else, but she couldn’t quite figure out what that could be.
“I’m afraid I had better be going,” she said. “I have some shopping to do and I don’t wish to be late in my return.”
“Perhaps I should accompany you—just to be certain you are not accosted.”
“No! I mean, no thank you. I shall be fine on my own. Good afternoon, my lord.”
Corrie continued walking, trying to ignore the butterflies swirling in her stomach. She couldn’t figure out why the man affected her as he did, but she didn’t like it. And she certainly didn’t want him to go with her. She had questions to ask, and she could hardly do so with the earl tagging along.
As she continued along the trail, she dared a glance over her shoulder, saw that he was riding the opposite way, and breathed a sigh of relief. Turning her thoughts to the questions she meant to ask, she increased her pace toward the village.
The moment Letty Moss disappeared from view, Gray pulled Raja to a halt and spun the stallion in the opposite direction. Staying as far back as he could, careful to keep from being spotted, he followed the woman into the village. He saw her walk into one of the shops across from the market square and while she was inside, rode to the stable.
“I won’t be long,” he told one of the stable boys, handing him the horse’s reins and flipping him a coin. “Take care of him till I get back.”
Returning to High Street, the main street of town, he spotted Letty coming out of the shop and stepping into the one next door. As soon as she was inside, Gray made his way to the window. Inside the shop, she examined bolts of cloth, fingering the colorful swatches of silk with tender care. Then she made her way toward the clerk. He watched the two women talking, but couldn’t hear what was being said.
Letty left the shop and went into the butcher’s store, from which she soon exited munching on a piece of ham. Next she stopped by the hatmaker’s. Letty didn’t seem to be buying much, just having a look around, but then if her tale was true, she had very little money.
She appeared to be having no illicit meetings, no rendezvous with a man, nor was she doing anything that might give Gray pause.
He told himself to return to the house and leave the woman alone, but something held him back. Instead, he waited the nearly two hours Letty remained in the village, then retrieved Raja and followed her home.
He watched her walking along the path through the tall green grasses, her hips swaying as if to some silent song. His groin tightened. He couldn’t believe such an innocent, unconscious movement could stir him that way. He nudged the stallion forward, eager to catch up with her.
She must have heard hoofbeats behind her, for she whirled toward the sound and her foot caught on an unseen obstacle in the grass. She went down with an unladylike yelp, falling backward over a big granite boulder. Her skirts went into the air and her frothy white petticoats flew up to her chin.
Gray found himself grinning. He couldn’t remember the last time he had done that. He sobered, pulled Raja to a halt on the path, and swung down from the saddle.
“Here—let me help you.”
She slapped away the hand he offered, shoved down her skirts and propped herself up on her elbows, her knees still draped over the rock. “I don’t need your help. You are the reason I am in this humiliating position in the first place.”
“How is it I am at fault because you tripped?” He reached down and caught her wrist, hauling her somewhat awkwardly to her feet.
She didn’t bother to answer, just cast him a look that said it was true. The ribbons on her bonnet had come undone and her hat tumbled into the grass. Her glorious copper hair came loose on one side and hung down in a riot of curls against her shoulder. Gray fought an urge to tangle his fingers in the heavy mass and haul her mouth up to his for a kiss.
It was insane. He barely knew the woman, and he definitely didn’t trust her. Perhaps Samir was right about denying himself for too long. He made a mental note to pay a visit to Bethany Chambers, wife of the aged Earl of Devane, whose country home, Parkside, was just beyond the next village. Gray had heard the countess had returned for the summer. Though he hadn’t seen her in several months, she was a woman of strong appetites, and he knew she would welcome him into her bed.
Letty began to brush off her dress, drawing his attention to the bosom straining against her bodice. He tried not to wonder if her breasts were as full and tantalizing as they appeared, or how they might feel in his hands. Letty made no comment, just turned to begin her journey back along the path, then winced as her ankle crumpled beneath her. Gray caught her before she could fall.
She looked up at him with those jewel-green eyes. “I—I think I twisted my ankle.”
“Sit down on the rock and let me take a look.”
Letty sat carefully and Gray knelt in front of her. He picked up her foot, slid off her low-heeled leather boot and began to gently examine her ankle.
“What…what are you doing?”
“I was in the army. I want to make sure nothing’s broken.” Her stockings had holes, he noticed, though they had been carefully mended. At least part of her story appeared to be true. She was certainly in need of money.
“It is only twisted,” she said, trying to pull the sprained limb free of his grasp. “I’m sure it is fine.”
Gray didn’t let go. “Hold still, will you? You’re only making this harder.” It wasn’t the only thing getting hard. As he ran his hand over the fine bones in her feet, his groin tightened. Gray set his jaw against the unwanted arousal and continued to test each tiny bone, feeling for possible injury, trying not to think what it might be like to slide his hand upward, over the smooth silk stocking that covered a very shapely calf, all the way to the slit in her drawers, then inside to touch—
He clamped his jaw against a shot of lust and the painful throbbing of his erection. Silently he cursed. He needed a woman and badly, and though this one fired his blood, he could not have her. Not yet.
He felt her trembling and realized he still cradled her small foot in his hands.
Gray cleared his throat. “I don’t think there are any broken bones.”
“I told you, I am fine.”
He slid her boot back on and tied the laces, carefully helped her up from the rock. She took a step and nearly fell. “Oh, dear.”
“You need to keep your weight off that ankle. You’ll have to ride home with me.”
He didn’t give her time to argue, just scooped her up in his arms and settled her in the saddle, one leg on each side of the horse, her full skirts bunching around her knees. Raja danced and sidestepped as Gray swung up behind her, but Letty didn’t seem to be afraid. At least not of the horse.
“What a beautiful animal,” she said, trying to keep her balance without touching him.
Gray almost smiled. It wasn’t going to happen, and since he had no choice but to see her safely home, he might as well enjoy himself. He wrapped an arm around her waist and nudged the stallion forward. Letty tried to scoot away, and nearly unseated them both.
“I would advise you to sit still, Mrs. Moss, before we both wind up on the ground.”
She glanced at him over her shoulder. “What are you doing out here? I thought you were returning to the castle.”
“Lucky for you, I wasn’t ready to go home just yet.”
She turned, tilted her head to look up at him. “You weren’t following me, were you?”
“Now, why would I do that?”
Letty made no reply, but her wariness did not lessen. They rode silently along the trail until the horse started up a rise and Letty began to slide backward in the saddle. She grabbed a handful of the stallion’s thick mane to