Part 13 (1/2)

”I suspect that he has some infection from the river water, but we'll know more soon. He'll either cool down or heat up. If his temperature goes much higher, you will be in for a rough time until the fever breaks. Keep him cool, plenty of tepid cloths to keep the temperature down.”

Charlotte had said goodbye to the physician not long later and already Geoffrey was warmer to the touch. Tears leaked from her eyes and she couldn't help a sob leaving her lips as she heard the harsh answers to her offers to help him, but she knew that she couldn't let him think that she was going to leave him. He'd need days of care and attention before he would be well enough to leave his bed again and she was going to be the one who gave it whether he wanted her or not. It was her job as his wife to attend to his wellbeing and she would do it to the very best of her ability.

He grimaced and appeared to flinch from her touch. His blackened, swollen eyes, that had opened briefly, closed once again. She took her hand from his shoulder but whispered to him.

”I won't leave you, but I don't know what I did wrong. Please tell me what is it that you want?”

There was silence for a few seconds as he took in rapid, shallow breaths and she realized that he had fallen back into a troubled sleep. She slid from the bed, ready to collapse in the chair once again when she suddenly heard him whisper to himself.

”My wife! I want my Charlotte.”

She stopped dead and turned slowly back towards him, wondering if her ears had deceived her, but he looked more peaceful. As she stood there, her heart pounding with possibilities, her mind ran back over his previous hard words and suddenly everything became clear.

He hadn't wanted the harlot to touch him. He'd recoiled from the woman who had drugged him. He had been rejecting the wh.o.r.e's advances not encouraging them.

And then he'd said that he wanted his wife! He wanted her! Charlotte's heart soared, flew upwards, and slammed against her ribs as she watched him toss and turn in his sleep.

The fever broke a few hours later and then the s.h.i.+vers came upon him, violent in their force. His teeth rattled in his mouth and he thrashed the blankets from the bed with the spasms in his legs. Charlotte grew exhausted repeatedly pulling the eiderdown back over his goose pimpled torso.

It was Coalport who had eventually helped her.

”He needs warmth. All the blankets and the hot pans are not helping him. He needs the heat of a body next to him.” He looked at her significantly.

Charlotte felt the blush flood her cheeks.

”You mean that I should get in bed with him?”

Coalport raised his eyebrows.

”Well, I'm certainly not going to do it when he has a perfectly good wife to help him. I mean to say that I would of course help if I thought there was no other option but seeing as there is...” he tipped his head in her direction.

Charlotte nodded.

”Of course.” She lifted the covers and made to slide in but Coalport gave a shake of his head.

”He needs body heat...not three layers of silk. If you can't manage, I can ask Louise to come and help you with your dress.”

Charlotte's face flushed even deeper.

”Oh!” She gave a surprised gasp but then reached up her back. Fortunately, her gown was a simple one and she pulled the laces with ease as Coalport gave her another encouraging grin before he slipped from the room.

Geoffrey sighed as he felt warmth against his back, and he turned towards it pulling it nearer as the rattle in his head stopped at last. He took a deep breath, wincing slightly as his ribs reminded him that he wasn't completely recovered yet.

He held the breath a moment as conflicting scents filled his nose and smothered him with dread. Onions and...almonds? G.o.d! If he were with that wh.o.r.e again he'd jump out of the window and back into the d.a.m.n river! Rather drown than have her revolting fingers all over him.

He opened his eyes and flickering lamp light revealed that he was in a large, soft bed with clean sheets and curtains surrounding it. A quick glance showed him that the shadowed room was clean and s.p.a.cious, a far cry from the foetid, dismal room in which he had been last detained.

There was a jug of water and a gla.s.s on the bedside cabinet and he reached out, drinking greedily as he realized how thirsty he had become. He drank his fill before placing the gla.s.s back down and turning to see exactly where he was and how he was being kept so warm. It was only as he saw blonde hair fanned out on the pillow beside him that he struggled to move further away.

d.a.m.n her heat, he'd rather freeze to death. He didn't want her anywhere near him! He squinted into the half-light, desperate to catch sight of what were left of his clothes. He had to get out of there before she woke and drugged him again. His stomach roiled as he caught sight of the jug of water and he cursed himself for a fool for drinking without thought.

The woman yawned behind him. He stilled all his movements. Maybe she wouldn't guess that he had woken and leave him be.

”Geoffrey? Are you awake?” A shockingly familiar voice penetrated his fogged brain and he wondered if his head was still befuddled with drugs, or if it was his mind playing tricks on him, but the woman spoke again and he turned his head towards the sweet tones that he'd thought he might never hear again. ”Geoff, it's me. You were cold and Coalport said that you needed warmth.” Charlotte's quiet voice soothed his uneasy thoughts.

