An Improper Courtship

Improper journey

Edited

The journey was arduous and long, Alyssa had to put immense effort into processing her thoughts and not succumbing to the feelings of betrayal and anger she felt. She couldn't care less when the heavy rain started and she heard Ethan's constant loud disapproval from his seat on the riding horse. Alyssa shivered profusely her body was extremely weak but she could not allow herself to admit the truth. It was extremely hard for her to fall asleep when she could feel the cold skin deep. She searched the horse carriage for anything to keep her warm but her hands only came in contact with a thin blanket.

A sharp knock came from the opposite window, the door opened a dripping Lord Ethan poked his head in, "Would you mind sharing your sheltered transport with me, Miss Alyssa?"

Ethan tried to aim with his smouldering look when he dared to look into her eyes, but instead, he found the round eyes burning with anger. If only the fire could warm him a bit.

"Actually, I do mind," she replied, rolling her eyes and turning away to end the conversation. Unfortunately, Ethan was too selfish to care about her response, he had already tied his horse with the horses leading the carriage before asking for her permission. Climbing in, he removed his wet coat and hat leaving them in front of him, right by Alyssa. Alyssa shuddered doubly, once at the sight of him and secondly at the wetness threatening to touch her freezing self. Ethan made himself comfortable, somehow the rascal managed to find a thicker blanket under his side of the bench. Alyssa almost moaned at the idea of the warmth the blanket could provide. There was silence as both parties refused to communicate and Alyssa dared not to move too, in case the wet particles of clothing touched her. She was unaware of how much her body trembled in the cold, Ethan who had dozed off momentarily woke up to her teeth shattering and convulsions.

"Miss Alyssa, your shivering is so loud, I can hear them in my dreams, just come to sit next to me," he said half awake, without care for societal protocols.

Alyssa wanted to argue and insist he give the blanket to her, but she knew that his body warmth would be a great relief, that she would finally be able to sleep and she was exhausted. She moved slowly and gingerly. The moment she sat down she instantly felt his intense body warmth, he lifted the blanket to cover her legs and his warm hands found hers under the blanket. The relief of warmth spread so dreamily over Alyssa that she almost mewled. . Alyssa unconsciously allowed her head to rest on his shoulder. She knew she would regret this when she awoke but in her cold, weak tired state she had to let her wall of defence crumble to find some basic comfort.

Ethan stiffened when he felt her snuggle closer to him, he hadn't been thinking all of this through, he had been fast asleep. The sound she had made had clogged Ethan's throat with something primal. However, now the positioning was awkward and he was afraid to wake her and face her wrath. It had already surprised him awake that she had not said a single angry word but he assumed that the cold must have taken her last strengths away. He didn't want to risk waking up the fury and being kicked out of the carriage, not that he'd leave anyway. He was human too, the rain and cold affected him too. He found it hard to go back to sleep with the fragile girl beside him, she wasn't warm and soft like all the other women he'd known. She was cold and sharp. Ethan tried hard to think positive about her, to find something endearing, normally it was easy for him. He was always joking and seeing the good in others but her, well she just was too guarded. He couldn't understand her. He looked down to examine her profile. In her sleep, she seemed peaceful, in her unconsciousness, the wrinkles between her eyebrows were gone and her lips were not tightly pursed revealing plump lips that could probably offer a huge smile.

The rain ceased and Ethan eventually fell asleep, when he awoke, Alyssa was back to her original place with the thin blanket covering her face. She'd done it partly out of warmth and partly so he could not see her. They rode for another day, stopping out of necessity, for food and other business. The second night was spent in a tavern. Ethan was not so cruel to put Alyssa through ceaseless travel, no matter how much they were in rush.