Heaven above, she was glorious. The passion with which she’d faced him, her refusal to shy away from the conflict between them, the honesty with which she’d told him she loved him. And because he loved her in equal measure, he’d done his damnedest to push her away, to make her choose an easier path than the one she’d find herself on with him.
A soft moan of pleasure escaped her, heating his blood until his body hummed with desire. He wanted her with a desperation he’d never known before - more than he’d wanted to be a surgeon - with a fierceness that probably ought to terrify him if he let himself think on it too long.
Instead, he turned his mind toward the present, to the soft curves pressing against him and to the sweet scent of honey and chamomile fragrance that clung to her hair, to the rosewater dabbed on her skin. It was strongest where her neck met her shoulder. He buried his nose in the crook and inhaled before scraping his teeth across the smooth skin.
She gasped and he grinned with pleasure until he felt her fingers raking his hair, at which point he simply had to kiss her again, to taste her and impart upon her the binding agreement they made with each other right here in this moment. From this day on, she would always be his. He’d fight tooth and nail in order to have her because after this, the mere thought of her ending up with another man would in all likelihood kill him.
And since there was no denying his forceful emotions and she had been courageously forthright with him, he whispered against her ear moments later, “I love you too, Louise. Don’t ever doubt that.”
Her slim arms wrapped around his neck and held him to her with a surprising amount of strength. When they finally drew apart, he pressed an additional kiss to her lips before helping her put her spectacles back on.
“How do you wish to proceed?” he asked once they’d taken a seat on the sofa. Turned toward her, he clasped her hand and allowed satisfaction to seep through his veins. Touching her instilled a wonderful sense of calm.
“I believe the first thing I ought to do is put an end to my engagement.” She worried her lower lip while considering this. “I’ll need to speak with Mr. Fairbanks.”
“Agreed.” Marcus raised her hand to his lips and pressed a reassuring kiss to her knuckles. “I can accompany you for support. And keeping in mind my history with Mr. Fairbanks, having me there might be useful.”
What Marcus didn’t say, for fear of sounding jealous, was that he loathed the thought of Louise meeting Nigel alone.
12
“This is quite a surprise,” Mr. Fairbanks said when Louise and Marcus met him in his parlor one hour later. He gave Marcus a curious look. “It seems you’re better acquainted with my fiancée than I realized when we met in the park.”
Reminded of the incident, Louise told Marcus, “I quite forgot to ask what you were doing there with all those children.”
To her surprise, Marcus’s cheeks flushed. An almost bashful look crept into his eyes. “I dedicate my Saturdays to them.”
When he offered no further explanation, Louise asked, “Why?”
Marcus glanced at Mr. Fairbanks who merely raised his brows. Marcus cleared his throat and gave a nonchalant shrug. “St. Agatha’s offers free treatment to orphans. I met the children by giving them regular checkups and realized I could do more for them than just look at their eyes.”
Louise blinked in astonishment. “You truly are a remarkable man.”
“Yes…well…” He frowned and took a seat.
Grinning on account of his silly embarrassment, Louise followed suit and directed her attention toward the man they’d come to see. She forced a smile and tried to bring her agitated nerves under control. Breaking off an engagement was no simple matter. It would in all likelihood lead to humiliation for at least one of them, so gaining Mr. Fairbanks’ compliance could prove a challenge.
“So?” Mr. Fairbanks inquired. “How exactly do the two of you know each other?”
“I recently operated on her eyes,” Marcus said as if they were all old friends enjoying a casual chat when the truth was the stakes could not have been higher.
“I’m surprised neither one of you mentioned this to me before,” Mr. Fairbanks murmured, shifting his gaze between Marcus and Louise in a manner that made her feel like she was seconds away from being told off. Marcus stared straight back at Mr. Fairbanks. “I should have told you. After all, we used to be friends, you and I.”
“And I did my best to maintain that friendship after what happened.”
“Quite so. I’m not here to blame you for turning your back on me. I think we can both agree it was the other way around.”
“No need to trouble yourself over something that happened so long ago,” Mr. Fairbanks remarked with unexpected joviality. “I know you did it to save me from having to make a difficult choice between reputation and friendship.”
“Indeed.” A sentimental sort of silence lingered for a moment before Marcus said, “I’ve come to ask a favor of you on the basis of the friendship we once had.”
“Instinct tells me this has something to do with Lady Louise,” Mr. Fairbanks said while favoring her with a frown. Her pulse leapt in panic.
Marcus nodded. “During the weeks she and I spent together in Dorset, we became friends. Gradually,this friendship of ours deepened and—”
“Now you fancy yourselves in love?” Mr. Fairbanks’s lips quirked. “Am I right?”
“Yes,” Louise said. “I’m so sorry, but if you’d asked for my hand in private and I’d been allowed a chance to think it over, I would have turned you down.”
