Page 91 of Her Beast

Julia laughed and sat. She and was just about to reach for her skates when she saw him reach for his. Would he be able to put them on with his damaged hands? Even if he was able, would it hurt or be awkward?

She laid a gloved hand over his. “Let me help you with them.”

The light behind him threw his face into darkness, hiding his expression.

“Please… Malcolm. I would like to,” she added when he hesitated.

After an uncomfortably long pause he released his hold on the skates and put the rug from his lap on the snow in front of him.

“Thank you,” she said, kneeling and busying herself with the leather straps and buckles that would hold the blades to his feet.

When she reached for his foot, he demurred. “They’re wet and dirty. Let me—”

Julia made an exasperated noise. “I’m wearing gloves and a little dirt and slush won’t hurt me.” She took one of his ankle boots in her hands, marveling at the sheer size of him. Two of her feet could fit into one of his shoes with room to spare.

Once she’d slid the flat part of the skate under his boot and reached around the heel to buckle the strap, she glanced up.

Her fingers fumbled at the hunger in his gaze. He wasn’t just looking at her; he wasconsumingher, his pale blue eye almost black.

It suddenly struck Julia, with the force of a mallet, that she was kneeling before him, just as the blond woman had done—well, notjustas she’d done—and she knew, beyond a doubt, that he was thinking the same thing.

She hastily lowered her gaze and buckled on his skates.

The instant she returned to her chair he said, “Now it is my turn.”

“Oh, you needn’t—”

“Shh.”

Julia held her breath as he knelt, the action surprisingly graceful, despite the slight hitch she’d noticed when he walked.

His right hand was dexterous, although the left seemed stiff, especially the two smallest fingers, which didn’t appear to move. But he quickly buckled the skates onto her boots. Once the second boot was attached, he wrapped a hand around her ankle and held it for a moment, his hand warm even through two layers of leather.

He inhaled deeply and released her before looking up, his expression once again unreadable, the heat she’d seen earlier gone. Had she imagined it?

He stood and offered her his hand.

Pretty lights in colored baskets illuminated the hazy, frozen air as they stepped out onto the ice.

One of Julia’s feet would have slipped out from under her if Malcolm hadn’t caught her, his grasp firm but gentle around her upper arm.

“Steady on,” he murmured. “Just stand and get your bearings—let me do the work for a bit.”

She was glad to comply. Her ankles were wobbly and weak; she didn’t recall this being so difficult.

They skated in silence. Or rather he skated and she just stood still.

“Thank you,” she said.

“What for?”

“For tonight. For this. For—for answering my questions and treating me like I’m a grown woman.”

“You are a grown woman.”

“You would never know that by the way I am usually treated.” She looked up but he was staring ahead, his mouth stern—almost grim. “What are you thinking right now?”

“About taking you to bed.”

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