Turnbridge rolled his eyes. “They get up to the most banal conversation. Another word about boxing will put me to sleep.”
“You don’t like boxing,” Tom asked, surprised.
“Blood sport is not for me. I like the horses better.”
“Of course, you do,” Tom affirmed before the others joined them. “The sport of kings. Is it not?”
“Exactly.” Turnbridge agreed.
“Greeting the new member of the ton I see,” drawled one of the lords.
Turnbridge’s eyes narrowed. “Glenbroch, meet the lords, Towton, Highfield, and Seagate.”
Tom inclined his head, breathing slowly, pleased that his trap had been set and that it had already born fruit.
“It seems like we have a new man to add to the pot.”
And with that, Tom smiled. “Now gentlemen, tell me the rules of the wager so that we may begin.”
And he knew then that he had them all.
Chapter 11
Elizabeth stirred in her bed in the darkness, the linen sheets cool against her skin. She breathed slowly, wondering why she’d awoken.
Despite the fact that her life was so cold, that she spent so much time attempting to be perfect, she did not allow those things to steal her sleep. She never dreamed, she did not have them, but tonight, dear heaven. This night she had had dreams, unlike any she had ever known.
Tom had infiltrated them with his dark stare, his wild hair, his rough hands, and his demeanor, which seemed to suggest he would sweep her away, make her safe, and claim her as if she had always belonged to him.
Oh, she wanted him to claim her.
She arched her back ever so slightly, trying to find a comfortable position on the bed but could not.
She bit her lower lip and let out a small moan. Was this to be her life then, with him near her, always in the slightest bit of discomfort, knowing that he was the only one who could alleviate it with his kiss, with his touch?
But would he ever give it to her again?
He did not seem to be as determined to possess her as she might have hoped him to be, given the fact that she had bestowed her permission upon him.
Now, he seemed determined to take the honorable path, just as the Duke of Blackwood said.
A Galahad indeed.
He was an earl now.
He could ask her tomarryhim. Her father could not say no. Was that what she wanted? She had been so certain that she wanted total freedom from men, away from her father, away from the men of the ton. But what about a life with Tom as his wife, the Countess of Glenbroch?
She barely knew him…
Her eyes opened ever so slightly and she caught sight of the curtains waving in the wind. She gasped and rolled in her bed, realizing immediately that there was a shadow in the room.
She grabbed hold of the sheets, stilling as her heart thumped against her ribs.
“Do not be afraid, Elizabeth,” the voice growled softly through the darkness.
“Tom?” she gasped.
“Yes,” he confirmed. “Forgive me. I did not mean to frighten you. I did not think you would awaken.”