Page 38 of The Devil of Clan Sinclair
Until today she honestly doubted when people called her attractive. Her father’s money meant most people were blind to her flaws. Now, however, her pink cheeks accentuated the odd paleness of her eyes and the fullness of her lips. She looked like she held a delicious secret, one that amused her.
Dusting off her black leather shoes, she slipped them on and laced them, feeling her excitement mount.
For the first time in her life she was going to do what she truly wished and not what someone had planned for her.
Chapter 11
When the knock came, Virginia thought it was the maid returning with an answer. But when she opened the door, Macrath stood there, smiling at her.
“I was sorry to hear you were taken ill,” he said, holding out his hand for her.
“It was a sudden thing.”
“I, too, have a need to rest.”
“Have you?”
“It’s come upon me suddenly.”
“Perhaps it’s contagious,” she said.
“I suspect it is, but limited only to us.”
They smiled at each other in perfect accord.
“I haven’t taken you from your experiments, have I?”
“They’ll always be there,” he said. “You won’t.”
She pushed that thought away as she placed her hand in his.
Would it be untoward to tell him how wonderful she felt? She was aware of herself in a way she’d never before been. Her breasts were sensitive; she was conscious of the contours of her lips. She remembered every single spot he’d kissed, praised, and worshiped with his fingers, and gloried in all of it.
Reaching up, she pressed her fingers against his cheek, her thumb tracing the edge of his bottom lip.
“I would not trade last night and this morning for anything. I want to thank you for it,” she said.
He grabbed her hand, curving the fingers inward toward the palm, and kissed her knuckles.
“Virginia,” he said softly. Just her name, spoken with such tenderness that she felt her heart expand.
How could he nearly bring her to tears with a glance?
Shame enveloped her, pushed her to confess. The minute she said the words, he’d send her away, she knew that well enough. But she’d already transgressed. What was wrong with another sin, one of omission?
“Come with me,” he said.
“Where are we going?”
“If we’re supposedly ill, I think we should avoid my staff, don’t you? Perhaps we’ll explore the woods or walk in the tide. I’ve so many things I want to show you.”
With that twinkle in his eye, she would go anywhere with him.
“Lead on, MacDuff,” she said, smiling brightly at him.
His laughter warmed her heart. “Macbeth?”
“My father insisted on a varied curriculum. I can even operate a sextant, a compass, and I know how to build the fire.”
