He’d come to her, that indicated he cared enough to fear for her safety. Her heart swelled, emotions brimming. She’d longed to see him, and he was here. “You received my letter?”
“I did.” He stepped out of the shadows.
“You shouldn’t have come here, it is too dangerous.” She was about to dart over to him, to chastise him for taking the risk, when she heard the floorboards in the corridor outside her chamber creaking. “Oh, no, it is the serving girl. She will come in to stoke the fire and turn down the bed.”
“Fear not. Act as you normally would.”
His voice was calm, but Chloris felt only distress. Then she blinked and stared, but could barely see him at all. He had retreated into the dark shadows. A moment later there was a tap at the door and it opened. If she distracted the girl, perhaps she would not notice him. Chloris turned and smiled.
“Mistress Chloris.” The upstairs serving girl curtsied, then darted over to the fire and stoked it from the nearby basket.
Chloris could scarcely believe it was happening. Lennox was in her chamber and the threat of discovery was immense. She took another glance at the spot where he’d stood. Mercifully, she could not discern his outline.
“Do you require any assistance with your disrobing, mistress?” the girl said as she straightened up. She always asked. It was her duty to do so.
“No, thank you.” She realized her voice was barely audible because she was so tense. She forced another smile.
The girl wiped her hands on her apron. “I will just turn down the covers, in that case.”
“No, that will not be necessary.” Usually the girl undertook the task, but Chloris could not risk her moving closer to the place where Lennox stood.
The girl needed no further encouragement to be on her way. She bobbed another curtsy. “Good night, mistress.”
As soon as the door closed and the sound of creaking boards faded away down the corridor outside, Chloris turned and ran to him.
He captured her in his arms.
“You should not have risked coming here,” she chastised.
“I had to. I do not believe that you want to put an end to our endeavor.”
She stared up at him, taking in the intensity of his expression. “It has gone far beyond an endeavor, even you cannot pretend otherwise.”
He gave a gentle chuckle. “You are a brave and honest woman, and it is one of the things that draws me to you.”
“Brave, because I have faced the truth of it, that we have become lovers when that was not my original intention?”
“Aye.” Reaching for her hand, he drew it to his lips and rested a gentle kiss there. “We became lovers, and you cannot deny that you wanted it as much as I did.”
His forthright remark only served to remind her how pleasurable it had been, and Chloris could not respond immediately because her body was wildly stimulated by his proximity. She could smell his aroma, hot and male and alive with the scent of the forest. “Lennox, please.”
With his free hand pressing her close to him he ducked his head and kissed her mouth. Firm and persuasive, his lips covered hers. His hands were around her hips and he kissed her deeply, passionately, his mouth opening hers, forcing her to receive him. Locking her hands over his shoulders, she moaned into his mouth, unable to hold back for the touch of his mouth on hers made her clamor for him.
“This is too good to deny,” he said as he drew back, his voice husky and determined, “and you will not send me away until we’ve coupled again.”
“But we cannot. The serving girl might come back—”
He held her tumbling hair in one hand, drawing her head back so that he could look into her eyes. “You are as needy for it as I.”
She was, and the hot tide of shame she felt was momentary in the face of her desire for him. She nodded.
He smiled. “You will not regret it.”
“I will not, if you are fast and then make your escape,” she blurted, “before my cousin finds you under his precious roof.”
Lennox laughed beneath his breath as if delighted by that. “He could not stop me, for right now all I can think of is being inside you. The taste I had of you yesterday only whetted my appetite for more.”
The appetite he referred to was there in his face, and she could not refuse him because she wanted it, too. Chloris could scarcely control her breathing. Her corset felt painfully tight, her pulse racing.