Page 30 of The Scarred Duchess Deal
My dearest,
I cannot bear to be parted from you for another night. My love for you is such that I cannot wait another moment longer to be with you. I shall wait in the library this evening until midnight. I hope you will meet me there.
The letter was unsigned. Overcome with excitement, Leo fully glossed over the contents and their connotation. As long as she wished to see him, that was all that mattered. He was out of the room before he could fully process exactly what the written words stated. If this was her changing her mind or giving him another chance, he was going to take it. He would take this chance to tell her all of the things that he had refused to. It was a mistake in turning her away and denying her affections. Groveling at her very feet if he needed to.
Leo passed through the darkened hallways as silently as possible. He ought to have taken more care to have dressed himself in a presentable fashion for their reunion. As it was, his white shirt was untucked from his trousers and hung loosely around his arms. His hair, still styled from the events of the day, was accompanied by a flush of excitement that encompassed the rest of him. Leo slid into the library and quietly shut the door behind him.
Candlelight was not quite strong enough to illuminate the space properly. The warm light cast an almost romantic lighting over the bookshelves that stretched nearly to the ceiling. The library was one of his grandfather’s pride and joys. It was almost shocking that there were not any number of his feline companions surrounding Leo’s ankles looking for a scratch behind the ear. The large, soft couches hidden among the shelves were covered in thick, plush blankets to prevent their claws from scratching the fabric as Aurelius sat and cuddled with them, lost in his favorite books.
Leo had always wanted to feel more at home here. He was not the sort of man to take comfort in spending hours with books. He felt that he was far too restless for that sort of thing. He would rather experience the adventures than read about them. However, if this room was the place where he was able to mend his mistakes, it would become his favorite room in the whole house.
The only issue: he could not see her.
“Tessa?” Leo whispered. Somebody was here, that much he was certain of. A smile started to spread across his face in spite of himself. Too optimistic for his own good. “Are you hiding away from me?”
Instead of a giggle, he was met with a long-suffering sigh and the sound of a book snapping shut. He was wholly unprepared for the look of irritation on her face as she clutched her book to her chest. Her brow lifted in an obvious question as to what he was doing there.
He had only half-formed a speech on the way here, but now he was doubting himself.
A moment of silence passed between them as Tessa looked at him expectantly. When he could not think of anything worthy to say, she huffed.
“We agreed to keep apart from one another.” Her tone was firm.
“Well, yes, but–” Leo started, confused.
“And yet you come here to seek me out?” Tessa inquired.
“Seek you–” he echoed as the last of his hope started to dwindle away. “You invited me here. You wrote me a note requesting my presence,” Leo explained.
“A note?” Tessa’s eyes widened. “Surely you can come up with a better explanation than that.”
Leo shook his head. “No, it is not a farce nor an excuse to see you. See for yourself.” Leo started to pat at his person, looking for the letter that he had found on his dresser. It was not there. He could have sworn that he had put it into his pocket after reading it. “It is here somewhere–”
Tessa shook her head. “Oh, I am certain of that.”
She did not spare him another moment before attempting to stroll forward out of the room.
“Wait!” Leo’s hand caught her by the elbow and spun her toward him.
“Do not make this any harder than it already is, Your Grace, please.” She glanced down at his hand on her elbow. She could not bring herself to wrench out of his grip even as his thumb swept softly over the bare space of skin. “Turn me loose. Inventing stories in order to be near me is beneath you.”
Leo did not wish for her to go. The mystery of who could have written the letter if it was not her was the furthest thing from his mind. The only thing that mattered was that she was here, with him, and he could right his mistakes. “Call it fate, then.” Softly he urged her closer toward him. “I have missed your company.”
Tessa’s gaze dropped down to where they connected as she allowed herself to be pulled closer until she could feel the heat of him against her. It took everything in her power to keep from touching him.
“I confess that I have missed you as well… but we made an agreement. We both agreed that we will keep to things of a professional nature since we want such different things–” Her eyes flicked up to his as she spoke. What she saw reflected there nearly made her heart skip a beat. Never before had his blue eyes looked so open, so vulnerable.
“I must have been a madman to think that I could ever keep myself from you, Tessa. Or perhaps I felt myself stronger than I am. I cannot keep myself from you. This cannot go on. Can you find it in your heart to forgive me?”
A knot of emotion formed in Tessa’s throat. She knew that his words were genuine. She knew that he meant each and every one of them… but she did not know yet if she could trust his new intentions or not.
“I… I am not certain. You say such things to me here in private but how am I to trust that you will not simply change your mind once more? I cannot handle affections that run hot and cold on a whim, Your Grace.”
“Leo. Please,” he requested.
Tessa paused, trying to hold herself together as his knuckles ran up the back of her arm. They glossed over her shoulders and sent sparks of anticipation dancing across her exposed skin. Of course, she wanted him. Of course, she wished to touch him, and be as near to him as she possibly could; it was why she had made herself so vulnerable to him in the first place.
“Even if you cannot forgive me for now, allow me a second chance to make things up to you and regain your trust,” Leo whispered, his face only an inch away from hers.
