Page 74 of Wicked Rivals
Her gray eyes had a dreamy expression, softening the usually hard silver pools. She caressed her fingers along his jaw from chin to ear. “I’m sorry, my lord.”
“Please, call me Ashton. You only seem to do it some of the time.”
“Ashton,” she breathed and leaned up to press a kiss to his lips again. Her body shivered.
“We should get you in the bath. I can’t keep getting you wet, not like this.”
Her lips twitched as though she understood the little joke he’d made.
“You’ve made me plenty wet,” she said with a chuckle. His body responded with a wave of arousal that startled him. There was something about Rosalind that made him half-mad with desire in a way no other woman had, and he couldn’t imagine why that was. He’d been with enough women to know the difference, but he simply couldn’t understand it. Yet it was undeniable fact—Rosalind was special.
“Now you’re tempting me.” He bent again, ready to kiss her, but a footman entered the room, disturbing them.
“Pardon, my lord. I’ve come to run a bath and start a fire.” The servant averted his gaze, but the disruption had pulled Ashton back into a clearer frame of mind.
“Right, well, see to it then.” He refused to take his eyes off Rosalind. One of these days he was going to lock his door and have this woman all to himself without any interruptions.
He rolled off Rosalind, got to his feet and walked into his dressing room. He raked his hands through his hair, trying to gather his control again. His clothes were damp and clung to his skin. If he hadn’t been so hot with need for his little hellion, he would have been chilled to the bone. He reached up to unbutton his waistcoat.
“Need some help with those?”
He turned to find Rosalind there, barefoot in her chemise, his coat still wrapped around her. She was so small, so delicate looking, like a fairy from a stone circle. Her dark hair hung completely free, still wet around her shoulders, a few errant curls touching the tops of her breasts above the stays.
To hell with his control. “If you’re offering to assist me, then I certainly do.”
She crossed the space between them and reached up to unbutton his vest. Then she removed the neckcloth and dropped it to the floor. When she got to his shirt, he helped raise it over his head. She ran her palms up along his bare chest, and a soft sigh escaped her.
He chuckled and caught her hands, bringing her palms up to his lips.
“You’re so warm,” she said, leaning into him.
“And you’re freezing. Again. I swear as your husband I’ll find a way to keep you warm.” Her happy grin faded, and she stiffened in his arms.
Ashton lifted her chin. “You cannot keep flinching every time I mention our marriage.”
Her eyes were soft and sad, tugging at his heart. “It’s notyouI object to. Can’t you see that?”
He couldn’t. It wasn’t as though she would vanish once they were married. She would still be the woman he cared about, the fiery, battle-ready Scottish lass. She would simply be his wife in addition to everything else.
“Surely you’ll settle in. Emily, Anne and Horatia have all taken to married life well,” he argued.
“Ach!” She scoffed and shoved him away. “You truly are blind, aren’t you? I’m not like those ladies and never have been. They drink their tea, discuss fashion and the latest gossip.”
Ashton laughed harshly. “Is that what you think of them? That they are silly ladies without substance?”
Rosalind looked away. He doubted she truly felt that way, but something in his words had hit the mark.
“Rosalind, perhaps it is you who are blind. Emily handled her uncle’s business books and has been the one to straighten out Godric’s investments these last few months—to a healthy profit, I might add.”
He continued to undress as he spoke. “Anne is hardly idle. She is a champion horse breeder, a skill developed long before she married Cedric, and they are now working to breed some of the finest racers England will ever see. And Horatia? She’s a voracious scholar and a member of the Lady’s Astronomy Society in London. None of them lost who they were to their husbands.” He stripped out of his trousers and shirt and climbed into the hot bath. “And if you think I’d everwantyou to vanish, then you are a fool, and I will not marry a fool.”
The hot water felt good on his skin, and he tilted his head back to rest it against the back of the copper tub.
“You swear to me?” Rosalind asked, kneeling beside the tub. He raised his head and met her gaze.
“Rosalind, you have a brilliant mind for business. For me not to allow it to flourish would make me more the fool than you. I swear to you. I like the way you are and would hate it if anything changed.” He patted the water teasingly. “Now, would you like to join me? The tub is large enough for two, and the water is hot.”
One of her hands idly played in the water close to his hip, and then she flicked her flingers, splashing him.
