Howcouldshe be in love with him? The thought was absurd. He was rude and arrogant and he raised his voice to her and he argued about everything. He condescended. He insulted.
He kissed her.Oh, how he kissed her.
He argued with her, but for all that, he didn’t ignore her. For all his annoyed comments, he nevertheless seemed to listen to her. He was honorable. Intelligent.
He could never picnic with her, under the sun. He could never ride or accompany her anywhere during the day.
But the way he looked at her…with something in his eyes. Something…needy. Something lost. Something lurked there.
She let her hands fall into the warm, vanilla-and-lily-scented water, causing it to splash over the rim.
What a fanciful notion. That she was in love with a vampire. With the earl. With a man who could hardly stand her presence.
And if shewerein love with him—truly in love, although how could she be,truly?—what difference did it make? He certainly couldn’t love her. And…
She was to wed Alexander. A good man. Who possibly loved her, and who at least held her in high regard. Even if his kisses were boring and his conversation not nearly as interesting, if not as explosive, as Corvindale’s.
The wedding was to have been…dear heaven…tomorrow!
In the blur of Corvindale’s disappearance and Maia’s own abduction and return, she’d lost track of time. She was supposed to have wed Alexandertomorrow.No wonder he wouldn’t leave.
Maia bit her lip again, noticing it was tender from all of the worried gnawing she’d done on it…and perhaps from the rough kisses of earlier today. She closed her eyes, a flush of memory warming her. Pleasure stabbed her belly.
What was she going to do? She’d already postponed the wedding when Corvindale disappeared, but now that he was back and so was she…they must decide on another date.
What am I going to do?
Cold truth settled over her. She had to marry Alexander. She was ruined now, thanks to the earl. She could even be carrying his child.
That thought turned her alternately hot and then cold again. It was followed by rage that Corvindale meant to pay her off by settling a dowry on her for her wedding, after he’d ruined her. To pay for the child, if there was one.
A child that would be passed off as Alexander’s.
Nothing need change.
How dare he say such a thing? Perhaps for him nothing had changed, but for her? Everything. Everything had changed.
She’d done something outside of foolish, but…she’d do it again. There’d been no way she could have stopped, pulled back. She wanted him, needed him in that way.
What they’d shared had been…She shivered, heat unfurling in her again. It had been like her dreams. But better. Real.
Maia’s thoughts sharpened, settled, stopped. Her heart paused, her breathing stilled. Her dreams. Of making love to a vampire.
It had been him. Corvindale.
In her dreams, all along, it had beenCorvindale.
She’d been dreaming about him, ever since she moved into his house. And that last dream, the one that had frightened her, that had been filled with darkness and pain andred…thathad been while he’d been captured by Lerina.
Was she somehow connected to him? Through their dreams? Had she dreamed what he experienced? Or what he…dreamed?
She shook her head, shivering.The Sight works in mysterious ways.
Maia wished suddenly that Granny Grapes was still here so she could ask her about dreams and connections. She closed her eyes and pursed her lips. There were other problems at hand.
Like what she’d done today, with Corvindale, was foolish. She could ruin herself, ruin her family. Hurt Alexander.
But…despite the way he’d handled it, the abhorrent, cold,earlishway…she would have done it again. She would do it again. It had beenrightdespite the fact that everything about it seemed wrong.
