Another question arose within her, one which needed to be spoken. “Will you remain faithful to me in turn before I bear you heir?”
He stilled. “Would you like me to be, Lady Catriona?”
“Yes.” Her own vehemence surprised her, but there was no calling it back once her admission had been made.
A small smile returned to his lips. This time, he moved, taking a step in her direction at last. The scent of him drifted to her once more. She could not quell her reaction regardless of how hard she tried.
“Then I shall be,” he told her softly, stopping when there was once more an improper distance between them.
Scarcely any.
She could touch his chest.
Or his broad shoulders.
Or,good heavens, his lips.
She wanted to do all those things. To touch him everywhere.
“I will not be made a fool,” she added, disconcerted anew by his proximity. “I have already been mocked and scorned enough.”
“I will not bring shame upon you,querida.” He touched her chin once more. “We are to be each other’s allies in this war. I am not like the other man you knew, the one who hurt you.”
She pressed her lips together. Perhaps he knew more of the scandal than he had previously suggested.
“How do you know I was hurt?” she asked.
“It is there, in your eyes.” His gaze seemed to bore into hers, dark and consuming. “Do you want to tell me what happened?”
She shook her head. “No.”
She did not want to relive her foolishness. The naïve ease with which she had been led to believe Shrewsbury’s affections were true. That when he told her he loved her, he had meant those words.
“Did he force you?” There was a punishing edge in his voice now.
“No,” she hastened to say. “He merely misled me. I was fool enough to believe his lies.”
And she had vowed to herself then and there that she would never again believe the lies of another man. That she would never again find herself at another man’s mercy. Yet, here she was, on the cusp of being at the mercy of the Earl of Rayne.
“I will never lie to you,” Rayne said, “and that is a promise. Nor will I mislead you. I am being honest about what I want from you, just as I expect you to always be truthful with me. Allies, Lady Catriona.”
“Allies,” she repeated, liking the sound of the word.
A man with secrets.
Perhaps she would learn them one day.
He leaned toward her, dipping his head. She held her breath once more, supposing his mouth would claim hers. But it did not. His lips brushed over her cheek in a chaste kiss.
“One sennight,” he repeated when he raised his head.
It was not a query but a statement.
With that one, tender gesture, he had eased her misgiving. “Seven days,” she relented at last. “I will marry you seven days from today.”
His smile was blinding. “Yes, you will,querida.”
She thought of one more question. “What does that word mean,querida?”
