Page 58 of A Dark and Stormy Knight
Gads, what if she’d pulled it over on top of her?
Suddenly he was very aware how dangerous a home could be to a woman and child.
“You don’t have to stay, you know,” she said, arranging the covers in a prim display. “It’s dark. You may go about your…your work as the Knight of Shadows.”
He took the watch chain from his vest and checked it. “There’s no chance of me leaving tonight.”
“I don’t know how many times I have to tell you, there’s hardly a reason to fret,” she insisted.
“Oh? And from what distinguished institution did you get your medical degree, Doctor Morley?” He scowled at her. “I just found mywifecrumpled on the floor; if that’s not a time to fret, I can think of none better. So you will submit to an examination or—”
“Or what?” she asked around a wry smile. “You’ll have me thrown in jail?”
That surprised a sharp snort of mirth from him. “Don’t tempt me.”
A red-faced Bart arrived with the doctor, a beakish gentleman with a gentle manner, interrupting further conversation between them.
Morley hovered as his wife was examined, palpated, and interrogated all in time for the doctor to declare that she and the child were likely in little to no danger of miscarriage. After advice was given and a draught administered, Morley left his wife’s side long enough to pay the man and walk him out.
He stopped to fortify himself with several scorching swallows of Ravencroft Scotch before returning to her room.
Only to find her sleeping peacefully.
Her dark hair flared on the pillow, shining like a phantom halo of ebony around her delicate features. Her hand was draped next to her cheek, relaxed into a little cup, as if he might give her something precious.
A stark pang of yearning pierced him as the smooth side of his bed beckoned to him. Here she was, a strange and seductive fantasy sleeping the sleep of the innocent.
And she was his.
A dark desire welled within him with such ferocity he shuddered with it. He wanted to own her. To claim her, body and soul. To plant himself inside of her and pleasure her until she was mindless, until she was boneless, replete with satisfaction.
He wanted to feed her from his hands. To nourish her and the life within. He wanted to buy her things to adorn her loveliness. Gems and ribbons, silk and precious metals. A storm of errant whims and desires swirled and eddied within him until he felt as though his flesh could no longer contain the strength of it.
He. Wanted. Her.
He wanted…everything.
“Don’t tempt me,” he whispered once more.
He’d meant it in jest before, but now it was a plea.
She was nothing but a temptation. One he couldn’t resist for much longer. One that could bring his entire world down upon him.
And still he’d use the last of his bloody, broken remains to shelter her.
Chapter 13
Less than a handful of days later, it’d taken Prudence and Mercy the better part of three hours to comb over their father’s study, library, and personal belongings before they had finally stumbled upon the documents she’d been searching for.
Mercy was the perfect partner to rely upon for this assignment. She was fleet-footed, quick-witted, and always up for an adventure. Or, as she’d dubbed their vocation, acaper, a word she’d claimed to have purloined from the detective novels she was almost never without.
“Do you really feel like this will help clear your name, Pru?” Mercy worried. “I don’t see what father’s business could possibly have had to do with Sutherland’s death.”
“Probably nothing,” Prudence agreed, carefully filing the papers away in a case. “But if I can provide my husband means with which to further his investigation into the illegal goods being smuggled into the city—to find the truth about father—I think it’ll go a long way to establish trust between us.”
Mercy sobered, a glimmer of doubt reaching through her eyes. “Pru…what if the truth is that our father is guilty? It would kill poor Mama. And…the rest of us would be ruined.”
Prudence had abandoned the briefcase to gather her sister close. “Don’t think I haven’t thought of that,” she soothed. “Our father is many things, but he is a principled, law-abiding man. I’m hoping the truth clears the Goode name. And, in the unlikely event my husband somehow uncovers his guilt…”
