Page 78 of Seducing the Knave

The moment felt frozen and fleeting at the same time.

She knew it wouldn’t last—this quiet, indescribable connection. It couldn’t last. She recently learned that nothing so beautiful—so perfect—ever did. But she held her breath anyway in some irrational attempt to stay right in the middle of it.

When he made a short sound in his throat and began to shift atop her, she bit her lips to stop herself from holding on tighter. Even so, she barely managed to contain the wild leap in her heart when he lifted his head to flash a wicked grin.

“Ye hungry?”

Elle smiled. “Famished.”

He planted a quick kiss to the tip of her nose, then rose to his feet.

The loss of his weight and warmth triggered a shiver through her body, but he didn’t notice it since he’d already turned away to stride across the room to the bell pull.

“Wait,” she shouted, scrambling to her feet. “I’m naked.”

His eyes were sharp and bright as they slid over her from head to toe, touching every exposed inch of her. “And I’d love to keep ye that way,” he said, his voice thick and deep.

Then he went to the wardrobe and pulled out a black silk robe. He brought it to her with an odd look in his eye and a subtle smirk curling his lips. “But Langworth might drop dead at the sight.” His tone dropped to a dark murmur. “I nearly do. Every fucking time,” he confessed as he swept the robe around her shoulders.

Something twisted sharply in her chest and she hastily closed the robe and tied the sash as he turned away and strode back toward the wardrobe. He’d just tugged on a pair of breeches when a knock sounded on the door.

While breakfast for two was brought in, she tried to finger-comb the tangles from her hair. She kept her back to the room while she struggled to maneuver through such an emotionally vulnerable state.

“All right, princess,” Max said with a note of humor in his voice as the door closed behind Langworth’s exit. “We’re alone. Ye can relax.”

She looked at him with a lifted chin. “I was simply trying to save the poor man from embarrassment. He’d only just started managing to look me in the eye when we speak.”

“No doubt the wretched bloke’s half in love with ye,” Max said with a chuckle, not bothering to wait for her before taking his seat at the table.

Elle narrowed her gaze. “Because of course the man would be wretched in such a case,” she noted caustically as she approached him with a prideful step.

His eyes darkened and he kicked her chair out for her to sit. “Only because he wouldn’t have a chance with ye.”

Taking a seat, Elle tossed her hair back over her shoulder to give him a challenging stare. “Why not? He’s kind and respectful. A lady could do much worse than to consider such a man.”

Max slowly smiled. “As opposed to me knavish ways, I s’pose?” He reached forward to boldly swipe his finger through a bowl of thick cream. “If ye’d wanted a man with such qualities, ye should’ve run the second ye saw me, luv.”

Then he held her gaze as he offered the dollop of cream to her. She accepted it instinctively, parting her lips to take his finger into her mouth, swirling her tongue to claim the sweet cream.

The sound he made was a low, gravelly groan. “Good girl,” he murmured thickly before he slid his finger from her mouth and lowered his gaze to the food. “Eat yer breakfast.”

Breathless and trembling and aching with a desire that never dissipated, she forced herself to turn her attention away from the devastating man seated across from her. His confidence could be a bit annoying. Would it have killed him to show just a bit of jealousy over the idea of her finding another man worthy? Or was her preference for him alone simply so transparent?

She managed only a few bites before he surprised her by saying, “Almost forgot—yer cousin’s no longer a problem.”

She paused in the midst of sipping her tea to stare at him over the rim of the cup. “What?”

He gave a dismissive wave of his fork—the first time she’d actually seen him use one—and added around a mouthful of food, “I paid the arsehole a visit.”

“You...you paid Jasper a visit?” Though she repeated the words, they still didn’t quite make any sense to her.

Max nodded. “I wanted to make sure he knew ye were under me protection.”

An image flashed to mind of Max’s bloodied knuckles and a man bruised and beaten on the floor. She stiffened. “How did you do that?”

No doubt hearing the odd tone in her voice, Max met her gaze. There was a hardness in his eyes that she hadn’t seen for a while. That quiet brutality she’d glimpsed on rare occasions. His jaw clenched and his brows lifted. “Are ye truly concerned fer a man who locked ye up, would’ve forced ye to marry, ruined yer name, struck ye—twice, and threatened to kill ye?”

Elle thought about it, but it didn’t take as long as it probably should have to reply with a jut of her chin. “Not really.”

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