Page 24 of Noble Scoundrel

Then he picked up the jar from the bedside table. The pungent scent of the medicinal mixture filled her nostrils as he began to spread it over her skin. Starting at the curve where her neck met her shoulder, he worked his way down.

Though she’d already experienced the unexpectedly gentle efficiency of his touch on her ankle and foot, she was still surprised by how utterly languid she became under his hands. Even as the wide flat of his roughened palm smoothed over the most tender area of her injury, he did not cause discomfort.

And when he expanded his attention to the muscles that ran along either side of her spine, she couldn’t stop her posture from softening into his touch any more than she could hold back the deep sigh that released from her lungs.

But then his hands left her. Suddenly and completely.

Katherine stared straight ahead, noting how the air around them felt charged in an odd way. Though she was compelled to turn and look at him, she resisted. Not because she feared what she might see in his gaze, but because she feared what he might see in hers.

“You’ll need to keep your arm in a sling for a week or more,” he said gruffly. “And no leaping from carriages into moving traffic for a while.”

“Frederick doesn’t need to know the extent of”—she waved a hand—“this.”

He gave a short grunt. “He knows.”

She sighed. The sound was heavy and long. One more thing she was failing to protect her brother from.

Hale was silent as he lifted the strap of her chemise back into place and then her gown before quickly doing up the row of buttons. As soon as the last one was secured, he rose to his feet. Taking up the length of cloth he’d brought up with the poultice, he fashioned it into a sling to support her injured arm. Again, his attentions were surprisingly gentle and efficient.

Once he was satisfied with the makeshift support, he turned away from her without meeting her eyes. “I’ll fetch Freddie. He’ll want to know you survived so much time alone with me.”

Katherine watched him walk from the room with an odd pressure filling her chest.

Chapter Nine

Katherine struggled through the process of tugging her stocking back on with one hand. The swelling around her ankle hadn’t gotten too much worse, but the purple discoloration was disconcerting. Carefully, she replaced her boot but couldn’t pull the laces very tight.

It would have to do. If she’d managed to race through the London streets with the injury, she should be able to get home.

Home and away from Mason Hale.

The man was simply too much. Too big, too blatantly male, too intense with his bold gaze and even bolder manner. Too everything!

“Are you all right, Kit?”

Katherine looked up to see Frederick hovering in the doorway. She gestured for him to come into the room. “Of course. I told you I’d be fine.”

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