Dr. Blakeley fumbled with the pocket of his trousers and pulled out a key. His hand shook as he tried to insert it into the keyhole.

Edwina placed her hand on his, steadying it, as they pushed the key into the keyhole together. The bolt slid open with a click. She pushed the door open into the darkened shop. The air smelled rich and bitter, the scent of coffee, and a bit sweet, from the small cakes and bread stored behind the counter.

"There," Dr. Blakeley gasped, pointing to a set of stairs that led to the second floor of the building. His face contorted with pain as they pressed up against each other in the narrow space. At the top of the steps, he pushed open the door.

Edwina looked at the small garret, the attic space above the coffeehouse. A single bed, neatly made, sat in one corner under a small window. There were other pieces of furniture, but the room was too dark to discern their nature. Just shadowy objects sitting alongside the walls.

Dr. Blakeley released her and stumbled towards the bed before sagging into the mattress.

Edwina went directly to the small hearth and began to light a fire. Afterwards, she lit a candle and brought it to Dr. Blakeley. His face was ghostly pale. Perspiration beaded on his brow.

"I need to fetch water," he said, forcing himself to sit up. He ground his jaw so tightly that Edwina saw a muscle twitch erratically in his cheek.

Edwina crossed the room and picked up the bucket. "Where?"

Dr. Blakeley shook his head, shaking droplets of sweat off his hair. "It is...not...safe."

"Do not be a fool. It is a miracle you made it this far."

He sighed with resignation and slumped back against the mattress. "Downstairs...out in the yard. There is a pump."

Edwina nodded. "I will be back in a moment."

Edwina quickly descended the stairs and back out the door. A chill ran through her as she scanned the darkened yard, but detected nothing sinister in the shadows. Her eyes lit on the pump and she hurried towards it. Dropping the bucket under the spout, she pushed with all her strength on the cold metal handle until water began to flow. It was clean and clear and she quickly filled the bucket before returning to Dr. Blakeley.

In her brief absence, Dr. Blakeley had stripped off his tattered waistcoat and shirt. He laid bare chested, his back against the head of the bed. He clutched a towel to his wound. It was soaked red with blood.

A nearby drawer was open and Edwina saw a needle and thread, a roll of linen bandages, a pair of scissors, several towels, and a small, opened brown bottle. She picked up the bottle and sniffed. The contents smelled sickeningly sweet like a rotting flower.

“Laudanum,” Dr. Blakeley whispered.

“Did you ingest it?”

He nodded weakly, his eyes already beginning to glaze over from the effects of the drug.

"What do you need me to do?" she said, sitting down at the edge of the bed careful not to jostle him.

"Heat up the water...until it is boiling. I need to...sterilize the needle and wash the grime from my hands."

"You are not moving anywhere," Edwina replied. "I'll bring the water to you."

Edwina moved off and poured half the bucket of water into a kettle and latched it over the fire in the hearth. She placed the needle within it. Then she took the remaining water and poured some in a basin and the rest in a clean glass she found. She brought both over to Dr. Blakeley.

"Drink this," she said, handing him the glass of water. When he struggled to hold it, Edwina brought the edge of it to his lips and tilted the glass up until he drank down three full swallows. He nodded in thanks while she placed the glass on top of the drawer and set the basin of water on the bed beside her.

With a clean towel and a good scrubbing of lye soap, she began to gently wipe away the dried blood from Dr. Blakeley's chest. Edwina felt a blush heat her cheeks. This was the first time she’d seen a man shirtless. The closest before was when Anthony fell into the Serpentine at Hyde Park last season and his white, lawn shirt clung to him, translucent, when he exited the lake. Edwina gained an eyeful then, marveling at Anthony's near naked state. But, now, under her own careful ministrations, Dr. Blakeley laid completely bare to her from the waist up. She felt his taut muscles under her hand and she itched to set the towel aside and run her fingers along his chest.

He watched her carefully, shifting slightly as the towel made gentle circles around his chest and abdomen. Following the trail of dark hair that started at his navel, she moved lower down his abdomen, circling slower, down to the edge of his trousers. Even in the darkly lit room, Edwina noticed a silhouette of something hard and large pressed tightly against the fabric of his trousers. She stared at it curiously.

"Enough," Dr. Blakeley said, seizing her wrist and stopping her from going further. His breath was shaky and uneven.

"Does it hurt?"

He choked on his reply, "Yes." Then, seemingly as if he realized she was asking about his wound, he continued, "Yes...but the laudanum has numbed the worst of the pain."

***

Lucas was going to perish under Edwina's care. He didn't know if he was demented, but watching Edwina wash the dried blood and grime from his body, the intensity in her gaze as she moved unhurried along the ridges of his chest and abdomen, the feeling of the soft towel against his skin...it was unerringly erotic.

