Alone together

Julia

Because the others are more family than friends, I have arranged for their bedchambers to be in the family wing of the pack house, just down the hall from the master suite.

As we reach my door, I turn to our guests, “Shall we plan on meeting back in the library in half an hour?”

“That should be sufficient time,” Minerva says. “It’s not as though we’ll be changing out of our crepe.”

No. I will give Nick the full six months of mourning due to him as my husband’s brother. I will go into labor wearing black.

“Grey,” Tom says with a nod to Noah, before nudging his wife down the hallway.

“Thank you, Julia, for everything,” Zac offers quietly before heading to his room.

Noah opens the door to my bedchamber and follows me in. It is the first time he has been in the room since his return. I don’t know why my stomach flutters with the thought.

Glancing around, his gaze seeming to dart past the four-poster bed, he walks over to the window, looking out at the dark clouds gathering in the distance. It is a cold, dreary day but at least the rain has held off. “I’ve not had a chance to thank you for everything you did for … my brother. The service you arranged was lovely. You went to a great deal of trouble to give him a nice send-off.”

Cautiously, I approach, stopping just shy of touching him. Quite honestly, he looks as though he could easily shatter. “I’m sorry more people didn’t come,” I had been appalled that so few of the nobility had attended the service. If not for the servants whom I had required to attend, the church would have been embarrassingly near empty. “I think with the distance and the storm threatening ….”

“I think Nick wasn’t as well-liked as he thought,” He sighs.

“We received many letters of condolence. I placed them in a black box and put it on your desk, so you can read them at your leisure. I think you’ll draw comfort from them.” He had been too sorrowful, lost in his grief, to pay much attention to correspondence, so I had seen to it for him.

“I’m certain I will,” He shifts his gaze to mine, and as always I find myself falling into the Blue depths. “You’re very thoughtful.”

“You say that as though you’re surprised.”

He gives his head a quick shake and looks back out the window, “No, I just … I can’t seem to regain my footing with my brother gone.”

“You will,” I gently rub his upper arm. “You will. But speaking of footing, I must sit down. My feet are killing me.”

He swings around, “You’re in pain? Why didn’t you say something?”

“It’s only my feet. They have begun swelling of late. I just need to put them up … Noah!”

He has swept me up into his arms as though I weigh no more than a feather pillow, as though I am not this ungainly creature. Then he is glancing around as though he doesn’t know quite what to do with me now that he has me. My heart is hammering and my fingers are clutching his shoulders. He has not carried me since our wedding night, and when he had set me on the bed …

I am warm with the memories of our coming together as man and wife. Surely, we are not now on the verge of engaging in frenzied lovemaking.

In long, sure strides he heads to the bed and places me on it as gently as though I am hand-blown glass. With a swiftness to his actions that I have not seen since he left for his trip, he shoves pillows behind my back, “Are you comfortable?”

“Yes, but a chair would have sufficed.”

“Where’s your button hook?”

“Top left drawer of the dressing table, but if I remove my shoes I won’t be able to get them back on for dinner.”

“You can go barefoot. No ….” He gives his head another shake and begins walking away. “You’re not going to dinner. I’ll have a tray brought to you here.”

“I can’t ignore our guests.”

Coming to an abrupt halt at the foot of the bed, he glowers at me, “They’re not guests, they’re family. They’ll understand or they’ll damn well answer to me.”

I can’t stop myself from staring at this man, my husband, unable to recall a single time when he has been so forceful. I can’t quite fathom why I find his behavior … him … so appealing at that moment. I have always been attracted to him, but this is something more. He always defers to Tom, for instance, has never stood up to him. Not that he would have had a reason to, but still.

Sighing, he plows his hand through his hair before taking a step nearer and wrapping his long, thick fingers around the bedpost, “We don’t want to risk you losing the baby.”

Regretfully, I nod, “I am rather weary. It’s been an exhausting few days. Still, I shall feel like such a terrible hostess.”

“I imagine they’ll enjoy having a bit of time to visit without my morose presence.”

His words startled me. “You’re not going to join them?"

“I’m not going to leave you here to dine alone after the trying day you’ve had, not when you’re experiencing discomfort that came about because of my brother’s actions.”

“I’ll be fine.”

“Fine isn’t good enough.”

For a moment she thought he was blushing before he turns away.

“Let’s get those shoes off,” He says.