Abigail Rowbory

“He was standing so close that she could feel the heat from his body and smell his musky lavender scent. She kept her gaze on the floor, afraid that if she looked up her eyes would betray her feelings. ‘I dedicated it to the god Neptune,’ she said. ‘As thanks for sending his dolphin to save me from the shipwreck.’ ‘A dolphin saved you?’ ‘Yes. When our ship ran aground in the storm.’ ‘You must tell me about it,’ he said and put his hand on her shoulder. ‘You poor thing. Even the memory of it is making you tremble.’ ‘Yes,’ she said, ‘I will tell you about the shipwreck and the dolphin after we have played lullaby music.’ She moved away. It was not the memories making her tremble. It was his touch.”
― Caroline Lawrence, The Roman Mysteries Complete Collection