*Odette*
Landing more gently than I had expected, caught in those powerful arms that had rescued me the night before. My own is entwined around his neck like some clinging vine that will never be ripped from its purchase. My heart races like a mad thing, my lungs fight for air. I can feel the warmth of his skin radiating through his loose linen shirt. The buttons are undone at collar and cuff, and the untidiness makes him appear more masculine, more dangerous.
“Are you not spying on our neighbors?” He asks, one thick dark brow arching.
Angling my chin, I refuse to be chastised for my actions. “I am meeting the housemaid, Marla”.
“Marla?”
I nod.
“What did she have to say?"
I don’t know why he appears so displeased. Surely I am misreading him. I can hardly think, clasped so tightly ag
