remarkable face and told herself
that she wouldn’t cry. She’d marry Miles tomorrow and take what
came. She’d need every ounce of bravery, but abandoning the game
before it started was too lily-livered to contemplate.
Something in her expression must have convinced him
that her courage stirred. His smile became less strained. “They
wouldn’t catch us tonight.”
She caught her breath. “T-tonight?”
“Yes, tonight.”
He’d always been gentle with her. This hint of
arrogance thrilled her. “Where?”
He raised his head and cast a telling look around the
room. “Why, here, of course.”
Something other than excitement at the prospect of
giving herself to Miles made her heart skip a beat. She’d stifled
her fears of the future as she’d stifled them so often since her
betrothal. But in this stuffy room, other fears stirred. “In the
haunted bed?”
“I thought you dismissed the legend. That’s why you
had the bed brought up from the cellars and put back together. You
said a woman who believed in science would never fall victim to
ludicrous superstition.”
Ordering the bed restored had been an act of
defiance, not just against the tragic legend. “I did say that,
didn’t I?”
His uncharacteristic ruthlessness faded into the
affection that always warmed her. “In fact, you insisted this would
be our marital bed, curse be damned. About the same stage you said
you didn’t believe Marston Hall was haunted and the aspect was so
pleasant, you wanted to live here instead of in one of my houses.
You said that even if the doomed Chinese princess’s robes formed
the bed’s hangings, her spirit was long gone. She had no further
influence over the living.”
“I didn’t say damn,” Calista prevaricated.
Miles laughed softly. She loved his laugh. Just the
sound of it made the world a better place. Oh, she was so
overwhelmingly in love with him. He’d destroy her before he was
done, however much she battled to protect herself, however often
she exhorted herself to be daring and seize this chance.
“Perhaps not. But you definitely said that even if
wicked Josiah Aston was dragged from the Chinese bed on his fatal
wedding day, the bed has no power to curse all newlyweds in this
house.”
“I know my qualms sound absurd.” She’d always
dismissed the tale of the Chinese princess drinking hemlock after
her paramour deserted her. Somehow, today, as she lay on the bed
and contemplated her own wedding, the gruesome tale gained fresh
sway. “But I’d like formalities out of the way before I test the
legend.”
“I’d like to banish any lingering specters with good
earthy lust before I make an honest woman of you on the morrow, my
love.” He paused, inadvertently giving her a chance to relish the
endearment. “The specters in this room, who I don’t believe in at
all. And the specters in your heart, who wield far too much power
over you.”
Her show of bravado hadn’t fooled him one whit. She
hadn’t fallen in love with a stupid man. Which occasionally seemed
like a pity.
Miles rolled away and stretched out upon the heavy
cream silk, his thoughtful gaze never shifting from her. Even
recognizing the intelligence that lurked beneath his decorative
exterior, she was surprised that he saw so much of her turmoil.
Most people found her hard to read. Briefly the temptation to
confide her fears hovered once more. Then like a coward, she
avoided the questions in his eyes.
“You’re a barbarian, Miles, putting your boots on
that cover. The embroidery is priceless.”
His lips curved in a lazy smile. “If you’re going to
nag like a wife, beloved, at least offer me some husbandly
privileges to sweeten the pill.”
“Miles—”
“Please.” He extended his hand toward her, palm
upward.
Heaven help her, she was a hopeless case. She
couldn’t resist him. She could never resist him. Which of course
was a large measure of the problem.
Hesitantly she placed her hand in his and felt
immediate