A loud sound jerked him awake.
The room was darker. Night had settled in. Caught off guard, Dominic look around quickly before focusing on the light drifting in through the black. He would have typically assumed a servant and yet he swore he could smell the sweet scent of lilacs. His heartbeat picked up as he struggled to straighten up with an air of respectability.
A candelabra moved closer through the room to reveal Verity’s face in a golden glow.
“Is this a dream?” Dominic felt the need to ask.
As the candles were set on the desk, Verity shook her head. “Does it feel like one?”
His gaze settled on the way she bit her lower lip. “Somewhat.”
“Well it’s not. I… I came back.”
Not daring to rise lest the movement spooked her from the room, he gave a slow nod. “I can see that. Are you well?”
“Yes.” There was an audible swallow and then he felt her looking him over. Surely he was wrinkled and unkempt by now. The week had worn on him heavily. “Cassian has come home. A matter of self-defense, they said.”
That and there was no body.
When he said nothing, Verity tentatively stepped around the desk to come a little closer. It took all his strength to remain where he was. For a lady who craved space, demanded it even, she was closing the distance between them. Even after all that had stood in their way. He watched her and waited, knowing their lives were in her hands.
“Why?”
The question was too vast for Dominic to know how to give her whatever it was she desired. “Why what?”
“Why…” She licked her lips. Half her face was cast in shadow now that she had left the candlesticks behind. He couldn’t look away. “You could have ignored me. Even sent me away. You could have forced me to stop writing, to stop doing anything… You’ve had so many opportunities. And yet you’ve never walked away. Not until now. Why?”
As she stood above him like a benevolent angel, Dominic searched her gaze carefully. Seconds ticked by as he gathered his thoughts.
“I already told you. I will not make demands of you. I trust you, Verity, to do what is right. All I wish is that I had trusted you sooner so I focused less on protecting you than giving you the truth that you always deserved. It was a lesson I learned too late,” he added quietly.
“You talk like it was so simple.”
That garnered a scoff. He finally rose to his feet to focus his gaze on her. There was a gentleness in her eyes that he didn’t recall seeing of late. “Simple? Nothing has been simple. Not with you.”
Her brow furrowed. “I was only making a statement. I meant no harm.”
“And you have not caused any harm. You’ve only upended my entire way of living,” he added wryly. “It was also to help keep distance between us. But you continued to bridge that gap over and over. You changed all the plans I had for us.”
Bewilderment crossed her face. “I did?”
“Nothing has been simple with you, Verity. If it were simple, I could keep you out of my thoughts. Out of my dreams. It would be easier to live every day without you for company instead of whatever you want of our marriage now.”
Inhaling deeply, Verity took a step back and faltered. She raised a hand to her lips as though she was thinking of something. Then she met his gaze again. “It was what I wanted… But I never asked what you did.”
“No.” The hoarseness of his voice surprised them both.
She closed the distance between them again. Lilacs. He took in a breath and wondered if the scent would haunt him through his dreams. “Dominic,” Verity whispered, “What is it you want?”
“I want this. I don’t want the distance. I haven’t wanted it for a long time,” he found himself unable to hold back the truth. “You’ve made it impossible to treat this union like it is empty or can be managed. I was a fool to ever try.”
“Yes, you did try to control the marriage a little at the beginning. And now it would seem I am trying to do the same.” Verity shook her head. “Perhaps we have both been fools.”
His eyes scoured her face for clues, for the only way to touch her without scaring her off. He searched the crinkles around her eyes and the curve of her lips. “Perhaps we could be fools together.”
“Oh?”
“If you leave again, I won’t stop you. You can have your own house, your own household, your own everything far as you likefrom me. But I will not pretend any longer that it doesn’t matter to me.”
