He and Robby had ridden hell bent for leather in an attempt to catch India. Robby hadn’t complained a bit, but Ridge worried he had overtaxed himself. When he’d checked in on him, Robby was settled comfortably on the ground, sharing a bottle of spirits with the Spaniard and exchanging ribald jests.
He should be there with Robby. Not here watching India sleep. But he was rife with indecision. This was an important matter. Perhaps the most important of his life. He couldn’t afford to make the wrong decision.
He stood and stretched his legs, stomping them as quietly as he could to regain the feeling in his feet. Turning his back to the fire, he walked a few steps away and turned his gaze to the sky.
The moon hung high overhead casting a pale glow over the campsite. And the stars. So many stars. Brilliantly cast across an ebony canvas. As if the hand of God had carelessly strewn them about on a whim.
His eyes blinked against a suspicious sting. Would he find no peace this night? His brother was dying, the woman he loved lay a breath away, and yet he stood here, locked in fear.
Was a life with India worth the risk of her deceiving him again? Or should he play it safe and turn away from her? There was something to be said for solitude. No pain. No choices. No love.
His gaze sought her out again, and his heart thumped harder. Would he have done the same in her place? He’d like to think he wouldn’t have, but now, in the face of Robby dying, he knew he would do anything to save his brother.
His mind eased in sudden understanding. India was loyal. Intensely so. And desperate to hold on to the only remaining family she had. And so she would cling to him and their children in their life together.
What more could he ask for in a mate? A woman he would spend the rest of his life with?
When he compared her situation to his current situation with Robby, her perfidy didn’t seem so damning. But a small part of him still wished she had trusted him enough to confide in him.
And maybe he hadn’tearnedher trust yet.
His fingers flexed and curled as he sought to make sense of his conflicting emotions. She hadn’t reacted like he had expected. Somehow he had imagined her laughing coldly when he confronted her. Smug in her deception. He had entertained a host of scenarios as he had ridden after her. But none of them came close to the solemn, pain-filled expression she had worn as she told him she loved him.
“Were you telling the truth this time, India?” he whispered, his words carried away on the softest of breezes.
One thing was certain. He couldn’t walk away from her. He couldn’t let her go. He needed her. No one else in the world held the power to hurt him like she did, and yet, he was willing to place himself in her hands. And he had survived the worst already. Discovering she had lied to him had been an experience he didn’t want to repeat.
The only thing worse would be if she refused him. And it seemed to him that it was up to him to see that she didn’t.
A slow smile spread his lips upwards until one corner of his mouth twitched. He smoothed his chin with his hand and glanced over at India again.
This might be their only moment of privacy for days to come, their only chance to iron out their differences, and damned if he was going to waste it.
He strode back to the fire and over to where India lay. He knelt beside her and reached a hand to her shoulder.
“India,” he whispered. Then louder. “India, wake up.”
Her eyes flew open in alarm and he moved his hand to her cheek in an effort to calm her.
“What is it?” she asked in a voice that left no doubt that she had cried herself to sleep. Scratchy, vulnerable, husky.
Instead of replying, he bent down, tilting her head with his hand to meet his lips. As his hand stroked higher up her jaw, he was shocked to discover wetness.
His breath caught in his throat. “Don’t cry, India. It’s going to be all right now.”
She fed hungrily on his lips, and he pulled her closer until she rested against his chest.
“Say it again,” he murmured as he pulled away to look at her.
She didn’t hesitate. “I love you.”
“And I love you.”
Tears slipped faster down her cheeks.
His chest tightened and he smoothed the wet trails away with his thumb.
“Be very sure you want this...me, India. Be sure, because I’m not going to let you go.”
