Page 78 of The Wrong Bride
“Riona, talk to me.”
He rose to his feet, and having totally forgotten about the rope around his ankles, not to mention his breeches, he almost fell over. But he had no time to deal with that. He sat down next to her, but she only curled into a ball away from him.
“Riona, I cannot help if we don’t talk.”
“Help?” She gave a harsh laugh that had nothing to do with amusement. “There is no help. I can’t love you, Hugh—we’re not supposed to be together.You’re my cousin’s b-betrothed and I just—just seduced you!”
She shuddered and hugged herself, sobbing, while a terrible feeling of foreboding began in his chest and moved up to his brain. Why was she still saying this? She’d been happy—she’d helped his people, she’d helpedhim.
She sat up, pulled the counterpane around her shoulders with trembling fingers, then raised her face to his. Tearstains caught the candle and gleamed; her swollen eyes were full of sorrow. His foreboding became dread.
“I cannot have you,” she whispered with despair. “I want you; I wish I could stay here and be your wife, but any time now the truth will catch up to us. I—I keep waiting for my uncle to arrive with glee as he keeps the McCallum land, and all the dowry money, for himself.” Her head dropped and the sobs grew louder again.
Hugh felt almost light-headed with the sudden certainty that she’d been telling the truth all along, and he hadn’t believed her. He wanted to pace, but the damned rope held him in place—the rope he’d used against her, to make her see that they belonged together. He felt like such a fool, and had no idea what to do first. Except untie the rope. He leaned down to do so.
“Hugh, you have to believe me,” she pleaded. “But . . . no one needs to know what happened here.You can let me go. I won’t tell Cat. Some time will pass and I’ll convince her to come meet you. You’ll see, she’s w-wonderful.” She shuddered and cried some more. “And I’ve betrayed my cousin and slept with her betrothed.”
Her last whisper was so agonized he felt as if she scratched him. He should touch her, but she was naked, and he’d seduced her—just like his father would have done. She’d been unwilling, and he’d relentlessly pursued her, even tied her into bed.
Guilt and shame washed over him. He yanked up and buttoned his breeches, then poured himself a large goblet of the wine and swallowed it all.
He’d thought he’d escaped the curse of his youth, the way he’d reacted to bad situations with recklessness. But when the betrothal hadn’t gone his way, he’d simply told himself he was doing the right thing, and was just as reckless, if not more so. He’d stolen an innocent woman, humiliated her, and taken her virginity, ruining her for any other man. She could be with child.
He didn’t know what to say to her. The words were caught so high up in his throat, it was like he was choking. He found himself on his knees before her.
“Riona.” Her name was harsh in his mouth. “My God, what I’ve done to ye.” He put his face on her bare knees. “I can’t even ask for forgiveness. I deserve none.”
He felt her trembling hand on his head, gently soothing back his hair. Now she was comfortinghim! He was so disgusted with himself that he wanted to fling himself away from her sweet presence. But she’d think he blamed her, and he couldn’t do that.
“Hugh, you were not doing this for selfish reasons,” she said at last. “You were acting on behalf of your people, when my uncle failed to follow through on his side of a good-faith bargain.”
He sank back on his haunches to look up at her. “But if I’d have only believed ye, I could have returned ye immediately. But I was convinced that your father—your uncle—was trying to cheat me—”
“And he was,” she said bitterly. “He was trying to ruin the contract and make it your fault. He planted me in that room to make sure you took the wrong woman. I—I don’t know what he’s said to Cat or my family about this. I’ve been gone over a month. My parents weren’t due to come home until at least October, so they won’t miss me. But Cat . . .” Her words trailed off, and her shoulders sagged.
Cat. There was another Catriona Duff in the world, the one he was supposed to marry. Not only had he ruined Riona, he’d dishonored her cousin. He sat down on the floor with his back against the bed.
Riona slipped down and sat beside him, the counterpane around her like a cloak. It covered hernudity, but it could not erase the images of her removing her clothes for him. She was being careful now not to touch him, but he didn’t need to touch her to feel the heat of her presence, the call of his passion for her that even now wouldn’t die.
“Why did ye let me . . .” And he couldn’t finish the question.
“Why did I make love to you?” she asked, her voice hollow. “Because . . . I was tired of resisting myself.”
The last word was not what he’d imagined she’d say.
“You thought I would be your wife,” she said sadly. “And then you grew to desire me just for myself. And I couldn’t resist. There was a part of me that pushed every doubt away. I just wanted to . . . feel, maybe to . . . pretend. I kept telling myself that before I left, I wanted you to know the peace of the truth about Brendan, and to begin to see your mother for the flawed woman she is, not the bearer of the guilt that should be your father’s alone. I thought I could make up for what this”—she waved a hand between them—“was going to cost you. But all it did was make me see what a good man you are, how far you’ve come on behalf of your people.”
“A good man?” He practically choked on the words. “I have hurt ye in ways I cannot even express. And tonight, the ultimate in pain. I took what was yours to grant your husband.”
She leaned against his arm. “And tonight, I wanted to pretend that husband was you. It was my choice, Hugh, my decision. Being here, with you and your people, taught me to stand up for what I wanted even if I make a mistake. Don’t blame yourself.”
For endless minutes, they said nothing, just sat, barely touching each other, staring at the peat fire smoldering on the hearth.
“What should we do now?” she asked wearily.
He sighed. “Part of me thinks I should go after your uncle in revenge for what he allowed to happen to ye, for deliberately placing ye in the way of his enemy.”
She stiffened. “Another war, Hugh? Because that’s what it would be.”