And, his body responded thusly.

He shifted, trying to relieve the pressure of his suddenly tight trousers, but to no avail. His only hope was that Edwina, as most ladies, had no concept of what laid mere inches away from her hand.

But, when her eyes fell against the outline of his hardened cock, he felt a tightening in his gut, a thrill.

Lucas regretted dosing himself with the laudanum. Perhaps, the blistering pain of his stab wound would have distracted him from the intense pleasure of simply being in Edwina's presence. Of her touching his bare skin.

"Enough!" he said, grabbing at her hand as it moved lower. If he didn't stop her now, he was in danger of spilling in his trousers like an untried boy.

"Does it hurt?" she asked. Her eyes filled with contrition as if she had injured him.

He felt a rising sense of shame. It wasn't her fault if he found her too alluring by half. That despite the wound and the pain radiating out of his chest, he fought to resist the temptation of flipping her over on the bed, dragging up the edges of her gown, and thrusting his cock into her silky tight quim as he so often dreamed. To suckle her nipples until they peaked into hard points under this tongue. To feel her moan and writhe with pleasure under him.

Lucas groaned and Edwina leaned in closer as if afraid he was in great discomfort. He was, but not in the way she thought.

"Yes...yes...but the laudanum has numbed the worst of the pain." Damn the laudanum, he thought.

He needed her to move away from him. He could smell the sweetness of the soap she used earlier in the evening. Lavender. A whole field of lavender.

Lucas swallowed. What he needed now was pain and plenty of it. "The needle and thread," he said more harshly than he meant.

***

"Damn," Dr. Blakeley cursed as he tried to thread the catgut through the needle. His hands shook with the effort.

"Let me," Edwina said as she took both from his hands.

"Stitching a man's skin is...not like embroidering a pillow," he said sarcastically.

Edwina gave him a flat look. "Are you always this difficult?"

Lucas dropped his head back against his pillow and closed his eyes. "No, you just seem to bring...the worst...out of me."

"Then, may I?"

Lucas waved his hand, his eyes still closed. Edwina threaded the needle and lifted the towel from Lucas's wound. It was soaked through with blood, but to her relief the bleeding had slowed.

The cut was long, about five inches in a slash that started just below Dr. Blakeley's collarbone and down near his heart. Edwina winced. Another inch or so and he would have been dead.

"This may hurt," she said quietly. Dr. Blakeley snorted in amusement as if at a joke that she did not understand. It was as if he was hoping the stitching would hurt him.

Edwina held together the torn skin with two fingers and began to stitch. Dr. Blakeley was correct, it wasn't much like embroidering a pillow, but it was much like mending a tear. Though Edwina grew up in the same household as a royal family in India, Kate made certain that Edwina knew more practical skills than playing the pianoforte or reading Latin. Edwina could darn a sock as well as any maid and even stitch a dress as fine as any modiste if pressed.

"There." Edwina cut the thread and tied it closed. Dr. Blakeley cracked open his right eye to examine her stitching.

"Well done," he said quietly. "You would make...a good surgeon. Steady hands."

Edwina flushed at the compliment and stood to wash her hands in the basin once again. She scrubbed diligently with the lye soap and washed the needle. When she turned, she caught Dr. Blakeley watching her with his eyelids half-closed. She could clearly see that he was exhausted and not only from the effects of the drug. When he first approached her in the evening, Edwina had noticed the dark circles under his eyes.

Edwina picked up the ointment and a roll of linen and sat down again at the edge of the bed. She lifted the lid off the small jar and wrinkled her nose at the stench. It was the same ointment he gave her for Kate. Dr. Blakeley chuckled under his breath at her reaction.

"What is this made of?" she asked as she dipped her fingers into the substance and began to carefully spread it across the wound. His skin felt warm and alive under her fingertips.

"Turpentine, vinegar, salt, and honey."

When she finished, Edwina rested her hand briefly against his chest and felt his heart beating slow and steady. She remembered when he held her palm over Kate’s beating heart when Kate fell into a coma after her head injury. Dr. Blakeley told her then that Kate’s heart was strong and that she would recover.

He seemed to remember the same moment. “I will live,” he reassured her.

Edwina nodded, swallowing a sob, and wondering why she felt so emotional all of a sudden. She did not even like the man. It must be the strain of the evening, she thought.

"Sit up and I'll wrap a bandage around the wound." Dr. Blakeley grunted in reply and forced himself up onto his elbows. He winced in pain, but did not complain. Edwina unrolled the strip of linen and wrapped her arms around his chest as if in an embrace. She felt her face burn as the motion closed the distance between them. The rough stubble of his night beard brushed against her cheek. The sensation was surprisingly pleasant.

