Chapter 5
Shivers ran down Anna’s spine, a soft gasp of shock slipping from her lips as she realized what she had nudged against. Who she had nudged against.
I have never been in the same bed as a man! Her mind whirled in a daze. Why is there a man in my bed? Why is he in my bed?
Her body responded to the shock in her head as she leapt from the bed, grabbing for a blanket to cover her state of undress.
No man had permission to see her in her nightdress!
Even Robert had not seen her in that flimsy excuse for a nightgown she wore on their wedding night, though at least this one was not half as transparent.
What she did not realize until it was too late was that, in hurling herself out of bed and snatching up a blanket for herself, she had thrown the rest of the coverlets aside.
The Duke lay there, wearing far less than he had by the cedar tree—an expanse of gleaming skin illuminated by the sliver of moonlight that slipped through the swaying drapes, stirred when she had leaped from the bed.
More bare skin than she had ever seen, aside from her own, sculpted with muscles she didn’t know the names of and had never glimpsed in her life.
It looked as if some divine force had carved him into being: a broad and powerful chest, the defined ridges of his abdomen, the lines and muscles of his strong arms, and a deep groove that sloped down from his hip, disappearing beneath what remained of the coverlets.
Fortunately, she had not ripped them away enough to reveal what existed beneath…
though she had not forgotten the shape of his strong thighs.
Remembering herself, she spun around, dropping the blanket to cover her eyes. Illogical, perhaps, since her back was already turned, but her mind was too flooded with what she had just seen to worry about logic.
What is in the water in Scotland? she thought absently, before quickly shoving the musing away. It was unseemly to even think of that hard, strong, powerful body, and how she had accidentally nudged against it with her backside. Her cheeks flamed at the thought.
“What do you think you are doing in my bed, sir?” she snapped, still refusing to give him the dignity of calling him ‘Your Grace.’ Clearly, he did not deserve it if he came into a lady’s room, sneaked into her bed wearing nothing, and lay in wait for her.
Even Robert was not that sly!
“Did you think I would offer you my body in exchange for you leaving my home?” she blurted out, the awful possibility exploding into her mind. “Did you think I would give you my body as well as my home? My goodness, what manner of beast are you?”
She trembled as she struggled to breathe, her eyes squeezed shut and her hands pressed firmly over them, as if Jeremy’s nudity might somehow seep through her many barriers.
Her heart fluttered like a trapped bird as she heard the rustle of coverlets and the creak of the bed, followed by the thud of footsteps on the wooden floor.
He is too close. Oh heavens, he is too close…
She could feel his presence as it stole the air from the space between them, tightening her chest until she could barely draw breath at all.
He was right in front of her; she knew it, though she did not dare to look.
If she reached out just a few inches, she would touch that warm, bare skin and trace the deep lines of his muscular physique.
As it was, she pressed her hands harder to her face, over her eyes.
A yelp escaped her throat as she felt his rough grip on her wrists, his hands easily pulling her hands from her eyes.
“Ye should look me in the eye if ye mean to offend me,” he growled. “Open yer eyes.”
She shook her head. “I will not, sir.”
“Ye act coy now, when ye were the one slipping into me bed?” he said, sparking a fresh flurry of irritation within her.
“This is my bedchamber!” she snapped, as she bit her lip, the encounter yesterday colliding with the present moment.
Her dizzy mind conjured a dangerous image of him holding her arms behind her back.
As she writhed and wriggled to get free, she imagined how it would feel to brush against his bare skin.
Her nightdress might have mostly covered her, but it was still thin, with nothing underneath.
It would create a different kind of friction altogether.
You have clearly stewed your brain into mush in that bath!
she scolded herself, as her body shook. There was no way he could not feel the tremble as he continued to hold her wrists, the pressure of his proximity thinning out the air even more, causing her bosom to heave with every strained breath she took.
“This is the Duke’s chamber,” Jeremy said. “And only one of us holds that title.”
“No, it is the Duchess’ bedchamber, and only one of us holds that title!
” she retorted, her eyes beginning to hurt with the exertion of keeping them tightly scrunched.
“The Duke’s chambers have not been used since my husband died in them.
So, I would ask again, what on earth are you doing here in my bed? ”
His grip relaxed on her wrists, though he didn’t let go entirely. “I was informed that these were the Duke’s chambers.”
“Then, you were misinformed,” she gasped, her heart racing and lungs heaving so fiercely that she worried she might faint. “My former husband’s… rooms are at the… end of the hall. It is locked… but the housekeeper has the key. Perhaps, she… can be fetched.”
Her breath caught as she felt the light touch of his thumb on the underside of her wrist, where the skin was unexpectedly sensitive. A gentle touch that made her head spin even more.
“So, this is yer room?” he asked.
“Have I not been clear enough already?” she shot back, panting.
“I would never get into bed with any man I was not married to. And… and… you should not be standing before me in such a state of undress, while I am in… nothing but my nightgown! You certainly should not be accusing me of… seduction when all I wanted to do was go to sleep!”
She felt his breath upon her cheek as he whispered. “How do ye know what state of undress I am in?”
“Because I saw you!” she replied, her eyes snapping open. “Because… I can see you.”
Her voice faltered as she looked upon him once more, half-relieved to discover that he was not completely naked.
Covering his lower half were a strange pair of trousers, very loose and flowing, tied at the hips and made of some kind of light fabric.
She had read of something similar, called mogul’s breeches, but they had fallen out of fashion decades ago.
Perhaps, that news did not reach as far as Scotland…
“Do you not have a nightshirt?” she remarked, forcing herself to keep her gaze trained on his face, though his bare skin and sculpted muscle teased her from her periphery.
“I find them too restrictive,” he replied. “Though it becomes ye well enough.”
