Owen’s eyes flew wide. He held himself still, assessing, listening to the bedchamber around him. Early morning birds chirped outside his window and the pale gray light of dawn crept in beneath the drapes.
He knew he was in London, in his town house and a world away from the heat and death of the war, but old habits were hard to quit. For once he’d slept solidly. Last night he’d endured a tense meal with Jamie. His brother was full of helpful suggestions. It appeared Paget and he had decided he needed to meet a nice young lady. One of the many debutantes coming out this Season would be just what he needed to bring him back to himself.
The evening couldn’t have ended quickly enough.
Then he heard it again. The slight creak of a floorboard. He wasn’t alone in his bedchamber. Firelight from the hearth danced on the wall he faced.
He didn’t breathe, didn’t move, simply waited, listening as the steps drew closer behind him. When he sensed a body close to the bed, he turned and lunged.
His arms pulled the struggling figure down on the bed. A feminine cry filled his ears.
Anna.
“What are you doing in here?” he growled, coming over her. “I thought I advised you against sneaking into my bedchamber.”
“Unhand me!” She squirmed beneath him.
He loosened his arms around her without letting go. “Am I hurting you?”
“No.” She blew at a strand of hair dangling in her face. He watched it drift back to land on her smooth cheek.
“Good. Then answer me. What are you doing here? You know very well what I could have done to you.”
Her glance scanned him. “You don’t have a weapon.”
He slid his hands to her throat, let his fingers lightly surround the smooth skin of her neck. “These are weapons enough.”
“Stop.” A shudder racked her, and he instantly removed his hands. He couldn’t bring himself to frighten her.
“Why are you here? I was not having a bad dream,” he whispered. “Come to play at seduction again?” The question slipped free, an unbidden taunt, an unspoken desire.
Bright color fired her cheeks. “No!” She squirmed beneath him, and he tightened his jaw against the sweet sensation.
She continued heatedly, “I did not know how else to have a word with you but to seek you out myself. You prove ever elusive, my lord.”
Her words hit their mark. A hot flash of guilt washed through him. “About yesterday—”
“No need to explain—”
“I want to explain. I—”
“Forgive me, my lord, but it’s not necessary.” She angled her head on the bed beneath her.
He stared down at her for a full minute. She cared. The fire in her cheeks was not solely from embarrassment. He knew that at once.
“My brother—”
“Your brother surprised you with a visit. Mrs. Kirkpatrick told me.” She released a heavy breath. “But you owe me no explanation. You owe me nothing at all.” She blinked those amazing eyes of hers. “You’ve done more than enough for me. You’ve seen to my care. I’m fit and hale once again. Thank you for that.” She uttered these words so properly, so very primly, that he felt some primitive urge to shake her well up inside him. “It’s time for me to go. It was unfair of me to exact a promise from you for more than you’ve already done for me.”
“Unfair?” Her words sank into his stomach like heavy stones. “ ‘Fair’ doesn’t come into play here, Anna. Something terrible happened to you and that wasn’t fair, was it?”
War . . . the deeds he’d committed in India . . . none of that had been fair. What made her think fairness was to be expected in this life? It wasn’t fair that he couldn’t forget their kiss. Her taste. It wasn’t fair that he was in anguish to experience it again.
He pulled back farther and his gaze roamed her. She had dressed for the day in a modest gown of robin’s egg blue. Even so, the fabric was snug across her breasts. Wherever his housekeeper had unearthed the gown, it was meant for a female far less endowed.
She looked away, again confirming that she remembered far more of the events that led him to find her on that riverbank. For whatever reason, she didn’t trust him enough to confide in him. “I would not know about that.”
He sighed. “I promised to instruct you—”
“It’s clear I’m unwanted here.” Her long lashes blinked slowly over her eyes, as if she was fighting some unwanted emotion. “Let’s just be done with this . . . and each other.”
Her words rattled about his head. She was giving him a way out. He could simply say yes and let her go.
“That’s what you want?” He paused to swallow. “To go?”
She nodded jerkily, sending her brown hair tossing around her shoulders. The top half of it was pulled back with a pair of combs, leaving the rest to fall all around her shoulders. She looked young and fresh. He wished she had taken the time to arrange her hair. The temptation to touch that unruly mane, to run his fingers through the rich mass, was far too tempting. It took her a while to reply. “I think we can both agree that I’ve outstayed my welcome.”
He inhaled a sharp breath. Again he needn’t say anything. He only had to rise and let her go. Give her the money he promised to help her get settled somewhere and turn his back on her.
He glanced down at himself, recalling his lack of clothing. Lifting his gaze, he caught her observing him in turn. Her eyes skimmed over his bare shoulders and chest. When she lifted her gaze to his face, the color deepened in her cheeks.
Again he recalled her in her bath . . . after her bath. Of course she could not have forgotten that either. Did she regret her behavior that night? Did it torment her as much as it tormented him?
“If you’ll give me a moment, I’ll dress myself and meet you in the gardens. We should be able to begin your lesson there.”
Her gaze snapped back to his face. “What?”
“I made a promise to you. I apologize for putting it off . . . for failing you last night. You shan’t leave here until I’ve made good on my word to help you.”
He told himself it was the honorable thing to do. That was the only reason he refused to let her go. He wanted to cling to what small scrap of honor he still possessed.
She studied him for a long moment, her expression bewildered, her fine eyebrows knitted close. Doubtless, she wondered why he should care to keep her here any longer when she was so agreeable to leaving.
He was equally bewildered.
“Have you eaten yet? We should not begin until you’re properly fed. You’ll need your energy.”
After a long moment she nodded, but uncertainty still lurked in her wide eyes.
He slid his hands along her arms, trying not to enjoy the feel of her in his hands too much. He firmly set her from him.
Flipping back the counterpane, he rose in one smooth motion. If possible, her eyes grew even larger. Her gaze scanned his length before jerking elsewhere, darting wildly around his room. “Y-You are unclothed!”
He smiled, enjoying her discomfort as he strolled naked toward his wardrobe. After the torment of finding her in her bath in a similar state, he thought it sweet justice. “Speaking of clothes, we really need to find you some garments that are tailored to you.”
She glanced down, brushing a hand over her bodice as she got to her feet.
“Not,” he added, “that I don’t appreciate the cut of your bodice. You have lovely breasts, Anna. I’m just not certain you want to flaunt them so much.”
“Oh!” Her fist came down to strike her skirts. “I shall see you downstairs,” she called, whirling around.
Chuckling, he watched her flee, impressed with how deft and quickly her feet moved beneath her skirts. She had made a miraculous recovery.
The door clicked shut behind her as he dressed himself.
It was only moments later that he realized he was still smiling.