Page 47 of A Sight to Behold
“It hurts so much, Pippa. I mustn’t act on my impulse. That’s usually not so bad except that every fiber of my being pushes me to act, yet I know I mustn’t…I wouldn’t allow it.” Nick paused.
“You don’t want me?”
“I want you so much, Pippa, you don’t know how. But if I let myself have you, I’ll ruin you. I’m bad for you, Pippa. And the last thing I’d ever do in the world is to hurt you. I swore the Hippocratic oath: First, do no harm.”
Pippa gave him a serious stare. “I’m not your patient, and I’m not a disease. And it seems that being with me could hurt you much more.”
“That’s not what I said.”
She held her hand out to stop him. “Wait! I’m also not like the others, the haughty aristocrats who think that being with a commoner could somehow be a crime. My grandmother was a commoner, did you know that? Believe me, there’re some gentlemen and ladies who are not so nice once you get to know them.”
Nick stifled a laugh. She was unbelievably well bred, yet her mind was sharper, and her wit had more humor than Socrates combined with Shakespeare’s.
“Plus,” she continued, “whether you may or may not touch me is my decision alone. My father has long lost his say to control my life. In fact, I have more than enough money to look out for my future, my children, and their children. And heed my words, I know very well that it’s improper that I brought you here. What else was I supposed to do to make you seduce me?”
“Ah…” Her patronizing tone was unbelievably alluring, and he wanted nothing more than to simply oblige, kiss her senseless, compromise her thoroughly, and more. But he was so far below her station, he knew that it was a double infringement, seducing a virgin—even though he’d let her believe that she was seducing him—and touching a well-bred lady. He sighed. How could he not though?
“Yes! I want you to! And if a dashing and talented young doctor like you might consider showing me what Violet talked about, I want it. I don’t care if the Ton approves or my father and Wife Six, whichever hole in the ground she crawled out of but it wasn’t a respectable family, I know that for a fact. So what gives them the right to keep me locked up and miserable when I could be happy with you?”
“Wait! Happy with me?”
She nodded heatedly.
Nick had trouble following her speech because it sounded as though she felt inferior to him. That was absurd. “Who’s Violet?”
“What?”
“You said that Violet talked about something I should show you? I don’t know any Violets.”
“Violet is the Countess of Langley. Her husband had surgery. I visited them yesterday, and he appeared to have recovered. He knows Nurse Wendy, so I thought you were his doctor.”
Nick pinched his lips. It was true, but he mustn’t breach his patient’s confidentiality. If the earl told Pippa, that was another story. He could neither confirm nor deny that he was his treating doctor, which he was, of course.
“What did Violet say to you?” he finally asked.
“Argh… she boasted about how her new husband kissed her.”
So it had worked, the young countess had nursed the earl back to health and their relationship had blossomed. Good.
“You know, not on her mouth butdown there.”
What?
Pippa continued, “She said he sent her spiraling into realms of rainbows and stars where she lost her mind. Apparently, they’ve had to stay in bed for days so he could show her all his tricks.”
Nick choked on the air that didn’t reach his lungs, but Pippa hadn’t finished.
“Violet has always had a tendency for drama. I can’t imagine that the earl can make her feel like that.”
“I can.” Nick rubbed the back of his neck. “Is that why you wanted to ask me earlier?”
Pippa paused. “Yes,” she said suddenly in a mousy voice.
Oh, this was going to be fun. Nick’s heart lurched, and he tried to stifle the grin that was bubbling within him.
He cleared his throat. “Let me make sure I understand you correctly. You want me to do something that Violet’s husbanddid to her, because you expect that I know then how to make these rainbows and stars happen if I kiss you…” He didn’t dare speak the words.
“Down there,” Pippa completed his sentence and dropped her head again. Nick was flabbergasted. He mustn’t admit it to keep his patient’s confidentiality, but judging from the Earl of Langley’s experience, he had a rather thorough picture of what his wife had told Pippa. “Do you know what she was talking about?” Pippa asked tentatively.
