Page 48 of Enthrall Secrets
“I was manipulated.” Danton sucked in a gulp of air. “When you turned up at the airport you were brave and strong and full of life. You were beautiful. They knew I’d crave you. Feel your vitality and not be able to live without it. Without you.”
“I love you,” I stuttered out. “I need you. There must be a cure?” I ran to him and wrapped my arms around his waist.
“There’s nothing to be done.”
I looked up at him realizing he’d brought me here for two reasons: to save me and to keep from having to die alone.
“I want to give you every part of me, Scarlet. Show you that life is good. I saw your pain, saw what life had done to you and I knew I could help you, too. When Cameron told me you’d tried to kill yourself it broke my heart. And here I was fighting for my life. I thought if I could just make you see that life is a gift.”
Tears stung my eyes and my heart was flooded with pain at the thought that Danton couldn’t be mine forever.
“Forgive me for doing this to you.” He hugged me tighter.
“Cameron knew we needed each other.”
“He’s an interfering bastard.” He pulled me back toward the pathway. “You’ll catch a cold out here. Please, let’s go back to the house.”
“Danton? How long do you have before…?”
“A month, perhaps.”
No! This was a nightmare. It didn’t seem real.
But I saw the proof. Here he was, taking a moment to pause and catch his breath halfway up the hill, his expression strained, knowing he had the rest of the way to go before we reached the house.
He needed me.
Not a selfish, immature girl, but a woman who deserved him, my Danton. A lover who understood why he’d once planned on dying alone. The thought of him facing this ordeal in solitude was too terrible to bear.
All this time I’d believed it was him saving me, but now I knew I was meant to be here for him.
But I knew I’d never survive losing him.
Surely Cameron and De Sade had thought of that? Their scheming would lead to a kind of pain a woman would never recover from.
I remembered what Danton had once said to me.
“Cameron wants you to have my name in your mouth for the rest of your life. The question is, do you?”
Yes, I silently screamed. I want this more than anything.
Before Danton I’d hated my life, tasted only bitterness, never once dared to believe that this world might one day find a place for me in it. Death had always seemed so inviting, an enticing doorway through which I’d escape my despair.
But here, now, my love was about to be snatched up in Death’s arms. I hated how I’d been so willing to throw away something so pure when he was fighting for his life.
Cameron had known all along that I needed to face death and be around it to truly understand it.
I forced back my tears, trying to be strong for him. My breathing became ragged from the pressure of holding back this tidal wave of grief.
Danton wasn’t fooled.
“I’m not dead yet, silly.” He reached out to grab my hand. “Come on.” He led me toward the house. “I want to savor each moment with you. Promise me you’ll be strong for me.”
I loved him too much to ever leave him and this was my chance to prove how much I adored him. I’d wait until he slept soundly before I shed any tears. I would hide from him all my worry and be everything he needed me to be, give him everything he wanted in his final weeks.
Once inside we stripped off our soaking wet clothes and dried ourselves off in the bathroom.
Thunder clapped just outside the window and lightning flooded the room, and we ran into the bedroom as though we could hide from it. Danton was laughing, as though he felt relieved that his secret was out.
