Yet when she was alone with him, as she was now, he seemed to cloud her thoughts until all she could think was that she wanted him to keep touching her, how the danger and excitement of that touch sent wild thrills through her.
“My wild one,” Adam sighed as he cupped her cheek. “You deserve bouquets, boxes of sweets, presents as well as passion. I’ve given you none of these, but someday I will remedy that. You can have it all, the gentleman and the rogue at your beck and call.” He stroked his thumb over her bottom lip. She exhaled as she lost herself in gazing at this gorgeous man.
“The gentleman and the rogue?” she asked.
He smiled a wolfish smile. “A man who can give you sweetness when you want it.” He threaded his fingers into the hair at the nape of her neck, tugging just enough that she felt completely in his power. “And a rogue’s brazen roughness when you need it.”
Something sharpened inside her, like a sense she hadn’t known she’d possessed. It heightened everything about that moment until she felt something pulse hard between her thighs.
Adam was not a brute, but she could tell that every inch of him was full of power, radiating a raw, primal strength. His face, while almost predatory in his handsomeness, was not without gentleness. She gazed upon her wild lion knowing she could trust him to protect her rather than devour her. He continued to hold her gaze, neither of them speaking. Her thoughts spiraled with dark, carnal images, and she wondered if he was thinking the same, given the way he looked at her with such heat. Then he blinked, breaking the spell, and she drew in a shaky breath.
“We should go to dinner,” he said. “Unless you still need a moment?”
“I . . .” She pulled her thoughts away from him and nodded. “I’m ready to go down.”
He stepped back and offered her his arm. Letty walked with him into the corridor, running her fingertips over the wood panels on the walls.
Adam took her down a different set of stairs, this one made of wood, not stone. Crouching lions sat on the banister,silently roaring at passersby. They were fine heraldic beasts, their front paws clutching shields that bore a unicorn and a Scottish thistle. Evidence of the ancient line of Morreys was everywhere.
The dining room was far more intimate in size than Letty had expected. No grand medieval roughhewn table with a pack of wolfhounds lying by a roaring fire, waiting for meat off a trencher. No, this room was small but elegant.
“It isn’t what you expected, is it?” Adam teased.
“No—I mean, yes. I mean . . .” She ducked her head, too embarrassed to say what she had actually expected. She was still thinking of that moment when he’d grasped her hair and held her captive, and she thought of his promise—to give her the gentleman and the rogue, whenever she wished. Letty swallowed hard and did her best to focus on their conversation.
“Most of the older furniture has long since been removed and replaced with modern styles. We do our best, even out here in the country, to keep the castle updated.” His tone was still light, but she heard the pride in his words.
He had every right to be proud. The marble fireplace was vast and exquisitely carved, the table was made of a beautiful mahogany, and the walls were cream accented by gold wainscoting. Mahogany doors leading in and out of the room on both sides were a clear contrast to the pale cream walls. Greenvelvetbacked the chairs surrounding the table, offered a comfortable place of repose, rather than the harsh high-back chairs with no cushions that she was accustomed to in typical dining rooms in London.
Gillian, James, and Caroline had already gathered around the fire and werein quiet conversation.
“Ah, there you are,” Caroline said as they entered. “We wondered if you had gotten lost.”
Letty smiled at Caroline, glad to see Adam’s sister truly was happy that she was here.
“Well, shall we eat before our cook becomes overanxious?” Caroline asked.
Adam chuckled as he seated Letty beside him. “Mrs. Oxley is most particular about her food not going cold.”
“Is she a very good cook?” Letty knew that some old country householdswith families who didn’t visit that oftenanddid very little entertaining, had cooks who were perfunctory at best, as they often had other duties in addition to cooking fine meals.
“Quite good, actually, but she threatens to quit every Christmas, so be ready for that.”
“She threatens to quit?”
“Yes, she thinks she will retire and go live with her son in London, but then she changes her mind in a matter of days, usually on Christmas Eve, and returns to the kitchens, bellowing out orders. It is rather amusing, once you become acquainted with her. She might seem prickly at first, but you never will find a better cook. I don’t care what our friends in London say about their fancy cooks from France. Mrs. Oxley has them all beat.”
Adam flashed her a smile, and Letty’s stomach flipped in excitement.
“So, shall we talk wedding plans?” Gillian asked the table at large.
“Oh, yes,” Caroline said. The two women began to discuss Letty’s wedding as though she wasn’t even in the room.
She listened to Caroline and Gillian plan her life. She could have interrupted them, demanded things to be done as she wished, but she was tired. The last few days had robbed her of her strength. Right now, she did not feel she could be even remotely active in the planning of her wedding.
“Letty, what do you think?” Adam asked, drawing her out of the thoughts circling in her head.She tried to focus on the soup in front of her, which had gone a bit cold.
“Whatever they decide is fine with me.”
“It is your day,” Adam reminded her. “You should make the most of it.”
He met her gaze and held it. She wished she knew what he was thinking behind those fathomless, mercurial eyes. Most of the young men of her acquaintance were so easytoread, easy to understand. They discussed their lands, their horses, their favorite sports or gambling, and occasionally—when they thought she couldn’t hear, of course—their mistresses.
But Morrey—Adam—was nothing like those men. Whatever thoughts ran in his mind would be serious, dangerous, and most likely fascinating. He had been right about her—she was drawn to him and excited by the sensual promises he made. The man was clearly knowledgeable about all manner of sins of the flesh, and she was going to be married to this prowling wolf who could likely devour any maiden he liked at his leisure. The thought didn’t frighten her, however. Quite the opposite, in fact, if she was the maiden to be devoured.
“Letty, I know you’ve thought about this.” James faced Morrey with a soft, brotherly smile. “She’s been planning this since she was a child. She used to marry off her dolls.”
“James!” Letty hissed in mortification, her smile wilting and her blood boiling.
“Well, it’s true—” James began, but he suddenly winced and glanced under the table. Gillian glared at him, and Letty suspected his wife had kicked him in the shin, though not hard enough, in her opinion.
Morrey caught Letty’s gaze again. As he lifted his goblet of wine to his lips, he smiled at her, but this smile was not a sweet expression. It was enticing, seductive, intimate, as though they were together in some private secret.
“James and Adam are right,” Gillian said. “Letty, you must tell us what you wish. Let us start with flowers. Chilgrave has a lovely hothouse.”