They retraced their steps until they reached the carriage. She let him settle her in and even wrap her again in the blanket.
“A short ride in the park is in order,” he said.
“Please tell him to go past Whiteford House first. Slowly.”
Five minutes later they rolled past the house. Minerva looked out at it, feeling very close to the man who once owned it, whom she had never known.
* * *
That night Chase had made a decision. He needed to make some kind of report to Peel in the next few days. He saw no alternative but to pursue one more thread in Minerva’s history before he did. He might never need to use the truth about Finley’s death, but he wanted it in his pocket just in case he had to reveal it to protect her.
He slipped into her bedchamber after the house was quiet. He had sent Brigsby home, explaining that he would return himself tomorrow. Beth’s snoring hummed down the corridor as he closed the door.
He undressed, and slid under the bedclothes to hold Minerva’s warmth against his skin. She turned on her side to face him.
“I thought you were asleep,” he said.
“I was waiting for you. I sleep better when you are with me.”
He pulled her close and pressed his lips to her crown.
She placed her palm against his chest, over his heart, then slid it down to his torso. “Your skin does not feel like mine. The surface is soft, but what it covers is not, so it is very different.”
Her continued curiosity about the simplest things charmed him. She did a bit of pressing and exploring, to see just how different it could be.
“What are you doing now, Minerva?” Her hand had lowered considerably on his body.
“Seeing if I can seduce you.”
“I promise you can. However, the doctors said—”
“—whatever they thought would convince your cousin that they took a duke’s charge very seriously.” One of her fingernails etched a line up his phallus. “I see that did not take long at all.”
“I have sworn not to impose on you while you recover. Much as I would like—stop that!” An unexpected tweak on the tip of his phallus sent lightning through his blood.
“Didn’t you like that? I’m sorry.”
“I liked it. Very much. However, we cannot—”
“You cannot, seeing as you were so foolish as to swear not to. I swore nothing. You will not be doing any imposing. I will not need your help, so just lie there and be true to your word. No embraces. No caresses.” She rose up on her knees and drew her nightdress off. “Only, don’t fall asleep.”
As if that were likely. A stronger man would leave the chamber at once. He didn’t.
Still on her knees, she gazed down with hunger, as if deciding where to feast first. His cock swelled more at the very thought of her feasting anywhere at all.
* * *
He looked perfect. Strong and hard and handsome. Not only his appearance made her stir so deeply. The ways he took care of her, and talked to her, and treated her moved her profoundly. She lowered herself to her hands and knees and kissed him to release the fullness in her heart. Then she moved her lips to his shoulder and his neck, to his arm and his chest, praising him, thanking him with her passion.
He accepted it, as if he knew she meant it when she said she did not want his participation. She wanted to express her own emotions this way. She needed him to just accept them. He did, not embracing her, not taking over. Just skimming his body with her breasts aroused her. She needed no direct caresses. Inhaling his scent made her heady. Licking his skin began driving her mad. She could tell he liked it all. His body showed her that, and his gaze, and finally his low sounds of pleasure.
She sat back on his thighs and caressed him fully, all along his chest, wondering in the feel of him, admiring his beauty. Lower then, following the taper of his body to the hardness of his hips. She circled her finger around his phallus, then caressed it more purposefully. He closed his eyes then. His hard jaw and tense expression made her feel wicked and powerful and seductive.
He looked down his body at her with a hooded gaze. “Are you feeling brave?”