A Dangerous Courtship Read Online Free PDF Page B

at all, but a clean white shirt. His own, no doubt. And doubtless his only extra one, by the looks of his clothing.
    He uncorked the bottle with strong white teeth and spat the cork down to the ground.
    "Did—did you unearth that in the cellars of this abbey, sir?"
    He shook his head, his lips tilting upward in a slight smile. "Until this night, my lady, I've found very little of worth within Fountains."
    What a goose she was being, Veronica knew, but she thought his smile just then was the most handsome of things. And she found herself wondering how his face might look when wreathed in a full smile. On the heels of that came another thought—a puzzle, actually—of what he could have possibly meant by his words just now.
    But in the next instant he motioned for her to take the bottle of brandy, and Veronica was brought out of her reverie.
    "Though crass this might seem, perhaps a bit of this would fortify you for what is to come, my lady."
    Veronica, her usual pragmatic self coming at last to the forefront, said, "Perhaps you are right, sir."
    She took the bottle he proffered, put the end of it to her lips, and tipped back a swallow.
    The liquor burned all the way to the pit of her stomach, and though her eyes suddenly smarted, Veronica mentally applauded herself for not choking on the stuff.
    She handed the bottle back. "Thank you," she said simply.
    "Brace yourself, my lady," he advised.
    Veronica did just that, curling her gloved fingers about the lip of the stone bench, her body rigid and filled now with a healthy dose of brandy.
    Instantly she felt cool liquid splash against her thigh, then cascade in rivulets into her wound and beneath the rent in her stockings.
    First came a raw burn, bone deep, one that radiated from her cut all the way through her body to her brain. It seemed that every nerve ending in her thigh was aflame and throbbing with each long, drawn-out beat of her heart.
    And then... ah, then, Veronica miraculously felt nothing but the slow, steady caress of the stranger's open palm along the underside of her thigh. Up and down, and back and forth, slowly... gently... methodically. He could not have thought of a more effective way to take her mind off what he was doing.
    As he continued the light massage, he poured more of the brandy into the cut. But Veronica felt none of the liquor's sting, only the warmth of the man's large hand, the touch of his fingers higher... higher... and then, swirling down once again, painting a path with his fingertips to the area just beneath her knee.
    Veronica let out a breath, tipping her head back against the ruinous wall behind her, embarrassed at her predicament and yet not so embarrassed that she wanted him to stop his caresses. All she could see above her was the moon and the stars and the black sweep of night.
    "Are you all right?" he inquired.
    "Yes," she said. No, she thought.
    "The wound is not bleeding as much now. Very little, in fact."
    "That is good news, sir." Did he not realize how he'd stirred her senses with his bold touch?
    "I'll bind it as tightly as I dare. You'll have a physician tend to this on the morrow, yes?"
    "Yes. Of course." But what about the rest of her? Veronica wondered. Could a doctor tend to all that this man had unleashed within her?
    She heard the rent and tear of fabric, and then the feel of his hand was about her thigh once again as he gently dabbed at and around the scrape, pouring more of the brandy atop it. That done, he steadied her booted heel atop his own thigh as he used both hands to bind the wound with fresh strips of cloth.
    Veronica, all the while, watched the play of starlight above, not really seeing the twinkling lights but seeing instead the remembered sight of the man's eyes and his half smile of a moment ago.
    "Do you know," she whispered, head still tilted back, "I-I don't even know your name."
    "You never asked."
    She glanced down at him. "Will you share it with me?"
    There was a long pause, and then: "Aye. I will."