Shay turned on her heels and ran. She had no idea why she had followed Omar, other than to put the duke on the back foot, like he had done to her, by turning up unexpectedly the night before. She had hoped to shock him, but it had all turned around, and what she'd heard was too unexpected. Too alarming. He had killed someone. What sort of man was she being forced to marry? She had just made it to the footpath when large fingers wrapped around her hand.

"You need to come back inside." Samuel spoke with an even tone. What she'd just heard would scare anyone. He shouldn't have yelled, but the shock of seeing her, and knowing she'd heard what was said, had made him want to kick himself for not taking more care about where he spoke of such things. He needed her to stay calm, so said as gently as he could, "We need to talk. I can't have you misinterpreting what you just heard." Smiling down at her he added, "Just as the nuns may have misinterpreted what you said this morning." He cocked his head. "Do you understand what I'm saying?"

Samuel peered at her. She was stunned into silence. He led her back up the stairs and inside the house. He sat Shay down and looked over at Omar. "Could you please pour her a brandy?" He nudged his head at the butler. "Thanks, Marvin that will be all."

Omar handed Samuel the glass and pointed his finger at the door to indicate he was leaving the room.

Samuel nodded, and then pulled up a chair and sat in front of Shay with the glass. "Here. Drink this." When she took the glass, Samuel pushed a loose strand of her hair behind her ear, and then said, "Why are you here?"

Tossing back her head, Shay swallowed the liquid in one gulp. She choked and went into a fit of coughing as the brandy scorched her throat.

Samuel jumped to his feet and patted her on the back. When she breathed easier, he sat down in front of her again with a smile on his face. "Do you always jump straight into things without thinking about the consequences?"

"No." She frowned at him as she sucked in another breath of air. "What do you mean?"

"Well." Samuel pointed at the glass. "That for example. Just tossing the whole lot back like its cold tea." He shrugged. "Then there is your mouth. You tend to verbalise things before thinking them through."

Ignoring him, Shay demanded, "Who are you?"

"Samuel Denyer." He took her by the hand and gave her a curious look. "Your fiancé. Have you hit your head?"

"Stop patronising me." Shay wrenched her hand back. "Who are you? What type of man are you, and why are you marrying me? I'm no one. Born to God only knows what sort of parents. Lucky enough to have been found by a truly wonderful man, and raised in a beautiful family, but essentially, still a no one, at least in your world. Now I hear the most shocking statement and I'm being asked not to misinterpret it." Shay stood up and paced. "How else could that possibly be interpreted?" She held her hands out to him. "Then last night. You treated me like I'm a whore. Storming into my bedroom and doing... doing..." She flicked her hands at him. "You know what you did. If you think you can treat me like that because I'm not a born lady, then I'm telling you right now, no matter where a girl is born, she should never be treated like that, and if you think..."

"Shay." Samuel took her gently by the upper arms. "Shay. Please sit down." He guided her back to her seat. "I'm sorry. None of what happened last night was intended with any disrespect. I. I couldn't help myself. You were there in your night clothes. I was wrong to have gone to your room. As soon as I saw you, I couldn't stop myself from entering and well..." Samuel sighed, leaned forward and clasped both hands between his knees. "There's no excuse for what I did, other than I'm a man and seeing you as you were, clouded my thinking."

"If I was Lady Neilson? Would the same thing have happened?"

"Ah... no." Sam leaned back in his chair, fought the smile that twitched at his lips, and shook his head.

"Lady Katherine?"

"No."

"Lady Josephine?"

"No, Shay. Stop." Samuel raised his hand and leaned forward again. "It was because it was you. I haven't stopped thinking about you for three years."

"What?" Shay gave him a pained expression. "We only met a month ago. How could you have been thinking about me for three years?"

"It's a long story." Samuel sighed, lowered his arm and shook his head. "Not one I'm going to go into right now."

"This story involves killing a man, I suppose." Shay folded her arms with determination.

