Page 34 of The Lady Was Lying (Greydon #3)

“We certainly weren’t together .” She fiddled with her boots, lining them up perfectly. “Why can’t our pace change to breakneck if we desire it?”

“It can,” he responded slowly. “But it doesn’t have to.”

“Explain,” she demanded.

“It’s just us here. Me and you. We don’t have to follow arbitrary rules established by society. Nor do we have to follow the path laid by your mother. We can decide what is best for us. We can ease into more intimate relations at our own speed.”

She frowned. “You don’t want to ravish me.”

“Not true,” he rushed to reassure her. “But I don’t want to if you’re only doing it because you think we should.”

Her eyes narrowed. “You want me to ravish you instead?”

Was she being intentionally obtuse? “You’re missing the point.”

“And the point is?”

“We can do whatever is best for us.”

“We enjoy kissing each other. You kidnapped me. We are eloping. I secured a room for us for the evening. Ravishment is obviously the next step in this journey.” Her brows drew together.

“Did you truly believe we would never end up sharing a bed? Seems rather shortsighted of you. It takes how many days to reach your estate?”

“I already told you that I intended to travel through the night.”

“It’s hardly safe to travel at night.”

“It’s safe enough. My outriders are armed, as is my coachman,” he replied, folding his arms. “I believe I’ve mentioned that I’m an excellent shot myself.

I would never allow harm to come to you.

You shouldn’t feel obligated to sleep with me just because you were kidnapped. You didn’t even like kissing until?—”

“I kissed you,” she interrupted, leaning forward and resting her arms on her knees.

“Don’t you see? Everything with you is different.

It has been from the start. I’m aware that I’m not always good at expressing myself, and I know I tend toward confusing, but you kidnapped me in the most perfect manner imaginable so you must comprehend the complexities of my mind. At least a little.”

“I thought I did, but this”—he gestured at the bed—“is surprising.”

“Truly?”

Her question was valid. With the way she had tried to kiss him before she knew his name, he probably shouldn’t have been surprised. If he’d thought beyond convincing her to marry him, he might have been more prepared. “I suppose not.”

“Our kisses gave you enough confidence that you felt comfortable snatching me off the street in order to convince me to marry you. I refuse to believe you kidnapped me without considering bedding me also.”

“Just because I’ve considered it doesn’t mean we have to do it now .”

“That’s fair.” She hesitated. “But if we don’t, it’ll loom over us, becoming more weighted with each passing day.

I don’t handle that sort of stress well.

It makes me…wild and unpredictable.” She linked her hands together in her lap.

“If you’re worried I’ll overreact afterward, I can’t promise that I won’t.

But that’ll happen regardless of when we do it.

You should have considered my fickle nature before you decided to kidnap me.

” She blinked up through her lashes. “Be honest. Do you genuinely not want to?”

“I do. It’s just…I thought…we aren’t even married yet.”

“Marriage is not a requirement for ravishment.”

“I know.” The part of his brain that insisted on a proper courtship was attempting to circumvent the part that had planned and executed a kidnapping. He refused to succumb to his stoic ways, so instead of arguing further, he said, “You’re right.”

Her jaw dropped. “I am?”

“I wouldn’t have run away with you if I hadn’t been absolutely certain about us. If ravishment is what you require to be assured too, then by all means, let the ravishment begin.”

Her lips parted as a knock sounded at the door.

“Dinner,” a muffled voice called.

James sighed and then strode to the door and pulled it open. Ravishment would have to wait until after they ate.

* * *

One bed was all they required, and they were going to use it as it was meant to be used. Belinda had never been surer of what she wanted. The awareness that pulsed between them could be nothing other than attraction, and the questions that had plagued her entire adult life had gone silent.

She wanted him.

Not the idea of him. Or the hope of him. Just him.

Earlier that morning, she’d been wrestling with herself about her interest in him. But now she could embrace it. Accept it. Enjoy it. Her tangled mind had been holding her back, but it wasn’t constrained any longer.

She was free .

James opened the door, and the innkeeper and the young woman entered the room, each carrying a tray.

They were followed by James’s coachman carrying a small trunk that Belinda recognized as her own with another slightly smaller one perched on top.

