“I did,” she responded, stepping slightly hesitantly into the room. “But I returned when I realised I could not leave you with that man knowing all the quackery he was likely trying to sell you.”
Elijah raised an eyebrow at her, unable to stop thinking of what it might mean that she had returned. Would she have returned were he anyone else? Or was this some special treatment?
He quickly forced the thoughts away. He couldn’t possibly be special. Lady Belmont was perhaps the most kind-hearted, caring woman he had ever met. Though she acted calm and collected most of the time, it was clear to see that she truly cared for those she was trying to help. He could feel it coming off her in waves and had seen it in the respect the farmers and villagers had given her during his accident and how they had listened to her without question.
She was a most remarkable woman. That was for certain. And just having her in his bed chambers again gave him an odd sensation the likes of which he had not felt for a very long time or even perhaps ever. Of course, he had felt desire and longing before, but nothing like this made him want to get up off the bed and sweep her off her feet, never letting her up again.
He barely managed to contain himself when she lifted the vial she held in her hand. “I hope you do not mind, but I took the liberty of using a few herbs in your garden to make you a tonic. I do believe it will help with your ailment.”
“My ailment?” Elijah asked, flinching a little. “What do you know of it?”
The way she looked him dead in the eye left him slightly uneasy, but he forced himself to meet her gaze. She was even more beautiful than ever as she gave him a look of quiet confidence and said, “I am quite certain I know what ails you, My Lord, and if you would allow me, I do believe I can help.”
Elijah gulped past the lump in his throat. He had heard those words so many times before from so many different sets of lips. Almost every doctor in the country had said something similar until every one of them tried all their remedies to no avail. Then they had cut him loose, several of them only sticking around to save their credibility when aiding the nobles in their ailments and illnesses.
“My Lady, forgive me, but I am not certain there is anything you can do, save for making me slightly more comfortable than Doctor Wallis with your company,” Elijah explained, already feeling far more at ease with her there even though his heart was hammering at the mere sight of her.
“Be that as it may,” Lady Belmont said simply, stepping across the room elegantly to stand at the end of his bed, “I would like to at least try. If you believe it will fail just as all other things have, then what harm would it do to try?”
Elijah shivered at her words, mainly because she was right. What harm could her tonic do that his body was not already doing to him?
“I am open to anything you might suggest, My Lady,” he admitted, smiling for perhaps the first time since Doctor Wallis had arrived. He was much more pleased to have her at his bedside than the old gentleman doctor who looked down upon him with uncertain contemplation.
“Then, My Lord, I would suggest that you get out of bed,” Lady Belmont advised, and before he could ask her why, she started across the room. He watched her pull back the drapes that had been closed almost as soon as she left upon his cousin’s orders. And before he could ask what she meant him to do, she had also opened the window, allowing a warm breeze to filter into the room.
Much stronger than he would have anticipated for one of her small stature and petite frame, Lady Belmont moved a chair across the room to set it beside the open window and turned to him with a gentle smile. “Please come and sit. Some fresh air will do you a world of good.”
Elijah scoffed a little at that. She almost sounded like his mother. A small wave of homesickness threatened to render him immovable, but he quickly regained control of himself and clambered from his bed.
He inched towards Lady Belmont, trying his hardest not to clutch hold of his abdomen even though it was still paining him greatly. He had agreed to allow her to try to help him, but the thought of letting her see just how much pain he was in made him feel weak.
He was only halfway across from the bed when he realised that hiding it entirely would be impossible. The pain caused by his movement threatened to cripple him, and he gripped his abdomen with one hand, reaching out for something to steady himself with the other.
All too late, he decided there was nothing close by, and suddenly he was all arms and legs, feeling as though he was beginning to flounder.
Just as fast Lady Belmont appeared at his side, slipping herself beneath his flailing arm to wrap her own around his waist.
They came face to face the moment she turned her gaze up to look at him, and it took Elijah a while to comprehend that he had instinctively pulled her into his arms. Her steadying presence against his body warmed him from head to toe, and when their eyes met, he leaned down.
Lady Belmont’s eyes fluttered closed in a dazed manner as her face came up to meet his own. And when their lips met, Elijah’s eyes closed also.
As he kissed her, he breathed in her scent. His garden's floral and herby scent still clung all over her, though he suspected that was how she likely always smelled in her line of work.
He committed the smell to memory, moaning deep in his chest at the pleasure that filled him through her kiss. His hands travelled down to her buttocks, pinning her close to him as he felt her hands gathering up the front of his tunic.
The soft, gentle kiss became harsher, needier, and filled with longing. Desperate for it not to break, Elijah lifted his hands to her face, his fingers cupping the back of her head to brace him against her.
When he heard her moan, her breath caressing his lips as they parted to dip his tongue into her mouth, Elijah knew all too well where this was headed. And he had already imagined it many times before. Though he has always denied it to himself, he could not stop thinking of the attractive widow, the healer who was the only one to have made him feel good for quite some time now.
He allowed himself to imagine what it would be like, how it would feel, to rip her gown off and make sweet sensual love to her as though he had never made love before. He could already feel her soft, supple skin against his hands and how her curves would feel beneath his fingers. How wonderful it would be to bury himself deep inside her and forget about everything else, even for just a few minutes.
And, feeling her hands travel beneath his tunic, he could sense that she was imagining much the same. How she moaned when he kissed her deeper made his stomach clench with desire.
To hell with it,he thought. After all that had happened and all that was yet to come, he had held back for long enough. With his father having banished him to Oxfordshire for his sudden rebellious phase, he had been attempting to control himself, but with Lady Belmont, he was finding that exceedingly difficult. Especially now as she stood with her hands pressed against the bareness of his chest beneath his tunic. Her warm palms were much too inviting, and he stepped closer to her, feeling the heat of her body.
Though all rational thought told him not to, Elijah could not stop himself. His hands came down to the duchess’s hips, pinning her against him even as he continued to kiss her like it was the last thing he would ever do.
Not even the cooling breeze wafting through the open window could cool the fiery desire that burned within him, and before he knew what he was doing, his fingers had gripped hold of the front lacings of the duchess’s gown.
