“Thank you, Matthews.”
He gestured to Persephone who had just entered. “You will be glad to know that Miss Welton took good care of things while you were gone. She also has a particular head for business that increased some of your holdings.”
His gaze took in her proud, beaming grin. “I never had a doubt. I knew she was remarkable the moment we first met.”
After all the servants took their leave, Hunter was left alone with his mistress. He lifted a brow at her. “Was there something you needed?”
“No.” She walked forward slowly. “I just thought you might need help washing your…” Her lashed fluttered. “Back.”
Bloody hell. This woman was going to make him lose his mind the first night he was home. “I can manage, thank you,” he returned evenly.
He turned away, hoping that would be the end of it.
“I don’t mean to be a pest, but after all this time, I feel as if I owe you… something for all you’ve done for me.”
Hunter hung his head and reluctantly turned back to face her. She looked so unsure and lost in that moment that he couldn’t help but walk over to her and lay his hands gently on her shoulders. “Everything I’ve done for you was a gift freely given. There were no strings attached, only a simple bargain.”
She visibly swallowed. “And I have done as you asked.” Her blue eyes were wide and direct. “I am still chaste.”
Heaven help me. He reached up and lightly caressed her cheek. “Then you have fulfilled your part. You don’t have to lay with me to feel as though payment is required upon my return.”
Silence, then, “But what if I want you to take me to your bed?” she whispered. She reached out and put her hand on his chest, directly over his pounding heart. “You’re my savior, the man who saved me from a dark fate at the hands of someone you claim was a cruel monster. I’ve been alone for so long, anticipating your return where we might find joy in each other’s arms. Will you deny me that single pleasure?”
Hunter closed his eyes against the inviting vision in front of him. She would easily tempt the restraint of a monk, but he must not give in. He would not become a vile man like Lord Gregory. For the past five years he’d survived by taking himself in hand and he would continue to be celibate, no matter how enticing Miss Welton might be.
He shook his head. “Please, don’t ask this of me. I have made a vow to myself to abstain from sexual acts. I’ve seen the path that others have taken in order to satisfy their lust, and I will not be a slave to my own desires. I will not treat you like a rutting animal.”
She shook her head. “I know you, Hunter. I have lived vicariously through your letters. Each one was as important to me as the air I breathe. Through the years, I’ve come to know the man behind those enchanting words. You would never treat me with such disrespect.”
He shoved a hand through his hair and spun away from her. “You will not change my mind. I shall stand firm.”
The air around them was charged with tension. Finally, she said, “Very well. I won’t force you to do something you don’t wish to do.”
With that, the door softly shut behind her and Hunter collapsed on the edge of the bed, his head in his trembling hands.
***
Sephy shut her bedroom door, and then leaned against the hard wood. In all her years of being taught how to pleasure a man in every way, finding a way to a man’s heart was something she didn’t know how to do.
Hunter was the one man she desperately wanted to satisfy — in every way.
But how could she get past that tough, outer shell if she didn’t even know why he chose to close himself off from her?
Perhaps it was time she began to make a few discreet inquiries about her protector. Until his return, she had been too focused on living the comfortable life of a courtesan, but she realized how foolish she’d been, that those fantasies were built on nothing more solid than a pile of sand. With the snap of his fingers he could have her thrown out and sent back to her mother’s house where she would become the Whore of Babylon that she was always meant to be.
However, after five years on her own, living a lavish lifestyle, she knew such a life was no longer enough for her. She would become a seamstress before she fell so far as to follow in her mother’s footsteps. She might have been trained as a harlot, but she preferred to be like the Biblical Rahab, a ruinous woman of virtuous deeds.
But before she left Hunter and they went their separate ways, she intended to rescue him from whatever demons haunted his soul. It was the least she could do after he’d saved her from Lord Alabaster Gregory’s perversions.
Determination replaced any disappointment she had as she walked over to her writing desk and sat down to pen a letter to a trusted confidante.
Chapter Three
Hunter walked in the dining room with a bit of reservation. He wasn’t sure what his reception would be from Miss Welton this morning after he’d rebuffed her advances the night before. In his experience, many women acted rather nasty after being ignored, but the sight of the angel seated at the head of the table looked anything but vengeful. In truth, the very sight of her caused a desperate ache of longing in his chest.
She looked even more appealing than she had last night with her glorious red-gold hair pulled up into a charming chignon. She was at the head of the table
