Page 91 of Pints & Potions

Those penetrating eyes peered at her, as if he could see through all the layers of pretense. They missed nothing. Uncomfortable with feeling exposed, she tried to pull away. For someone who was knocking on death’s door not ten minutes before, he was surprisingly strong and hearty.

“Let me go,” she hissed. She didn’t want it to appear like a tug of war to those around them.

“No. You and I need to talk. I’ll not wait another minute to tell you what’s in my heart.”

She heard the door close and realized it was just the two of them. “Those traitors are like rats abandoning ship,” she muttered.

His rumbling laugh erased the last of her worry for him.

“Piper, I owe you an apology and an explanation of the other day’s events.”

She cut him off with a wave of her free hand. “You don’t. It’s all good. All’s forgiven. I’m—”Babbling like a pin-headed goose, as her father would say.

“All’s not forgiven, and it shouldn’t be. Not yet, anyway.” With a firm tug, Cian pulled her to lie atop him. He released her hand to cup her face between his palms. “I’m sorry, Piper. For saying Moira was my fiancée, and for ever making you feel like I didn’t love you with everything that I am. This heart of mine belongs to you and you alone.”

The words to accept his apology were locked in the back of her throat. How could she trust him this time? She’d been played so frequently in life, she didn’t know the truth when she heard it anymore. At least, not from men.

He studied her as she made up her mind, and in his eyes, Piper was certain she saw the love she’d longed for, along with patience and gentle understanding. His tender expression left her raw and aching.

“Why did you claim her as your fiancée, Cian?” She barely managed the question.

“Because she was.Once. My promise hadn’t ended with her death. It should’ve. The honorable part of me believed I needed to formally break it off before I committed fully to you.”

She wanted to yell, to tell him his archaic beliefs were stupid, but she couldn’t. “Did you?”

“Break it off? Sure, and I did. The second you left the room, I told that horrid she-devil that she was nothing to me and if she ever set foot on O’Malley property again, she’d be answering to Alastair Thorne as well as your da and Ryker.”

A grin Piper couldn’t stop, curled her lips. “You were going to sic my dad on her?”

“I’m not a proud man. I know my magical limits.”

Not wanting to add undue pressure to his chest, Piper rolled to the side.

He seemed to take the move as a rejection, and the teasing light left him as he turned on his side to face her. “Isis assured me you were a forgiving sort, if I told you the truth of my heart.”

Was it possible Piper was too much of a pushover?

“Was she wrong, love?”

“Why didn’t you come to my room after you sent Moira away?”

“Would you believe an enchantment kept me away? She warned me to watch me back, and I was fool enough to believe she wouldn’t try anything as soon as she did.”

“Were you able to see it all from the Otherworld?”

“All?”

“Like everything that was said or done here on the earthly plane while you were in stasis?” Did he know she’d conceived a child? Had he seen how pathetically heartbroken she’d been when she’d made the decision to raise their baby alone?

“No. Not all. Isis swung her special stick and the water showed all your efforts to save me. I witnessed everything from the moment you sat beside me and said your goodbyes until I woke up.”

So he didn’t know about the baby. It was still her secret gift from Isis.

“Is there something I should’ve seen, Piper? Something that would make a difference between us?”

“No.” And she spoke the truth. She had no intention of letting a pregnancy decide her commitment to another. She’d only stay with Cian if she believed he truly loved her and intended to put her first. Baby or no. “I won’t pretend I don’t love you or that I wasn’t deeply hurt, but I think you need more time.”

“Why would I be needing more time?”

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