Page 82 of The Moonstone Hero
He was scheduled to visit the Royal Army Hospital today. As usual, Ella had insisted on accompanying him. Not that he minded, for she made each day bearable. The nights were another matter, because this was when he missed her most. His sleep was always restless, and he longed to have her soft body next to him. He longed to breathe in her scent and wake to her fairy-pool eyes and her smile each morning.
It was now late November, and the weather had turned decidedly cool and blustery. Caden’s cloak swirled around his legs as he walked up to Ella’s residence on the now-familiar square of elegant townhouses in Belgravia.
“Good morning, my lord,” the Stockwell butler intoned, and immediately allowed him in.
“Good morning, Merrick. It is colder than usual today. Seems winter will soon be upon us.” Caden had just stepped inside and was standing in the entry hall exchanging a few more words with the butler when Ella breezed downstairs.
“Oh, that is a chill wind,” she said, giving a little shiver as she walked toward him.
“Good morning, love.” He gave her a respectful kiss on the cheek, although his thoughts were not at all respectful. That little shiver of hers made him ache to have her in his bed. He thought of her response to the intimacy they would share, and the things he would teach her. He longed to make her shiver with pleasure and moan his name.
The day was cold, but his body began to heat.
He shook out of his thoughts that would have Ella blushing if she had any idea what was going through his mind. “We ought to hurry, or we’ll be late.”
“I won’t be a moment. Oh, and Imogen wanted to join us. You don’t mind, do you?”
He groaned. “Doesn’t she have an art lesson or something?”
Imogen skipped downstairs, carrying her cloak and gloves. She was sporting a jaunty hat atop her head that resembled a Scottish tam. “No, I don’t have an art lesson or something. I’m coming with you. You’ll just have to endure my company.”
Ella cast him a helpless look. “Papa insisted on it.”
“As he always does,” Caden muttered, not used to being so restrained and not liking it at all. Well, it really was Ella underrestraint, and considering all the things he ached to do to her, he supposed it was warranted. “What’s in the bag, Imogen?”
Ella’s sister was dangling a cloth pouch on her arm. “Ella mentioned the soldiers we are visiting belong to a Scottish regiment. She thought it would be a nice gesture if we wore these traditional Highlands shawls while going around the ward.”
“I hope they take it as a sign of respect,” Ella added. “We weren’t sure which clans these tartans represented, if any. We may set off an uproar if we’ve chosen the wrong ones.”
Caden arched an eyebrow, but he was pleased. “The clans are intermingled in the Scots regiments. They will appreciate the gesture.”
She cast him one of her beautiful smiles. “Well, we’re wearing our sturdy walking boots and can make a run for it if we are wrong.”
He laughed. “I think you and Imogen will be quite safe.”
He marveled at Ella’s considerate nature, for that feminine touch would mean so much to the homesick, injured soldiers. She had a genuine kindness that just flowed out of her. She still did not understand how special she was, how effortlessly she touched the heart of every injured soldier with her smile.
He helped Imogen into his carriage and then assisted Ella, holding on to her far longer than was necessary because he could not get enough of holding her. She knew what he was doing and glanced back at him, smiling. “Merrick is going to tattle on you to my father,” she teased.
The sun shone on her golden hair and her eyes sparkled in amusement as he helped her into his carriage and then settled beside her.
She looked up at him.
Those glorious fairy eyes.
“I am going to kiss you senseless if you do not stop looking at me that way,” he said.
Imogen gasped and then giggled.
Ella poked Caden’s arm lightly. “Now she is going to tattle on you to my father.”
Imogen did not realize her sister was jesting, and her expression turned to one of dismay. “Oh, Ella. I never would!”
After assuring her sister she was only teasing, they turned to the more serious topic of their hospital visit. It seemed the brisk weather also made everyone move briskly, and it was not very long before they arrived at their destination. Caden’s grandfather and a group of men he recognized as low-level politicians were already at the hospital awaiting them. Also present were a horde of reporters. “Bollocks. What are they doing here?”
A small, priggish man approached them as they entered. “I am sorry, my lord. But someone should have told you. No ladies allowed.”
“That is nonsense.” Caden had been clear when making arrangements that Ella would accompany him. By the smug look on his grandfather’s face, he realized the old man had gotten to the little prig and bribed him. “Who are you?”
