“Do you think they’ll come back? My father and yours,” she clarified, turning to the side and lifting one foot to the chair. She adjusted the soft shoes and buckled it in place, her attention on the next on while her foot decided if it liked this new type of shoe. Not exactly what she was used to wearing. No tread; no laces…
She stood up and tapped her foot down with a frown as she realized Lucas was standing in front of her.
No fricking height, either, she realized with a pout. Fine.
“I don’t know the answer to your question, Emma,” Lucas dropped his napkin on the table and gestured to the archway. “The library?”
“Can I take my water with me? I promise to be very careful,” Emma lifted her glass, deciding she seriously missed her water bottles.
“Of course. Why don’t you go ahead and I’m going to speak with Mrs. Neilson.”
“Alright,” Emma carried her glass with her, kicking at the hem of her dress as she walked. That was going to be fixed. She made a mental note to get her hands on paper and something write with. Probably in the library, that would make sense.
She found a tray by the desk with an empty glass and set her water there before exploring the desk surface. The simple things you miss, she thought, humming to herself as she looked through drawers. She found a box of sheets of paper and pulled one free, her fingers closing around a pencil on the desktop.
Lucas entered the library and found himself staring again. Bent over his desk, Emma was writing on a piece of paper, her tongue out and occasionally the pencil end tapping on her cheek. He wondered if he should bring the physician back. There had to be something wrong with him. He was still puzzling through his reaction to Emma as well as how long it had been since he’d relieved himself or found a woman to be with. He’d lost himself in work for so long, he couldn’t recall. That had to be the excuse.
And then she looked up and noticed him and all thoughts of the world and its problems vanished when she smiled and spoke.
“Hi,” Emma greeted him before turning back to her note.
“Hello,” Lucas shook himself and moved to lean against the edge of his desk, hands casually in the pockets of his trousers. Partly to hide the surge of hardness to his cock. He could smell the roses wafting from her damp hair as it dried, small tendrils breaking free of the braid she wore and circled her face like a halo. “What are you working on so busily?”
“My shopping list.”
“Shopping?”
“Visiting shops with the intent of buying things…shopping.”
“My vocabulary is going to increase ten-fold being associated with you, Emma,” he said with a slight nod.
“Oh, I’m sure there’s lots of room inside that brain for more knowledge,” Emma told him with a bright smile.
“Tell me more about this idea for an addition to the bathing room,” Lucas asked, his gaze slipping over the neatly printed list she was working on. “You might check with Mrs. Neilson. She had quite an extensive store of herbs and medicinals.”
“Oh, I don’t want to bother her. And it’ll be fun to find things and explore tomorrow with Nancy,” Emma straightened up from her bend and looked him up and down. “Do you always dress up?”
“Dress up?”
Emma frowned, set the pencil down and walked out from him a little before facing him. “I’m pretty sure most of my words should fit somewhere in the right context in Victorian England. However, let’s pretend that I’m from another world, even another time,” she smiled when he struggled to keep his lips from twitching too badly. “Now, this is serious, Lucas. Pay attention, please. So…I’m from another place and where I’m from, you people dress far too serious all the time. What do you wear just for comfort? For relaxing?”
Lucas opened his mouth and then closed it again.
“I am relaxed,” he finally said quietly. With the exception of a cock that won’t stop thinking about burying itself inside you, he added inside his imagination.
Emma sighed. “Lucas, if I weren’t here…in your life and messing things up…what would you be doing?”
“Working. Researching,” he answered honestly.
“So you’ve altered your behavior because of me. And would you be wearing a suit jacket?” She closed one eye and gave it some thought. “You’d be in your workshop and probably wearing a…a lab coat kind of thing…”
Lucas was positive he was about to speak. It was the intent of his brain to actually say something in response. Until she walked to stand right in front of him and reach for his suit jacket. While he was still thinking about the words that were now completely gone from his brain, she took the jacket and attempted to push it off his shoulders. He straightened up from the desk, covering her hands with his.
