Midnight My Love Read Online Free PDF Page B

settled her
divided skirt. "Thank you. May we now proceed?" Her breathless
voice gave evidence to the fact she wasn't immune to his touch.
    Damien held her gaze. She didn't look away,
but instead lifted her chin. "I hope I haven't shocked you," she
said, clasping the reins in a firm grip. "As you can see, I still
prefer to ride astride. In town, I ride side-saddle, of course. I'm
not completely lost to all convention."
    She gave her horse the office to start and
left Damien standing in the middle of the road, staring after
her.
    When he caught up, Alexandra stood in the
stirrups and surveyed the landscape. "Let's cut across those
fields. We'll make better time if we do."
    "Lead on, Miss Turlington," he said. If she
preferred to ignore what had just passed between them, that was
fine by him. It was for the best, really.
    They rode cross-country, jumping fences and
stiles instead of keeping to the roads. Alexandra had always been
an excellent horsewoman with good bottom and light hands. Damien
thought she sat her horse better than most women; better, in fact,
than many men of his acquaintance.
    "Now, just over that rise and we'll be
there," she said, pointing her riding crop toward the west. She
urged her mount to a faster gait, and Damien gently spurred his own
horse. It wasn't long before they rode up the gravel drive and
stopped in front of the gabled Elizabethan manor house of
Willowmede.
    Damien helped Alexandra to dismount, unable
to resist the opportunity to touch her again. His inability to keep
his hands to himself didn't bode well for the visit. "Go on," he
said gruffly. "Robert is eager to see you. I'll tend to the horses
and then join you."
    Alexandra threw him a strange glance and ran
up the steps. What was she thinking? Why should he care? Damien
shook his head. Why was he so drawn to this particular woman?
    Leading the horses to the stables, he
clenched his fists around the reins. He could still feel the warmth
of her body through the thick layers of her riding habit. He could
still smell her unique scent that had haunted him all these
years.
    Was he tempting fate by remaining at
Willowmede? He was treading dangerous waters and knew it. For more
reasons than he cared to acknowledge, Damien hoped Robert made a
quick recovery.
    ****
    Once she'd entered the house and climbed the
stairs, Alexandra hesitated outside her brother's bedroom door.
Would Robert be changed? How would he receive her? At her knock,
the valet opened the door and allowed her to enter his master's
chamber.
    Looking toward the bed, she asked quietly,
"Is he awake?"
    "Yes, Miss. He's been asking for you this
hour or more." Alexandra walked slowly to the bed, her eyes filling
with tears as Robert turned his head and smiled tiredly at her.
"Oh, Robbie!" she cried, throwing herself on her knees beside the
bed. She laid her head on his broad chest. It broke her heart to
see her big strong brother looking so pale and weak.
    Robert stroked her hair. "Alex," he
whispered. He hugged her to him with his good arm, as she started
to cry.
    After a few moments,
Alexandra wiped her eyes. Groping in her pocket, she pulled out a
delicate lawn handkerchief and blew her nose. "I've been so worried! Why didn't
you write? Someone should have notified me. Oh God! I'm so glad
you're home and safe."
    "I'm sorry," he said, his voice soft and
hushed. "The Foreign Office would have contacted you, but I told
them not to. I intended to write to you myself, but I was so weak I
couldn't write or even dictate a letter. And as time passed, I
found I didn't want to."
    Alex narrowed her eyes
accusingly. " Robert Andrew
Turlington ! If you knew what agonies I've
been through!" she scolded. "I don't know how I could survive if
anything happened to you. I need you, Robert! With Mama and Papa gone, you are the
dearest person left to me."
    He turned his head away
from her. "I've lost an arm. My right arm, Alex. I'm not a whole man
anymore. How will I ride? How will I eat? I can't