Page 32 of Marigold and the Marquess
He groaned. “Marigold, why do you have to be so…you? I have no interest in Lady Barrington. I know what she wanted and I am not going to provide it to her now or later or ever.”
“Am I supposed to believe you? If you are going to indulge in sordid affairs, pray be more discreet about it. I do not wish to have your paramours shoved in my face.”
“Sordid affairs? Paramours?” He shook his head and stared at her in disbelief. “I was minding my own business and eating my meal. Women come on to me all the time. What am I supposed to do? Lecture them on the sins of the flesh? Frankly, Marigold, why is it any of your business what I do?”
“None. This is not your fault at all. You have not led me on. Good grief, I hardly know you. Do you think I am happy that my heart feels ripped apart?” Her tears now fell onto her cheeks and wet them. “I was completely caught by surprise by my feelings for you. I had no idea of the power in a kiss.”
She had not let go of her handkerchief in all this time and now used it to dry her tears. “Oh, Leo. I thought I could satisfy my curiosity and it would be enough. A first kiss. With you. I know I am making too much of it. Fool that I am, I truly believed it meant something special to you. Then seeing you with Lady Barrington…I knew you had already forgotten me.”
“I will never forget you,” he said in a raspy whisper, cupping her face in his hands as he stared at her with dark, hot eyes. “Our kiss was special. It was genuine.”
“Oh, yes, for my part. But I am nothing more than a witless innocent to you. You have been avoiding me ever since that kiss, and this is what hurts most. I thought you understood me, saw me as something more than a little ball of fluff. But this is all anyone thinks of me. No one takes me seriously.” She tried to shove him away when he wrapped his arms around her to draw her up against him. “Release me or I shall scream.”
“And have yourself ruined as everyone rushes in here to find us together? Oh, I will probably have no choice but to marry you then. However, since you overheard everything, you now understand the reason why I cannot marry you. I am going to kill that traitor, shoot him down in cold blood if this is what it takes to have my revenge. And if my friends cannot figure out which of those three is the traitor, then I will kill all three men because this is how tortured I feel inside. Is this what you wish for yourself? To be married to a murderer?”
She stared at him in horror. “You cannot be serious. You would kill two innocent men?”
His eyes were crystals of ice. “To still the demons in my soul? Without hesitation.”
“No…no. You are not thinking straight.”
“Forgive me, my pet. But four years in a hellish hole has a way of skewing a man’s sense of honor.”
“Leo, I will not allow you to do this.”
He kissed her softly on the mouth. “My sweet ray of sunshine, you cannot stop me. So have your cry, although I am not worth it.” He kissed her again, another achingly soft kiss. “If it is any consolation, I am also in agony. I know what my dinner companion was hoping for, but I ignored the obvious proposition because…”
“Because you cannot be distracted from your murderous designs?”
“No, that meaningless romp would never distract me. The reason I declined is that I have no desire to be with anyone but you. Is this not the grandest jest? I am to be a monk because I will have no one but you. And yet, you are the last person I want anywhere near me as I destroy myself along with that traitor. You are too precious to me and I never want to hurt you. Run away from me, Marigold. Run before you are also damaged by this doomed affair.”
“Our kiss really meant something to you?”
“It meanteverything.”
His lips crushed down on hers to prove his point, although his words conveyed the feeling quite eloquently. She loved his kisses, the warmth of his mouth on hers, the possessive heat as his lips ground on hers with just enough force to reveal his desire and also his promise never to hurt her.
Well, this was a coil.
How was she to dismiss her feelings for him now?
More important, how was she to save him when he was determined to push her away? She would have to give it thought and come up with a plan. But any sensible thinking would have to wait until tomorrow because his kiss had her mindless and craving more of him.
“Leo,” she whispered against his mouth, probably unintelligibly because their mouths were like two hot metals fused together by fire.
She wrapped her arms around his neck and held onto his hard, muscled frame as shudders tore through her.
He groaned and lifted her up against him, his mouth never leaving hers.
She was still lost in his kiss when he suddenly froze.
Before she knew what was happening, he set her down, nudged her behind him, and whirled to face the door, pistol in hand. Where had that weapon come from? And who were all those people standing in the doorway? Oh, dear.
She recognized most of these witnesses.
How much had they seen?
“Uncle John…erm. And you are here too, Uncle George. Ah, and Uncle Rupert is with you. Um, what is thatthuckingsound?”
