Page 48 of The Dove
It was rare for him to get to observe her in a restful state unless she was sleeping, because she always seemed to be in motion. Just now, her chignon had loosened, allowing thick coils of vibrant red hair to kiss the nape of her neck and wispy strands to lay against her forehead. The soft yellow morning gown she’d worn all day made her hair come alive with golden highlights, her eyes appearing larger and darker.
However, she was not looking at him, her gaze fixated on the prone form of Olivia in his lap. She’d fallen unconscious, but still trembled a bit in his hold.
“Is there anything I can do to help?” she asked, her brow creased with concern he could see was genuine.
Glancing down at Olivia, he shrugged. “She is sleeping for now, but it will not last. She rests in fits, awakening when the tremors become too much for her to ignore.”
Daphne nodded and took another step toward the bed, toward him. Her scent enveloped him, chasing away Olivia’s sweat and covering even the aroma of the steaming food.
“Perhaps I could sit with her so you might eat,” she offered. “It has been a long day. I’m certain you are hungry.”
Hewasstarving. Now that Olivia slept and could no longer pester him to talk to her, he could take a moment to see to his own needs.
“Aye,” he relented, gently maneuvering Olivia back against her pillows and rising to his feet.
While he retrieved the tray, leaving Olivia’s broth on the bedside table before settling into an armchair near the hearth, Daphne bent over his sister, touching her brow, smoothing stray hair back from her face.
“Her nightgown is damp with sweat,” she remarked as he took his first bite. “She needs changing, and so do the sheets.”
He gestured toward the bell cords nearby. “Ring for Maeve, and she will see to it.”
Flashing him a look over her shoulder, she shook her head. “I am here and do not mind. Just tell me where her things are.”
He used his fork to point at the trunk Maeve had brought from Dunnottar, watching with unguarded interest as she dug for a clean nightgown. Finding clean bed linens stacked on the washstand, she retrieved some and returned to the bed.
As she leaned over and began unbuttoning Olivia, he lowered his gaze, keeping it down to give his sister privacy. The twisting sensation of hunger in his stomach began to abate, and the tension in his muscles released a bit now that Daphne moved around in his peripheral vision. Something about knowing she was within arm’s reach brought him a sense of levity. He found much of the agitation he’d experienced since coming to London had eased now that he’d found a way to trap her with him, keep her close.
When he glanced up again, she had Olivia draped in a clean, dry night gown, and had begun deftly changing the sheets without jostling her too much. Within minutes, she had new sheets arranged beneath his sister, the old ones left in a pile on the floor. That finished, she went to the washstand and retrieved a comb. Settling in the same place he’d just occupied on the bed, she began combing Olivia’s hair, murmuring in a soothing voice.
“You are so brave for what you’ve decided to do, Olivia,” she said while running the comb through his sister’s dark locks. “I do not know if I could be strong enough to put myself through this. I am so proud of you, and I know Adam and Serena are, too.”
That foreign feeling was back in his chest, squeezing painfully and wreaking havoc on his senses. It felt as good as it hurt, leaving him with no notion how to feel about watching a Fairchild touch his sister and murmur kind words to her. In the depths of his mind, he realized it was unfair to lump Daphne in with her father, brother, and uncle. She was so unlike them—strong where they were weak, kind where they were vile, a pure, white dove ascending from a pit of monsters. In truth, she was a bit of a miracle. How had she managed to become such a wise, strong person with Bertram for a brother and Gilliam for a father?
He might never know, but chose not to question it. All those things were what drew him to her, what made him want to own and possess her.
“Serena is such a lovely girl,” she continued while he looked on. “I am happy to have met her. I want you to know that if there is ever anything I can do for her, or you, I am happy to. I … I want to help, Olivia. In any way I can.”
Despite the fact that his sister had been claimed by exhaustion, he wondered if she heard what was being said around her. Daphne certainly seemed to think she could, speaking to Olivia as if she could actually hear her.
Adam polished off his dinner, then stood, laying the tray on the chair he’d just occupied before approaching the bed. Daphne had stood to set the comb aside, so he came up behind her, wrapping an arm around her waist and drawing her back against his body. She gasped, stiffening for a moment before relaxing. Her heart hammered against her ribs—he could feel it against the arm he used to anchor her in place. Turning his face in toward her neck, he buried his nose in the loose tendrils of her hair and inhaled, drawing in that scent, the essence of Daphne lingering under whatever soap she’d washed with that morning. It made the remaining tension in his body abate, and he sank against the warm curves of her welcoming body.
“How much longer will she suffer like this?” she asked, keeping her voice low.
He sighed against the curve of her neck. “A few days, I suppose. She has relied on laudanum for a long time, little dove. Her body will crave it until she either gives in or overcomes it.”
She nodded, then tipped her head back to rest against his shoulder. Her current state of passive acceptance did not fool him for a moment. He knew her far better than she realized … knew that she would play docile up until the moment it suited her to attempt escape. Of course, he would be prepared for such an eventuality. Prepared to chase her down and drag her back to where she belonged … to punish her for daring to think she could run from him.
He almost looked forward to it.
“I am happy to sit at her bedside with you,” she said, breaking the silence between them.
He grinned. “Are you? How generous of you to keep me company. Unless you are simply bored when I am not occupying the same room as you.”
She scoffed. “Do not flatter yourself.”
His smile only widened when she did not bother to deny it. Giving her a little squeeze, he then released her, not certain he could continue exercising control with her standing so close. He would rather not fuck her in a dark corner of the room his sister lay languishing in.
As he circled the bed to stand on its other side, Olivia began to move again, shivering and moaning in her sleep. He swore under his breath, edging close as the shudders grew stronger, rocking her from head to toe.
