He cast a side glance toward her. “Yes. It’s been closed up for years since I never have time for sport anymore. But I’ve had reopened and aired out for a new purpose.”
Her heart sank, but she said nothing as he parked the vehicle and came around to help her down. She stared at his hand reaching toward her, then back at the house.
“You are frowning,” he said softly. “You don’t like it?”
She cleared her throat. “I-I’m sure it’s lovely. But please just tell me, don’t try to make it a pretty thing.”
His brow wrinkled. “Tell you what?”
“Is this where you’ll…put me? I know this marriage has caused a scandal and with everything between us, I can hardly expect that you wouldn’t want to send me away to the country. I’m sure the cottage is very nice and I’ll—”
He held up a hand to silence her. “You believe I’ve had the cottage reopened in order to banish you to the countryside and protect my hide?”
When he said it like that, she hesitated. “I don’t know. It isn’t like you, I know that. But things between us have changed so much since the truth came out.” She bent her head.
“Take my hand,” he said.
She lifted her eyes and found him reaching for her again. With a sigh, she did as he asked, rocked by the electricity between them as he helped her down. He said nothing as he drew her forward and opened the cottage door.
She caught her breath. There were flowers throughout the space, her favorite pink roses, bright yellow marigolds, even fragrant lavender. A fire burned brightly, with wine and two glasses set up beside the rug spread out there.
This was not a prison. It was a hideaway. She looked toward him. He took a long step forward and cupped her cheek.
“Faith, Elise. Have a little.”
She shut her eyes as his thumb moved across her skin. Once more she hadn’t trusted him, just as he had accused her of over and over. Once again she had proved that the wall between them was one she had earned.
She bit back a sob of disappointment and forced herself to look at him. “I’m sorry,” she whispered.
He shook his head as he closed and locked the door behind them. “The groom will follow down in a bit and stable the horse. I just wanted a place for us. A place for privacy, since the main house is brimming with people and plans. I wanted to be able to talk to you.” He moved forward again and crowded into her space. She welcomed it. “I wanted to be able to do more than talk to you.”
She began to shake. Out of need, yes, but also out of something more powerful. Her love for him shook her and her realization that at last he wanted to hash things out with her. This was her chance, perhaps herlastchance, to set things right after so much wrong.
“Which would you like to do first?” she whispered.
A half smile tilted his face, and then he bent his head and his lips moved over hers. At first he was gentle, just brushing his lips back and forth. She melted against him, clinging to his lapels with both hands as his lips parted and he devoured her with all the passion that had been held aside for the past two weeks.
She arched into him, feeling his hardness, feeling him shake with the power of his need. Feeling everything else drop away, if only for a moment.
At last, though, he withdrew, staring down at her with dilated pupils. “I think talking first would be best. Once we start the other, I don’t intend to stop for a very long time and it will only confuse the issue.”
She was both disappointed by his physical withdrawal and anticipating his emotional one. Perhaps that was what inspired her to burst out, “You’ve been holding back from me, Lucien and I know—”
He lifted a finger to her lips and pressed gently, silencing her. “Shhh. Let me speak a moment. Please.”
She fought to find that trust he requested, required and remained silent.
He drew away and looked her up and down. “I have watched you in the past few days, so calmly facing everything difficulty, so beautifully handling all that has been thrown at you.”
She swallowed. His voice was so…gentle. She hadn’t heard that gentleness from him in years. It almost broke her, but she managed to stay composed. “I’ve done my best,” she said.
He nodded. “I’ve thought every day about our conversations, as well as my conversations with others. About trust. About the future. And yes, you are correct when you say I’ve held back. I’ve been trying to figure out how to overcome our past and my feelings.”
She flinched slightly, his words lashing at her no matter how gently they were put. “Your feelings,” she repeated dully.
“Elise, if I want your honesty, then I must be equally honest with you. So allow me to begin. When you told me what you’d done to save my sister, to saveme, I had two reactions. One was deep sorrow and gratitude at your sacrifice. The other was anger. I was angry at you for not allowing me to help. Angry at you for making a decision that should have been ours to make. Not yours, not mine.Ours.”
“But I explained—”
