Free Eve Silver by His Dark Kiss Page B

parent.
    Emma was so glad for Nicky that he had what she had never known. A father’s pure and genuine love.
    Still, there were times when she was left with a wrenching unease, times when Lord Anthony disappeared into the Round Tower and a pall of anxiety and distress settled over the whole of Manorbrier. Those days were the hardest, for none would share the truth of what went on in that crumbling pile of stone and mortar, leaving Emma to imagine what she would, and to remember Nicky’s childish assertion that Miss Rust yet remained in the tower, a dead, decomposing governess, or perhaps only a child’s macabre fancy.
    Even such chilling thoughts could not dampen her forbidden interest in her employer. Sitting in Lord Anthony’s study late on a Friday afternoon, Emma delivered her weekly update of Nicky’s progress, her senses attuned to the man who stood across the room, legs braced shoulder's width apart, arms resting on the window sash.
    “All in all, my lord, that sums it up. Your son is a lovely, bright child and I am thoroughly enjoying our time together—” She broke off, disconcerted that she had delivered the entirety of her lengthy report to Lord Anthony's back.
    An unwanted spark of attraction prickled through her as she studied his broad-shouldered form, his lean hips and muscled thighs, the length of his thick dark hair where it kissed his collar. Hitching in a breath, she forced her attention away from the enticing image he presented and looked around the room. His Lordship's study. It was a man's room. Dark paneled walls were lined with shelves that boasted a wonderful selection of books in several languages. A large mahogany desk was positioned in front of a window draped in dark velvet. Emma sat rigidly on the edge of one of the two heavy brocade chairs that faced the desk.
    She shifted uncomfortably in her seat as her employer continued to peruse the garden, seemingly content to let the silence lengthen and grow. But a tiny seed of suspicion whispered that he was no more oblivious to her presence than she was to his, and something in the set of his shoulders, the subtle tension lacing his frame, implied a weighty matter resting heavy on his thoughts.
    “You will dine with me tomorrow evening, Miss Parrish?” Lord Anthony turned to her as he spoke. The words were phrased as a question, though his tone held a steely note of command, and Emma knew that this, then, was the issue he pondered.
    “I...I shall be delighted, my lord. And Nicky…?”
    “We shall dine after he is abed.” Lord Anthony lifted a sardonic brow, obviously reading her hesitation in her expression. “Come now, Cousin Emma . Surely it is not inappropriate for me to wish a charming companion to entertain me at table. You are family, are you not? Not merely a governess, but my own cousin.”
    Emma looked down at her hands, attempting to hide her confusion. She had no explanation for the change in his manner. She was disinclined to seek his company, disturbed by the maelstrom of dangerous emotions he roused in her, and for the past weeks it had appeared that he was of like mind. He had been polite, but distant. Other than their daily breakfast with Nicky and the few occasions he had stopped by to watch their lessons, he had made a point of spending time with his son in her absence, specifically suggesting that she might like a moment of freedom to take her tea with the staff. She had been glad of it in a way, for his proximity was both enticing and unsettling in the extreme.
    Yet now, Lord Anthony was asking, nay, ordering, her to dine with him.
    Glancing at him through her lashes, she noticed the coiled tension in him, the power in the breadth of his shoulders and muscled thighs. He was like a beautiful wild beast, meant to be admired from afar, but far too dangerous at close confines. She thought ruefully that these were things no proper governess would notice.
    As to his reference to their familial bond, it would likely be