The Lady Tamed by Boyd, Heather (urban books to read TXT) 📗

warmth of his hand on her arm, made her breath stall. She remembered him holding her that day, beside the bed of the late Mr. Hawthorne, and downstairs in Father’s library just now. It had felt good to be comforted by him. She thought it would feel good again now, too.

Fanny reached blindly for his hand and, once caught, she drew him into the bedchamber with her. The door shut with a soft click and then she was in his arms, though she hadn’t had to ask to be held by him yet again.

His long arms wrapped around her body tightly, his warm hand pressed against the back of her neck. He dipped his head low beside hers and the warmth of his breath against her ear made her feel infinitely better. Fanny pressed herself tight against Jeremy and let him soothe her in a way she’d never imagined she’d ever need.

Of all the men in the world, an actor, a man she paid to appear as her admirer, was exactly what she needed most tonight. She turned her head so her cheek rested nearer his heart. The steady thumping rhythm made her warm all over again and pushed back the ugly memories of death.

She held on to him as long as she dared and then drew back. “I’m sorry, I don’t know what has come over me today.”

“Everyone needs somebody now and then,” he murmured in a voice gone deeper and husky. Intimate. He remained close. “May I ask you a personal question?”

“Of course.”

“How, where, did your husband die?”

Fanny gulped and closed her eyes. The most painful memory of all assailed her and it took a moment to form an answer. “He died in bed next to me. I woke and turned to wake him with a kiss and… I never want to live through a moment like that again.”

He frowned. “Is that why you haven’t remarried?”

“No. Yes, perhaps it is one of the reasons.”

He winced. “I’m sorry there was no one to comfort you then.”

Fanny nodded. “There were servants about, but it’s not the same as having someone, family, who loves you unconditionally to cling to at such a time.”

“I’m sure it’s not.” Jeremy smiled quickly. “It’s clear your family love you very much.”

“And there’s nothing I wouldn’t do for them.”

She imagined him nodding because she could still hardly see.

“Well, I should go before I’m discovered where I ought not to be found.”

But she needed him still. She didn’t want to spend the night on her own.

Fanny wet her lips and looked up at him. Her arrangement with Jeremy had never been about having a true friendship, but that didn’t seem to matter to her tonight.

Her emotions were so raw, so close to the surface that without a distraction, she feared she’d be overtaken by them as soon as Jeremy was gone. “I would like to ask you to stay with me a little longer.”

“Stay? Here in your room?”

She shrugged. “I don’t want to be alone with my thoughts tonight.”

Jeremy rubbed her arms briskly. “I can stay for a while if you have need of me.”

“I do.”

He walked to the window and parted the drapes until enough moonlight spilled across the chamber to make everything clearer. He returned and his fingers immediately rose to her hair, then he was removing the pins. “Let’s get you more comfortable then.”

His fingers were nimble as he removed and discarded the jewels she had worn about her neck, too, placing them across her dressing table. He turned her about and began to unbutton her gown—more quickly than a man bent on seduction, and as efficient as any maid Fanny had ever employed. He urged her to sit on the edge of her bed, and he fell to his knees to remove her slippers. Then he untied the garters holding up her silk stockings, which he rolled down her legs.

Fanny experienced a moment of misgiving then. She hardly knew this man, and she was allowing him to ready her for bed.

She put her hand over her chest, holding up her gown so it didn’t fall and expose her breasts.

Jeremy drew back. “Where is your nightgown, my lady?”

She gulped. “Behind the dressing screen.”

He looked there and then at her again, and nodded. “If you need help to manage the rest on your own just call out.”

Fanny rushed for the privacy of the dressing screen and, once hidden from his view, put her hands over her flaming cheeks. She peeked over the top of the screen, only to find Jeremy turning back her bedding and then sitting on the edge of the mattress to wait for her return. Fanny squirmed out of her loosened gown, removed her stays and chemise and then rushed to pull her nightgown over her head. She considered donning a robe, but she wanted to make it clear she was bound for sleep and nothing else.

Feeling shy, she emerged from her corner and Jeremy was immediately on his feet. He held out his hand and guided her to bed as if she were a young child and not a grown woman older than him. He covered her with the bedding, snuggling the material around her shoulders, before closing the drapes almost completely. Just a tiny sliver of light illuminated him, and she thought she saw a smile curve his lips. He came closer to the bed and brushed her long hair back from her face with a gentleness she’d not felt for so long. Not since her husband had lived had anyone worried about her in such a way.

She caught his hand in hers and squeezed his fingers tight. “Thank you for tonight.”

“My pleasure. All of it,” he said, and started to pull away.

But Fanny could not seem to let him go.

He looked back at her, surprised. “Lady Rivers?”

She wet her lips. “Would you…could you remain a little longer?”

“For how long?”

“Until dawn.”

He drew in a deep breath. “If you need me, I’ll stay.”

Relief coursed through her that she wouldn’t be alone,