Page 49 of Seductive Reprise
But instead of engaging on this front, he pivoted.
“What do you think?”
She looked back over her shoulder, frowning in confusion.
He nodded at the photographer’s window. “What’s your estimation of his work? Of the photographer’s composition. Use of lighting. Et cetera.”
“Oh.” She looked back to the window, one hand fiddling with a white silk button at the collar of her dress. “Oh. You want to know what I think?” She was visibly flustered.
“Yes, as you’re the expert.” He raised an eyebrow as she looked over her shoulder at him once more. “Unless you’d rather return to the subject of marriage?”
“No, no, it’s fine, it’s just…” She took a deep breath and squared her shoulders. “It’s not half bad, I suppose. I haven’t ever considered myself an expert, especially not in photography, but…” She leaned forward, reaching out for the window, tapping it gently in front of one displayed photograph. “This could be quite nice, I think, if only they’d find a way to put their subjects at ease.”
“At ease? Have you ever sat still for that length of time?”
Rose stepped back, bumping into him in her fluster, cheeks pink and lips pursed.
He noticed she didn’t answer, but he bit his tongue. Yusef decided not to think about Rose sitting for a painting for one of her compatriots, her hair loose and dressed in some gauzyrobe meant to ape the garb of antiquity. Instead he pressed his advantage, and reached for her hand.
She allowed it.
Yusef’s breath hitched, and he turned her hand over in his, swiping his thumb up to caress the inside of her wrist, a small swath of skin that peeked out from between her glove and sleeve. If she had her own modiste, and her own dresses, she’d never wear something so ill-fitting that it exposed her thus. But as he ran a delicate finger up her arm, feeling her shiver under his touch, he was glad for it.
When he finally spoke, his voice was thick. “Why don’t you use rose water anymore?”You smell different, he didn’t add, as he had a feeling it would be met with a surprisingly strong jab to his chest.
She withdrew her hand from his, shrinking into herself.
“It’s a bit dear now, things like that,” she whispered, her face a deep red, highlighting the lovely smattering of freckles across her cheeks. As much as Yusef appreciated the effect, it angered him. She shouldn’t be ashamed. She shouldn’t be scraping by.
“You should have it,” he said, not minding his tone.
“Why?” When her eyes met his again, they were defiant, and he knew he’d been sharp.
“Because—” he started, but she wouldn’t allow him to finish.
“Because I’m anearl’s daughter? Because I shouldn’t have to, what was it you said, pay for the earl’s mistakes, his indiscretions? Because you think I should take every advantage afforded by the circumstances of my birth, and you couldn’t fathom that perhapsIwant to be something more than a bastard andIwant to be judged on my own merit?” She was seething, passion roiling just below the surface, threatening to spill over and scandalize the worn-out-looking old man posting bills across the street.
Yusef smiled and reached for her once more, lifting her gloved hand to his mouth, holding it there as he spoke, his lips brushing the back of it as he uttered a single “No.” And then he kissed it, allowing his lips to linger as long as he dared in public, until he was sure her body warmed in the same manner as his. Only then did he relinquish it.
“Have you considered that perhaps I enjoy it?”
“Oh.” Rose pulled her arm back slowly, as if in a daze, and held it across her chest. “I assumed…” She let the words trail off, staring at him like he was someone familiar to her, but whom she could not place.
Yusef offered her his arm and, with the utmost effort, managed to keep his smile tamped down. “Shall we?”
She nodded and took it.
After walking in silence for a block, Rose finally spoke, barely above a whisper, in that low purr that addled his brain and tried his patience.
“I was wondering…” she began, looking away at a grocer’s storefront, “well, there’s a reception soon, at a gallery. One of my—er, that is, someone of my… acquaintance has several pieces to be shown. And I was wondering if you might want to attend?” Her voice rose higher as she clarified, “To accompany me?”
Yusef would lie in the street if it kept her from walking in the muck. He’d take a bullet, a knife,hellhow he’d bleed for her. He’d sell all of his houses if she asked. Well, perhaps one of them, anyway—Yusef rarely visited the estate in Ireland. How long had he waited for her to ask anything of him? He couldn’t recall. He wanted to pull her close and crush her body against him while he moaned his fealty against her lips. But he stayed in control, keeping his posture rigid and his tone flat.
“Of course.”
“Oh! Wonderful! I didn’t know if it’d be your sort of thing.” She hesitated before saying the last word.
His voice felt thick when he finally responded. “If you ever need anything, you may call on me.” He glanced over in time to catch a small, pleased smile on her face. “Always.”
