Page 36 of The Gilded Lady
The corset and some sort of underskirt followed the gown, tossed over the trunk at the foot of her bed. One by one the pins came out of her hair to be tossed onto the dresser. He swallowed hard as he watched the red waves cascade down to her waist. She looked shy and eager as she looked up at him. His hands moved with a mind of their own as he responded to her expectant gaze. He took off his coat and waistcoat and toed off his shoes before following her to the bed. She laid down on one side and he climbed into the bed beside her.
Her eyelids were heavy. He knew it’d be minutes before the brandy’s effects put her to sleep for the night. “There’s something else I want to tell you.”
Rising up on his elbow to see her better, he said, “Anything.” His curiosity about this woman was insatiable.
Taking in a shaky breath, she said, “I was there for over a year when I…I became with child.”
Rage coursed its way through him, and his instinct was action. He wanted to go out into the night and pull Dubose from whatever hole he was hiding in. His heart pounded, urging him to go, but he fought the impulse. It wasn’t what she needed from him and it wouldn’t be wise. Not until they knew more about Dubose’s plan. Instead of saying anything, he put his hand on hers. She immediately turned it over so they were palm to palm.
“One night…” There were no tears in her eyes, but there was deep sadness on her face and in her voice. “He already had adultchildren and hadn’t wanted any more. He pushed me down the stairs. I went into early labor and…I lost the baby.”
“I’m so sorry.” His eyelids sank closed as he tried to imagine her pain and confusion when that had happened. He couldn’t do it. The torture she’d faced at the hands of that mad man was unfathomable.
When he opened his eyes she was staring up at him. Her face open and solemn. “I’m sorry. Maybe I shouldn’t have told you that. I didn’t want to make you sad, I just wanted…I wanted to share it all with you.”
“Don’t be sorry. Please don’t ever be sorry with me.”
She smiled and touched his face before turning over on her side away from him. “You don’t have to stay all night if you don’t want to, but would you mind staying until I go to sleep?”
He nodded, too awestruck by the woman before him to find his voice. Realizing she couldn’t see his nod, he moved slowly closer to her, wary of how small she felt next to him. He suddenly felt too large and clumsy, as if one wrong move could mar the perfect creature before him. She was a queen and he was a lowly subject that had somehow stumbled his way into being allowed to touch her.
He expected her to pull away, but the moment his arm went around her waist she snuggled back into him. He let out a breath he hadn’t even realized he’d been holding. Her small frame fit perfectly against him. She was small where he was big, soft where he was hard. God, was he hard. He gritted his teeth against the sudden arousal that pulsed through him. She must have felt him, throbbing there against the most perfect backside he’d ever felt, but she didn’t say anything or move away.
Finally, after a few minutes, the tension left his body and she relaxed into him even more. He’d never lain like this with another person. Not even Christine. Their meetings had always been quick and rushed. They’d never had the luxury of simplybeing together. The idea of it had never even occurred to him, but he liked it. Glory’s presence soothed something in him that he hadn’t even realized needed calming. Her hand found his resting on her stomach and she surprised him again by lacing her fingers with his. He gently tightened his hold and closed his eyes as he buried his face in her hair. He didn’t know what tomorrow would bring, but for now he was with her and that’s all that mattered.
He fell asleep almost immediately. The weight of all that he’d learned pulled him down into a dark sleep. The scent of roses filled his dreams. So decadent, yet so dangerous.
Chapter Fifteen
Glory awoke to soft morning light filtering in through her pale blue curtains, casting a soft glow over her bed. The first thing she noticed was that the space beside her was empty. She lay there for a while wondering if the past night had been a dream. She could remember sitting with Sally in the parlor, but after that things became a little bit hazy. She’d been afraid for Zane and angry that he hadn’t talked to her about finding Justin. They’d argued and she’d eventually told him about her past.
Well, most of it. There were some things she couldn’t tell him, not yet anyway. Maybe not ever.
Then he’d lain down with her. She pressed a hand to her stomach, remembering the press of his palm there. Last night had been no dream. It had felt so good to have him at her back with his arms around her. For the first time in a long time she’d gone to sleep with a feeling of peace surrounding her.
Even this morning she carried that feeling with her, which was a surprise. Justin had found her and she knew that meant he was coming for her. But while she was concerned and even anxiousabout that, she felt lighter than she had in years. When she took a deep breath her chest didn’t feel pinched with the weight of all that she’d carried with her since stepping foot on the Dubose estate so many years ago. It actually felt good that she’d talked to Zane.
A door shut in the other room, so she sat up quickly listening for any signs of Zane. How did he feel this morning? Had he left her as soon as she’d gone to sleep? Had he stayed? Had her confession changed things between them? His familiar step moved across the parlor, prompting her to get to her feet.
Grabbing her dressing gown from the armoire, she put it on over her chemise and sat down at her dressing table to run a brush through her hair. A piece of paper caught her eye as she reached for the brush and she paused, her heart skipping over itself as she recognized the paper as that from Zane’s sketchbook. The bottom corners of the parchment were slightly worn and softened from months of being held in his hands and carried in his coat. The top edge was jagged from where he’d torn the page out of his sketchbook.
Her heart pounded as she turned it over, but nothing could have prepared her for what she saw. Her own image stared back at her, only it couldn’t be her. Could it? The woman was stunning in her sleep. She lay with one arm in a graceful sprawl above her head and the other on her belly. Her hair fell around her in a riot of waves. She looked both peaceful and confident, innocent and mischievous. Glory recognized the chemise as her own, except the ribbon between her breasts hung free leaving the valley between them exposed.
She gasped as she noticed the chemise was see-through and even stupidly looked around on impulse to make sure no one was around her to see the drawing. A faint outline of her nipples and areola could be seen through the material. Heat warmed her cheeks as she looked closer to make sure that’s what she reallysaw. Yes, they were both there, the shading there was different than the rest of her chemise. Surely he hadn’t seen her like that. Her own nipples grew hard beneath the linen of her chemise at the thought of him looking at her. She giggled and opened her dressing gown to look at herself in the mirror.
“Dear Lord,” she whispered. The darker nipples were barely visible through the thin material and the ribbon had fallen untied. He’d seen them. He’d stayed awake after she slept and drawn her and he’d seen them through the fabric.
Her blush spread from her face to her chest. She couldn’t seem to stop smiling as she realized how much she wanted him to see. She wanted to feel his hands on her skin and to know what it felt like to have his mouth on her.
Running the brush through her hair, she quickly braided it over her shoulder and tied off the end with a piece of ribbon. Deciding that Able might come up this morning, she hurried into the first gown she pulled from the armoire. It was a simple morning gown in white muslin and one of the few she had that she could wear without much assistance with the fastenings. She was nearly breathless as she rushed out the door. Zane looked up from where he stood at her dining table filling a glass with water.
“Good morning,” she said, unable to read his expression. This was like their first morning together all over again. Her unsure of him but unable to stifle the inexplicable feeling of hope that wanted to take hold of her.
He smiled and the hope dug its roots in a little bit deeper. “Good morning. How do you feel?”
“Surprisingly good. I didn’t mean to drink so much.” Sally had kept filling her glass and the fiery liquid had helped, she had to admit. It had kept her terror at bay. Even now she could feel it starting to creep back in, but she wouldn’t let it. She was stronger than she’d been the last time she’d seen Justin. This time would be different. This time she could fight back.
“Charlotte came by to check on you this morning, so I asked her to send up breakfast. I wasn’t sure if you’d be up for going downstairs.”