“This needs to come off,” Emma said without a doubt in her words. She stepped back and waited. “Take off the jacket and lay it on the chair. You seem tense.”
“Why should I remove the jacket, Emma?”
“Well, first, because it’s already getting warm,” she turned away and went to the patio doors, unlatched them and threw them wide. She moved on to the window and did that same thing before going back to him. “Humor me, Lucas, please.”
How could he resist?
“Never ever change yourself for another person, Lucas,” Emma lifted his left hand once the jacket was off and placed his palm on her hip. “If that person doesn’t care for you as you are, then they clearly are not meant for you,” she said in her best instructor voice. Her fingers opened the small buttons on his wrist and began folding it back until it stopped just above his elbow. Then she moved to the next sleeve.
“Are you always like this?” Lucas met her eyes for a moment before she was focused on her task again. He hadn’t moved his palm from her hip and now realized he had one hand on each side of her. And he liked it.
“I try and be honest and be me…I work to not hurt people being me, though. That’s not a nice thing to do,” she answered, thinking about his question. She shrugged. “I suppose this is pretty much me…good and bad.”
“But you’ve been hurt,” Lucas didn’t remove his hands when she completed the folding of his shirt sleeve. She made an effort to back away but stopped when she realized he was holding her firmly in place.
“I’m fine,” her shoulders rose and fell. She tried keeping her hands down, tried keeping them to herself but at her side, they bumped into his wrists; in front of her, they bumped into…oh, wow…so she put them on his forearms. And she felt the heat flushing her cheeks and would die rather than look up. She was far too old for this kind of reaction. Okay, so he was hard. And it was probably, alright, no doubt in her mind, it was her fault. Somehow. Just from rolling up the man’s sleeves?
“When you don’t think anyone is watching, I see a sadness in your eyes that you work very diligently at hiding.”
“Just old memories, I’m sure…trying to find their way home, perhaps.”
“I’m quite accustomed to social lies from most every source imaginable, Emma, but I will not tolerate lies from you. I also require that you look at me when we speak,” his voice held a stern quality that forced her attention.
Eyes dark with a barely subdued emotions lifted from the buttons down the front of his shirt and boldly returned his stare.
“Whatever,” Emma began very softly, “Is inside my eyes or my head or…or any other portion of my anatomy, belongs to me. And only me. I am an adult and will deal with it all accordingly,” she nodded her head for emphasis and hoped she got all the proper words in the proper places. On a roll, she continued when he merely stared at her. This time it was really easy to see the fire in his eyes.
“I warned you that I was…that I did not belong here. I don’t belong here in this place, in this time and I definitely don’t belong here with you. Why? I don’t think I can explain it well enough to make sense to me, let alone to you.”
“I see,” Lucas’ voice was low and far from the spoken words he’d used. He d
idn’t see at all. He didn’t see what she was battling that she had no wish to share with him. “You don’t wish to share with me? Perhaps I could help.”
“You can’t help, Lucas,” Emma felt the burst of hot air evaporate under his patience. She knew from experience that it was fleeting. No one had that kind of patience. She wouldn’t…no, it wasn’t just that she wouldn’t she couldn’t…it had hurt too much to pretend over and over just to please someone else. Just too much.
She started to turn her face away but struggled with a half grin instead.
“You aren’t willing to allow me to try, Emma.”
He didn’t like the soft, almost woeful sound to her last words. He simply couldn’t imagine what would have such a strong hold on the buoyant personality he was privy to.
“I’m fine, Lucas…and even more so when I’m busy,” she said honestly.
“Have you taken a lover, Emma?”
“I…have…” Emma squeezed her lashes tightly together. People rarely spoke of sex openly in her time period. She was fairly certain talking about it so boldly in this time period was definitely out of bounds. But she had a card in the hole. “I don’t know. It’s all lost somewhere.”