"Yes. You need to know I'm not going to talk to you about this, Shay. It happened because I was taken."

"Where were you taken and are you going to hurt me? I heard what Omar said."

"Please don't look at me like that." Samuel rested back against the chair once more and hung his head. He eased in a breath. She was scared of him. Even though she was acting brave he could see fear in her eyes.

They sat in silence for a moment, and then Samuel looked back up at her. "Omar worries about me. Sometimes I can be dark. Moody if you prefer. Every now and then, life seems like a black hole I can't get out of." He tilted his head and smiled sadly at her. "You, Shay, are a beam of light. One day I will explain it all to you, but at the moment I care more about us getting to know each other for who we are now, so we can plan our future together."

"You say you have thought about me for three years. Has it always been your intention to marry me?"

"No. That idea came to me after I saw you at the ball, and discovered who you really were." Sam smiled again. He bit down on his lip when he saw the look on her face.

"How can you have thought about me for three years when you didn't even know who I was?" This was all so confusing. One minute he had her thinking he had remembered their very first meeting, and the next those thoughts were completely tossed aside.

"It's your eyes, Shay. I remembered your eyes from when we first met. Then I knocked you over in Whitechapel. Again, it was your eyes. I didn't know who you were. When we came across each other on the Ludgershall Road I knew instantly that you were the girl from Whitechapel. The next day when I pulled you from the stream, I was driven insane by not knowing who you were, and then, there you were at the ball, and Edmond telling me you were Shay. The skinny little girl, with stunning green eyes, which were too big for her face. You had no hair and were covered in boot polish."

"You remember." Shay gasped and covered her mouth with her hands.

"Yes. I remember." Samuel smiled and took her hands. "You asked me if I was an angel. I said no, that you were the angel." He laughed. "Then you said, no sir, I'm called a virgin."

"Oh." Shay dropped her head and whispered, "You remember it all."

Samuel lifted her hand and kissed the back of it. "Shay your eyes stayed with me for three years. Most of that time I couldn't remember your name. Just your eyes. I don't know why. When I put all of this together, I knew I had to make you my wife. I'm sorry if you feel forced into this. Edmond told me of Thomas' worries. At first, I thought it was the answer for both of us. A marriage of convenience. When I saw you the day I made my proposal, after I told your father I would not consummate the marriage, I knew that wasn't true. I want us to be a proper husband and wife."

Shay pulled her hand from his grasp. "Oh."

"It's why I touched you the way I did last night." Samuel smiled and raised his shoulders a fraction. "You're beautiful, Shay. I want you." He reached for her hand again but she jerked to her feet with a look of horror on her face. Something dark hedged the edges of Samuel's conscience but he kept it at bay. "I want you to want me, Shay."

"I don't." She shook her head. "I can't." Shay stepped backwards not knowing what he was going to do. She saw his jaw muscles constrict and his eyes flash from chocolate brown to black, and then back to the lighter shade as his face relaxed. The changes happened so quickly Shay wasn't sure if they had really happened at all.

"I know you don't now." Samuel stood and took her hand once more. "If we spend time together and learn about each other, I'm hoping you'll find something you like in me." He cocked his head. "About me. Then we can move forward together."

"And you expect this in two weeks?" Shay stared at him perplexed.

"I was hoping perhaps, after last night, there might be something already." Samuel stepped closer and touched her earlobe with his thumb and forefinger.

Shay couldn't believe what she was hearing. Did actions, like the ones he had taken, make women forget themselves? She pulled away from his touch. "Last night. You think I should have found something in you, about you, last night."

"What did you feel last night?" Samuel peered at her. Surely, he hadn't misread her body's reaction to him looking at her, touching her."

"Shock. I felt shock and fear." She tried to step back. He held her hand, and then put his other on the back of her neck. That simple touch caused her body to erupt in goose bumps. Shay lifted her shoulders to try and still a shiver running down her back. "You need to stop touching me. It's not proper. It's not what a gentleman does."

