Page 28 of His Wicked Embrace
Zehra took the flower and rolled the stem between her fingers, making it dance. She smiled and then lay back on the blankets, watching the clouds form shapes overhead. She heard a rustle of cloth and felt Lawrence settle down next to her. She looked at him as he propped his chin on one hand and stared back at her. His eyes were enigmatic, but the sensual curve of his lips made her hopeful he would finally give her a taste of the pleasures he’d teased herwith.
She knew so little of him, yet she also felt close to him in a way she’d never felt with anyone. There was a quiet, intense intimacy between them that wasunshakable.
“Would you be angry if I stole a kiss?” heasked.
She knewwhy he had asked the way he did. This was the man who had rescued her. She owed him a debt of honor, yet he did not want her affections if they were born from obligation. But what was growing between them was not part of that debt she owed, not to her. Shewantedhim to kiss her, wanted him to do so muchmore.
Zehra bit her lip before replying. “I’d be angry if youdidn’t.”
He leaned over, placing one hand on her hip, and lowered his face to hers. They were but inches apart, and a hint of a smile crinkled the corners of his eyes. She closed her eyes a second before he kissedher.
His mouth moved over hers languidly, as though he was tasting her. There was a hint of sweetness left on his tongue from the strawberries they’d eaten. Zehra curled one arm around his neck, feathering her fingers in his hair at the nape of his neck. Lawrence deepened the kiss, making her head light and her bodytremble.
When his lips wandered to her throat, she was glad the modiste had prepared her low-necked dresses, because she wanted Lawrence to kiss hereverywhere. Her breath hitched as he slid his hand up from her waist to gently knead one of her breasts over her gown. Although her clothes acted as a barrier to his touch, her breasts grew heavy and her nipple pebbled under histhumb.
What would it be like to feel his mouth on her skin? On her breasts? She moaned as he nibbled her collarbone before his mouth sought hers again. Zehra wasn’t sure how long they lay there kissing, until a cold wind teased her and she suddenly shivered. She and Lawrence broke apart, and they both glanced around the hilltop meadow. The sun had sunk beneath a heavy bank of dark clouds, and rain was coming on the horizon. She could see the misty wall as it swept across the distant hills and the city of Richmondbelow.
“Bloody hell,” Lawrence muttered and sat up, hastily grabbing the picnic basket. “We’ve got to go. You’ll catch your death if you getwet.”
She got to her feet and folded the blanket while he packed the picnic basket. They rushed down the hill as fast as they could, but try as they might, they could not beat the rain. The icy water soon soaked her clothes. The tall grass clung to her legs, making it difficult for her to walk when her dress caught on the grass. Lawrence held the handles of their basket with one hand and reached out to hold her free hand with his. They stumbled down to the base of the hill and onto the small muddyroad.
“Zehra, I’m sorry, I should have had the curricle wait here for us instead of having us walk here,” Lawrence said as they dodged the growing puddles. Her feet were starting to ache, not used to the black walking boots shewore.
“I’m fine,” she assured him, laughing. There was something delightfully ridiculous about all ofthis.
They had been on the road for ten minutes before they heard the rattling of wheels on the ground. They turned back to see a farmer on the seat of an open wagon with two horses pullingit.
“Ho there!” Lawrence let go of Zehra’s hand to wave the farmer down. The scruffy man pulled back on the reins, and the horsesstopped.
Rain dripped off the farmer’s wide-brimmed hat as he peered down from his perch. “Lost?”
“Lost? No, but in desperate need of a ride to the village.” Lawrence pointed to a distant set of buildings, where a little inn sat on the edge ofRichmond.
“I think I can help. Climb onto the back.” The farmer nodded over his shoulder at thewagon.
Lawrence led Zehra over, and she helped him secure the basket and the blanket farther back in the wagon before he grasped her around the waist and lifted her up. When Lawrence climbed up beside her, she curled her arm around him. As the wagon rolled into motion, she leaned into him, resting her head on hisshoulder.
“We’ll get you inside and get you warm, Ipromise.”
“I know you will.” She tilted her head so she could place a soft kiss against his throat. In that moment, she didn’t care about the rain, didn’t care if she caught achill.
I could stay here with himforever.
By the time they reached the small village, she was half frozen. Lawrence called out a thank-you to the farmer and tossed him a few shillings before he and Zehra walked toward the White Hart Inn. Zehra followed Lawrence aside, shivering as they came up to theinnkeeper.
“Is there a room available for me and my wife?” Lawrenceasked.
Zehra blinked in shock at being called Lawrence’s wife, but she knew he had to do it to avoid scandal and for that she wasgrateful.
The portly gentleman chuckled. “Picnic ruined? You’re not the first. All sorts of lads and lasses came in here soaked to the bone. Lucky for you I’ve got one room left.” The man, clearly Irish by his accent, retrieved a single brass key hanging on the last peg on the wall and handed itover.
“Thank you. Could we have two hot meals and a bathprepared?”
“Of course.” The innkeeper whistled at a pair of young boys behind the bar. “Follow this gent and lady to room four and heat them up somewater.”
The boys scrambled like pups to get up the stairs ahead of Zehra and Lawrence. When Lawrence opened the door, the boys rushed inside and grabbed several large buckets from a cabinet in the wardrobe, then rushed back downstairs. Zehra settled into the chair by the cold fireplace, wishing for the heat of the flames. A look of chagrin fell on Lawrence’sface.
“I’d put a few blankets on you, but it will only drench the blankets, and we need our bed to stay warm—if you want to stay the night, that is.” He watched her, as if waiting for her to deny what he’d justoffered.
