Twenty-two
Sebastian unapologetically stared at Helena across the carriage. They had been traveling for almost two hours on their way to reunite Helena with her sister Pearl, and she hadn’t said a word since the carriage pulled away from her house.
Her greeting that morning had been polite and her manners impeccable, but he would rather have her railing than ignoring him.
When her maid Ismay turned from the sights outside the carriage window, she caught him staring at her mistress and lobbed a grin in his direction. Her eyes twinkled with mischief. “Interesting scenery today, aye, milaird?”
“Stunning,” he agreed.
Helena’s eyes snapped up from the book she held on her lap. Either she was pretending interest in the book to avoid him, or she was an exceptionally slow reader since she hadn’t turned the page in the last half hour. Sebastian’s lips inched up as he held her gaze. She swiped a lock of hair behind her ear and returned to her book, her cheeks infused with a lovely rose color.
Very well. If she wouldn’t engage with him, he would have to rely on her maid for entertainment. “Is the scenery very different in Scotland?”
Ismay cocked her head and studied Helena. “Less flustered, I’d say.”
A laugh burst from him. He liked the chit’s audacity.
Helena wrinkled her nose at her maid. “Ismay, behave.”
“Forgive me, milady, but I thought his lairdship was referring to you. You’re the only scenery he has been admiring since we left London.”
A darker flush made Helena’s face glow. She closed her book. The gilded lettering on the cover caught the morning sun. She’d brought Belinda, the book he had purchased for her in Finsbury Square.
“I thought you would have read Belinda by now.”
She turned it to view the book spine as if she’d forgotten what she was reading. “I only found it in the foyer yesterday. Fergus must have set it aside in the excitement that day.”
She said nothing about the inscription inside. Perhaps she hadn’t noticed his message. “Is it any good?” he asked.
“I just started it. I thought it would help pass the time today.”
Instead of talking to me. He crossed his arms with a slight frown. “Some people pass the time in conversation.”
She raised her brows toward Ismay. “Shall we discuss the weather, my lord?” She was using the girl as a shield to avoid discussing anything important.
“There’s nary a cloud to be seen,” Ismay said, ducking her head to peer at the sky.
Sebastian chuckled. “Now that we’ve exhausted that topic…”
He wanted to present an idea to Helena. It had formed after a conversation with his sister yesterday. Eve knew nothing of Helena’s background—at least not the truth—but she had heard quite a tale from Lady Eldridge at tea last week about how Prestwick met Helena. The viscount had been an imaginative liar, and his tall tales might work to Helena and Sebastian’s advantage. But he would have to wait until they changed horses to speak with her about his idea.
Helena returned to her book, and Sebastian resumed enjoying the scenery. The sun set ablaze silky tendrils of Helena’s hair that had fallen around her soft cheek. His gaze lingered on the velvety lobe of her ear, recalling her soft gasp as he’d taken it between his teeth. Her sweet moans echoed in his memory. Her fingers tentatively touching his hair as he put his mouth to her quim. Her nails sliding against his scalp as she began to lose herself, moving in time with his tongue.
She glanced up, her large eyes widening when she caught him watching her. He grinned wickedly, amused when she fidgeted with the edge of her book before slapping it closed and turning toward the window.
“W-we are almost to our next stop,” she said.
Sebastian swiveled on the bench. An idyllic village lay snug in the valley along the road they traveled. The carriage pitched when a wheel hit a rut, and Helena’s maid squealed as they were both almost tossed to the floor. By the time they reached the village, having bumped over every hole along the way, Ismay was holding her stomach and her complexion had a decidedly green tint.
Fergus swung the door open, took one look at his sister, and ushered her into the fresh air. “Take deep breaths, lass.”