Part 9 (1/2)

Erva had been sitting with her legs stretched before her, yet her still slippered feet dangled off the ledge of the large bed. Clio grabbed Erva's ankles and pulled her until her b.u.m was hardly on the feather mattress. In so doing, Erva's dress climbed to her knees. Will took a quick look down, then peeked again at her legs in white stockings. His bright blue eyes darkened.

Clio grabbed the tray from him, then set it beside Erva. She straightened then looked at her sister. ”Would you mind fetching a cloth to put the ice in?”

”Um, sure.” Erato nodded, turned around, and wheeled right back where she had been standing with a white piece of fabric in her hands. Erva was sure some part of that had to be magic. Or something she couldn't quite fathom.

So, she was really back in 1776. She had really kissed Will. She wasn't going crazy.

She glanced up at him. His eyes were still such a dark blue as he studied her legs. Yet she knew, in a bone-crus.h.i.+ng kind of way, in just a few days he would die. Reading about it was one thing, but to look upon the man she had studied most fervently, to see his flesh, the way a muscle bulged along his jaw line, the rise and fall of his chest...He was alive right now. He was real. He was so handsome it made her hurt. No, not hurt. Ache.

Erato had handed Clio the cloth, and the former muse bundled some ice into it, narrating what she was doing. ”Now, you don't want too much ice; otherwise, it'll chill the lady. But just a few pieces should suffice. Wrap the cloth like so, so the ice doesn't touch the lady.”

Will nodded and watched Clio as if he were learning Prussian tactics. Erva couldn't help but smile at his intensity. Then Clio gripped Erva's skirts and lifted them almost to her hips. Trying to pull them back down, or at least make sure she was properly covered between her legs, Erva hardly caught Will's reaction to seeing so much of her. But nonetheless she did see it.

His already dark blue eyes turned into cobalt black. His chest rose dramatically, then he held his breath.

”Here, my lord, you need to stand here.” Clio yanked Will between Erva's legs.

Erato snorted, then coughed.

”Put the ice on her knee like so,” Clio said, while she pulled Erva's leg up, cradling it dangerously close to Will's hip.

G.o.d, Erva thought, the muse was even more clueless than she. Erva was fairly certain that Clio was awkwardly trying to stir an already buzzing hornet's nest between Will and her. She peeked up at him who stared down at her leg, nose flaring, jaw squared. His gaze bounced up to meet hers. His tense jaw relaxed minutely. For a split second he seemed to give her a small, almost drunk smile.

”Now you, my lord. Show me how you're going to take care of your lady. Show me what I taught you,” Clio said, while shoving the icepack into Will's hands.

His smile vanished. He swallowed.

Then he gingerly held Erva's knee with one hand, the other gently applied the ice.

”Am I hurting the lady?” he asked.

Erva didn't answer. She forgot she was the lady, but Erato cleared her throat and pointedly pursed her lips at her.

”Oh,” Erva whispered. ”No, not at all, my lord.” Her knee felt the chill of the ice, but the rest of her body had turned into molten lava. Will's large hand felt even hotter through her torn stocking. His body's heat crashed into her.

Her b.r.e.a.s.t.s were suddenly too sensitive, and her corset felt too tight. Even through the layers of her s.h.i.+ft, stays, stomacher and dress, Erva thought her nipples might be poking through, alerting Will to her arousal just because the man held her leg.

But she had an odd audience of two muses. It was so not the time to feel randy. For a man who lived in the eighteenth century, she reminded herself. Oh, and he was going to die soon.

G.o.d, this situation had fifteen different colors of crazy all over it. Even if she weren't supposedly insane.

”All right, my lord, I think you've got it. You'll need to do this again tomorrow,” Clio said.

Will nodded, but didn't release his careful hold of Erva's leg.

Clio forced the ice from him, then basically shoved him aside and away. ”Are you sure you heard me? You need to apply the ice tomorrow, got it?”

Will blinked than finally glanced at the muse, not Erva's leg. ”Yes, but doesn't she need the ice to linger on her knee longer this evening?”

Clio smiled altogether too widely. ”Why, yes, she does, but I can do that. I won't be here tomorrow, so you'll have to do it then.”

”I-oh,” Will stuttered.

Clio pushed him toward the door. ”We need a word with the lady, so you'll excuse us.”

”Um, yes, I-”

”Remember, tomorrow, mayhap first thing, she'll need you for her icing.”

Will was at the doorway, when he spun around and glanced over Clio's shoulder at Erva. ”I-I-if you need anything, my lady, please call upon me. I-yes, you can call me.”

Erva couldn't help but grin at the guy, standing there looking so handsome and so befuddled at the same time. ”I will.”

”Good. I hope you do-I hope for a quick recovery.”

”Thank you, my lord.”

His jaw line kicked, but he gave her a small smile. ”Good-good night, Erva.”

”Good night, Will.”

After the door was latched behind the tall, muscular frame of Will's retreating form, Erato let loose an odd laugh that cusped close to a phlegmy cough. ”Subtle. Very subtle, Sister.”

Clio's brows were cast down. ”What now? One moment I'm a spoil sport, the next I'm not subtle enough for you?”

Erato plopped herself close to Erva again. ”Why didn't you just strip poor, little Minerva? It would have driven the point home a bit more clearly.”

”Why are you using such sarcasm on me? I'm trying to prove I'm not a spoil sport.”

Erato sighed. ”I'm sorry I said that. I was just kidding around. But seriously, you shouldn't have forced William between Erva's legs. The poor man almost had a heart attack. Did you hear his heart beating?”

”You could hear his heart beating?” Erva asked ”Yes,” both the muses replied.

”Was it beating fast?”

Erato giggled. ”Like a race horse. The man really likes you, finds you very attractive.”

”Which? Does he like me? Or does he find me attractive?”

Erato studied Erva for a moment. ”They don't have to be mutually exclusive.”

What Erato said certainly crept into Erva's heart and lit some dynamite. She blinked, trying hard to think clearly. If she were being honest with herself then, yes, she had thought they were mutually exclusive. She'd dated men who found her attractive, but as soon as she revealed an ounce of who she was, they were gone. At least, that was the case with her husband. She'd tried so hard to cover herself, make sure he knew that, yeah, she was an academic, but she wouldn't lord it over him. And, yes, she was an excellent shot and could play hard with the boys, but she would hide that if it bothered him. She'd hidden so much of herself.

She remembered again how Will had stood back at the British bulwark and seemed proud of her for making all those shots. Even at the banquet, when meeting his superiors, Erva thought Will was proud of her for saying so much, although she realized that what she had said was seriously close to sedition in 1776. Yet there he stood, right beside her, smiling down at her like he...like he admired her.

Erato caressed a piece of Erva's hair behind her ear. ”Sweetie, why don't you do something regarding the way you feel about William?”