Basset gave Emblyn a new wool cloak of a deep green, wisely keeping the garment unobtrusive in appearance so as not to offend her tastes, but the quality was enough to ensure her warmth and comfort in it. For Adelaide, he presented a flat box she knew the shape of well, and she gasped when she opened it.

“Amethysts,” she murmured, touching the lovely purple gems with gentle fingers. “Basset…”

“I had them reset for you,” he told her in a low voice. “I thought this would suit you better than the old ones.”

“I love amethysts.” Adelaide looked up at him, tilting her head. “Did you know that?”

Basset shrugged, looking a little sheepish. “I might have. I saw you looking at the old set, yet you never wore them. I hoped this might encourage you.”

Biting down on her lip hard, Adelaide raised a hand to his face, cupping his jaw and running her thumb over his cheek. “Thank you,” she whispered.

His dark eyes turned darker, his smile very slight and lopsided. She brushed the corner of it with her thumb, her breath catching when he captured her hand and turned to press a kiss into her palm.

Heavens, her heart and lungs fluttered at the contact, and her toes curled in her slippers. She had an entire evening to get through, but all she wanted was to stay in this room with her husband.

The last several days, she had been more distracted by him than she had by any other being in her entire life. She could not have a steady heartbeat in his presence, nor could she do anything to keep her mouth from drying out. She had given in yesterday by washing his hair and then, of all things, admitted her craving for him rather than for any food she could conjure up.

And the taste of him had not satiated a single thing. Instead, it had ignited her, and only the craving for food on behalf of her baby had broken her away from him. But her thoughts of him did not subside. Her need for him did not fade. Even now, her lips tingled in desire.

“We should go downstairs,” Adelaide managed, her hand still in his hold. “Our guests…”

Basset nodded and moved her hand to his elbow. “Yes. Let virtue and vice commence.”

Adelaide whacked his arm, shaking her head as the buzzing about her body began to dissipate in the face of his wit. “Are you going to be so droll all night?”

“Possibly,” he told her as they left the room. “Is that a problem?”

“Not at all. I will simply stand far away from you for the whole of the night.”

“You would deprive me of charity?”

She glanced up at him with a playful smirk. “You are greed, my lord. You may take what you wish.”

The quip seemed to interest him. “Perhaps I will, then. Perhaps I will.”