She leaned back. “You are prepared to disrupt your life, on the eve of your sister’s wedding, and you ask what more you can do?”
“For you?” he asked as he brushed back a lock of hair that had gotten caught on her cheek in the track of a tear. “I would do anything.”
She leaned her forehead against his shoulder and he was quiet so she could compose herself. “I need to fight,” she finally said.
“I-I beg your pardon?” he said.
She lifted her head. “Please. It’s how I found my peace and my safety all those years ago when I ran from my cousin. It was the only way I felt like I knew who I was again, and right now I need to know who I am. I know you spar with Ripley, so you can do this with me. Ineedto fight.”
“You want to fight me?”
“Not fight…hard. Spar then,” she said. “Please.”
He pursed his lips. There had never been a time in his life where he thought he’d agree to swing punches at alady, but he could see how much she needed this. And he understood. Sometimes it took something physical to fully purge the hurts. It was part of the reason he liked boxing, too.
“Come,” he said, getting to his feet and offering a hand. “I’ve a small practice space. We can spar as long as you’d like.”
To his surprise, she lunged from her seat and wrapped her arms around his neck, hugging him with all the considerably might in her body. He cradled her close.
“Thank you,” she whispered against his neck. “Thank you for not arguing, for understanding.”
She began to release him and though he wanted to stay that way with her forever, he let her. Their fingers tangled as he led her from the room and down the hall to the parlor where he’d set up a small sparring space with a ring and weighted bag where he sometimes practiced punches.
She smiled up at him, her fear momentarily faded by the place. “I didn’t find this when I was touring my way around your house before. It’s impressive.”
“If you like this, you’ll have to see Ramsbury’s sparring area. It’s huge—sometimes he even hosts fights there.”
Her smile fell. “I’ll never see that, Finn. You know it.”
She walked away and began to work on the buttons along the front of her gown with her back to him. She’d only thrown it on when they left Ripley’s, so when she dropped it around her feet and kicked it away, she was still wearing her sparring outfit from earlier in the day.
“I’ll need to arrange for you to have more clothing brought here,” he said, trying not to stare as she sat on the edge of a chair near the ring and unfastened her boots.
She glanced up. “You really want me here.”
“Until we can figure out how to end this, I need you to be. Please.”
She pursed her lips. “You sent word to Ripley already, yes?”
He nodded. “The first thing I did.”
“Well, I’ll write to Jane, as well. And I’ll ask if she can bring some things here, perhaps tomorrow during the bustle of the wedding so her arrival won’t be marked.”
“She saved you, you said. And you obviously wish to protect her. If she’s so important to you, then I very much look forward to meeting her.”
“Ilook forward to you unwrapping all that propriety, my lord,” she said with an arched brow. “Unless you intend to fight in your cravat and waistcoat.”
He smiled at her cheek, and in the same moment, marveled at her transformation. Gone was the woman who had clung to him in his parlor, mobbed by fear. She was the Hellion now. She held herself with casual confidence as she watched him, stood with guarded readiness. She was glorious and she broke his heart. He loved her for making this part of herself to survive, and he wept for the circumstances that had forced it.
“Stop staring, Finn. It’s my turn to ogle you.”
He laughed and shed his jacket, then stripped open the buttons of his waistcoat. She folded her arms and jerked her head toward him, indicating she wanted the shirt off.
“So pushy,” he chuckled, but he was unwinding his cravat as he did so. He stripped open the buttons of his shirt and then tugged it over his head.
She let out a little sigh. “Much better.”
“Is it?” he asked before he sat to remove his own boots. “Do you want to wrap your hands?”
