepening frown.
“What else is it, Miss Goode? I did not lie when I said I had duties to attend.”
The irritation in his voice stung her sinuses with the threat of overwhelming emotion. She turned from him, grateful to have a reason. He’d called her Miss Goode, as if he’d forgotten that she’d taken his name.
“My buttons,” she croaked huskily. “They’re in the back and if I haven’t a lady’s maid… I can’t reach them.”
She waited in the silence with bated breath until, finally, the creak of the floorboards announced his approach.
Prudence tightened her fists in her skirts and forced herself to be still as his fingers found the top button of her plaid, high-necked gown and released it. Gooseflesh poured over her and a little tremor spilled down her spine as he was unable to avoid brushing the upswept hair at the nape of her neck.
She closed her eyes again, swamped with an overwhelming longing. Gods, she wanted him to hold her.
No, not exactly. Nothim. Not this wary creature of starchy reticence and wary silence. Buthim.The Knight of Shadows. She’d never felt as safe and marvelous as she had in his arms. Clutched to him. Pinned beneath him. Clenched around him.
Was he gone from her forever?
Had he ever truly existed at all?
She listened for his breath, and realized he held it.
The buttons gave way beneath his deft motions and she couldn’t seem to summon words until he’d made it below her shoulder blade. Then everything she was thinking burst out of her like a sneeze.
“It’s only that I have so many questions and so many fears that I feel I will die if I don’t knowsomething. Can’t you understand how that feels? Is my life in London over? My reputation ruined? Does everyone think me capable of murder? What about George’s funeral, I’ll be expected to attend, won’t I? Unless everyone thinks I killed him, then… Oh God. And what about you? Everyone will think—”
