“Did you expect the danger?”
His jaw tightened. “I should have anticipated it.”
“Why? Because you are the axis of the world?”
That statement caught his attention. He turned to her, the concern in his eyes belying the lightness of his tone. “Is this the Dara Lanscarr I know? The one who believes she is in charge of everything?”
She leaned one shoulder against the seat, facing him. “Michael, you are being too hard on yourself. I understand because I, too, hold myself to a high standard, and it is bitter when I try to do what is right and I fail. I have a sister who refuses to speak to me, and all I ever wanted was to take care of her.”
His response was bitter. “Have you ever cost a man his life?”
“Because you didn’t take action? You followed Sir Duncan. Did you anticipate murder?”
There was a long silence, and then he said, “No.”
“And once you knew there was danger, you tried to reach Mr. Ferrell. Let us hold the murderers accountable. Not ourselves.”
He took a deep breath. “I also regret that this may be the end of it. Ferrell had the proof, including documentation. It is all gone now.”
“Then we will find another way,” she promised. “There is always another way.”
His lips twisted wryly. “You never cry quarter, do you?”
“May I?” she wondered. “Is it possible—?”
A new thought struck her, a suspicion. “Wait, do you know more than you are telling me? Or suspect who is behind these murders?”
“Dara, if I did, I would not say. This is on me.”
“Except I stand beside you now.”
“The woman who didn’t wish to be married to me?”
“Oh, I wished,” she allowed herself to confess. “I was just afraid that wishes like that never come true.”
It was the closest she’d come to making a declaration of love, of allowing herself to be vulnerable. And honest. He was too fine for her. She was unimportant—
He drew her hand to his lips. He pressed a fervent kiss on the back of her fingers. And where his lips touched, her skin burned, even through the thin material of her glove.
And then he said the most amazing words. “I need you. Especially now. The weight of this...?”
“I’m here,” she whispered. “You are not alone.”
His response was to kiss her. Right there, in an open carriage where everyone could see them... and Dara was not going to argue. She was more than ready for his kiss—although this one was different from the past ones. Those had been about passion, about a meeting of wills.
This kiss seemed to exposehisvulnerability. His need for her trust, her faith. What woman could resist such a kiss?
The driver cleared his throat. The carriage had rolled to a stop in front of the brick house, and they hadn’t realized it.
Michael broke the kiss, but he didn’t move away from her. They were so close, she could see every line of his face. His gaze held hers. “I have a new rule for your list—a man can kiss his wife wherever he pleases.”
“Is that all he can do as he pleases?” she heard herself ask, her voice whispery and low.
“In public,” he answered, and then he smiled. It was a strange expression, both self-deprecating and wistful. He jumped out of the carriage to settle with the driver before offering his hand to help her out.
Dara watched his every move, even the tiniest details—and when he reached his hand out for her, she finally accepted that, at last, she had what she truly wanted.
She wanted him.
