Free Pleasures of a Tempted Lady by Jennifer Haymore Page A

him. The chaise was small, and their thighs brushed. Such a subtle touch, but it resonated through her. It had been so long since she’d sat next to a man… and this man… the only man she’d ever loved… She almost felt dizzy from the reality of it.
    After a moment of silence, she said, “I’ve beenwondering why you left the Navy,” struggling to keep her voice—and her emotions—steady.
    He stared at her for a second and then tore his gaze away to look at the large, dusty portrait of a nondescript countryside on the wall in front of them. “I wish I’d brought us a drink,” he murmured, “but I didn’t…”
    She began to rise. “Oh, I’m sorry. You’re thirsty. I didn’t think—”
    He laid his hand on her thigh, lightly pushing her back into the cushion. “No, Meg,” he said quietly. “It’s just… Well—” He pushed his fingers roughly through his hair, then squeezed the back of his neck. “Well, the reasoning behind everything I’ve done for the past eight years makes me appear to be such a damned fool.”
    “A fool?” she asked, confused. “You’re not a fool.”
    Will grimaced. “I sold my commission because I wanted to give you a stable home after we married. I didn’t want to marry you and then be apart from you three-quarters of the time.”
    Perhaps he hadn’t changed so very much. He’d told her something similar eight years ago.
    “So I quit the Navy and bought a shipping business in London,” he finished.
    “How does that make you sound like a fool?” On the contrary, it confirmed some of the traits she’d always admired about him. She’d met many gentlemen during that short Season she’d spent in London with Serena. Most of them looked to be searching for a wife to stick in some country house and bear their children while they went on their merry way, taking mistresses, carousing, and traveling without the company of their lonely, homebound wives.
    She’d never wanted that kind of a husband. She wanted a partner. A friend. A lover. Someone who’d remain by her side through everything. Will would have been that man.
    “It makes me sound like a fool,” he said, “because I was never going to marry you. I spent six years planning for an impossible future.” His lips twisted in self-recrimination. “The world sees me as the man who wasted years of his life waiting and planning for the woman—the marriage—that would never be.”
    “I don’t see you that way,” she said softly. “I see you as noble. I wish…” She broke off, took a deep breath, and continued. “I wish that I had been there. I… would have waited for you. If I was in Antigua, it would have been me making those plans with you. Not my mother.” Her voice cracked on the last word. She’d never, ever forgive Mother for what she’d done to Will. Ever .
    “How is it possible that no one knew you were alive for all that time?”
    She clasped her hands together tight in her lap. “I attempted to communicate with you, and with my family. I missed all of you so much. I wanted my old life back so badly.” She closed her eyes. “I ran away once, a month after Cav—after he’d plucked me out of the ocean. We were in Haiti, and I thought if I could just get to Port-au-Prince, I might find someone to help me.”
    “What happened?”
    “He found me,” she said simply. But it hadn’t been so simple. He’d stripped off her drawers and whipped her until she’d bled. Then he’d thrown her into the room she shared with Sarah, and Sarah had nursed her wounds. She swallowed. “There were a few more attempts in the months after that, but I never got as far as I did the first time.”
    His hand covered hers. “I’m sorry, Meg.” Gently, he squeezed her fingers. “If I knew his name, I could send people after him. We’d find him, and we’d—”
    “No,” she said, interrupting him. “It’s not that easy. He has too many connections. He knows too many powerful people.”
    “I wish you’d