She thought she had a hole card.
When her eyes opened, the snug sensation she’d gripped froze when she realized his hands had left her hips and were now framing her face. They were warm. Very warm and even a little rough, she realized, wondering just what all he did in his workshop.
Lucas saw her head shake. Just the barest movement before his mouth settled upon a pair of the softest lips he’d ever kissed. A breezing touch. That was his intent. But the man threw intent aside when her lips parted with a sweetest of sighs. And when her tongue ventured forth to stroke over his lower lip, he completely forgot what he’d intended.
He completely forgot decorum and propriety. There was nothing in his world at the moment but Emma. Soft and sad; curved and pressing against him. Her hands were flat against his linen shirt; her touch burning a slow path when she moved them higher to his shoulders.
She knew it was a mistake. A BIG damn mistake but for the moment, would blame hormones and the basic need to be held. And kissed. Damn, the man could kiss. She could feel ever fraction of an inch when he shifted slightly, licking at her tongue, teasing it and stroking so slowly she wanted to scream for more. Deeper and harder, she returned his kiss, taking what she wanted this time; taking what she needed from a man strong enough to handle it.
He didn’t back away; didn’t stop when he knew he should have never begun. His palms slid over the softness of her face, carefully onto the fragrant rose scented hair. He backed up a step, pulling her closer as he leaned on the desk, his height lowered and their mouths locking even firmer upon one another. He tasted her, his tongue sweeping, caressing and demanding more.
But it was Emma who breathlessly broke their kiss, soft, sweet lips trailing over his jaw and onto his throat. She licked at his ear, nipped the lobe and continued tiny bites along his neck.
She felt his hand moving against her head, onto her shoulders and down her back. She was so very sensitive on her back and shoulders. Her skin had always been her downfall, and now wasn’t an exception. Even as she bit down on the hollow of his throat and shoulder, her body arched against him, wanting that elusive pleasure that she’d never been able to find.
Lucas fully expected her to jump away from him. He couldn’t have hidden the hardened cock if he’d tried at the moment. It stretched and demanded and she’d just thrust her body against him, making it even harder and more demanding. He had to get control!
He just wasn’t sure if he was grateful when providence provided the squeaky sound of a cart rolling along the hall. Both bodies immediately separated.
Emma spun away, her head shaking as well as her hands as she went straight to the porch and stood leaning against the solid white wall. Palms scraped over the rough surface.
“Sir? I brought the first load of the books from Miss Carstairs’ room,” Daniel stood in the open doorway seconds later. His gaze went immediately to Lucas, seated casually behind the desk. “There are a few more and I’ll bring ‘em right down to you.”
“Just stack them by that corner, Daniel,” Lucas gestured to the eastern section of shelving. “I’ll clear those to the other side of the room and Emma will use those shelves for her own. Thank you.”
Lucas wasn’t sure how he managed to sound even half normal. His blood was pounding and his cock refused to settle. All he could think of was the soft feel of Emma beneath his hands, against his body.
He was about to stand when Mrs. Neilson brought a tray into the room filled with lemonade and tall glasses.
“I’m off now, milord,” she said with a smile, glancing around as she set the tray on the cart for refreshments she’d left there the day before. “I’ve left prepared collation on the table in the kitchen for you.”
“Enjoy your day, Mrs. Neilson, thank you,” Lucas nodded and knew the woman wouldn’t see anything strange in his behavior. His staff was accustomed to him being buried in work and barely looking up. He waited until Daniel left before adjusting his trousers and standing up, about to go to Emma when he heard her inhale deeply and return to the library. “Emma…”
“Oh, good, he’s brought my books,” she took the page she’d been writing on with the pencil and crossed the large room without looking at him. “I can help you move these, although, I really feel not quite right that you’re rearranging your library shelves for me, Lucas.”
