Chapter Forty
Damian lay on his back staring at the ceiling, his arm around Georgie who slept as she as always did with her head on his chest and her thigh over his. He smoothed a hand up and down her arm while the other covered hers on his abdomen.
It wasn’t just his body that had ached for Georgie, but his heart as well. In fact, he had gotten little sleep because this was how he held her through the night, wanting to remember every detail, to store it away for the future.
Little over a week ago, she had entered his life.
He had fought going with her because he knew, before leaving Southampton, that if he spent more time in her company, the organized life that he enjoyed would be disrupted beyond repair and something he would likely not recover from.
Had he already recognized her as the woman he would fall in love with?
Had his soul seen something in hers that recognized Georgie as being its match?
How had he known even then that his life would change, so much so that he fought the disruption to his life?
And the even bigger question—what foolish man rejected the opportunity to have Georgie in his life forever? Had the man who seduced her not realized what he could truly gain?
Georgie stirred at his side, stretched her arm out, and then looked up at him and smiled, her eyes still soft from sleep.
“What shall we do today?”
“As the ship has already left port, there is nowhere to go, I would be quite content to remain exactly as we are.”
“What of sustenance.”
“Yes, you do enjoy food.” He chuckled. He had never met a woman who moaned with the first bite of any meal she ate, as she had done since she’d been with him.
“I do, and I would like some soon, please.”
There was a dining room where they were told that meals for the passengers would be served at specific times.
Damian reluctantly pulled himself away from the bed and the softness of Georgie to retrieve his timepiece. “We can break our fast in half an hour.”
“Then we should dress,” she said as she sat up in bed, the blanket held tightly to her breasts so that nothing was exposed. “Turn around.”
Damian arched a brow. He had already seen her naked, and she was quite beautiful, and perfectly rounded, and he enjoyed her in that state, so there was no longer a need for modesty.
“I shall not leave this bed and expose myself to you.”
“That is a much better plan than dressing to break our fast. In fact, I will put on what clothing is necessary and collect food and bring it back to you so that you can stay exactly as you are.”
Georgie gasped. “You will not and I will not.”
“Though, I should dress before leaving you. While there are mostly men on this ship, they likely would rather not see me naked.”
Georgie blew out a sigh. “Dress, then step from the cabin, please.”
Damian chuckled as he hastily dressed, not really bothering to determine if he was presentable enough to be seen in society because it did not matter. They were on a ship sailing to Ireland, and it was likely that he would never see any of the other passengers again.
“I shall wait for you in the corridor.”
He checked his timepiece several times before she finally emerged, her hair brushed and pinned back. Her light-blue gown hugged her to perfection, emphasizing her breasts, which he had given no attention to the night before, a situation that would be rectified today.
“Please divert your attention to my face before we join the others,” Georgie ordered then took his arm so that he could escort her to the dining room.
*
She had nearly pulled Damian back into their chamber when he had stared so intently at her bodice. In fact, she was certain her breasts had swelled and the nipples tightened. But they really could not spend all their time being intimate. A person did need sustenance.
The table was crowded, but two seats remained and after she and Damian had filled a bowl with porridge and added fruit, bread, and ham to a plate, they sat among the other guests.
There was polite conversation, nothing intrusive, as the others came to know each other and when someone asked why they were traveling to Ireland, her response was that she and her husband were to visit her family.
She liked referring to Damian as her husband, but it would never be real, only pretend and for a very short time.
When they had finished, the two of them walked along the deck, enjoying the fresh air and sea breeze until they stopped at a railing far away from the others.
“May I ask you a question?”
“Of course,” Georgie answered.
“Who was he?”
“Who?”
“The man…well, the man who…”
“Ruined me?” she whispered to clarify.
“Yes. He is a curiosity, if you must know,” Damian answered. “But, if you would rather not discuss him or the circumstances, I will not press you.”
She truly did not mind, other than it would show how foolish she had been.
“He was a student at Accademie di Belle Arti. I was eighteen and thought myself in love. He courted me and whispered words of love…” Georgie looked away as sadness filled her.
Not because of a lost love that never existed but because she had been foolish enough to believe his lies.
“I believed him. He was English, but that did not matter because I trusted him and allowed him to seduce me. He made me believe that as soon as his education was complete, we would marry and move to England. A month later, when his studies were done, he was gone, leaving behind a letter saying that in retrospect, he did not love me, but that I was more of a distraction though there had been deep fondness.”
“Did anyone know?” Damian asked quietly.
“No. Well, at least not about the seduction, but he courted me openly. My father liked him. To this day, my parents believe that I am still an innocent miss, and I would not have them ever believe otherwise.”
She turned to face him. “They believe that the reason I never courted anyone else was because my heart was too badly broken, and I allow them that illusion, when the truth is that I never met anyone afterwards that I wished to court me. In fact, you are the only person that I have trusted to tell the truth, and allow myself…” She did not want to say enjoy intimacy with or be eager for seduction, so she hoped he did not ask her to clarify.
“There were regrets at first, but as I said the other night, my life would have been no different had I been seduced or not. I would have remained working in my family’s bakery until I had to leave to find Grace, because I had not met anyone who attracted my attention or interest.”
“However, your experience likely increased your concern for your sister.”
“Because I knew what was truly at stake. I feared that Grace would come all this way and Fisher would turn out to be just like the student who had seduced me.”