He placed the trunks against the wall, tipped his hat, and disappeared into the hallway.

The innkeeper and the woman set the trays on the table, and then the innkeeper asked, “Anything else, Your Grace?”

“That’ll be all,” she responded. The man clearly had been speaking to James, but it gratified her that she was able to reply. “Don’t forget about the water.”

“It is heating now.”

“Thank you,” James added graciously, reminding her that even duchesses should be appreciative of good service.

“Yes. Thank you,” she agreed.

Once they were gone, she sat down and took the covers off the food. Thick stew with chunks of meat and vegetables along with two large pieces of yeasty bread greeted her. With her plans for the evening dominating her mind, she forced herself to pick up her spoon.

Sustenance seemed like a key requirement of ravishment.

“How did you get my trunk?” she asked after James sat down across from her.

“Jane packed it for you. She was most eager to assist me.”

“Truly?” Belinda sampled the stew, chewing the beef slowly. “What did you tell her?”

“The truth,” he replied, after taking a bite himself.

“Seriously? The full truth? Was she shocked?”

“Not the full truth. Just my intentions. Convincing her to help didn’t require much explanation. She wasn’t surprised, and she didn’t seem particularly concerned about the details once I’d told her my plan.”

“She wasn’t angry?” she asked.

“Not at all.”

How surprising .

“Did you know that she told me you were at the top of her list of potential suitors?” she asked.

He snorted. “The scandal sheets would undoubtedly appreciate that, but Jane has not shown more than a mild interest in me.”

“I had been questioning whether she actually considered you a suitor for some time.” She had wondered about it nearly every time she saw them interact. “I can’t believe I told her you were perfect for her.”

He laughed. “She must not have agreed, because when we speak, she talks about nothing except you.”

Belinda gaped. “Really?”

“Absolutely. Jane is in favor of a match between us. I suspect we’ve had her support from the beginning.”

“From the beginning?” Belinda’s eyes narrowed as all the gushing her sister had done took on a different hue. “She claimed she wanted to be a duchess.”

He shrugged. “That might be true, but she didn’t want to be my duchess.”

“Oh my goodness. I kept questioning why she didn’t seem more excited around you, and it never occurred to me that she was…” A laugh slipped out.

“I never gave her any reason to believe I was courting her,” he said when she didn’t continue.

“I know. She told me repeatedly that she wasn’t sure you were interested.

But I read the papers just like everyone else, and there has been plenty of speculation so I assumed…

” Her palm thumped against her forehead.

“I can’t believe I never considered she was talking about you for me.

Her infatuation was so irritating and fickle that I should have realized immediately .

” She groaned. “I had no idea she had it in her to be so devious.”

“She was delighted when I told her I wanted to marry you.”

“ Delighted? ” Belinda couldn’t help laughing harder. How had she missed that Jane had never been serious about the duke? It was more than a little humbling to realize Jane cared for her enough to give up the possibility of becoming a duchess.

“She is in favor of our union,” he confirmed. “I’m certain of it.”

Belinda blinked back tears. “I believe the rest of my family will support us as well.”

“Greydon already knows I intend to marry you. Not about the kidnapping precisely, but since he was the one to suggest I needed to prove my intentions without forcing you to reveal yours, I think he will come to terms with my methods.”

“Once I inform him of my acquiescence, he will support us.” Her future, which had previously seemed so dull, was suddenly awash in color. She popped the last of her bread into her mouth and set her spoon on the tray. “I believe I’m ready for my bath.”

They chatted about nothing of importance while they waited for the water.

When the tub was full and steaming and she and James were alone once again, she began stripping. Because she had never been patient, her gown and her undergarments had been designed so she could remove them without help.

“Perhaps I should step out into the hall,” James suggested, averting his gaze.

She raised her brow. “Ravishment will be rather difficult from the hall.”

“I thought to give you privacy to bathe,” he replied. Even in the soft glow of the fire, the pink tinge to his cheeks was visible.

“Please stay.”

She didn’t want him to leave. If he left, she feared he’d take her confidence with him.

He nodded slowly. “If that is what you prefer.”