Total pages in book: 102
Estimated words: 95222 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 476(@200wpm)___ 381(@250wpm)___ 317(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 95222 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 476(@200wpm)___ 381(@250wpm)___ 317(@300wpm)
She’s leaving the country? That feels a trifle drastic. Assuming, and I am very aware that I should not assume anything when it comes to Taya Winters, it is me she is trying to escape.
‘I believe you heard me just fine,’ she says, her voice tight.
‘You believe right, but what I cannot fathom, my lady, is why? You have not mentioned a desire to travel before.’
‘Do you think I should have?’
‘Do you think you should have?’
‘No.’
‘Then why are you here now?’
Her mouth snaps closed, she withdraws, and her face hovers between annoyance and hurt. I wait. I wait a good many seconds for an answer, but I get nothing, so I continue, for apparently I have plenty to say. ‘And I do so hate being the bearer of bad news, my lady, but I highly doubt that your brothers, or your mother, either, for that matter, would permit such a reckless endeavour.’ I certainly do not approve myself. A female cannot clear off out of the country without a chaperone. I won’t hear of it.
‘Fear not, Mr Melrose, my brother, Sampson, will accompany me to the port. He is quite well-travelled, as you know. My second cousin on my mother’s side will meet me in France.’
This is ridiculous. Why did she even come to tell me this, because it feels remarkably like an attempt to injure me? It is working. Worst than that, I have just comprehended, perhaps because I am faced with the possibility of her leaving, and I say possibility because I will go to great lengths to prevent it, that I will miss her. I will miss her arrogance. Her words. Her smart mouth. Her smiles. Her drawings. God damn me, I will miss her, and I like not the thought of a day without her or … a kiss from her.
‘You have to help me out here, Taya,’ I say, starting to pace. It is either pace or touch her, grab her, and I know that to be a terrible idea. ‘Correct me if I am wrong, but by my mind, and I thought by yours too, until, at least, you left my bed, that our night was …’ How does one put it? ‘Extraordinary,’ I say, looking at her. I realise it was her first time and she has not one other lover to compare it to, but surely she wasn’t disappointed? My stomach turns at the very thought. What a waste, I think, if that is the case. She will have been ruined for nothing.
‘It was average,’ she shrugs.
I laugh, because she is really rather hilarious. ‘How the bloody hell would you know? I was your first.’
‘Do not mock me, Frank Melrose.’
‘I am not mocking you, I am stating a valid point.’
‘Actually, your point is moot. Regardless of how extraordinary the night was, it was, however, just one night, and as you have kindly stated, with the utmost sureness, while laughing, I might add, that is all I should expect.’
I am so confused. I said that? ‘Ta––’ And I realise … Come, Mama, let us not be hasty. It is what I said when Mother demanded I marry her. Oh, Taya.
She pivots and takes the door handle, and I am across the room fast, wedging a hand into the wood to prevent her opening it, gritting my teeth when the damn pain sears my damn shoulder for the tenth damn time today.
I look down at her dark blonde waves just under my chin. Smell the honeysuckle. And there, I can say with utter sureness, is the issue. She’s injured. Hurt. ‘They were words spoken under pressure, Taya.’ But there is not a hope in hell’s chance of us ever being together – her brothers will never allow it.
‘It matters not,’ she says to the door. ‘It was a mistake. You should return to your obsession.’
I frown. My obsession is her. ‘What?’
‘Your story, Frank. Your obsession.’
My God, she is so so mistaken. I no longer dream of the wild white horse. I dream of her. I have thrown myself into work for many reasons, and one of those reasons was distraction. Yes, I am enthralled by the criminals and their escapades. My heart thunders at the thought of the highwaywoman. My blood pumps. It’s an incredible feeling. And all of that happens when I am with Taya. Except it’s more potent. Stronger. More thrilling.
Impossible but amazing.
‘Well,’ I breathe down on her, my eyes narrowing a little as they observe the slight trembling of her shoulders. ‘Then I suppose this is farewell.’
‘I suppose it is.’
My eyes move to the doorknob, where her hand trembles too. Oh, Lady Taya, how you frustrate me. ‘If I was sharp-eyed, and unfortunately for you, I am, I might observe the quivering of your body under my closeness.’ I whisper and hear her inhale subtly. ‘Is it a challenge, I ask you, to be close to me, my lady?’