"Well, he's cheerful," Jonathon said mildly, after the door shut behind Amon.
"She'll tame him," Ezra said. "Won't you, puisín?"
"Working on it. Why won't you let me see Mr. Tanner?" I asked, turning my gaze to my doctor.
Jonathon chuckled and raised his hands in a gesture of innocence. "I share my time with Mr. Tanner, but I certainly don't control him. Possibly the opposite. You'll have to discuss it with him next time."
I leaned forward and batted my eyelashes at Jonathon, who didn't look the least bit moved. "When will that be, do you think?"
Jonathon leaned in, taking my chin between his fingers, eyes glinting green but only briefly. "When you aren't sore, and tired, and trying to distract yourself from a harrowing experience, Miss Reed. Mr. MacKenna—"
"You lot and your miss and misters. It's Ezra."
"Ezra, then. Would you mind helping Esther in the bath while I check on the others in the kitchen?"
"You…you wouldn't rather..." Ezra stalled out, but I knew what he was going to ask, and I wondered the same. Dr. Underwood didn't want to claim me for himself? It was meant to be his evening.
But calm, pleasant Jonathon only smiled. "I'll have Esther to myself plenty in London, and Magdalena said your...time together was rather abrupt. Perhaps you might like…"
I held my breath. I had been back and forth, up and down since Ezra had left the manor, mulling over and over what had happened between us. A month ago, I wouldn't have cared a whit if he had only been a brief roll between the sheets, but with Amon's fussing and Magdalena's frowns and my own affection growing for the others, I'd been given the first inklings of discomfort. Did I want Ezra to be more than a fuck?
Had I always wanted more than fucking, or was that the effect of these men?
"What I think he means, puisín, is that I owe you a proper cuddle," Ezra said, lips warm against my ear. He bundled me in invisible arms, and I caught my breath, clutching on what looked like air as he lifted me from the bed and marched me to the bathroom.