Page 90 of The Moonstone Pirate
“Elmer will find one for you after I’m done stitching you up,” Dr. Hewitt assured him, and then proceeded to work with quiet efficiency. Elmer also appeared to be experienced, for the doctor and the lad merely exchanged nods at every step while they worked on him, each one knowing exactly what needed to be done.
Imogen returned while the doctor was applying the last of his stitches. The tray she carried held a pitcher of cider and three glasses. She set it down on a small table beside Deandra’s bed, sighed softly, and then sat down beside Deandra’s prone form. “Shall I pour you a drink?”
Draco’s cousin, who had been lying quietly with the damp cloth over her eyes, uttered a barely audible “yes” and sat up.
Draco watched Imogen pour a glass for each of them, then saw no more as Elmer drew a curtain between the two beds. “You are shirtless, my lord. It isn’t appropriate for the ladies to see you this way.”
He nodded.
Imogen had already seen him without a shirt, but it was not something to be announced to others unless he meant to ruin her reputation.
Of course, he would marry her and put an end to any scandal.
But this was not what Imogen wanted or deserved. She deserved to be courted with roses and waltzes and strawberry tarts. She deserved to be kissed in a moonlit garden and told he loved her.
She deserved moonstones glowing.
He would give her all of it as soon as his assignment was completed.
The doctor did not take long to finish sewing him up. The wound hurt like blazes, but it could have been worse. The ballhad torn clear through his arm and not lodged in the bone or between ligaments.
“There, all done.” Dr. Hewitt also applied a salve atop the stitches. “Elmer, bandage him up, then find him a shirt. My lord, in the meanwhile, lie back and rest. You’ll need some laudanum for the pain. I’ll give you a dose in a few minutes and provide a vial of it for you to take home with you. Take some tonight before retiring to bed.”
“No, it will knock me out.”
The doctor shrugged. “As you wish, but you’ll feel much better in the morning if you use a little of it tonight.”
Elmer did not take long to bandage his arm, then he hurried off to find Draco a shirt to wear.
Once the lad and doctor were gone, Draco drew aside the curtain and silently made his way toward Imogen. He wanted to make certain she and Deandra were all right, and was especially worried about Imogen, who had been a pillar of strength throughout.
Deandra was lying down again, her eyes closed and the damp cloth on her forehead. Her bout of tears seemed to have drained her, and she must have drifted off to sleep. Perhaps she had been given some laudanum for her nerves, for she lay quietly and did not make a sound. Imogen was seated beside her, lost in thought. Her head was bowed and her hands were shaking as she held a glass of cider that was still full.
He watched her take a sip, raising a shaky hand to her lips.
Draco’s heart tugged, for his little butterfly looked so forlorn. The incident had scared her. Knowing how deeply she felt things, he realized she was only now allowing her feelings to come out.
He made not a sound as he reached her side.
When she looked up, he gave her cheek a light caress. But one look at his bandaged arm brought tears to her eyes.
Wordlessly, he set aside her glass and took her in his arms, swallowing her up in his embrace. He held her for a very long while, his arms protectively circled around her slender body. He held her as though she meant the world to him. Shedidmean everything to him. He hoped she understood without the need for words.
He stroked her hair and ran his knuckles gently along the line of her jaw. “Butterfly,” he whispered.
She gave a silent sob and melted against him.
There was so much he wanted to say to her, but he dared not speak and ruin the moment. Instead, he kissed her soft lips. The kiss was deep and filled with longing, for his heart was hers, and nothing on heaven or earth would ever change that.
She gave back with equal fervor, her response a sweet surrender. She leaned into him and drew him closer, pressing her mouth to his with similar passion and yearning.
But it was over all too soon. He drew away upon hearing Elmer’s voice in the hallway.
After giving Imogen a final, brief kiss on the nose, he returned to his bed and slid the curtain between them closed again.
Only then did he speak to her. “I’ll escort you and Deandra back to Westgate Hall as soon as I am decent.”
“All right,” she said, her voice achingly soft. “What will you do afterward? The doctor told you to rest.”
