The icy waters of the Channel closed over her head, a shock so great that Lucy almost forgot to kick until her lungs began to burn.It took several pumps of her legs, working against the wicked currents, but she managed to get her face above water and drag in a heaving breath.
“Lively,” she heard again, the shout nearer than before, and she struck out blindly in the direction of the beloved voice.
“Gabriel,” she called back, again and again, her arms and legs moving ceaselessly, her breath sawing in and out of her lungs.She was tiring more quickly than she would have dreamed, fear beginning to take hold, when a pair of strong arms circled her and hauled her in against a broad chest.
She gasped with relief and delirious happiness even as Gabriel’s voice snarled in her ear, “You little fool!What the devil were you thinking?”
“That I couldn’t wait one more moment to be in your arms again,” she managed through chattering teeth.Her lips were surely turning blue, her hair draggling in her eyes, but when she blinked the salt water out of her lashes, she saw that he was staring at her as if she was the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen.Giddy joy fizzed in her veins.“Why?What were you thinking?”
“That I couldn’t let you get one fucking inch farther away from me.”
“Oh, Gabriel,” she sobbed, pressing her cold lips to his wet cheeks, the golden scruff on his jaw, the salty softness of his lips.She stopped even pretending to swim, relying on the motion of his powerful legs to keep them afloat while their respective ships raced to lower lifeboats and rescue them.
Let them, Lucy thought, filled with hope.We already rescued each other.
“There is more to me than the man I was without my memories,” he said, the words sounding painful as they scraped their way out of his throat.“Too much has happened.I’ve done things… Christ.Things I regret.I can’t be that easy, uncomplicated man anymore.”
“I don’t want easy or uncomplicated,” Lucy told him.“But all the things I loved about Gabriel are still a part of the man you are now.All the things I loved about The Gentle Rogue, too.You wore so many masks, all the time, to keep those parts of yourself separate and hidden, to pretend they didn’t even exist.”
“But you’ve unmasked me,” he said, hoarse and thick with feeling.
“I told you I would.”At this moment, Lucy felt as if she could fly.“You told me you’d never get on a ship.But you did.”
“For you.”
“For me,” she breathed.She searched his face, so handsome, so beloved.His eyes were clear and dark as he stared back at her.
“I would do anything for you,” he said.“Face any fear, brave any danger.I don’t know if that makes me a man who can be worthy of you.”
Lucy clutched at him, concerned.“You’re not about to try to be noble and claim I’m better off without you, or some rubbish like that, are you?”
“God, no.”He smiled, bright and gorgeous and real.“Have you met me?No, I make no claims to nobility.If you wanted a hero, I’m afraid you’re out of luck.I’ve got you now, and I’m far too selfish to let you go.”
“Good,” Lucy said fiercely.“Villains are always the most interesting characters anyway.”
She kissed him again, pouring her heart and all her love into it.She didn’t stop kissing him until the rowboat arrived and hands reached down to haul them both into it, waterlogged and shaking and clinging to each other as if they would never let go.
And from that day forward, they never did.
Epilogue
One year later
The moon hung heavy and full over the winding path, lighting Gabriel’s way home.
He’d spent longer than he meant to, riding the land surrounding Thornecliff to check on the status of his various investments.
To check on his flock, as Lucy liked to say with a fond, teasing glint in her blue eyes.
His former tenants greeted him cheerfully and made it hard to move swiftly from farm to farm, each family intent on pressing him to stay for one more cup of tea, slice of cake, or viewing of the newest litter of piglets.But Gabriel had finally pulled himself away, only to realize it was past suppertime and he’d be lucky to make it home before Lucy fell asleep.
Pushing his mount—not Dante, who’d been retired to plunder pasture full of clover—as fast as he dared, Gabriel almost missed the obstruction on the track.
A large tree branch had fallen half across the packed dirt of the trail that wound through the Thornecliff lands.
Easy enough to go around, Gabriel thought, and he’d gathered his reins to steer his chestnut gelding clear of the tree when it occurred to him that the farmers would be needing this track clear for their wagons on the morrow.
Blowing out a sigh of frustration and bidding a sad farewell to his fantasy of surprising Lucy at her toilette, perhaps even in the bath, naked and glistening with soft, rose-scented steam rising all around them, Gabriel pulled to a halt.
