LITMIR.BIZ

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wished he could have scanned her face for a clue as to her state of well-being, but with only the near-silent sniffles he had little to go on.

      How much further to go, he wondered, the snow deepening in the trail with every passing step, though an eddy in the wind against his face told him that a building must be near, the breeze passing over an edifice and rising.

      His own awareness of the proximity of objects kicked in too, his cursed lack of sight honing other senses. Placing his hand against the solidness of wood, he thanked God for their deliverance and reached out for the bridle of his companion’s horse.

      ‘I will help you down.’

      ‘Th…thank y…you.’

      Her hand came to his shoulder as he lifted his arms, fitting them around a waist that was worryingly thin. When he had her down she held on to him still, her fingers entwined in the cloth of his cape.

      ‘I c…can’t feel my f…feet,’ she explained when he tilted his head in question.

      ‘Then I’ll carry you.’ Hoisting her against him, he walked a few paces around the edge of the building, finding it open on the southern side, the horses following them in.

      The smell of hay and silage was strong and another smell too. Chickens, he thought, listening for the tell-tale sound of scratching. Perhaps there might be eggs or grain here.

      Taris liked the feeling of Beatrice-Maude’s breath against his collarbone, the warm shallowness of it a caress that surprised him. How old was this lady? When her hand rested against the smoothness of his skin, he felt a band of gold on the third finger of her left hand.

      Worry engulfed him. Would her husband be mad with worry somewhere?

      ‘I c…can s…see that th…there are bl…blankets in the f…far corner, I th…think. Perhaps we c…could w…warm ourselves.’

      Which corner? In the gloom of his vision Taris could detect nothing save the walls enclosing this space. Another thought heartened him. Perhaps if he let her down she might lead him to them.

      When her feet touched the dirt floor Beatrice winced, the numbness now replaced by a pins-and-needles pain that made contact with anything unbearable. She could never in her whole life remember feeling this cold, the sheer pain of it seeping into her bones and making her heavy and sluggish. She almost crawled to the corner, glad to finally be off her feet; removing her boots, she burrowed into the warmth of a scratchy grey horse blanket.

      But her clothes were wet and stiff and the cold that she thought might disappear suddenly increased with the change in circumstance.

      Taris Wellingham at her side was peeling off his cloak, and the wet steamy shirt he had on followed it.

      She looked away, her breath indrawn by the tone of muscle, the shaped contours attesting to the fact that he must spend much of his life out of doors.

      ‘Take your cloak off too,’ he said as he jumped under her blanket and heaped his cloak on top.

      ‘Wh…what are you d…doing?’ Panic lent a screeching sound to the query.

      ‘One can die of the cold in a matter of moments. Skin to skin we can warm each other.’

      ‘Sk…in to skin?’ Lord, that he should even suggest such a thing.

      ‘Feel this,’ he returned and placed her hand across her throat. A clammy coldness emanated from her, the beat of her heart beneath shallow and fast.

      ‘And then feel this.’

      Now her fingers lay against his chest, the hair tickling her palm. But it was his heat that got to her, a blazing hotness that seemed to cover each and every part of him.

      She could not pull away, could not make herself remember manners and propriety and comportment. All she wanted was to be closer and when he helped her take the cloak from her shoulders she did nothing to dissuade him.

      ‘How old are you?’ he said above the silence.

      ‘Tw…twenty-eight.’

      ‘And your husband?’

      ‘Is d…dead.’

      ‘Then I have no need to be concerned that an avenging swain will appear and challenge me to a duel.’

      ‘No, sir. It is only your w…warmth that I w…want.’

      ‘Good.’ His response was measured and brisk, her worries about anything more between them singularly ridiculous in the whole situation.

      Of course he would not want more from her! She bent her head so that he might not see her blush. Lord, the thinness of her arms against his healthy shape was unattractive and her dress with the long sleeves was as wet as his shirt.

      ‘Take this off, too.’

      ‘I will n…not.’

      In response he simply sat her up and unbuttoned the gown before slipping it from her. In the darkness she saw that the livid red scar near her elbow was difficult to make out. Still when his fingers touched the skin they lingered, his question of how this had happened almost a physical thing in the gloom.

      ‘I f…fell against a f…fence.’

      ‘And it was not tended?’

      ‘The doctor tried his hardest…’

      A sharp bark of laughter confused her. Not humorous in any way. Just harsh. Critical.

      Her stays and chemise and petticoat beneath were a little damp and she was pleased he did not insist she take them off too. She noticed after removing his boots he left his own trousers on, the wet fabric catching on the skin of her legs as they laid themselves down.

      Together. Spooned. His back against her face. She could not help her hands wandering to the warmth.

      ‘Will the h…horses b…be s…safe?’

      ‘They will keep warm together if they have any sense.’

      ‘You h…have d…done this before? B…been caught in the s…snow, I mean?’ Lord, the clumsiness of her question made her stiffen. Of course he would have lain with a woman. Many women probably, with his fine face and his courage!

      He did not seem to notice her faltering as he answered her question. ‘I fought in Europe in the Second Peninsular campaign and it often was colder there than in England. The men were not as soft as you are, though, when we lay down at night.’ A smile was audible in his voice.

      A personal compliment! Bea left the edge of awkwardness alone and thought about other things: the sound of the horses nuzzling in, the snow outside, and a wind that howled through the rafters of the roof. All things to keep her mind off a growing realisation that the warmth was no longer concentrated solely in him.

      To lie with a man in a snow-filled night, safe after adversity, a man who was neither sickly nor mean. A man with a man’s body, a man’s tastes, the smell of his skin woody and strong, his muscles even in the dimness defined and substantive.

      So unlike Frankwell.

      Years of celibacy suddenly weighed against opportunity; the widow Bassingstoke was presented with a fine handsome man and a night that would hold no questions.

      The ghost of a smile played around her lips before sense reined it in. Of course she could not take advantage of the situation. She was a lady and a widow. Besides, already she thought his body had relaxed into sleep, the even cadence of his breath confirming it. To him she was nothing more than a warm skin to survive against. When the tip of her finger reached out to the ridge of his shoulder blade and traced the muscle in air, she wished that she might have been braver and truly touched him.

      So unwise, another voice cautioned, the knowledge of her plainness leading only to a rejection that would be embarrassing to them both.

      He came awake with a start. Where the hell was he? A leg

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