Surrender to the Earl by Gayle Callen

shock, for goodness sake, and her wedding night had hardly been the stuff of a young girl’s imaginings. But with Robert . . .
    “Molly, do not try to stand,” he was saying sternly.
    “Oh, no, milord, I’m too heavy—”
    He was obviously ignoring her. “Audrey, will you open the doors for me?”
    She did feel a little tingle of warm contentment that he assumed she could pack up the room and open doors, everything sighted people did. Reaching out with her hands, she found his bare back and quickly pulled away, but not before she could feel muscles move as he held Molly so manfully. She skirted around them, found the door, and opened it.
    In the corridor, she hesitated, unable to see if anyone was there. She felt him come up behind her.
    It was Molly who said, “I see no one, Miss Audrey.”
    Audrey turned to the left, walked a few paces, running her hand lightly along the wall. She turned the handle of the next door, opened it wide, then stepped inside and out of the way. She felt some part of Molly brush her arm, then heard the squeak of a bed.
    “You should have let me get my things, milord,” Molly said in an embarrassed voice. “You shouldn’t have to . . .”
    As her words trailed off, Audrey understood. Molly did have a tendency to throw her own things about as she sorted through them.
    “I’ll gather everything,” Audrey insisted.
    “Oh, miss, I’m causing such trouble! They’re on the chair and table.”
    The maid already sounded relieved. Audrey gave her a reassuring smile and returned to the door. She hit the frame with her toe and winced, but bruises were nothing new to her.
    “I’ll accompany you,” Robert said.
    She felt him at her back as she walked the few short steps down the hall, then turned into the room. Had he donned a shirt?
    She pretended he had, as she moved from surface to surface, and heard him call out that there was nothing on the floor. She turned—and ran right into him. She would have fallen had he not grasped her upper arms. Once again, her hands were flat against his chest, and she felt the faint brush of hair, smelled the scent of him, so very different from the perfumes women wore.
    “You didn’t don your shirt,” she said between gritted teeth.
    “Does it bother you so much?” he murmured. “I did rescue you.”
    “And I thank you.” She tried to keep her hands off his hot skin. “Please let me go.”
    “We are engaged,” he pointed out, his voice wicked.
    When that almost made sense, she knew she was going too far. But he released her, and she ignored her disappointment.
    “I think between us, we have everything,” he said.
    “Thank you.”
    He took Molly’s bag from her, and she knew he must already have her own. She preceded him to the door.
    Inside her new room, he said, “I’ve put both bags on the chairs. Can I do anything else for you, ladies?”
    “Does Molly look like we should send for a physician?” Audrey suddenly asked, mortified she hadn’t thought of it before.
    “Oh no, miss, I’m feeling much better.”
    “The color has returned to her face,” Robert said. “I think she is better.”
    “Thank you, my lord,” Audrey said, her voice small.
    “Good night. And Molly—”
    “I’ll never open the door again!” she said fervently.
    “Bolt this, Audrey.”
    She did, and heard him say from the corridor, “Good girl.”
    She briefly leaned her head against the door, feeling tired and angry and ridiculous. She wasn’t a good girl. A good girl would have been unaffected by his touch—after all, they were not truly engaged. But Molly didn’t know that.
    The other woman sighed and said dreamily, “Oh, Miss Audrey, he is such a man. You must feel so very lucky.”
    She pasted a smile to her lips before turning around. “Oh, I do.”
    “Did you know from the moment you met him?”
    “Love at first sight?” Audrey shot back, her smile softening into a real one.
    Molly groaned. “Now you’re teasing me. But truly—was it