Page 23 of Enslaved to the Seduction of a Lady
“Then talk to me, Luke,” she urged. She stepped forward again, now close enough to reach out, and she let her hand rest on his arm until he finally looked up at her. He raised his own hand to let it sit on hers and she felt a warm relief flood through her.
“Please,” she said, looking into his eyes. “You know you can tell me anything, and I will help you in whatever way I can.”
“I know,” he said, although his deep voice seemed uncertain somehow. “I just… I worry for my sister, and for Jack.”
Neither had moved their hands from his arm and they looked truly into one another’s eyes.
“How is Jack?”
“He’s all right,” Luke said, shrugging again. “Actually, that’s not even true. He’s very sick and getting worse by the day.”
“Oh, Luke,” Alison said. She let go of his arm and leaned into him for a hug. His body felt hard and well-worked beneath her soft one, and he smelled of sweat and hay. She breathed him in, whispering into his ear. “It will be all right, I’m sure of it.”
With his hands on her waist, he pushed her back so that he could look into her eyes.
“It’s not only that,” he said.
She let her arms drop back down by her sides and looked at him, concerned again. Worrying about Jack made perfect sense to her—he was as good as Luke’s father, after all—but that there was more sent a ripple of fear through her.
“What is it?”
“It’s… I…” Luke faltered, looking anywhere but at her, until he finally found her eyes again, “I am concerned about Jenny, that’s all.”
Alison didn’t know whether to feel relieved or panicked. The words he spoke didn’t fit with his actions—his wariness, his avoidance of her.
Perhaps he is hiding his true concerns.
“What’s the matter with Jenny? Is she all right?”
“Yes,” he said. “She’s all right. But she is six-and-twenty now and still unmarried. I—”
“Heavens, Luke,” Alison said, rolling her eyes at him. “You had me worried for a moment, then. You are beginning to sound like my father.”
“It’s no joke, Alison,” Luke urged, and Alison started at his serious tone. “If she doesn’t marry soon, I do not know what will become of her and—”
“Luke,” she said, interrupting him. She put her hand back on his arms and looked into his eyes. “Shewillfind someone she loves. Just as I have.”
