“What else do ye want me to say? I cannae tell ye that I hate seeing ye with other men or how I want ye. What’s the point when I cannae have ye?”
“Why can ye nae have me?” Her hands cupped his face, and she forced his gaze back to her.
He grabbed her wrist, ready to push her away, but she was unyielding, and that touch was enough to freeze him in place. Her chest heaved, and he noticed how the mounds strained against her bodice.
“I am right here, between yer legs, begging ye to tell me how ye feel because me heart feels as if it would burst.”
“I am nae a good man,” he said in a low voice. “I just cannae.”
18
“‘Tis nae ye who will decide for me,” Talia told the stubborn man sitting in front of her. “I ken what is right and what is wrong for me. ‘Tis nae ye who will tell me.”
She felt anger rise within her.
How dare he look so miserable when she was the one who was hurt by his stubbornness?
He was being unreasonable, and in doing so, he was punishing them both. Yet, rather than mend things, he had done naught but be cold towards her and hide away in his chambers, drinking.
She grabbed the bottle from his hands and took a swig of it, coughing at how it burned a fiery path down her throat.
“What the devil were ye thinkin’?” he scoffed, snatching the bottle from her hand.
She coughed and tried to blink past the tears forming in her eyes, but it felt as though she were dying. The drink left a bitter taste in her mouth that made her feel like retching, but she swallowed.
“I wanted to experience the joy ye find in drink,” she answered. “I feel like me heart is on fire.”
He chuckled deeply, and the sound reverberated through her in a way she didn’t like.
“It will pass soon,” he said and set the bottle aside. “And it isnae for enjoyment. ‘Tis more to forget yer troubles.”
She looked at him then and noted the dark circles under his eyes.
She turned away from him again as the air grew heavy. She was all too aware of what had happened the last time they had been alone together, and she didn’t know if she wanted it to happen again.
“And do ye think I’m right for ye, Talia?” he asked, his voice thick with emotion.
Her heart skipped a beat at his question.
She turned back to him and saw that he had leaned forward. She had not expected him to, but now she noted the stubble growing on his jaw and how his pulse beat rapidly in his throat.
She swallowed past the lump in her throat. Her mouth went dry as she looked at him, the intensity of his gaze rooting her to the spot.
Why did he have to be so beautiful?
He was so close, so firm and unyielding in front of her, that she itched to touch him, to run her hands over him and pull him against her so he didn’t pull away again.
Her blood simmered with a need she couldn’t explain beyond a desire to taste him again, and her lips tingled with the memory of how it felt to kiss him, how it felt to have his hands on her. This stubborn man, who had pushed her away at every turn and broken her heart time and again.
She knew her answer without thinking too deeply about it, and knew that saying the words would change everything between them. And she was more than ready for things to change.
“Aye,” she answered, meeting his eyes. “I ken ye’re good for me, Darragh, and I choose ye.”
She saw the moment the walls he had erected around himself came crashing down, and when his arms wrapped around her, her soul breathed a deep sigh of elation.
Darragh had known he would be powerless to resist Talia the moment she had stepped into his study, but when she had uttered those words, every voice of reason went silent.
“I ken ye’re good for me, Darragh, and I choose ye.”