Dr. Blakeley's breath seemed to quicken as small puffs of hot air brushed against her nape. A thrill shot through her and she felt every nerve on her skin come alive.

Edwina leaned in closer, closer than necessary to wrap the bandage around his back. She lingered, taking in the scent of him. He smelled clean of soap and something else. Something entirely him. A maleness that Edwina found arousing as she brought her face closer to his skin.

Dr. Blakeley shifted in his seat, breaking the spell. Edwina cleared her throat and finished the task briskly, wrapping the bandage tight around his chest and tucking the loose end into the folds.

He nodded in thanks. "You need to rest," she said.

"I need to...return you to your family."

Edwina looked out the window. It was still dark, hours away from dawn. The ball had yet to reach its peak. "Rest a spell. I've plenty of time. And, I doubt you will make it past the door in your state."

Dr. Blakeley's lips pursed as if ready to argue the point, but Edwina placed her hands on his shoulders and gently pushed him down into the bed. His eyes, heavy-lidded from the laudanum, closed and, to her satisfaction, he fell asleep the moment his head touched the pillow.

***

Edwina felt Dr. Blakeley awaken before she looked up. His breathing, which was even with a slight snore for the past two hours, stopped and the room filled with a charged silence.

She looked up from the journal on the medicinal properties of poppy flowers that she found on an overstuffed bookcase. He stared at her.

"Are you a dream?" he asked in a reverent whisper, his speech slightly slurred.

Edwina gently set the book aside and rose from the chair near the hearth. She walked over to the bed and sat down at the edge. His eyes searched hers for a moment as if surprised, but pleasantly so, at her presence in his rooms.

Edwina leaned in close, examining his flushed face. The pupils of his eyes were like pin pricks. "You are under the effects of the drug, Dr. Blakeley."

"Lucas," he corrected in a thin hush. "Let me hear my name once on your lips."

Edwina hesitated then complied, "Lucas." The man was drugged out of his mind, he did not know what he asked or will remember it afterwards.

Lucas reached up towards her, his eyes searching her face, before cupping her cheeks with his hands so gently as if she was made of porcelain. Edwina froze as he rubbed the rough pad of his thumb across one cheek before brushing it across her lips. He watched his movements as if mesmerized. Her heart began to beat wildly in her chest, but she held still, as if afraid that any sudden movement would break his contact.

"So...beautiful," he whispered as he pulled her face close. He touched his lips against hers. First, gently, and then with more pressure. His hands tightened on her face as he pulled her into him before she collapsed awkwardly across his chest. His tongue swept along the seam of her lips until she opened her mouth, the heat of the kiss consuming her. Edwina felt herself being pulled into Lucas, as if swimming against a rough tide. A stab of heat radiated down her body, causing a warm sensation in her core.

Gasping for air, Edwina jolted back as if struck by lightning. Every hair stood on its end. Her skin felt alive.

Lucas sighed with pleasure, his eyes fluttering shut, as he fell asleep again.

Edwina stood stock still for several more minutes before backing away slowly and sinking down into the chair.

She did not know how long she spent staring at his prone body as if expecting him to rise up from it and embrace her again.

Edwina touched her lips, which felt swollen from his kiss. It was not like the kiss Lord Lumley had stolen from her at the Featherington ball last week. Lord Lumley asked if she would take a turn with him out in the garden and Edwina agreed as she felt rather bored with the dancing and nonsensical chatter. She even felt daring when he pulled her into the shadows and pressed a light, chaste kiss on her lips. Lord Lumly murmured an apology afterwards, but Edwina felt inwardly pleased that she was able to inspire such passion in a man.

Edwina shook her head with a laugh at her foolishness. At what she naively believed was passion.

Lucas's kiss was different. He kissed her as if he wanted to devour her, body and soul. It was frightening and exhilarating at the same time.

This was passion. This is what she saw pass between Kate and Anthony when they believed no one else was watching.

And it meant nothing, Edwina thought with disappointment when the truth settled on her mind. Lucas, insensible on laudanum, did not mean to kiss her. He disliked her, even from the first moment they met at Danbury House when he came to treat Kate. To be sure, if anything, he found her exasperating, especially after the events of this evening.

Edwina sighed. No, this was no grand passion, no great love. She made the mistake once before and she would not make it again.

***

When Lucas woke next, Edwina had finished reading the journal on poppy flowers and moved on to one about the treatment of fevers and was surprised to find that she found the subject matter engaging. She flew through the pages and successfully pushed the kiss from her mind.

"How long have I slept?"

Edwina looked out the window. It was still dark but the sky lightened at the horizon. "I do not know. Perhaps three hours? Maybe more?"

