At long last, he moved, turning on his heel and stalking across the chamber to his bed. She watched the muscles in his bottom flex, admired his strong thighs and calves. His body was beautiful, and she was going to worship it. She was going to do penance her way.
In her own dressing gown, she had her stockings carefully tucked within a pocket. He watched her warily as she approached the bed, eyeing her as he might a wild animal.
She was not inclined to reassure him. “Give me your wrists, Duke.”
“Do you mean to slit them, banshee?”
His expression was serious. So too his tone. She hated him for asking the question. And yet she understood it all too well. “I suppose you will have to trust me.”
“The last time I trusted you, you nearly got us both killed.” His observation was as unyielding as his tone.
Her heart ached. “I am sorry for that day, Leo. Sorrier than I can possibly convey. I know I should have come to you the moment I received his summons, but I was afraid. Time was running out for Cullen, and John was the only one who had given me hope of rescuing him. Had I any inkling of how mad he was, I would never have gone to him. And I would never willingly put you in danger. I love you far too much to lose you,mo chroí, though I fear I already have with my foolishness.”
So much for her determination to be strong. She had already revealed her every vulnerability. He watched her now, eyes searching, seeking, and she could not help but to feel although he was the naked one, she had been stripped down far more intimately than he.
“You haven’t lost me, Bridget. I am your husband.” He held out his hand. “Come.”
She hesitated, for this was not part of her plan. She was meant to be seducing him. Convincing him. “Let me finish, if you please. I have more to say.”
His hand remained outstretched. “Say it while you’re lying here with me. I’ve been missing you for all the days we have been apart, and I find I cannot bear another moment without you in my arms.”
It was all she needed to hear. All the broken pieces inside her seemed to suddenly fuse together. He had come for her, had he not? And he had just admitted to missing her. He had seen her brother freed from prison. With trembling fingers, she untied the belt on her own dressing gown. A shrug of her shoulders, and it slipped to the floor, forgotten.
She placed her hand in his. His warmth reassured her, his gentle grip melting the icy fear around her heart. One tug, and she was on the bed, falling into his arms. He caught her to him, anchoring her there, Bridget atop his powerful body, looking down into his beloved face.
“I once thought my only allegiance was to my country, to the land where I was born,” she told him. “And then I met you, Leo. You changed everything for me, like a storm that sweeps along a shore and changes the coast forever. I will never be the same. You made me whole, and I cannot be complete without you.”
His hands were on her back, caressing, leaving a trail of fire in their wake. “I am furious with you for being stubborn and headstrong and not coming to me that day, but I understand how deep your love for your brother runs. I see now how torn you must have been. You broke your promise to me, and seeing you in danger, that bastard pointing his pistol at you…”
His body shuddered beneath hers.
“It is over now. He cannot hurt anyone ever again.” She framed his face in her hands, the prickle of his whiskers against her flesh a welcome abrasion. How beloved he was to her. How necessary. “I will never break another promise to you so long as I live. You are all I want. All I need,mo chroí.If you cannot forgive me, I understand. I only ask that you let me love you.”
Tears blurred her vision. She blinked them away, sending a droplet to splash on his lips. He drew her head down to his for a kiss that was slow and tender, and she tasted the salt of her sorrow on her tongue as it melded with his.
Gently, he rolled them as one until she was on her back and he was atop her, his body cradled between her thighs. He broke the kiss, staring down at her, his expression for once open and unguarded.
“You are already forgiven, my darling. But I must ask for your pardon as well. Can you forgive me for not heeding your concerns about your brother’s innocence until it was almost too late? And for being such a stubborn, hardheaded fool that I stayed away from you for so long, when the only place I should have been is here by your side?”
“Yes.” Happiness and relief and love, so fierce and strong and consuming, burst within her. “Of course I forgive you, my darling man. I love you.”
“I love you, Bridget Carlisle,” he said tenderly, his hand coming between them to cup her belly. “And I love our babe as well. I stepped down from my position with the League before leaving London, and all I want to do is make a home and a family with you, to love you, to laugh with you, to journey through life with you. Forever.”
He had given up his position? “Oh, Leo, they did not make you do it because of me, did they?”
“No. It was my choice. The time had come, and I am glad for it now that I know we will have a little banshee soon.”
She smiled up at him, her heart full. “Or a stubborn little duke.”
“Perhaps one of each.” He grinned as his lips met hers once more.
And then, the time for talking was decidedly done.
Epilogue
Leo stared downin awe at the small pink face wrapped in blankets in his arms. Rose had Bridget’s nose and ten tiny fingers and ten tiny toes, along with a shock of raven hair atop her head. She screwed open her small mouth and let loose a wail to rival any banshee.
“She has her mother’s temperament,” he announced, grinning as he tore his gaze from his daughter and settled it instead upon her mother.