She blinked. “Pardon?”
“Ye heard me,” he said simply. “The hour is too late for me to be finding a more suitable room, so perhaps ye should just come to bed.”
“What?” Her throat tightened, her mind running wild with the idea of lying beside such a man. Knowingly, this time.
He pulled her closer, those black eyes glittering in the dim light of the room. “Let me apologize for commandeering yer bed. I am better with actions than words, lass.”
Her neck arched so her gaze would not falter from his, but it seemed he misunderstood as his hand came up to cradle her nape, his head dipping as if…
as if he meant to kiss her. Her eyes widened as his full mouth came closer, pausing just an inch away from her lips, his warm breath tickling her mouth, teasing her.
As if he wanted to close that gap, make her come to him.
“Ye’ll sleep better than ye have in yer life,” he murmured, a smirk curving his lips.
It was absurd to want to kiss him, absurd to be drawn in by such overt seduction, absurd to let him get away with invading her private domain because he was handsome and the touch of his hand on her neck felt exquisite. Yet, she stayed still, playing along with his game to see who would relent.
With this, as with the occupation of the manor, Anna vowed it would not be her to give up first.
Just then, a light knock came at the chamber door, though it echoed as loudly as a gong crashing in Anna’s head. A warning bell to bring her back to her senses.
“Your Grace, I have your tea ready,” Katherine’s sweet voice called from the other side. “Are you awake?”
With that, Jeremy’s spell broke. Mustering all of her strength, Anna pushed him away from her, though she knew that her shove had nothing to do with his courteous step backward. She couldn’t have physically moved him if she’d tried.
“You will never set foot in this room again,” she hissed, cursing herself for rather liking the feel of his warm chest under her palms. Adding a last strike, hitting that hard muscle, she turned and marched for the door.
Katherine stood outside, balancing a tea tray on one hand. “Is everything well, Your Grace?”
Anna kept the door partially closed so that her dear friend and lady’s maid would not have to spoil her eyes with the sight of a half-naked duke. Nor did she want to worry Katherine when she was handling the situation. Mostly.
“I was just dozing in the chair,” Anna replied, annoyed that Jeremy’s presence was making her lie to someone she cared for. “Let me take that, and you go on to bed. You must be exhausted.”
Frowning, Katherine handed the tea tray through the relatively small gap in the door. “I thought I heard voices.”
“I was just talking to myself,” Anna replied. “Mulling over the day’s events to gain some perspective. You know I find it easier to ponder things if I speak them aloud.”
Katherine chuckled. “Yes, I suppose I do.” She paused. “Do you want to talk about it? I don’t mind sitting with you for a while. This situation… well, it’s a worry to us all, not knowing what might happen.”
“There is no need for concern,” Anna assured, meaning it. “I am certain that all of this is temporary, just a resting spot for the Duke before he moves on to the other estate by the sea.”
“But that estate hasn’t been kept for years,” Katherine said, as Anna fought to school her face into an expression of calm. She had not wanted Jeremy to find out about that particular issue.
“The townhouse, then,” Anna said.
Katherine frowned. “That is likely in disrepair, too.”
“Well, since my former husband’s considerable fortune has fallen neatly into the brute’s hands, I am sure he can buy another pleasant estate for himself if he wishes,” Anna said with a strained smile. “He could probably buy two.”
The sweet lady’s maid seemed to relax. “Yes, I daresay he could. If it were me, I’d probably start afresh.” She paused, her brow crinkling for a moment. “This house has too many ghosts in it.”
“I shall be sure to tell him of that,” Anna said, aware of the Duke’s eyes on her.
She could not sense where he was in the room, but she could feel the heat of his focus on the back of her neck, right where his hand had touched her. As if that brief, risky contact had created some kind of connection between them.
“Now, truly, you go on to bed. It is so very late, and I shall not forgive myself if you stay awake any longer,” Anna urged. “We can speak at length tomorrow.”
Katherine mustered a brave smile. “Good night then, Your Grace.”
“Good night, Katherine,” Anna replied fondly.
With a shy dip of her head, the lady’s maid turned and walked off down the hallway toward her private room.
Preferring to have her friend nearby, Anna insisted that Katherine take one of the guest chambers for herself a few weeks after Robert died, though she could only imagine what Jeremy would have to say about that.
As Katherine disappeared, Anna suddenly became aware of that intense presence behind her, stealing the air from the room once more.
“Ye know I am not going anywhere,” Jeremy said in a low voice.
Anna turned and smiled her sweetest smile. “We shall see about that.”
Leaving the door open for him, she breezed past his imposing figure and headed for her bed, climbing beneath the rumpled covers. The pillow smelled of him, as did the coverlets, infused with that fresh, rainstorm-scented perfume of the world: earth, iron, woodsmoke, and cut grass.
“Find yourself a suitable room and sleep in it,” she remarked from the comfort of her now empty bed. “If you so much as think of lying beside me, I shall scream so loud that it will wake the entire household.”
Her heart hammered as she heard him push the door toward the jamb, but he did not appear to be leaving through it.
“Oh, lass, if I were in bed with ye, ye’d definitely scream,” he said in a voice that made her stomach tighten, and her breath catch. “Me name, for one thing. Over and over… and over.”
She clutched the coverlets, the images already flooding her mind, summoned by his sly words, like a new spell cast over her.
“Don’t dream of me too much,” he taunted. “Or ye’ll wake up less rested than when ye went to sleep.”
As she sat up with a jolt, ready to bark out a protest or curse him for planting such ideas in her head, he swept out of the room and closed the door behind him.
Leaving her alone in her chambers with thoughts of screaming his name and the memory of his lips so close to hers, burning a hole in her sanity.