not have you putting yourself intentionally in danger. On that, I haven’t changed my mind.”
“Nor have I,” she said, then turned and walked away from him. She didn’t miss how Sullivan purchased another of those meat pies and handed it to the boy as he followed her back up the rocky beach path to where he’d parked their carriage.
That small kindness chipped away at her anger but did not dissolve it completely. He wanted to change her. Being a member of the Ladies of Virtue was the first thing she’d ever had all on her own. Melanie had no notion of what the group did. It didn’t matter that Tilly wasn’t the most beautiful or most graceful in the room. She had training and skills and she was accomplished. She was proud of her work. And he wanted to strip her of it, take it all away from her. That she would not allow. She would give him her body. She would bear his children. But she would not give him the only thing she’d ever been good at.
No, she had to cling to the Ladies of Virtue and the work she did with them. Despite Sullivan’s declarations that he cared about her safety, she couldn’t let herself forget that their marriage would not last forever. Six months from now, when he left her in London to live his life elsewhere, her work for the Ladies of Virtue would be all she had left.
Chapter Eight
They had returned to the estate nearly two hours ago and hadn’t spoken since their argument on the pier. Tilly had made herself comfortable in the library perusing the shelves. She’d only settled on a book—a collection of poetry by Keats—when Sullivan found her.
“Come.” He held his hand out to her.
She eyed his hand suspiciously, then shook her head. “No thank you.”
“Freckles, come with me.” He waved his hand again, urging her to grasp it.
She took it and allowed him to pull her to standing. “Where are we going?” She tugged her hand free.
“To take a bath.”
She gasped. “Together?” Crossing her arms over her chest, she shook her head. “No, I am still angry with you.”
He gave her a crooked grin. “Indeed. Be angry if you must, but I had the servants heat enough water to fill the largest tub. We do not wish the water to get chilled.”
Nervousness flitted through her stomach. Taking a bath together? She’d never imagined such a thing. Would they couple in the bathtub? Was that even possible?
And did she even want to, considering their argument earlier? She already knew the answer to that. Regardless of his nearsighted view of her activities with the Ladies of Virtue, she desired him. They could be physically intimate without her giving him her heart.
That she would never do. She’d asked him to give her a real marriage, and he had done that. But she couldn’t give him all of her, especially since he forbade her to do something so vitally important to her. He obviously didn’t understand who she was as a person, and until he did then she could not reveal her heart.
She had never conceded to his demands that she cease her involvement with the group, and she had no intention of doing so. Perhaps, over time, she could persuade him otherwise.
“Your skin turns the most becoming shade of pink when you’re angry,” he said.
She snorted.
“You doubt my words?”
“My good sir, I happen to know that when I flush, my complexion is ruddy and unappealing.”
He linked their fingers and drew her closer to him. They walked up the stairs to the second floor where the bedchambers were located.
“I’m going to prove you wrong, Freckles.” Once they were enclosed in his bedchamber he turned to her and pulled her flush to his body. “I’m going to show you precisely how much I want you,” he said. He cocked an eyebrow. “Ruddy complexion and all.”
“I am angry with you,” she repeated with a roll of her eyes.
“Duly noted.” He chuckled. “It doesn’t make me not want you, Freckles. Perhaps it only whets my desire. To see that fire in your eyes.”
Then he kissed her. He cupped her face and slanted his mouth, deepening the kiss. She met his tongue with her own and he groaned at the contact. He abruptly ended the kiss and spun her so she faced away from him. Then his hands were on her buttons rapidly. Once the dress was completely unfastened, he leaned forward and brushed his lips across