She kissed his mouth. Her scent surrounded him. Fresh. Lemony. Eleanor. He parted his lips to set the kiss on fire, but she withdrew. “Your head must hurt like the devil.”
“Another part hurts worse,” he complained.
She snickered. “You’ll live.”
“Cruel beauty.”
She turned and laid her hand on the diary. “So this is the book that caused all the trouble.”
His smile faded. “No, my toad of an uncle caused the trouble.”
“Have you read it?”
“No.” He struggled to hide his disgust at what little he’d seen. Pages of his uncle’s banal and profane prose, all expressing relentless contempt for his lovers. Leath had been sickened and depressed. “Do you want to check what he said about your sister?”
Sadness dulled her eyes. “No. She paid the price for her recklessness. She was an innocent led astray. I don’t need to know more. What are you going to do with the diary?”
“I’d like to burn it so that it does no more harm.” He stared at the book. “But it’s the only record we have of my uncle’s sins. I’ll have to track down these women and make sure they’re all right. Only the bravest and most desperate have written to me, I suspect.”
Eleanor studied him, eyes glowing in the flickering light. “You’re a good man, James.”
The compliment warmed him, especially given her past suspicions. “I’m glad you think so.”
“I worry that Greengrass is still out there,” she said with a shiver. “By now he’ll know that the satchel was packed with newspaper.”
“He’ll go to ground somewhere close. We’ll find him.” Leath sat back and opened his arms. “Come here.”
She didn’t shift. “I told you I can’t stay tonight.”
“I know,” he said drily. “But that doesn’t mean you have to stand so far away.”
Her lips flattened with a fond exasperation that made his poor heart stutter. So desperate he was for any sign that she felt more than mere desire. “It’s all of two feet.”
“Too far.”
“And you’ve been in a fight. You’re covered in bruises.”
“You can take off my clothes and check if you like.”
“James.”
“Please?”
She sighed. He waited for her to stick to her guns and walk away, but she crossed the minimal distance between them and curled up on his lap.
She was right. He was covered in bruises. With Eleanor in his arms, he didn’t give a damn. His hold tightened as she rested her head on his shoulder with a trust that he couldn’t take for granted. Not when only days ago, she’d hated him.
“I was terrified when you went to meet that man.” Her soft confession vibrated with emotion.
He kissed her forehead. She’d tied her hair in a loose knot. His fingers itched to unpin it, but he restrained himself. He didn’t need more torture. “You hid it well.”
“Did I?”
He laughed shortly. “No.”
She nestled closer. “I held my breath until you came back.”
“Kiss me,” he whispered.