Page 76 of Ravishing His Wicked Lady (The Shadows 4)

“No!”

“Why not?” Sebastian threw up his hands.

“I-I am too heavy,” Lavinia said, her cheeks burning.

Sebastian’s expression turned from confusion to utter befuddlement and then finally to annoyance. He bent down and scooped Lavinia into his arms, not letting her dance away from him this time. He walked up the steps and entered the house without exhibiting great effort. But the stairs leading into the bedroom they both occupied were vast.

“Truly, Sebastian, I can walk. I don’t want you to hurt yourself.”

Sebastian paused with one leg on the stairs and started shaking with laughter. He leaned his back against the wall as he laughed, gulping for air.

Lavinia hit him lightly on his shoulder. “Why is this funny?”

Sebastian finally stopped laughing and looked Lavinia in the eyes. “Do I look like a feeble man?”

“No, but—”

“Then how about I worry about myself, and you worry about you?” He pushed off the wall, readjusted Lavinia in his arms, and proceeded to scale the stairs. “What is it with you and this fixation you have with your weight? And not only weight but your appearance. As if somehow you are less than perfect.”

Lavinia scoffed. “I amfarfrom perfect. And wouldn’t it be better if I were like Annalise or Caroline and weighed like a feather, so you could easily carry me?”

Sebastian snorted. “No, I wouldn’t enjoy a feather in my arms quite like I am enjoying having you.”

Oh. Lavinia’s blush deepened.

“Instead of dreaming of being thinner so some feeble man could carry you up the stairs,” he said as he readjusted her in his arms once more, “why not dream of a stronger man to carry you no matter how heavy you get?”

Lavinia tightened her arms around his neck. “That sounds almost romantic.”

Although she would never admit it, Lavinia realized that shehadbeen dreaming of finding a better man—her prince—someone who would appreciate her the way she was.

Of course, she’d dreamed of it, but she’d never thought that those dreams would ever come true. They were always in her mind and to remain there while she lived her less-than-perfect life. She dreamed of this, but she never acted on those dreams and didn’t fight for them to come true. Victoria’s words echoed in her mind:if you want to have something you’ve never had, you need to do something you’ve never done.

Sebastian entered the bedroom, sat her down on the bed, and lit the candles around them. “Lie down, relax, and please do not move until I return,” he said and disappeared out of the room.

He came back with a pitcher of water and a bottle of what looked like… gin?

“It’s a good thing this house still has some alcohol left,” he said as he placed everything on the bedside table and settled near her foot. He studied it under the light of a candle, and Lavinia tried very hard not to squirm.

She’d been examined by a male doctor from time to time, but this was the most intimate she’d ever been with a man if one excluded her drunken plea for him to kiss her.

“I need some clean cloth. Perhaps I’ll need to rip these linen sheets—”

“Oh, no, don’t. I found some handkerchiefs in the trunk earlier. I put them on the bedside table.”

Sebastian took a handkerchief and proceeded to clean the wound. Lavinia bit on her lower lip to ignore the pain.

“You can scream if you like,” Sebastian said with a smirk.

“It isn’t the worst pain I’ve ever experienced,” Lavinia said with a chuckle. She was just making a joke, but he threw her a dark gaze.

“Whatisthe worst pain you’ve ever experienced?”

Lavinia clamped her lips shut. She shouldn’t have said anything. “I fell a lot,” she said quietly. And then in the attempt to steer the conversation away, “Does your promise to do something wicked with me still stand?”

Sebastian raised a brow. “The adventure of being bitten by a snake and stepping on a sharp rock didn’t deter your wicked spirit? I knew I was right about you.” He winked and continued wrapping her foot with a clean handkerchief as he grinned.

“Well, on the contrary. Perhaps I was reluctant about it, but this incident, however small, reminded me that… Well, life is short. Why not do something wicked while we can, right?”

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