“Your alarming news will wait. You are drenched. How did you manage to get so wet so quickly?” He shook his head in mock wonder. “Come here.”
He drew her into the chamber, his warm hands keeping her body close to his as he moved. When they reached a long, low sofa angled into the center of the room, Nicholas gently pressed on her shoulders until she sat down. He rummaged about in a pile of laundry on the floor—Pawly did not appear to be much of a valet—and when he straightened, he held a woolen blanket. He draped the blanket around Mira’s shoulders, pausing to gather her soggy curls in his hands and lift them out of the way.
He next picked up a linen shirt. He frowned at the item briefly, then shrugged, and wrapped the fine cloth around the tangle of Mira’s hair. He tugged gently on her hair as he tightened the linen around her locks, squeezing the water from them.
Mira sucked in an unsteady breath. He stood so close, the long length of his legs brushing her own, the hard line of his waist just inches from her face. His arms embraced her as he ministered to her dripping hair, and the air was warm with the scent of him.
A molten wave of desire spread through Mira’s limbs. Without thinking, she raised a hand to brush Nicholas’s shirt, to feel his heat trapped in the soft weave of the linen. Then, she drew back, and raised her head slowly to see if he had noticed her bold move.
He had. His hands stilled on her hair. She watched in fascination as his pale gray eyes grew dark, as his lids lowered ever so slightly, as silver fire filled his gaze.
With only the smallest hesitation to betray his bad leg, Nicholas slid down to one knee before Mira. Silently, he drew his hands around until they cradled her head, and he began gently massaging her temples with his thumbs.
Mira’s eyes drifted closed, and she fought the languorous heat that was turning her mind to mush.
“Nicholas?”
“Mmmm?”
“Nicholas, I…”
“What is it, Mira-mine? Tell me what you want.”
What she wanted? Mira could not imagine how to describe what she wanted, the nameless yearning that consumed her. But what she needed…she needed to tell Nicholas her discovery.
In a voice weak with want, she murmured, “Christmas and Midsummer.”
Nicholas grew still. She opened her eyes to find him staring at her with unnerving concentration.
“What did you say?” he asked, his voice soft but steel-edged.
She straightened, blinking to shake away the fog of passion.
“Christmas and Midsummer. It is the dates, Nicholas. They are the key. Why should all of the murders take place at Midsummer, not at any other time of year? Because the killer was not here the rest of the year. Except at Christmas, when he got Bridget Collins with child,” Mira added, her voice growing stronger with every word.
“Nicholas, the dates are the key. Your father killed those girls.”
For an instant, Mira thought she saw a glimmer of panic in the depths of Nicholas’s eyes, but then it was gone, replaced by an icy blankness.
They sat in silence, his hands still holding her head, his body still sinfully close to hers.
Finally, in a voice as carefully neutral as his expression, he said, “You are mistaken.”
She waited for him to continue, to explain the flaw in her reasoning, to offer some proof of her error. But he was silent once more.
She lifted her hand to touch his face, but he flinched away. “Nicholas, I believe you must consider this possibility. Bridget and Tegen were involved with a wealthy man. Your father is a wealthy man, and, well, his…” A blush burned her face, but she forced herself to go on. “His appetite for women is quite well known. As for Olivia Linworth, it seems she had already packed her belongings and was ready to flee with Jeremy. If Blackwell found out that she was ruining his plans, running off to marry the wrong brother, perhaps he grew angry enough to kill her. Or perhaps he merely struck her, and did not mean to kill her. Whatever the reason, I think you must admit that the circumstances suggest your father as the most likely culprit.”
As Mira spoke, Nicholas’s face turned to stone. When she finished her explanation, his mouth twisted up in a faint smile.