She had not considered that, in her relief on discovering they had been given separate cabins aboard the ship, she would find herself completely alone with Christian when she came to his cabin; François had always been present when she had dressed Christian’s wound whilst they were in Paris.
Christian scowled up at her. ‘Do I look as if I am capable of undressing?’
Yes, the Comte was decidedly out of sorts this morning. ‘I meant with my assistance, of course,’ she came back pleasantly.
‘Are you sure?’ He quirked an impatient eyebrow. ‘I would not wish to keep you from going up on deck and enjoying the rest of the voyage or to “damage your reputation”!’
Lisette ignored the jibe. Not only was it unworthy of the man she had come to know, but they must both be aware, even occupying separate cabins as they were, that her reputation would be ‘damaged’ forever, just from her having travelled alone with him to England.
Lisette had considered at the time, and still did, that it was a small price to pay in exchange for escaping, even only for a while, the life she had been forced to lead in Paris.
‘I will help you to undress,’ she repeated briskly. ‘And then go and beg some hot water from the ship’s cook to first help you wash and then to cleanse your wound. I will also need to acquire something I can use for clean dressings.’
‘No doubt you are now on speaking terms with all the crew!’ the Comte snapped accusingly as she crooked an arm beneath his to help him sit up higher against the pillows.
Yes, definitely out of sorts—and rude with it. ‘The Captain was kind enough to introduce me to his officers and the men in the galley last night, yes,’ Lisette answered distractedly, her expression deliberately neutral as she peeled the fitted jacket from him, before untying and removing his cravat and unfastening the buttons on his shirt.
Some of which she was sure Christian could have done for himself last night, but had perhaps been too tired or irritable to do so, after struggling to remove his boots. Men, her maman had once warned her, did not make good patients—mainly because they had no patience with their own weakness in having become sick in the first place. Although that could not be said of Christian’s current predicament, when he had come by his present injury through no fault of his own.
Except in showing a marked interest in her.
Her own guilt over that was enough to cause Lisette to hold her tongue in regard to Christian’s uncharacteristic bad temper as she lifted and then removed the shirt from his body.
Her breath caught in her throat when she turned back from depositing the soiled shirt on the floor and found herself looking at Christian’s completely bared chest.
And what a chest it was—lightly tanned, with tautly defined muscles and just a light dusting of blond hair in the centre of his chest and tapering down to the waistband of his pantaloons.
Pantaloons Lisette now had to remove if she was to inspect and re-dress the wound on his thigh.
Christian inwardly acknowledged he was being less than gracious, let alone gentlemanly, this morning and, sensing Lisette’s reluctance when it came to the unfastening of his pantaloons, he deftly released the buttons himself. But there was little he could do to help in regard to removing them; his leg now felt so stiff and sore he could barely move it.
Lisette’s slightness of stature, and the height of the bunk bed upon which Christian lay, meant that her breasts were almost on a level with his chest, allowing soft wisps of her silky hair to brush across the bareness of his skin as she bent over the bed and struggled to peel back the pantaloons.
His manhood, in complete rebellion with how debilitated the rest of his body felt, instantly sprang to attention. Noticeably so, as Christian finally lay back weakly against the pillows wearing only his drawers.
That weakness was no doubt being increased because all the available blood seemed to have now gathered in his engorged member!
Had he ever suffered such an embarrassing moment as this before? Not that Christian could recall, no.
‘I will go and collect some hot water from the galley.’ Lisette was obviously aware of his physical response, her cheeks having flushed a becoming pink as she deliberately kept her gaze above the waistline of his drawers before she turned away and hurried from the cabin.
Christian stared up at the ceiling as he cursed the physical evidence of his arousal and wondered how he could possibly feel desire at a time like this. Admittedly, Lisette looked beautiful this morning, in her gown of pale grey and her face aglow with good health and humour, but that really was no excuse for such an ungentlemanly display of visible arousal. Not that he had any control over the matter, but still...