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.”“We?” Leah questioned, smiling.She wanted to ask him why he’d left as he had earlier, but it seemed the moment had passed.Everything was well between them again.Sebastian was here, his mouth curved charmingly, and her heart raced as a result.Yes, just like it should be.He lifted a shoulder.“Henry actually chose it, though he used my coin.Therefore I suppose that yes, we bought it together.”Leah reached out and lifted the package from his hand.With a glance at him from beneath lowered lashes, she unwrapped the paper.Inside was a silver box.She shook it.“Perhaps it’s empty.Henry does like boxes, after all.”She raised a brow.“Oh, perhaps it is.What a beautiful box,” she said, turning it around so she could gaze at it from all angles.Sebastian chuckled and stepped forward, taking her hands between his.“However, I promise you that there is something inside this one.”Leah swallowed at his nearness, her skin overly sensitive at his touch.“Open it,” he urged, “else we’ll be late.”“Late?” Leah pulled the lid from the box and peered inside, aware of Sebastian’s hand brushing against her breast as she brought the gift closer.A blue ribbon lay at the bottom, its satin length edged by lace.“Henry wanted to buy you a hair ribbon,” Sebastian explained.“We searched for over an hour for the perfect gift, and this is what he chose.Although.” He paused, lowering his head to press a kiss to Leah’s neck.“I must admit that when I saw it I thought of tying up things other than your hair.”Leah tilted her head.He kissed her again.“You should have let him give it to me.”“Perhaps.But I wanted a reason to come see you.”Her heart gave a lurch inside her chest.Leah closed the box and turned her head, meeting his mouth with her own.“Now that I’m here,” he said against her lips, “I want you to come with me.”“Where shall we go, my lord?” She tried to lean in to him, but he moved away, returning to the door.“I’ve come to take you on a secret outing,” he said, raising his brows.“An adventure, you might say.”Leah’s gaze fell from the cloak across his shoulders to the width of his chest, the leanness of his waist and down the length of his legs.Of course she would go with him.He could ask to take her to France on a storm-swept sea in nothing more than a canoe, and she’d say yes.“Just a moment,” she said.“I have to—”“Shh.” She glanced at him, her brows knit.Sebastian grinned and winked at her.“You must whisper, else we’ll get caught.”Unable to stop herself from smiling again, she stepped back and closed the door.As soon as she donned a simple day dress and her own cloak, she joined him in the corridor.“Here I am, my lord.”“Perfect,” he said, then swooped her over his shoulder.“Sebastian!” she shrieked, kicking her legs ineffectually, as his arm was wrapped around her thighs.The hood of her cloak fell over her head, obscuring her vision.She grasped handfuls of his cloak, trying to steady herself as he descended the stairs.“You’re not being very quiet,” he admonished her.As he continued walking and her hood bobbed out and away from her face, Leah could see two footmen from the corner of her eye as they walked out the front door.“Yes, and a lot of good it would do to be quiet when all the servants see the way you’re absconding with me.”Sebastian patted her bottom as if she needed to be soothed.Then, as they fell outside the circle of lamplight from the house, his movement turned into a caress, circling across her buttocks.“Sebastian,” Leah warned, choking between a fit of laughter and the immediate flaring of desire.“Before we were married, you said you wanted adventure.Do you remember?”“Yes.I also recall saying that I wished for independence.Having a brute of an earl carry me over his shoulder does not make me feel very independent.”“My poor, dear wife.Well, we cannot have everything, can we?” With one arm still holding her pinned to his chest, she felt his other hand creep up her calf.Leah let go of one fistful of his cloak and reached back, trying to swat him away.“Don’t do that.”“Oh, this?” As if her hand was nothing more than a gentle breeze, his fingers continued their ascent, slipping over the back of her knees to tickle at her thighs.Leah gasped.“Sebastian.”“We’re here,” he announced, and brought her down, sliding her down the front of his body, setting his hands at her hips to steady her as her feet hit the ground, holding her flush against him.She’d been so concerned with being hauled away that she hadn’t even paid attention—not that she could with her hood obscuring her vision, anyway—to where they were going.The night air was cool on her flushed cheeks, but every other part was warm—burning—from him.He tipped her chin up with his finger and leaned down, gently kissing her.Leah closed her eyes, savoring his touch as much as her own ease with it.She’d never thought to be able to enjoy a simple kiss again.But when his hands moved from her waist, up toward her breasts, she involuntarily tensed, then hated herself for doing it.His hands fell away, and with one last quick kiss, he stepped around her.Leah turned, feeling deserted in his absence, as if a great gift had been stolen from her.She detested this wariness.She had no reason not to trust him, no reason not to give him everything.Time and again he’d proven he was nothing like Ian.She wanted to apologize, but before she could open her mouth, her gaze landed behind Sebastian, on the small boat bobbing at the edge of the water.He’d brought her to the lake on the Wriothesly property.With no lamp, the only light given was the light from the moon and the stars above, and those were partially obscured by the clouds scudding across the sky.The water was cast half in shadow, half silvered by the faint light
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