Did it matter that Christien came to her but saw the other Madelaine?
“At first I was drawn to you because you looked like her,” he said.“I thought God, or someone, was playing a cruel trick on me and I was angry.For so long you had been in my mind then suddenly you were in front of me.Flesh and blood.And you didn’tknow.That’s what hurt the most.You had no idea what we had been to each other.”
“I’m sorry.”
His hand reached out to her then dropped to his side.“You look like her.So much that it stops my breath every time I see you, but there is a strength in you that Madelaine lacked.I loved her.”His tone was so heavy with sadness it made her insides clench.“I grieve for her every day, but ’tis you I want, Lainie.”
Tears pushed against the back of her eyes.She couldn’t blink fast enough to keep them at bay.They rolled down her cheeks and soaked into her shirt.She wanted to believe him.Oh, how she wanted to believe him.The desolation in his expression, the grief and despair physically hurt her.
“Do you not want me, Lainie?”
A sob caught in her throat and she swallowed.Yes, she wanted him.More than she’d wanted anything in her life.
“Do you believe I am the man in your dreams?”
“I think it’s more complicated than that.”Christien possessed depths she couldn’t even begin to touch.Layers that held secrets.She sensed much more to the story of Christien Chevalier.More than a man who dreamt of a woman and fell in love with her.Why did he have clothes dating from that time period?And what about the books on his shelves?
“Who are you really?”
He held his arms out to his sides.“I am but a man who has lived long and seen much.I’ve known joy and despair, love and heartache, peace and war.I’ve been to hell and back and lived to tell about it.I can’t promise that when I look at you I don’t see her.Icanpromise that if you allow me I will protect you with all the resources at hand.I will cherish you, respect you and honor you.”
Her tears came faster, but through them she managed to laugh.“You better watch it.Those almost sound like wedding vows.”
His expression never wavered.“They are vows.Mayhap not wedding vows, but vows nonetheless.”He peeled her hand from the bedpost and took it in his.“When I am away from you, I despair and when I am near you I am happy.Stay with me.”
How could she deny him when he’d already given her so much?And did she want to deny him?Did she want to deny herself?Something between them went far deeper than a past life.She had a feeling they were meant to be together in this life.Maybe to finish what they started.Or maybe it was something else.
“I don’t know why we were brought together again, Christien.All I know is that what is between us is important.But you need to understand I am not that Madelaine.I have my own life and serious responsibilities.I have a job I need to keep so I can pay my father’s medical expenses.”She touched his cheek, feathering her fingers over the rough stubble of his jaw.“I can’t stay here forever, locked away from the real world.I have to go back to my life.”
Something flashed in his eyes, quickly gone before she could decide what it was.“What are you trying to say?Speak plainly.”
She smiled at her warrior, a man more prone to action than words though the words that came from him were beautiful.“I’m saying I would be honored to spend the night with you, but I’m still going back to work tomorrow.”
He kissed her knuckles.“You can’t get any plainer than that.”For the first time in days, he smiled and it stole Lainie’s breath.He was such a beautiful man.A good man.Could she really be so lucky to have known him in two lives?“But I have a few provisions.”
“Uh oh.”
He smiled again.
She wanted to keep him smiling.To make him laugh because she feared he didn’t laugh often enough.
“I understand your need to return to work even though I don’t agree with it.”
She opened her mouth but he put a finger over her lips.
“Let me finish,mon couer.”
She pressed her lips together and he withdrew his finger, but not before he brushed the pad of it along her lip, causing her stomach to clench.
“I’m still concerned for your safety, so I am putting a guard on you.”
“That is so unnecessary.This is the twenty-first century, Christien.I’ll be fine.”
“I lost you once, Madelaine, I won’t lose you again.Humor me.You won’t see him, I promise.”
She pictured the bouncer who wouldn’t let her in the first night glued to her side.That would go over real well with Giselle.
“No one will see him?”
