Free The Countess' Lucky Charm by A. M. Westerling Page B

her with hooded eyes. A smile ghosted across his lips. “That wasn’t so bad, was it,” he whispered before stepping back.
    He looked down and, suddenly business-like, squatted on his haunches to collect the coins.
    She gazed down at his bent head and lifted trembling fingers to her mouth to touch her lips, lips still tingling with the feel of him. It had been magical, transporting her to another world, another time.
    Yet somehow she sensed there was more, for her woman’s place pounded and hot dampness spread there, between her thighs. Try as she might, she couldn’t stop the disconcerting reaction of her body.
    Coins collected in his palm, he picked out a shilling, tucking it into his vest pocket before handing her the rest with a conspiratorial wink. “Keep these. You earned them.”
    Simone looked down at the coins in her hand and from the corner of her eye watched him swagger off, soon to disappear behind the bulwark.
    A grin tugged at the corners of her mouth and she tucked the coins into her pocket. Hugging herself, she marched back to the tiny cabin.
    It was empty when she arrived there. Grateful for the opportunity to steady herself, she poured some water from the tin pitcher on the trunk that served as nightstand into its matching basin and splashed her face and neck. After wiping her face on the cloth that hung from a peg above the nightstand, she lay down on her cot to ponder what had passed between them just now.
    Her air of insouciance when he had found her playing cards had been just that, an air. Inside, she was bitterly disappointed over losing the wager. She had wanted to please him and prove him right for believing in her ability to transform herself. As well, she had come to realize that she could build a better life for herself with a bit of education. Maybe even open a gaming house. And with the proceeds of the gaming house, make things a little bit better for Mrs Dougherty.
    Now she yet had a chance, for Temple had said he would continue the lessons. She’d have to find a way to repay him for that.
    Oy , her debts toward him were piling up.
    Then there was the matter of his kiss.
    The light from the oil lamp glowed through the curtain. She studied the wall beside her, counting all the knotholes she could see, then all the planks, and then all the nail heads. She even resorted to counting backwards from one hundred, not once, but several times.
    Anything to avoid thinking about the kiss because she wished for him to kiss her again and that was an entirely improper wish.  
     
    * * *
     
    Simone slept when Temple finally returned.
    He had spent the last couple of hours prowling the deck, trying to scrub the desire that Simone had inadvertently evoked in him. It was just a kiss, he had scoffed to himself. Snatching a kiss was not something that caused him remorse. On the contrary, it had been good sport that had a time or two led to the adrenalin rush of a sunrise duel, which had made it even better.
    No, this kiss had been different. True, he liked her, in fact, liked her very much. But there was more to it than that.
    Simone aroused feelings in him he didn’t want to face. Not yet.
    He undressed quickly and climbed into his bunk. Her even breaths bathed the cabin in tranquillity but the thought of her behind the sailcloth tortured him. Her proximity had never bothered him before but now he paid for his folly. Tonight, this very moment, his loins ached. Manners battled with desire.
    Why not take her? She was an urchin, a disreputable ragamuffin.
    Because she trusted him, and he couldn’t betray her trust like that.
    With a groan, he pulled the bedclothes over his head in a futile attempt to block out the gentle sigh of her breath.
     
    * * *
     
    Gentry Ted threaded his way through the boisterous crowd filling his favourite pub in London’s east end, the Pint and Platter, until he found a spot at the scarred counter. Signalling the barkeep, he waited until the man came over with a pint of ale