I was nothing more than a part of Lachlan’s vengeance.
She reached for her neck. The skin was bare, yet it stung where she’d grabbed her mother’s pearls and ripped them off in panic as her world fell apart.
She’d had recurring dreams of drowning in her youth, of being pulled down into an endless darkness, her mouth and lungs filling with water. Lachlan’s words were worse than those nightmares. They weren’t just pulling her down, they were burying her so far below the surface that she would never survive.
“It was a marriage of spite and revenge.”
Tears leaked from her eyes as she recalled the heat of his kiss, the whispered words of affection in her ear, and their bodies pressed close.
All lies. He had treated her well. So, when had he planned to spring his trap? She didn’t want to stay and find out what his form of revenge would be.
She tried to breathe again, but air got trapped between her mouth and her lungs, unable to flow. The coach rocked suddenly and a voice outside shouted, “Halt!”
Lachlan’s commanding tone was all too clear. It jolted Daphne’s heart back into rhythm. The carriage bumped to a sudden stop.
“My lord?” the driver called out.
Daphne heard steps on the left side of the coach. She jerked open the door on the right and tumbled into the road. They had reached the forest a mile from the castle. Her attention swept the tall, dark woods, the thick trunks and the cover of the head pine trees. There was nowhere to run, but she couldn’t stay here.
“Daphne?” Lachlan’s voice sounded hoarse and panicked.
She wiped tears from her face and ran past the horses and the stunned coach driver. She heard a curse and the rush of boots on the dirt road behind her. A hand caught her arm, dragging her to a halt. The pull sent her spinning back around to face him. He caught her in his arms and for an awful instant her body wanted to surrender, to burrow into him and believe the lies he’d told her, if only for a little while. She regained control and shoved at his chest.
“Let go of me, you monster!”
“Daphne, please listen,” Lachlan begged, holding her tight despite her struggles.
She kicked his shin. He cursed, bent to grasp his leg and let go. Stunned by her sudden freedom, she didn’t immediately turn to leave. What would be the point? She could not outrun him.
Lachlan straightened, letting go of his shin as he panted and stared at her. “Please, let me explain.”
“Why should I?” The words cut her, but she kept her head high. Her father may have committed terrible crimes, but she was also the granddaughter of a duke and a lady in her own right. What pride she had left wouldn’t allow her to be pathetic, not even when her heart was bleeding.
“I know what you heard.” Lachlan’s face reddened. “My motives the night we met were inexcusable. Monstrous, yes. My heart was blackened with grief and you came into my life offering what I thought I needed.” He swallowed hard, then his words dropped to a whisper as he gazed at her like a drowning man would stare at a rope tossed to him from shore. “And I was right. Youwerewhat I needed… I just didn’t know the reasons why.”
Daphne wasn’t sure she understood what he was saying.
“I didn’t need revenge. I needed…love.” The last word was spoken so softly she thought perhaps she might have dreamt it. He reached for her and she didn’t draw away, even though she knew she should. With gentle fingers, he brushed away the tears on her cheeks.
“You don’t love me,” she said, her voice hitching. “You don’t intend to hurt people you love.”
The smile he gave was bittersweet. “I agree. But every time I tried to hurt you, to revenge William’s death, I stopped. I couldn’t go through with it. Did you not hear what I told my mother?”
“That you married me out of spite and vengeance? What happens when you are in one of your black moods? When you miss William and all you see in my eyes is the daughter of the man responsible? Will you still love me then?”
“You are not your father. I see that now.” He raked a hand through his hair. “You didn’t hear the rest. You didn’t hear me say that I love you. I love you madly. I love you with a wildness that frightens me.”
He took a step closer to her, his blue eyes stark with desperation. She didn’t step away, but her heart raced. She had to master her reactions as he held out a hand to her. Loneliness and confusion battled with hope and longing until the crescendo of emotions became too overwhelming to be kept inside. She sniffed as her nose and eyes began to burn.
“Will you say something, lass? Anything?” he begged.
“How do I know you mean what you say? Any of it?”
Lachlan looked away, then locked eyes with her again. His throat worked as he tugged at his cravat. “I don’t know a way to prove it to you. I’m a man full of stubborn, foolish pride, but…” He took her hand and knelt down on one knee. The memory of the last time he’d done this came flooding back. The tears which followed burned her cheeks, but she didn’t move to wipe them away, or dare to breathe.
He paused, his blue eyes misty. “I found your pearls. They’d spilled across the floor and I picked them up, every single one and…” He shook his head, as though unsure of what to say, then, “I was never supposed to be an earl. That was William. But he’s gone, and I am here, making a bloody mess of everything I hold dear. I understand why the pearls are so important to you. You, you aremystring of pearls, Daphne. The thing I reach for when I’m full of joy or when I’m frightened of the world around me. You are the most precious thing to me. You are my hope.”
He stroked his thumbs over her cheeks, his gaze impossibly soft. “In my eyes, you are the most exquisite gift a man could be given. I’m afraid to let you go, to have you scatter and vanish like a broken strand of pearls.” He bowed his head. “But if you must leave, I love you too much to force you to stay.” Lachlan drew in a deep breath, pressing her hand to his cheek.