Alright. She was going to act as if nothing happened if it killed her. When she looked over her shoulder at Lucas, he was peering up and around the room. That’s when she noticed quite a few empty units in the mass of shelving.
“Oh,” Emma turned back to the stacks of books lying on the floor for her. “Don’t you wonder why I would travel with such weight, Lucas?”
“As if you knew you wouldn’t be returning to your home. Which, according to your father, was in San Francisco,” Lucas could easily play the game. “And in answer to your previous question, yes, I believe they’ll return. The question is, why.”
Emma sighed. “It would be nice to believe it was because they cared, but I’m just not feeling the love,” she looked up when the sound of the cart made itself known again. “We can stack your books on the cart,” she glanced at the approaching Daniel, a few years older than Mr. Harris and not nearly as…refined, she thought, chewing on her lip. And she really didn’t like the way he looked her up and down and then worked to hide it.
“Excellent idea, Emma,” Lucas crossed the room to the cart. “You can return to your duties, Daniel, thank you for your help. We’ll manage this.”
“Very good, sir,” there was no hiding the smirk on his face when he looked at Emma and then at his employer.
“He’s not like Mr. Harris,” Emma said when they were alone.
“Harris took him into training, but I’m afraid I’m inclined to agree with you. He appears more suited to manning the local tavern than as a steward,” Lucas helped her quickly add the remainder of her books to the stacks on the floor before they both emptied the first five of the shelves before her. He nodded in satisfaction. Just the proper height for her and plenty of room for expansion.
He wheeled the cart to another section, checking titles and adjusting his destination. It was silent around them while he arranged his books, some finding places where they should have been long before now. He expected to see the shelves full when he turned, curious at the quiet. But instead, found her sitting Indian style in the middle of the stacks, her pencil moving over the paper she had propped on another volume.
He finished his arranging and considered offering to help but went to his desk instead. The longer she took to arrange her books, the more time she’d spend in the library with him. So there was method to his madness.
Lucas frowned. He’d really prefer a different word for it, though.
He sat behind the desk and li
fted the stack of bills to be paid, pulling out his ledger and pen to begin working when she set the paper and pencil aside. Lucas opened envelopes, made notes and checked his accounts, occasionally looking up to see Emma making smaller stacks of the books in her collection. He hadn’t looked at many of the titles but was surprised that the few he did take note of, were not what he would have expected, which was romance novels.
Instead, she had books that explained how to prepare herbals remedies; how to create candles, quilts and even preserve food. She had several recipe books and others that explained how to skin and clean game for the table. It would appear that nothing about Miss Emma Carstairs was clear cut or easily understood.
Lucas decided he was finished with the household accounts and snapped the ledger closed, sliding it into the top drawer of the desk and setting the envelopes to the front to be delivered in the morning.
Instead of placing books on their shelves, though, Emma had leaned back with her hands on the floor behind her and just stared out the large window to her left.
“Would you show me your idea for the addition to the bathing room, Emma?” Lucas was surprised at the low sound of his own voice and knew more than his mind had wandered back to holding Emma against him, kissing her, arousing them both to a point where neither knew where they were and neither cared.
“Oh, of course,” she sighed and pulled her attention from the clouds floating past outside. She pushed against the floor and crossed the large room, stopping before his desk with her pencil in her fingers. “A large sheet of paper? And no jokes about how badly my drawing is,” she admonished ahead of time.
“Not a word, I promise,” Lucas made a gesture over his heart and opened a lower drawer, pulling out a large sheet of blank paper.
“Alright…so think of the room where you have the tub and faucets set up for the hot and cold. However,” she moved her pencil into a carefully drawn out tall rectangle. Recalling simple geometry, she made sides and a bottom. “A box…but only three sides. And all lined in the waterproof tiles like the ones you have on the floor. And all made carefully waterproof ‘cause you don’t want mold or mildew around…not good for breathing,” she commented as she continued drawing.
Red Crystal Romance: #1 Emma Page 7
