Page 33 of Romanced By the Orc

“I am inclined to agree with him.”

He waited for her to expound on that comment. When she said nothing more, he settled for giving her a sly smile as they joined the queue to see the museum’s most precious artifact up close.

When finally granted space up front, he bent over to examine the rectangular stone, gashed in one corner, angled in its metal case. Sunlight illuminated the parallel hieroglyphs etched on the surface.

“I have now visited thrice,” Daisy said, taking advantage of one of the magnifying glasses on a low shelf for the benefit of guests. “Yet it remains magical.”

She grasped the magnifying glass’s leather handle and examined the inscriptions, which were smaller than he had expected. Albie hunched over her shoulder, spotting a graceful, long-necked bird and what looked like a sailing barge.

“For all the tribulations of our time, I am grateful to live in an era when all might view such wonders.”

“It is a wonder, indeed.”

Mindful of the queue behind them, Daisy placed the magnifying glass back on its shelf and moved away from the exhibit.

His hand grazed the back of her gown as he gently steered her around the bustling queue. Instinctively, a few of the visitors stepped back. Some stared outright, then averted their gazes when his eyes happened to look down and catch theirs.Was this what Duncan and their late father experienced when they first traveled to London? He fleetingly sympathized with the discomfort they must have felt, even if those two were far too prideful to admit as much.

Shaking this melancholic thought from his mind, he progressed with Daisy to an exhibit of vases from Etruscan antiquity: orange-umber etchings of women in togas and laurel leaf crowns.

“Glad as I am to see the famed rock at last,” Albion said. “We are meeting under greatly changed circumstances. You told me you had questions. I imagine you have even more of them now.”

Daisy moved to a terracotta urn. She looked around to ensure they had some privacy.

“We should attend to our living accommodations,” she said.

She worried her necklet, running her finger along its velvety surface and the single pearl suspended from it. He longed to trace the elegant lines of her skin, hesitating and exploring further down until a moan caught in her throat.

For all of heaven and earth, his claws had a life of their own now, retracting so that he might touch her without fear of causing injury. His body had hardened and heated at once at the thought of drawing her close and kissing passionately, feeling their bodies open to one another with the pleasure of such intimacy.

He required a moment to steady himself.

“The Albany doesn’t countenance women or children,” he told her, in a voice that hit the mark at some point between the modish sprout he played for Society and the gent he wished to be for her. “Seeing how they intend for the place will appeal to young male rascals. Have you an inclination to a certain area of the city?”

“I leave that to your discretion. I meantinthe townhouse.”

“Our rooms, I take it?”

She bit her lip and looked down, now fussing with a small rip in her gloves.Albion wielded all his power of will not to hold her hand or stroke her waist, as a gent might do freely with a lady back in his homeland. The luscious scent of Diana’s citrusperfume, her appealing curiosity and lively intellect, and her curvaceous figure—evident regardless of her modest attire—all seemed spells cast to enchant.

“We shall reside in separate suites,” he said. “I’ve no call to pressure you. You decide whether or not to allow visiting privileges.”

“I am given to understand that the Prince Regent and Princess Caroline live separate lives. She has made hers on the continent. I want to assure you I shall never be a burden should you want to part ways … and if you were to continue relations of a more intimate nature with others, I would not protest.”

“Is it not too much to ask that you feel some measure of jealousy at that notion?”

She touched her hair nervously. “Maybe it is one of those matters that is best not spoken of outright, but I want you to know you have my blessing.”

“How astounding.” Albion fussed with his cravat, a gesture thoroughly uncalled for as he had it knotted as impeccably as ever.

Was it possible she had some beau or another he did not know about? Some penniless prizefighter bruised from his time in the ring? A rake with a poor reputation her family deemed unworthy of her? Naturally, the scoundrel would be unworthy of her. Albion already hated the man.

Still, an unknown paramour seemed unlikely, given that he had not heard any tittle-tattle to that effect. It was only that this unexpected turn to the conversation threw his thoughts into disarray.

Albion was not yet willing to reveal how powerfully her mere presence moved him. He refused to let her see him rattled.He swung his hands behind his back, so she could not witness their anxious movements. “You seem to have given this a great deal of thought.”

“You would be well within your rights to do so, my friend,” she told him. “That’s all I meant to say. I did not intend to cause any distress.”

So his attempts to hide his concern were futile. Had she not said she preferred plain talk? “Will you ask for the same privilege?”

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