nose pressed against the window looking out at the imposing gray stone castle built upon the headland. She had seen no other houses for several miles now and guessed this must be their destination after several days of driving through the rugged beauty that was Scotland.
A destination that had taken many more days than that to reach, much of it over uneven roads that had jostled and jolted both the carriage and its occupants. Inwardly, Fliss had thanked Sin several times for not spanking her before they left Eckles Manor. Her bottom was sore enough from the journey without that added discomfort.
Which was not to say she had not given great thought to that spanking and what Sin said was to follow.
She had also fretted and worried what Society would think if the guests still at Eckles Manor should ever reveal she had left that estate to travel to Scotland alone with the Earl of Winterbourne.
Admittedly, her maid and his valet were traveling with them in a second coach, but Society would not make any distinction if they became aware of Fliss’s stay in Scotland with the “untamed highlander.”
Not that Sin seemed at all concerned by the possibility. And why should he? He was a man, and men were expected, and allowed to have, their little affairs, without fear of scandal or retribution. The widowed Mrs. Felicity Randall would not be granted the same freedom.
Knowing that, what was Fliss doing here?
Why had she allowed herself to be handed up into Sin’s coach that last morning at Eckles Manor rather than returning to her home in her own carriage? Why had she traveled to Scotland with him for days and nights on end? Nights which, to Fliss’s surprise, had been spent in separate bedchambers at roadside inns.
As well as enduring the discomfort of the actual journey, Fliss had daily exhausted herself by being completely aware of the man seated in the coach with her, and spending restless nights alone in her bed, knowing that Sin was in another bedchamber farther down the hallway.
There had not been a second—except when she had catnapped from sheer exhaustion—when she had not been aware of everything about him. His sheer presence. His quiet power. His elegance. The smell of his cologne and that natural male musk that appealed and awakened all her senses.
They had talked, of course, and Fliss had learned more about his childhood and his Scottish father and English mother. His years at university in England. He had even talked of his time in the navy, and those long months of being held a prisoner in France, when he had received those lash marks on his back before his escape and safe return to England.
In comparison, Fliss’s own life seemed exceedingly dull.
Because it was dull.
She had done nothing with her life except conform to Society and do as she was told, first by her parents and then Stephen.
This adventure with Sin, and it had been an adventure from the start, was the first spontaneous thing she had ever done in her short life.
And beneath it all, every second of every day and lonely night, her body and senses had been alive with the arousal this man constantly evoked in her.
Sin, in contrast, had seemed perfectly relaxed, as if none of their previous intimacies had ever taken place. As if she had not sat tensely across the carriage from him day after day, her body constantly thrumming with arousal.
“Castle Montgomery,” Sin answered her with satisfaction, glad to be home after so many weeks away.
Before leaving Eckles Manor, Sin sent word to Brooketon outlining the problem and requesting the other man do whatever it was he did to investigate such matters. Sin also learned that Waverly had taken his advice and fled Eckles Manor. A chat with Greaves had not shed any light on where the poison or the draught in Fliss’s water had come from. That gentleman had denied all knowledge of such things. The man was so guileless, Sin had been inclined to believe him.
None of which had prevented Sin
A destination that had taken many more days than that to reach, much of it over uneven roads that had jostled and jolted both the carriage and its occupants. Inwardly, Fliss had thanked Sin several times for not spanking her before they left Eckles Manor. Her bottom was sore enough from the journey without that added discomfort.
Which was not to say she had not given great thought to that spanking and what Sin said was to follow.
She had also fretted and worried what Society would think if the guests still at Eckles Manor should ever reveal she had left that estate to travel to Scotland alone with the Earl of Winterbourne.
Admittedly, her maid and his valet were traveling with them in a second coach, but Society would not make any distinction if they became aware of Fliss’s stay in Scotland with the “untamed highlander.”
Not that Sin seemed at all concerned by the possibility. And why should he? He was a man, and men were expected, and allowed to have, their little affairs, without fear of scandal or retribution. The widowed Mrs. Felicity Randall would not be granted the same freedom.
Knowing that, what was Fliss doing here?
Why had she allowed herself to be handed up into Sin’s coach that last morning at Eckles Manor rather than returning to her home in her own carriage? Why had she traveled to Scotland with him for days and nights on end? Nights which, to Fliss’s surprise, had been spent in separate bedchambers at roadside inns.
As well as enduring the discomfort of the actual journey, Fliss had daily exhausted herself by being completely aware of the man seated in the coach with her, and spending restless nights alone in her bed, knowing that Sin was in another bedchamber farther down the hallway.
There had not been a second—except when she had catnapped from sheer exhaustion—when she had not been aware of everything about him. His sheer presence. His quiet power. His elegance. The smell of his cologne and that natural male musk that appealed and awakened all her senses.
They had talked, of course, and Fliss had learned more about his childhood and his Scottish father and English mother. His years at university in England. He had even talked of his time in the navy, and those long months of being held a prisoner in France, when he had received those lash marks on his back before his escape and safe return to England.
In comparison, Fliss’s own life seemed exceedingly dull.
Because it was dull.
She had done nothing with her life except conform to Society and do as she was told, first by her parents and then Stephen.
This adventure with Sin, and it had been an adventure from the start, was the first spontaneous thing she had ever done in her short life.
And beneath it all, every second of every day and lonely night, her body and senses had been alive with the arousal this man constantly evoked in her.
Sin, in contrast, had seemed perfectly relaxed, as if none of their previous intimacies had ever taken place. As if she had not sat tensely across the carriage from him day after day, her body constantly thrumming with arousal.
“Castle Montgomery,” Sin answered her with satisfaction, glad to be home after so many weeks away.
Before leaving Eckles Manor, Sin sent word to Brooketon outlining the problem and requesting the other man do whatever it was he did to investigate such matters. Sin also learned that Waverly had taken his advice and fled Eckles Manor. A chat with Greaves had not shed any light on where the poison or the draught in Fliss’s water had come from. That gentleman had denied all knowledge of such things. The man was so guileless, Sin had been inclined to believe him.
None of which had prevented Sin
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