“No,” she said.
“Can I take these off?’ He pulled at the waistband of hers, earning himself a long, slow shake of her head but with a wide smile.
He looked at her bodice, then he looked at her. He did not ask this time. Instead, he simply bent his head and began to kiss the tops of her breasts very gently as his hand reached for the laces beneath them. Slowly, never stopping kissing her, he undid the ties that held her corset together. It fell apart and lay flat on the mattress, exposing her full breasts to his view. He stopped kissing her and just stared. Then he looked at her. She knew whatever he did next, she would let him. She was beyond resisting this man. Her body was fully in control of every thought process, and her mind was abdicating responsibility for this one night. Her skin burned under his regard. She expected him to bend his head to take her nipples in his mouth, kiss and caress her. Instead, he let out a loud groan and just sank his chest on top of hers. His arms came around her, and she reveled in the feeling of his bare skin on hers. He rolled onto his back and took her with him across the bed.
Their bodies were so close she could not tell where she ended, and he began. She relaxed against him and felt him relax too.
“Sleep, my lovely,” he said to her then. “Sleep, knowing that nothing can come between us tonight.”
There was no way she could sleep. Every nerve ending in her entire body was on fire. She wanted him so badly, but she knew he was right to stop.
She burrowed into his shoulder, enjoying the feel of his hair against her skin.
“Thank you for my birthday,” she said softly. “And especially the presents.”
He squeezed her even more tightly in response.
When Rose awoke, he was gone. There was no trace of him ever having been in her bedchamber. He had put the chair back by the dressing table and even capped the oil bottle and placed it among her potions. Her clothes were folded neatly, her shoes placed carefully by the curtains. The only giveaway to the entire evening was that she was lying in bed wearing nothing but her drawers, surrounded by the smell of aromatic oil. She could not believe he had risen and dressed without waking her. They had slept skin to skin all night. She remembered waking a few times, marveling at finding him there, and then snuggling down into the warmth of him.
It was not yet light. Rose got out of bed and wore her nightdress before Anna came. The fire had gone out in the grate. Rose felt like the fire had gone out inside of her too.
CHAPTERNINETEEN
“The Duke is asking for you, Your Grace,” Jennings announced two days after Will’s departure. Rose had been enjoying a light lunch in the dining room.
Her heart sank.
“Did he say what he wanted?”
“Just that he was feeling better and would be pleased if you would visit with him.”
Rose was truly not in the mood for a fight with Ernest. She had spent the last few days lost in memories of her birthday, and even though Will had now left, she had felt calm, at least. Now she was going to have to re-enter the fray.
“Very well,” she said to Jennings, and he gave her a sympathetic look.
She mounted the stairs with leaden feet, trying to devise an excuse as to why she had not visited him for a week. Then, the more strident voice inside Rose said No apologies required. Remember, you dictate now.That was all very well in theory.
Ernest’s door was closed, so she knocked lightly on it. She heard him shout come in, took a deep breath, and turned the handle.
“Ah, Rose, there you are.”
Ernest was sitting up in bed with the clean sheets pulled neatly around him, and for a moment, she almost did a double take. He didn’t look like Ernest at all. He was a cleaner, thinner, pinker version of the man she had last seen. His hair was neat, even styled, and when he smiled at her, which was strange enough in itself, his teeth were far whiter. He was losing his heavy jowls, and his face was a healthy color, not florid.
“You look so much better,” she said out loud, unable to contain herself. As soon as she spoke she expected a snarl, or a facetious comment, but instead, Ernest smiled again.
“I think the day nurse gets bored and is always fiddling with me. If it is not a blanket bath or face steam, she is cutting my hair or doing my nails.” He showed her his perfectly manicured hands. “It annoyed me intensely at first, and she felt the full force of my wrath. But I am convinced she is deaf as she ignored me completely, and now I have found it passes the time and is even quite relaxing.”
Rose was sure her jaw was gaping. Where had angry Ernest gone?
“Come and sit beside me,” he indicated the chair by his bedside table. “I wondered where you had got to, but then I was so angry, and in pain at the start of the week, it was probably a good thing you weren’t here.”
“Does it hurt less now?” she asked, as he winced while turning his body towards her.
“The injury is still very painful, but the doctor said that it is a long journey. But, bizarrely, all my other aches and pains, which I have had for so long, have gone. My legs. My ankles. My feet. So I actually feel a lot better.”
The change in his appearance and his demeanor was nothing short of remarkable.
As Ernest was talking, the nurse walked back into the room.