Page 44 of Because You're Mine
“You told me this was what you wanted the first time we met.”
“It was…but nothing’s turned out the way I thought it would.”
“What a puzzle you are,” Logan said, wiping the wet corners of her eyes with his thumbs. “Tell me what you want, then.”
He was so gentle, so tender, that for a wild moment Madeline thought of confessing everything to him. But if he knew the truth, he would hate her for it, for lying to him and planning to use him, and making him the unwitting target of her ridiculous scheme. She had no choice but to leave him and hope that he would never guess what she had tried to do.
“Logan,” she said, her voice blotted against his silk robe, “I can’t stay with you any longer. I’m leaving tomorrow.”
Easing her head away from his chest, he stared at her with penetrating blue eyes. “Why?”
“The past two weeks have been like something from a dream. I’ve been very happy here…with you…but I have another life to return to. It’s time I went home.”
His hand moved over her back in a slow, repeated stroke. “Where is home, Maddy?”
“Another world away,” she said, thinking bleakly of the remote country estate where she would spend the rest of her life as Lord Clifton’s wife, giving birth to his children and striving to please him.
“Is there another man?” he asked, as if he could read her thoughts.
The image of Lord Clifton’s smug face rose before her, and she closed her eyes while tears squeezed from beneath her lashes. “Yes.”
Logan showed no surprise at her answer, but Madeline sensed a powerful emotion…anger?…jealousy?…stirring beneath the stillness.
“Tell me who he is. I’ll take care of everything.”
She became alarmed at the steely purpose in his voice. “No, you can’t—”
“You’re going to stay here, Maddy.” He pulled the pins from her hair and smoothed the rippling locks over his arm. “I’ve needed someone like you for a long time. Now that I have you, no one is going to take you from me.”
“I’m not at all what you want,” Madeline said, rubbing the heels of her hands over her wet eyes. “We’re as different as two people can possibly be.”
Logan smiled in wry agreement. “I doubt we’re anyone’s idea of a perfect match, but I don’t give a damn. I’d forgotten how it felt to want someone this badly. After the last time, I swore never to go through it again.”
“You mean when you fell in love with Olivia,” she said.
His smile vanished, and he stared at her quizzically. “How did you know her name?”
“You called out to her during the fever. You were angry…you called her things I never…” Madeline stopped and turned scarlet, remembering the words he had used.
“Yes,” he said wryly. “That was because Olivia slept with Andrew while she was engaged to me.”
“Lord Drake? Your friend…but why would she do that?”
“Olivia was impressed with his titles and social position, far above anything I’ll ever aspire to. I was a fool for thinking I loved her—but she was beautiful and sophisticated, the kind of woman I thought I would never have.” He paused, his expression becoming remote. “I don’t know what you’ve heard about my past. It’s not exactly an illustrious one.”
Madeline was silent and curious, waiting for him to continue.
“My father is a tenant on Lord Rochester’s estate. Andrew is Rochester’s only heir. I grew up with Andrew, and for a while I was allowed to take lessons with him, until I became so unruly that Rochester deemed me a bad influence.”
“I don’t believe that.”
Logan smiled wryly. “You didn’t know me then. I was a petty thief, a vandal…I prided myself on being the village bully.”
“Why?”
“Youthful rebellion…anger. I resented the fact that there was never enough to eat, that we lived in a hovel…mostly I was angry that no matter what I did, my lot in life was already determined.”
“Yes,” Maddy said softly. “I’ve felt that way too.”
