“I’m asking you to do that again. I’m asking you to believe in me—to have a little faith. I’m asking you to jump.”
She wanted to. God, how she wanted to. Part of her wanted to believe that he would always be there to catch her. That love would be enough. But the bigger part—the more practical part—knew that she needed more. She needed certainty. Thom had said there weren’t any guarantees. Maybe not, but Randolph was as close to one as she could hope to find. “I can’t.”
His face darkened with anger and frustration. “You mean you won’t.”
She didn’t argue.
“I would give up everything for you,” he said fiercely.
Elizabeth bristled; that wasn’t fair. “Which is easy to say when you are not the one giving up anything.”
His face turned white. “I never thought to call you a coward, but if you go through with this—if you agree to marry a man you don’t love for the wrong reasons because the thought of marrying me is so terrifying—that is what you will be, and you will get no better than you deserve.”
She flushed. “Don’t threaten me.”
He grabbed her arm and pulled her toward him. “If I thought it would force you to accept the truth, I would do a hell of a lot more than threaten.”
“What truth?”
“That if you agree to marry him tomorrow you will regret it for the rest of your life. That every time he takes you in his bed, you will wish it were me. That no other man will ever make you feel the way that I do. That you are mine and have been since the first time you kissed me.”
He brought her a little closer, letting her feel the heat and hardness of his body. Letting her feel how perfectly they fused together. How the contact was enough to set off every nerve ending in her body and fill her with a desperate longing.
His eyes darkened as he lowered his mouth to hers. Tantalizingly close. Achingly close. So close that she could taste the spice of his breath on her tongue and feel the warmth of his lips consuming her.
“Should I prove it to you? Should I strip off your clothes, lay you down on that hay over there, and make love to you until the only word you can say is my name over and over as you cry out your release?” He covered her breast with his hand, molding it gently but possessively. As if to prove his point, her nipple peaked at the contact. She arched deeper into his hand and was unable to bite back the little moan of pleasure or the flush of heat that washed over her.
“Would you stop me? Would you tell me no?” He dared her to answer. “And if I took your innocence, what then, Elizabeth? Would Randolph still have you, or would you be forced to marry me?”
She sucked in her breath, staring at him wild-eyed. He wouldn’t do that... would he? Thom was too noble to seduce her. She didn’t need to ask herself if hecould. She knew the answer. She could no more hold back her desire for him than she could hold back the waves from crashing upon the shore.
He must have seen the fear in her eyes and released her. “Don’t worry,” he said with a bitter sneer. “I may not have land or a title, but I am not without honor, nor do I share society’s view of my worth. Good enough to fuck isn’t good enough. I deserve more.”
He was right. He did. More than she could give him.
Without another word, he was gone.
“I, Elizabeth, will take thee Thomas to wed...”
Thom flinched inwardly at the name—the irony cruel and biting.It should be me.
Though his expression betrayed nothing, MacKay knew.
“You don’t need to be here,” the big Highlander whispered at his side.
The Guard, along with what seemed like half the city, had gathered in the refectory to witness the betrothal ceremony. Although Douglas and Randolph would have signed the contracts this morning in private—probably in the king’s presence due to the importance of the alliance—the betrothal ceremony was being held in public before the abbot. It didn’t need to be, but it added to the significance and solemnity of the occasion. Douglas wasn’t leaving any doubt about the binding nature of the agreement.
“Yes, I do,” Thom said.
MacKay gave him a long look and then nodded. “I understand. I’ve been where you are right now. It won’t help. There is only one thing that will, but that will have to wait.”
Nothing would help, but Thom nodded anyway and forcibly turned back to the ceremony taking place before him.
Elizabeth had never looked more beautiful, and never had that beauty left him so cold. She looked every inch the regal ice princess in her fine silvery light-blue gown (blue being the traditional color of purity), with her hair covered by a silky veil of the same color and secured by a magnificent circlet encrusted with enormous diamonds. No doubt it was a betrothal gift from Randolph. Every time she moved or a streak of sunlight hit her, she glittered. She was that perfect rare jewel again, and he was the little boy looking up into the blinding magnificence of what would never be his.
What now belonged to the equally blindingly magnificent man at her side. Randolph was also outfitted in his finery—his mail gleaming, his surcoat bright and colorful—every inch the faerie-tale knight of bards’ tales. To complete the magnificent picture, the happy couple was flanked by the king on one side and Douglas on the other.
Douglas glanced over his shoulder, his gaze meeting Thom’s for a long pause before turning back.
