Page 26 of His Wicked Embrace
A mischievous glint appeared in the other woman’s eyes, and Zehra sensed there was more to the compliment from the maid than the wordssuggested.
“She’s the mother of four boys, all of them trouble.” Eva giggled. “She has to be a most formidable and clever woman to survive raising thoseboys.”
Zehra ran her fingers through her hair and smiled. “Four boys. What achallenge.”
“Indeed.” Eva gently combed Zehra’s hair with a silver brush until all the tangles were gone. The soft sound of the rasping brush was wonderful, and she closed her eyes for a long moment, enjoying the simple comfort itprovided.
“Miss, I hope you don’t mind my boldness forspeaking…”
Zehra opened her eyes. “No, not at all. Please, say what you wish tosay.”
Eva set the brush down, its handle gleaming in the dimlight.
“You will be kind to him, won’tyou?”
Zehra tilted her head. “Be kind to him? It is he who is showing kindness toward me. Why would I not returnit?”
Eva’s cheeks were pink, but she continued. “Didn’t mean to suggest otherwise, miss. He’s a good man, though he acts like he isn’t. Only, we, the staff,know, you see. He takes after his eldest brother, the Marquess of Rochester. Acting all bold and brash, seductive and dangerous, but he isn’t, not really, if you take my meaning, miss. He has a heart of gold, but people don’t always see that. He gets passed over when his brothers are around, what with being the middle child among so many. I think… I think he gets lonely, and that makes him a bit wild from desperation, youunderstand?”
Eva’s words struck Zehra’s heart. She’d been the only child of her parents, and she’d known she was fortunate that she’d never been overlooked. Yet she had longed for the company of a brother or sister over the years and would have gladly shared the love and affection of her parents in order to have morefamily.
“I believe I understand.” She smiled at Eva. The maid patted her shoulders. Zehra longed to comfort the man who had rescued her. Not just because he had saved her or because she found him attractive, but because she genuinely wished to make him as happy as she was when she was withhim.
“Is something bothering you, miss?” Evaasked.
“No…” She hesitated. “No, that’s not true. I am worried he doesn’t…” Her voice trailed off, her face heating, and she covered her cheeks with her hands. “I like Mr. Russell very much, but I fear he doesn’t have the same interest inme.”
There, she’d said it, and Eva wasn’t laughing at her or looking at her indisgust.
“Oh, he likes you—I wouldn’t be too worried aboutthat,” the maid said with an impish grin. It was as though Eva could read herthoughts.
“You thinkso?”
A bit of Eva’s pale-gold hair escaped her cap, and she tucked it back under. “Oh yes, miss. George, the master’s valet, said the master was humming all the while he was preparing for his bath this morning. He’s never done that before. I think he wants to care for you, more so than he has ever cared about anyone. Even his mother and sister aren’t treated with such concern for theircomforts.”
She couldn’t help but preen a little at the thought as Eva tended to the bed next. But then a shadow was cast over her joy. What if his actions were only out of a sense of charity? She didn’t want him to view her as some pet that must be cared for or a beggar to be pitied. How could she get him to show his truefeelings?
“Will you be needing anything else, miss?” Eva asked as she turned down the sheets on thebed.
“No, thankyou.”
The maid slipped out of the room, and Zehra retrieved a new novel from the table by the fire before she climbed into bed. She felt a little better but still wished she could have been in Lawrence’s arms tonight. Zehra closed her eyes, the book dropping onto her lap with barely a word read. She began to slip into sweet dreams of kissing Lawrence. All thoughts of bloodshed and pain vanished for thenight.
Tomorrow, I will convince him that I want him, and maybe he will want me back because he truly desires me. All I must do is convince him that I want a rogue and not agentleman.
Chapter Nine
Zehra couldn’t help but laugh as Lawrence did his best to lay a blanket down on the soft cool grass. A light breeze kept flipping the fabric into uneven layers rather than behaving and lying flat on theground.
“Here, let me.” She grasped the other side of the blanket, and together they were able to get itdown.
“Ah! There we are.” Lawrence helped Zehra down beside him. Once seated, he opened the wicker basket he’d had his kitchen prepare. She took the opportunity to watch him as he pulled the food out of the basket and placed it on the blanket. He was kneeling next to her, and she admired his strong thighs, outlined by the tightness of his trousers in his currentposition.
Zehra was fascinated by the way his dark hair caught the sunlight on the hill. Golden amber glinted and sparkled in the strands. She’d never seen a man with such hair color. Now that the shock of what she’d been through had finally begun to fade, she was starting to pay more attention to the unusual aspects of hisappearance.
“What?” Lawrence asked. His hazel eyes searched her face when he realized she was studying him. They sat mere inches apart, and an invisible energy seemed to pull betweenthem.
“Your hair.” She reached up without thinking and brushed her fingers throughit.
