Winter's Woman (The Wicked Winters #9) - Scarlett Scott Page 0,26
any more trouble? If she was not occupying all his thoughts, then she was here, in his chamber. Where he could touch her. Or kiss her again. Both actions which he must avoid at all costs.
“I wished to speak with you.”
“You could have done it all bloody day,” he growled, furious with her for invading his chamber. Even more furious at what he could have done to her, had she failed to say his name…
The mere notion made his stomach churn with violent upheaval. He found his way to the tinderbox and struck away at the flint. His irritation proved a boon for the task. In no time, he had the brace of candles lit, filling the modest chamber he had taken with warm, golden light.
A dreadful mistake, as it turned out.
Because milady was wearing a night rail.
A thin, virginal white affair buttoned to her throat. But it clung to her curves as if it had been fashioned for the sole purpose of tormenting any man who gazed upon her whilst she wore it. It was the sort of gown a man could not help but to imagine tearing off her.
Her eyes were wide, lower lip caught between her teeth. “I wanted to speak with you alone. That could not have been accomplished by any other means than awaiting you here.”
He withdrew his knife, candlelight glinting off the sharp blade. “I could have stuck this between your ribs, milady. That’s what I was about to do, when you spoke.”
Her gaze settled on the knife, her pallor undeniable. “I…did not think of such a possibility. Forgive me.”
“You may have been born to ballrooms and silk, but in the rookeries, when a man is hiding in the darkness, there’s only one reason for it. He intends to kill you, and you’ve got to draw your blade first and sink it deep.”
She frowned. “I did not want the servants to know I was in here awaiting you. I thought it would be easier to hide myself if one of them were to return if there was no light. I did not think…”
“Aye,” he bit out, losing his patience. “You did not think, did you, milady? You never do, else you would not commit half the reckless actions you take.”
The expression on her face only filled him with further fury. She looked stricken.
Damned spoiled duke’s daughter. He threw his knife. It hurtled through the air, the blade landing in the wall on the opposite end of the room exactly where he had intended, the tip buried inside Devereaux Winter’s fine plaster. He would pay for the repair to the wallcoverings later. For now, he was too damned irritated to care.
Her lips parted as her gaze went to the blade protruding from the wall and then back to Devil. “There is no need to be so rude, Mr. Winter. I was not hiding in your chamber with the intention of doing you harm. I only wished to talk.”
Talking was the last thing he wanted to do with this vexing baggage.
What he wanted to do was kiss her breathless. And then strip her bare and bury his face between her thighs. To lick her until she was writhing and desperate and spending all over his tongue. But he was not going to do any of those things, damn it. He was going to get her out of here instead. Latch the door behind her pretty back.
“I do not want to talk with you, milady,” he growled at her. “And you do not belong in my chamber.”
“How else was I to garner a moment of your time? You have been avoiding me for the past two days.”
Had he been avoiding her? Hell, yes, he had. Because kissing her had been the height of stupidity. And he had thought of nothing other than doing it again ever since.
“You have been in my presence plenty,” he gritted. “You could have said what you wanted at any time.”
Despite his surliness, milady showed no signs of relenting. She remained where she was, stubborn as ever. “Not in the presence of Smithson.”
He had made certain to never be alone with her since those disastrous lessons. Her lady’s maid had been playing the chaperone, keeping them both out of further trouble. Now she was here, where he had spent every night stroking his cock to thoughts of her.
Shite, damn, fuck.
All the curses in the world were not sufficient to adequately express the way he felt this moment.