Page 40 of Haunted Hearts

She giggled. “Yes. And when we tried to sneak in to Alderwood Castle using the postern door, my gown got caught and ripped all the way up to my waist?”

They both laughed now. “I had a lot of explaining to do to your father, didn’t I?”

“If it wasn’t for me begging my mother to help us, I swear my father would have hanged you from the battlements.”

Blaze boldly reached out and put his arm around Lillith’s shoulders. She, in turn, leaned in to him, resting her head against his chest.

“Blaze?”

“Hmm?” He nuzzled his face against her hair, not caring that it was wet.

“I don’t believe for a moment that your mother cursed my brother, Robert.”

“Really.” He looked at her from the corners of his eyes. “But you did believe it, didn’t you? That’s why you feared me and my family for the last five years and didn’t even come near me?”

“I suppose I let my father convince me, and I shouldn’t have. He was very superstitious and liked to blame the bad happenings in life on others. I don’t think he could cope with death or disappointment. That is why he drank so much.”

“I’ve never known you to be someone who didn’t make her own choices and have her own opinions, Lilly.”

“He forbade me to go near you.”

“Your actions have really disappointed me. I thought I knew you.” He slipped his arm off of her and continued to play with the twig.

“You do know me, Blaze. I’m the same Lilly I always was.”

“Are you?” He raised a brow. “The Lilly I knew wouldn’t be caught dead being betrothed to anyone she didn’t want to marry.”

“That’s not fair. You know a woman has no say as to whom her father betroths her to. Why should I be any different?”

“You’re right, I suppose. But I can’t help thinking that maybe you wanted that betrothal with the baron after all.” When she remained quiet, he knew his assumption was right. “I suppose I can’t blame you. After all, the baron has so much more to offer. I don’t even have a title, a castle, or anything that you deserve. I feel bad for your sister.” He chuckled, but not because he thought it was funny.

“All right, I admit, mayhap I did want to marry the baron at first,” she said with a sigh, looking away. “But it was only because my father hated you and your family so much, and I feared you.”

“You feared me? How could you? You know I’d never do anything to hurt you.”

“I do know that. I am embarrassed to have ever doubted that now. Honestly, I only agreed to it because I didn’t want to become a nun, being so old and still unmarried. You know, my father would have had no qualms in sending me to a convent.”

They both laughed at that, breaking the tension between them.

He looked back out at the rain. “I never gave up on us, Lilly. Even through the hard times, I had faith that we’d once again, someday, be together.”

“And we are. Right here, right now,” she said, putting her hand on his knee, but it didn’t make him smile.

“You know what I mean.”

“Kiss me, Blaze. Please,” she said in a sultry whisper. “It is all I’ve been able to think about since you kissed me in the woods.”

He looked at her lips and wanted this more than anything. But he knew if he kissed her, he wouldn’t be able to stop. He would end up making love with her, right here on the cave floor. Lust roared in his veins. His heart about beat out of his chest. He’d been dreaming of making love with Lilly for so long now. But now that he had the chance to do it, he couldn’t.

“I can’t,” he said, quickly standing up before he was tempted to do something he would regret. “You are betrothed to another man, and I have no right to take what has been offered to him. The rain seems to be letting up now. I think we should go.”

“Oh. All right,” she said sounding very disappointed as Blaze helped her to her feet.

The sound of a bird’s cry pierced the air, catching Blaze’s attention. “That sounds like Ebony. I’ll bet she found the horses nearby and is trying to tell me.”

“Then we’d better hurry,” said Lillith, following him out of the cave. Blaze didn’t want to look at Lillith. He couldn’t. It hurt too bad to turn her away. The way he just had. But what felt even worse was to know that what he really wanted, he could never have.