Samuel kept his fingers at the back of her neck and ran his thumb over her skin to the soft spot behind her ear.

Shay jerked her head away. "You have to stop doing that." Goose bumps flared again while an unusual cloudy feeling coursed over her skull making her hearing muffled.

"Why?" Samuel watched her lids close for a second, her pupils dilate, and her lips part a fraction. He knew this look, but was fully aware Shay had no idea what desire felt like.

"I don't like it. You shouldn't be touching me. Like last night. You're doing the same thing but different and it's not right." Shay had never felt anything so frightening. She had no control over the effects his slight touch was doing to her body and senses. His thumb moved again. Her nipples bloomed and her core throbbed. She gasped and pushed his hand away. "What is it that you are doing?"

"I'm touching your neck, Shay. That's all." Samuel smiled at her, and then pushed his fingers into her hair. He let go of her hand and put his on her waist drawing her closer. Samuel lowered his mouth to her ear and whispered, "I'm touching you, Shay. The way a man touches a woman when he wants her." He took her lobe between his lips and sighed. "I want you so much."

Shay closed her eyes and let breath ease from between her lips. Every part of her body was on fire. She had no idea what was happening, only that she felt weak and wanted to lean against him for support. The feelings he had brought to life within her body the night before, were back with so much intensity, that she felt helpless and confused. A tear flowed over her lashes. His warm lips moved from her ear to her neck and trailed over her chin to rest against her mouth.

"You are so soft," Samuel murmured, and then caught her lips with his as he pulled her against him.

Shay put her hand on his chest, gasped in a breath and pulled her head back. "Please. You have to stop. I don't understand what you're doing to me."

"I'm making you want me, Shay. Do you feel it? Changes in your body when I touch you. I know you can feel it. I can see it, Shay. Your body responding to me."

"It's not right." Shay used all her might to push him away.

"It is right." Sam put his hands on his hips in frustration. "You have to stop fighting it."

"So, this is a trick, is it?" Shay put her hands on her hips. "A man just has to touch a woman and she becomes pliable. Is that how it works?"

"What?" Samuel shook his head in confusion.

"Is that how it works? This man wanting woman thing. He touches her in certain ways and that makes her pliable so he can..." She flipped her palms up at him. "Can... do as he pleases." Shay huffed and folded her arms over her chest. "That's why a man shouldn't touch a woman until they are married. I haven't found anything in you except tawdry actions. If that's how it all works then any man can do that to me." Shay jabbed her finger at him through the air. "You, sir, may have the face of an angel, but I am certain you are the devil in disguise. To use contemptible ruse to have me believe this marriage could be something special, is very wrong, and has put you further steps behind in winning my trust." She flounced around, threw open the door and stormed down the hall.

"Shay!" Samuel stood there dumbfounded. "That's not how it works." The front door slammed but Samuel continued, "Not any man can evoke those feelings in you." He flopped back in his chair and laughed. She thought every woman reacted to any man just by him touching her. Oh, she had this so wrong, but just didn't realise it.

Omar found Samuel in a fit of laughter and shook his head. "You're laughing? She just stormed out of here, slammed the door and you're laughing."

Sam jumped to his feet. "I'm winning, Omar. Shay just doesn't know it yet." He chuckled and pointed down the hall. "That woman wants me as much as I want her. She has no idea how it works."

Omar looked at him in disbelief. "It did not sound that way to me, my friend."

"Trust me, Omar." Sam slapped him on the back. "She now thinks I'm a devil because she desires me."

"Oh." Omar laughed. "Me thinks you're a cock crowing too early in the morning."

"What do you mean?" Samuel laughed and opened his palms to the world. "It's after noon."

Oh, my, oh, my. Do you think Samuel is winning?

He seems very sure of himself, and poor Shay is even more confused.

I had a lot of fun writing this chapter. I hope you enjoyed it. xo

Photo taken from VistaCreate