Much Ado About Kissing (Howertys #4)

Chapter 16: Five

She came to in Marcus's arms as he carried her up the steps to their home. Something she was grateful for, as she wasn't sure her legs would carry her yet. Whenever she fainted like this, it always took her a little time to recover and find her balance, and if she tried too soon, she would often faint again.

He felt strong and warm with his arms around her back and knees. He smelled good, too. Manly with a hint of bergamot. His face was close to hers, close enough that she could see the faint beginning of stubble on his cheeks. She reached out a hand—the uninjured one—to touch his chin, letting the stubble rasp gently against her fingertips. It was not unpleasant.

Noticing that she was awake, Marcus looked down at her, his hazel eyes kind. "You must stop fainting on me," he said softly, a trace of humour in his dark voice.

"I will do my best." She giggled. Sharp pain in her side made her stop immediately. "Ow."

"The doctor will be here soon," Marcus promised.

He brought her to her room with a few anxious servants trailing after him. As he lay her down on the bed, he barked some orders at the servants and they scurried away to fetch him clean sheets and boiled water. Sitting down next to her, he put two fingers on her chin and gently pushed her face to the side.

"Don't look," he said, and she closed her eyes just in case.

She could feel him remove his jacket from her side. When he couldn't get a good enough visual of the wound behind the cut dress, he used his hands to tear it open further. She heard the rip of fabric and gasped.

"I certainly hope you are not destroying my favourite dress," she said, her eyes still closed. She did not wish to faint again.

"I will purchase you a new one," he muttered. "I need to see if you are still bleeding."

She groaned. "Please, don't even talk about it."

His large hands were gentle as he inspected her side. "I don't think it is too bad," he finally said. "Once I can clean it, I will be able to see better. The doctor will tell us for certain."

Nodding, she opened her eyes but made sure not to look down, instead focusing her gaze on him. It wasn't a bad distraction and gave her a perfect excuse for staring. She had not noticed before how long his dark eyelashes were. As he bent lower to inspect her hand without bringing it into her line of sight, she could see them lowering towards his cheeks. It seemed rather unfair that a man would have lashes like that. They almost rivalled her own, and she'd been told hers were the envy of many.

"You're a very handsome man."

His head shot up to stare at her.

Oh. Did she say that out loud? Maybe her lightheadedness was loosening her tongue. Deciding to keep her mouth shut for fear of blurting out something else, she watched as a maid came bustling in with a bowl of water and some clean cloths. Taking it, Marcus proceeded to clean the blood off her skin. She grimaced as it stung, but was relieved it wasn't too painful. When he picked up her hand and carefully began cleaning the red stains off it, she sucked in a gulp of air as his warm fingers against hers sent sparks up along her arm.

"How did you hurt your hand?" he asked. "Did you touch the knife?"

"I think so," she said, trying not to react to the tingling sensation of his hands on hers as he moved the damp cloth between her fingers. "It was a gut reaction as it came towards me. Is it bad?"

He put the rag and bowl away and inspected her hand. "No, it doesn't look deep. Hands just tend to—" He stopped himself before saying the word, and with the hint of a smile, he said, "Rain more."