dismissive nod and went back to studying the room. When the bartender had gone, he leaned close to Satira. “Gonna make it?”
Her lips barely moved with her whispered reply. “I’m suitably occupied planning my revenge.”
“It got their attention, didn’t it?” The look she gave him was worthy of any outraged heiress, and he rolled his eyes. “It worked. Now we just have to play it out.”
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33
Moira Rogers
She parted her lips, glanced around the bar at the dozens of eyes staring at them in abject curiosity, and snapped her mouth shut. Color crept its way up her neck and into her cheeks, but she clung to her aloof demeanor until the barkeep returned with bread and stew and a vinegary wine that a true aristocrat wouldn’t have let within a stone’s throw of her lips.
Satira ignored everyone else in the saloon as she ate. Though her discomfort was plain to him, he doubted anyone else would notice. When she finished her meal, he tossed several crisp bills on the table and rose to offer her his arm.
Half the bar watched her slide her hand into the crook of his elbow and rise, her back held stiffly straight and chin high. Wilder got more than a few irritable looks from men and a couple of come-hither smiles from women whose eyes promised they’d give him a better time than any stuck-up blueblood.
It wasn’t unusual for guards and escorts to extend their duties into the bedroom, and many of them probably figured he’d be climbing into Satira’s bed with her tonight. His dick grew hard at the thought, and he didn’t have to feign a dour expression as they walked out.
If only they knew.
34
www.samhainpublishing.com
Chapter Five
He’d almost managed to get to sleep when a timid knock sounded on the door that led to Satira’s adjoining room. “Wilder?”
He fought the urge to slam a pillow over his face. “Yeah?”
She must have taken his reply as permission to enter, because the door inched open and she slipped through, a slight shadow wrapped in a blanket. The floorboards creaked as she took a step closer to the bed.
“Do you mind…?”
She looked like she thought he’d growl at her until she ran screaming from the room. “Come on in.”
“I can’t sleep.” Her voice held more than a little shame at the confession. “If people are expecting you to bed me, it can’t hurt our disguise if we sleep in the same room, can it?” Now he wanted to slam a pillow over his lap. “Can’t hurt our disguise.” It could only hurt him if he had to control himself around her. She grasped her blanket tight around her shoulders, but the gauzy fabric brushing the floor as she walked was sheer, flesh-colored silk.
She stopped next to the bed. “If you don’t want me here, I’ll go. I’ll understand.”
“Do you?”
“I think so.” She stared at the floor. “Men have needs, but you’re not interested in complicating our already difficult situation by giving in to them.”
If he was a snake… “Did you come over here for sex, or because you’d sleep better if you weren’t alone?”
“The latter.” She shivered and clutched at the blanket as it began to slip. “I know you could get to my room quickly enough if anything happened, but the way some of those men were watching me…” She was scared, and he felt even worse about his lust as he patted the blanket beside him. “Climb up.
You don’t have to be alone, and you don’t have to worry about me.”
“Thank you.” The blanket gaped open as she scrambled onto the bed, revealing that the damn flimsy nightgown Juliet had packed for her was transparent all over. She shivered and pulled the blanket up to her chin.
Wilder shook his head. “That scrap of nothing isn’t warm enough.” Satira choked on a laugh, a little hysterical but genuine. “I know. If it gets much colder tonight you’ll have to kick me out of your bed to keep me from cuddling as close as I can.” Moira Rogers
The laughter was better
Her lips barely moved with her whispered reply. “I’m suitably occupied planning my revenge.”
“It got their attention, didn’t it?” The look she gave him was worthy of any outraged heiress, and he rolled his eyes. “It worked. Now we just have to play it out.”
www.samhainpublishing.com
33
Moira Rogers
She parted her lips, glanced around the bar at the dozens of eyes staring at them in abject curiosity, and snapped her mouth shut. Color crept its way up her neck and into her cheeks, but she clung to her aloof demeanor until the barkeep returned with bread and stew and a vinegary wine that a true aristocrat wouldn’t have let within a stone’s throw of her lips.
Satira ignored everyone else in the saloon as she ate. Though her discomfort was plain to him, he doubted anyone else would notice. When she finished her meal, he tossed several crisp bills on the table and rose to offer her his arm.
Half the bar watched her slide her hand into the crook of his elbow and rise, her back held stiffly straight and chin high. Wilder got more than a few irritable looks from men and a couple of come-hither smiles from women whose eyes promised they’d give him a better time than any stuck-up blueblood.
It wasn’t unusual for guards and escorts to extend their duties into the bedroom, and many of them probably figured he’d be climbing into Satira’s bed with her tonight. His dick grew hard at the thought, and he didn’t have to feign a dour expression as they walked out.
If only they knew.
34
www.samhainpublishing.com
Chapter Five
He’d almost managed to get to sleep when a timid knock sounded on the door that led to Satira’s adjoining room. “Wilder?”
He fought the urge to slam a pillow over his face. “Yeah?”
She must have taken his reply as permission to enter, because the door inched open and she slipped through, a slight shadow wrapped in a blanket. The floorboards creaked as she took a step closer to the bed.
“Do you mind…?”
She looked like she thought he’d growl at her until she ran screaming from the room. “Come on in.”
“I can’t sleep.” Her voice held more than a little shame at the confession. “If people are expecting you to bed me, it can’t hurt our disguise if we sleep in the same room, can it?” Now he wanted to slam a pillow over his lap. “Can’t hurt our disguise.” It could only hurt him if he had to control himself around her. She grasped her blanket tight around her shoulders, but the gauzy fabric brushing the floor as she walked was sheer, flesh-colored silk.
She stopped next to the bed. “If you don’t want me here, I’ll go. I’ll understand.”
“Do you?”
“I think so.” She stared at the floor. “Men have needs, but you’re not interested in complicating our already difficult situation by giving in to them.”
If he was a snake… “Did you come over here for sex, or because you’d sleep better if you weren’t alone?”
“The latter.” She shivered and clutched at the blanket as it began to slip. “I know you could get to my room quickly enough if anything happened, but the way some of those men were watching me…” She was scared, and he felt even worse about his lust as he patted the blanket beside him. “Climb up.
You don’t have to be alone, and you don’t have to worry about me.”
“Thank you.” The blanket gaped open as she scrambled onto the bed, revealing that the damn flimsy nightgown Juliet had packed for her was transparent all over. She shivered and pulled the blanket up to her chin.
Wilder shook his head. “That scrap of nothing isn’t warm enough.” Satira choked on a laugh, a little hysterical but genuine. “I know. If it gets much colder tonight you’ll have to kick me out of your bed to keep me from cuddling as close as I can.” Moira Rogers
The laughter was better
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