Lucas grunted and shut his eyes again as if struggling to stay awake. "You should not have let me sleep."

Edwina smiled wryly. "It looked as if you needed it."

Lucas frowned. "But, nonetheless, I need to return you to your family. They may have noticed you are missing by now."

Edwina worried her lip. She could not imagine what she would tell Kate and Anthony. And, her thoughts swirled with anxiety about Eloise. She lost her earlier in the night and just prayed that Eloise was safe herself.

"I will need to return to the assembly," Edwina began. "Eloise–"

Lucas pushed himself up into a sitting position and grimaced in pain. The laudanum was wearing off. "No, it won't be safe there. Miss Bridgerton will be home in her bed by now or in a cell at Newgate. If it is the former, you have nothing to worry over. If it is the latter, then I expect Lord Bridgerton already knows about the goings-on of the evening and it is best to make haste and return you home before he tears the city apart looking for you. I suggest we take the logical course and check Bridgerton House first."

Edwina bit her lip. Lucas was right, of course, but damn his highhanded tone.

"Fine," she ground out.

***

Edwina slipped into the house, much to her surprise, undetected. She entered back through the servant's entrance and passed the kitchen, which was already bustling with activity. She ducked behind a cabinet and held her breath as a maid and footman passed her with trays laden with tea and hot chocolates to be brought up to the family in their rooms. If the servants were preparing to serve the morning repast, Edwina only had a few minutes to spare.

She hurried up the stairs, looking over her shoulder in the gray morning light, before rushing down the hall on her tip-toes and through her bedroom door. She slipped inside with a loud exhale of relief and pressed her forehead against the closed door. Never again will she take part in one of Eloise's mad schemes. Her nerves were raw with anxiety.

"Edwina!" A harsh whisper called out.

Edwina yelped and spun around to see a shadowy figure sitting at the edge of her bed.

"Oh, thank God." Eloise stepped forward and embraced Edwina in her arms. Edwina was surprised to feel the wetness of tears pressed up against her cheek. "I returned to the tavern after the constables left and couldn't find you anywhere. I thought they took you to Newgate." Eloise pressed her into a tighter embrace. "Are you well? Were you hurt?"

"No, no...I'm perfectly fine."

"Where were you?" Both women blurted out at one another. Eloise stifled a laugh.

Eloise started first. "Theo hid me at the printer's shop until the raid ended. I returned to the assembly but everyone was gone. I wanted to stay and look for you, but Theo persuaded me to come home in case you had as well. When I entered your room and found it empty–" Eloise choked on a sob and quietly continued, "I didn't know what to do. I told myself I would wait for sunrise and then go tell Anthony what had happened."

If Eloise had told Anthony of their adventure, Eloise wouldn't have to worry about Newgate. Anthony would never let his younger sister leave her room again–chaperone or not.

"And, you? You truly are well?" Eloise's teary blue eyes searched Edwina’s face as if she could not believe that she was standing before her alive and in one piece.

"Yes," Edwina hesitated. Even though Eloise had confessed all to where she had been, Edwina did not know how much to tell her. Eloise may have spent time alone with Theo, perhaps for only minutes as the raid commenced, but Edwina had spent hours alone with Lucas. In his room, no less.

"I was with a friend. They were able to get me out of the assembly safely." Eloise's eyes lit with a question, but before she could ask it, they heard movement coming down the hallway.

"Damn, the maids are here to light the grates. We have to get you out of your dress and into your nightgown."

Both women frantically tore at Edwina's gown and dropped it into a pile at the foot of the bed.

"I need to return back to my room. We'll speak later." Eloise poked her head out the door before quickly disappearing through it.

Edwina rushed over to her bed, pulling the pins from her hair along the way, and jumped under the bedclothes. The sun was rising, flooding the room in a soft glow. Edwina could still feel her heart racing in her chest, but she could not decide if it was from the exhilaration of sneaking back into the house or the time she had spent in Lucas's company–or, most likely, the kiss.

Lucas made no mention of the kiss on the ride to Bridgerton House, though he watched her steadily during the silent journey.

When he handed her down from the cab, he only told her that no one needed to know what happened. He would never speak of it. Her reputation was safe with him.

And, when she looked back into his dark eyes alight with some unspoken yearning, Edwina wondered what would happen if she simply leaned into him at that moment. Would he embrace her again? Her reputation would be safe, but would her heart?

Or, was this all pure infatuation? Lucas was her second kiss if she even counted the one with Lord Lumley. A kiss that he likely didn't even remember as he was heavily under the influence of laudanum at the time. And, it would be naive–no childish–to think what she felt was love.

If she learned any lesson from her experiences last season with Anthony, it was that she could not trust her own heart.

Edwina buried herself deeper under the covers.