From the looks upon their faces, they, too, had heard me. I snatched up the throw blanket at the end of the bed and wrapped it around my shoulders.
“Try not to drown her,” Gabe muttered as he swept from the room.
****
Gabriel
I couldn’t sleep.
Not even the piano could hold my attention tonight. I told myself it had nothing to do with the fact that Ginny was upstairs, in bed, in nothing more than a nightgown. Had nothing to do with the fact that every night since she’d arrived, I’d been sitting at her bedside, hoping she would wake with a clear gaze, and a smart mouth, back to her normal, stubborn self.
I knew I acted odd. As I’d garnered more and more curious glances from my staff, I’d finally gotten sick of the attention and had dismissed the maids in order to keep watch over Ginny myself. For two nights, I was her nursemaid. It was the first thing I’d done for someone else since…ever.
A selfless act.
I didn’t want her well so I could bed her. I didn’t even look at her in the way a man looked at a woman. I only wanted her…better, and I wasn’t sure why. Seeing her suffer made me feel uneasy. Hell, was it guilt? I didn’t care about the woman. She was a mere means to an end. So why did I find myself outside her door while the rest of the house had settled for the night?
Before I could question myself further, I knocked. I didn’t bother to wait for a response, but pushed the door open. A fire burned brightly. Ginny wasn’t in bed, but nestled in a chair near the hearth, a book in hand, her wary gaze on me. She wore only a thin, white nightgown. A maid was seated across from her, sewing. The servant looked partly horrified and partly shocked to see me standing there.
“Out,” I demanded.
The maid scurried from the room, almost running into me in her haste to leave. “Y...yes, my lord.”
“That was rude,” Ginny muttered, lowering her book.
I shut the door behind me. “What was?”
She sighed, brushing back a lock of hair. The dark strands shimmered under the light of the fire. They looked like onyx, black as night and just as luxurious as satin. She appeared clean, fresh, so very sensual.
“And the fact that you don’t even realize how rude you sounded is a true shame.”
“Rude? I told her what to do. Leave.” I tugged at my cravat, pulling it lose. “That’s what lords do…they give commands.”
She watched my movements with a hard gaze. “You could have said it in a friendlier way.”
I tossed my cravat to the bed. “How, exactly?”
She placed the book on a side table. The light was warm against her skin, making her glow golden. “Could you please leave?”
My clothing felt too tight, the room too hot. I shrugged off my jacket and tossed it onto the bed. Damn, if I didn’t want to draw my fingers down her body, to kiss her smooth skin, to study her very form like she was a work of art. “Please? I never say please to the maids. It would make things awkward.”
“No, I’m asking you to please leave.”
I wasn’t sure whether to be amused or annoyed. “This is my home.”
She gripped the arms of the chair, her face flushed with anger. “And I would gladly leave if you’d return my clothing!”
I shrugged and moved toward the chair the maid had vacated. “Those rags? Why would you want them returned? I sent them back to the Landcaster’s.”
With a groan, she slumped into her chair, crossing her arms over her chest, pouting like a child who had been refused sweets. “Because I’d rather wear rags than prance around London naked.”
Damnation, if the image didn’t make me hard. I shifted, uncomfortable. I might have thought of her as a patient while she’d been ill, but she was no longer sick. “You’re not sleeping?”
She looked at the fire, still pouting. I wanted to suck that lower lip into my mouth. “The bed is too soft.”
Too soft? Amused, I glanced at the large four-poster. “What do you normally sleep on? Bale of hay? Stone slab?”
She ignored me and stood. “When can I leave, my lord?”
I didn’t miss the way she wavered and grasped the back of her chair, her legs still not strong enough to hold her. She was too damn stubborn to admit she was weak, and too damn stubborn to rest. “Whenever you wish.”