”He did?” His voice felt raw in his throat and he swallowed hard. He felt silk soft hair move over his shoulder as she nodded. Was he still dreaming? He surely couldn't be in bed with Charlotte.

The same beautiful voice spoke again.

”He said that he would have done it if you had been desperate and hadn't a perfectly good wife to do it for you. He wasn't being awkward or anything.” She sounded acutely embarra.s.sed.

Geoffrey snorted with laughter and then stopped as his ribs gave him another sharp reminder.

”Ow! Now I know that I must be awake. No one could ever have dreamed up that.” He lay silently again as he suddenly realized that he was very warm. Far warmer than if she had lain beside him while wearing her clothes. He stretched out a tentative hand and groaned as his fingertips met velvety flesh.

She stiffened slightly as his palm spread across her naked hip and he removed his hand quickly. He was about to apologize when she suddenly reached out and took his hand, placing it back in place and resting her own over it.

”Charlotte...” he breathed out a sigh as he turned his whole body to face her. Huge blue eyes blinked slowly at him. His hand traced its way from the flare of her hip to the dip of her slender waist and from there up her side. He groaned as his fingertips met the swell of her breast and, with an effort of will that he never knew he possessed, he tried to remove his hand again.

”No,” she breathed back at him, her voice a mere whisper in the shadows. ”Touch me...”

Silence surrounded them, only their own rapid breaths interrupted the quiet. There was a rustle of sheets as Geoffrey slid his hand out from beneath hers. He moved to lay flat on his back and fisted both of his hands at his sides as guilt and shame covered him.

Although she lay naked beside him, he couldn't be sure that she knew what he had done and he couldn't deceive her. He'd run from her, had become so drunk that he couldn't take care of himself and although what had followed hadn't been his fault, if she couldn't forgive him he thought he might die from a broken heart. Gulping back his fears, he prayed to G.o.d like he had never prayed in his life before. He had to confess what he had done.

”Charlotte...you have to know what happened. I have to tell you...You won't...I...” A finger placed over his lips stopped his stammering as her gentle tones rea.s.sured him.

”They drugged you. Yes, I know what happened...and I also know what didn't.”

He nodded and closed his eyes as the memories threatened to engulf him.

”I swear that I never touched them, but they hoodwinked me with contaminated brandy. I've no idea what they put in it but I was completely at their mercy. They attempted to...I didn't...I couldn't...” he swallowed the revulsion and cleared his throat. ”It was so awful, but I'd been such a fool and fell into their trap. There was nothing I could do to stop them. Charlotte, I...I, G.o.d I have failed you so badly...” he gave up as she suddenly placed her mouth against his and kissed him so tenderly that he wondered if it was an angel who had brushed his lips instead of the wildfire woman he knew and loved.

His whole being reacted instantly to her touch. From being icily cold, fire suddenly raced through his body, searing him as it licked over his skin. His aching fingers stretched out, touching her as if she were made of the finest gla.s.s, skimming over her skin as he traced her shoulders, her collarbone, her throat and her face. She leaned into his hand and then kissed his palm softly.

”Geoffrey...I'm sorry that you had to marry me, sorry that I am so harebrained and absurd. I'll change, I promise. I'll be a duti...” He placed his finger over her mouth as the ache in her tone had him staring at her questioningly. He could see fire in her eyes, hear wildness in her breaths as she apologised for being the most perfect woman on the earth.

She'd be a dutiful wife. She had vowed in the carriage after they were wed. He nearly cried out in rage at the thought. He caught hold of her shoulders and gave her a small shake.

”I don't want you to change and I don't want a dutiful wife.” Tears sprang into her eyes at his rough tone and she attempted to move away from him, but he held her fast and tightened his grip as he carried on ”I want a wife who is outrageous and tempestuous, adventurous and brave, scatterbrained and daring. Dutiful be d.a.m.ned. I want you exactly as you are, Charlotte.” Her eyes questioned him for a moment before opening wide in surprise.

”You do?” Disbelief clouded her tone.

”I do,” he responded as he pulled her closer, their naked skin touching from chest to thigh. His hands inched their way up from her shoulders and he cupped her jaw as her eyelashes swept down to brush her flushed cheeks. He moved her to his side and levered himself up onto one elbow as he stared down at her, marvelling at her beauty as the sheets slipped away.

b.r.e.a.s.t.s so perfect they almost made his eyes water, glistened with a faint sheen of perspiration. Tearing his eyes away from their rosy peaks was almost impossible but he made a gallant effort and his gaze slipped lower. He groaned deeply as her body was slowly revealed to him in all its slender glory.