the scent of roses or the softness of her mouth. He’d been celibate long enough. “Just tonight,” he mumbled when she gave him a moment to breathe.
“We’ll see.”
He wouldn’t waste any more time arguing. Maris might feel sorry for him, but he could not help appreciating the way she chose to express it.
She sank to his rumpled pallet, pulled her rain-dampened night rail up over her knees and then paused. Her lashes flicked. “Perhaps I should keep covered. I don’t wish to give you a disgust of me.”
Idiot woman. In two steps, he lifted the garment over her head, disentangling her wavy braid from a button. Her skin glowed ivory in the low lamplight, breasts full, belly taut and rounded. He was rendered speechless by her fecund beauty. Without a thought, he placed his hand on the curve that cradled the baby.
She was almost six months gone with child, and not so very large yet. He knew nothing of pregnancy, save he’d always been scrupulously careful not to cause one.
“All is well?”
“I think so. I’ve felt the baby quicken. It is the most remarkable sensation, Reyn. I cannot begin to describe it.”
“Should you still be riding?” What on earth was he about, spoiling the mood of that seductive kiss?
“You sound like Dr. Crandall. I am fine, Reyn. Not sick, just pregnant. And very anxious to have you inside me if you can manage it.”
Well. He’d never been able to resist a challenge. Reyn would worry about tomorrow, tomorrow. Tonight, he wouldn’t let himself think anymore at all.
Chapter 27
Maris had been unable to fall asleep with the receding rumbling of thunder and the heavy rain falling overhead. All she could think of was Reyn in his misery. No wonder he’d been bored and mocked her fanatic attention to all things historical. My Lord, she had given him books he couldn’t read to brush up on antiquities. Yet he’d been convincing, even with David. Reyn was resilient, a master at concealment. She wondered how he’d avoided offering himself up as a spy during the war.
Of course, secret codes would truly be secret to him.
He wasn’t stupid, no matter what he’d said. The more she thought about it, the more she admired him for coping with such a heavy burden. If she hadn’t picked up that ledger, she never would have guessed.
She’d lain awake in the strange bed until all lights were extinguished and all noises from the household ceased. Restless, she’d risen and gone to the window to watch the storm blow across the night sky. The mares’ stable was dark, but cracks of light limned the windows where Brutus and Phantom were housed. Reyn was there, wakeful, watching.
Wounded.
She’d nearly laughed at her alliterative turn of mind.
Maris refused to question why it was so necessary for her to steal down the stairs barefoot, hoping that the door leading to the stable yard was not locked, the key secreted away by one of Ginny’s servants. She was almost exultant when the door pushed open freely in the wind.
Closing it carefully behind her, she fled through the puddles and pounding raindrops to where Reyn was keeping vigil. Maris had not formulated exactly what she wanted to say to him; in fact, she really didn’t want to talk much at all once she’d said her peace.
She was wicked tonight, and blamed poor Henry for setting this scheme in motion. If she had not ever met Reynold Durant, she would not want his lips and hands on her body. Maris might not want to marry him—yet—but lying with him had been all she could think about since she blew out her candle.
Since she’d met him on horseback scant days ago.
Since she’d first laid eyes on him at the Reining Monarchs Society.
He needed to know she was not disgusted by him. He was, she thought, an amazingly persistent character to have gotten so far in life. Such perseverance was to be commended. Henry had seen it, even if he didn’t know the source of Reyn’s stubborn success.
Reyn was visible through the gap in the checked curtain on the window of his office, his hair every which way as he sat up on a pile of blankets on the wooden floor. From the frown on his face, she had thought he might deny her entrance, but then he nodded at her with resignation.
And now she was in his arms, where she fit perfectly despite her bulk. He looked at her with wonder, touching the place where their baby