Page 23 of Adoringly, Edward
And for a single moment, he was happier than he’d been in a very long time.
VIVIENNE WAS UP to her neck in hot water.
Which could be a good thing, considering her circumstances, but it was also terribly bad. Because she did not want to cause her family scandal. And nothing could be more scandalous than waking up in a man’s arms. In his house. In hisroom. Wearing nothing more than her nightgown to provide her modesty.
But at the same time, she enjoyed how Edward’s pleasant heat seeped into her back. How his long, steady breaths caressed her ear with each exhale. How his strong arm lay draped over her waist, giving her a sense of safety and protection.
At least, she enjoyed it until her stomach heaved violently. This time, she could not keep it down as she launched to her feet, sprinted across the room, and threw the windows open before she retched over the sill.
When she finished, embarrassment climbed into her cheeks in the form of a heated blush as she turned to face Edward, a hand over her mouth.
He stumbled to his feet, his hair splayed in all directions, and a crease of worry between his eyebrows. “Are you all right?” he mumbled. “Shall I fetch a doctor?”
“In your room, Edward?”
After a sweeping glance around himself, he swore. “This is not good. We were not supposed to fall asleep.” But then his worry returned, momentarily replacing the panic. “Are you ill?”
For a long moment, she stared back at him, wanting to tell him the truth. He deserved to know. It was only fair. It was only right. Surely, he would understand just how dire her situation was.
But her mother’s counsel echoed in her mind.“No one, and I repeat no one, is to hear of what you just told me. Not even the father of this child.”
Edward had made it abundantly clear that he didn’t mean to pursue a relationship with her despite her hopes to sway his mind. If she told him of the child, she would be forcing his hand. To either marry her when he didn’t want to or to abandon her and destroy their friendship.
Admittedly, she was scared. Terrified, even. His rejection of her and their child might break her.
So, she lied. Because she was too frightened to tell the truth.
“I must have caught what my mother has.” She made a show of looking around the room to shift the attention away from herself, her gaze landing on the sky outside, becoming lighter with each passing minute. “I apologize. I did not mean to stay the night. Where is the rope? I must return to my chambers at once.”
“I don’t feel comfortable with you climbing back down the tower.” He lowered his voice. “What if you fall?”
“What other way is there?” She placed her hands on her hips. “You never explained whyyouare locked in here yourself. You have conveniently avoided the topic. Edward, you can tell me anything. Are you in trouble?”
“No.” He shook his head. “It’s not like that.”
“Then what?”
But before he could answer, the lock on the door jiggled. She inhaled sharply as Edward grabbed her around the waist and spun her until she found herself within the corner of the door just as it opened, concealing her from whomever resided on the other side.
Peering through the crack behind the door, she barely made out the silhouette of another man. A servant.
“You’re awake!” the servant cried. “I was so worried. It’s been three days, Eddie. Clara has been beside herself. She thought you wouldn’t make it.”
Edward lowered his voice. “What is going on, Cedric? I’ve been asleep. Nothing more. But to think me dying?”
“It happened again,” Cedric replied hesitantly. “But no one could wake you.”
When Edward didn’t answer, the servant entered more fully into the room. Vivienne knew she should round the door quickly before someone caught her. But she needed answers, too.
“What in the nine kingdoms happened here?” Cedric asked as he picked up the comforter and blankets from the ground. “Where are your sheets?”
“I got cold,” Edward lied, and she noticed him kicking a piece of firewood beneath the bed and dropping a pillow over the sheet-rope to hide them from his servant while his back was turned. “So…I burned them.”
Cedric’s mouth slowly fell open with blatant disbelief. “You…burned them.”
“Yes.”
“All of them.”
