Page 40 of The Rogue's Last Scandal
“You are hiding in the shadows,” she whispered. “Are you trying to frighten me?”
Charley Everly moved to her side and rested an elbow on the window ledge.
She looked up at him, and the tightening and racing all but convulsed her. He had shed both his coats. A scruff shadowed his jaw and chin, and his eyes glittered darkly. She heated, and chilled, and heated again.
Dios.She needed to get out of here.
“If you’re thinking to jump down there, then yes, I hope I am frightening you.”
“Don’t be silly. I’m in my nightclothes.”
He reached for the plait of hair that dangled over her shoulder and fingered it, his touch racing up the long tail and through her.
She gulped for air. With the talk of her nightclothes, she had given him an indecent opening. He was going to touch more than her hair. Perhaps he would even try to kiss her.
“Your nightclothes. I noticed.” The back of his hand brushed her sleeve, sending even more tingles through her. “I imagine the next time you peer out this window, you’ll be fully clothed.”
Charley watchedthe movement of her face as she decided how to respond. Miss Kingsley was like most of the other Latin women he had met—fiery, emotional. She lacked the coldness of her father’s heritage, the knack for subterfuge. She was aroused, but she didn’t want to be, and her feelings were all twisted around how to respond.
He counted the passion as an asset, especially when she was thinking to lie to him.
“I don’t like to be caged.” The words came on a gaspy, deflating breath.
She had more control than he’d expected.
On the distant street, another carriage rattled the silence.
“Come. Let’s move you away from the window.”
He took her hand and led her across the room to a set of wing chairs. He remembered her back and seated her on a footstool, taking the chair in front of her.
“In this very room some weeks ago, Sirena was almost killed.”
Her head jerked up. The darkness hid her expression, but he knew he’d startled her.
Good. She should be startled.
“Yes. An intruder, a so-called artist who was chalking the ballroom floor, attempted to strangle her. We found that one of our footmen and a groom had been corrupted also. Since then, Bakeley has scrutinized every member of the staff to kingdom come.”
Her free hand rubbed at her neck. He pulled it down and held it.
“You are not in a cage, my love. You are protected. They are two completely different things.”
A tremble rippled through her and he drew her closer, sliding his hands to her shoulders, as naturally as if she’d been made for him.
She gasped, and he dropped his hands. He’d forgotten her wounds.
Except that, he hadn’t touched more than her shoulder. So, she had wounds that were deeper than those on her back.
“Did your brother rescue his lady?” she asked.
“In a manner of speaking. He kept her from hitting that hard ground below when she leaped from the window.”
Her low chuckle made him dare to take her hands again.
“And then he carried her off and married her,” she said.
“No. They were already married.”
