Page 84 of Countess So Shameless (Scandal in London 1)

After a moment, she reluctantly stepped aside.

Henry slipped past, carefully avoiding her person.

Sabrina followed, leaving the door unlocked. As long as he didn’t get between her and that door, she was safe. Shivering, she moved to the fire’s warmth. “Have your say, then, and begone,” she commanded, ignoring the strangled sound that issued from her uninvited guest.

Striding over to her bed with a curse, Henry yanked off the heavy down quilt and held it out to her. When she made no move to take it, he shook it, turning his face away. “Take it, damn it! Or I won’t be responsible for what happens.”

The shriek she’d been preparing to release died in her throat, suffocated by mortification. Snatching the blanket, she quickly pulled it around herself, grateful for the warmth as well as the concealment it provided.

With a sigh, Henry sank into one of the chairs before the hearth, gesturing for her to do the same.

Sabrina perched on the very edge of the seat opposite him and waited.

“I wish to marry you,” he said at last. He looked at her then, and his eyes revealed the depth of his turmoil. “I can find neither peace nor joy in the things that once brought me pleasure. You are all I think about, night and day. Please.”

“That is not possible,” she managed, shaken by his bluntness.

“Why?”

“Because...” Her parched tongue would not form the words. Every fevered dream she’d had during the past week was sitting right here in front of her, living and breathing. In her room. He wore his shirtsleeves with the neck open, and she could see his throat as it worked when he spoke. Her fingers longed to trace the line of it, to feel his voice vibrating beneath them.

Sweet heaven help me...

“Why?” he demanded. “Why won’t you consider me?”

“Because you’re not the right man!” There, she’d said it.

One brow rose. “And might I inquire as to whom you think that is?”

She answered him with stubborn silence.

“Who, Sabrina?”

“I don’t know—but it isn’t you!” she burst out, releasing some of her frustration. She saw him flinch, and shame gnawed at her. “I’m sorry!” she wailed, fighting the urge to go to him and soothe away the hurt she’d just inflicted. “I just...” She took a deep, steadying breath. “It was like this between my parents, and my mother was miserable because of it. I cannot endure what she suffered. Please understand.”

“We are not our parents.”

“No, but I’m not so foolish as to think history cannot repeat itself. I want a marriage that does not include this, this...emotional upheaval!”

“Sabrina, I can assure y—”

“No!” she yelped, jumping up to put her chair between them as he rose. “And you swore you wouldn’t touch me and that you’d leave me alone once you said your piece! Well, now you’ve spoken. Please go. Now. Before something terrible happens.”

His brows crashed together. “And by terrible, I suppose you mean my making love to you?”

Sabrina looked down to where her toes curled into the rug. Heat suffused her at his bold words. It was both humiliating and utterly debilitating, her reaction to him. He had to leave. Immediately.

Her head snapped up, eyes widening in alarm as Henry slowly advanced toward her. She took a hasty step back.

“I swore not to lay a hand on you, and I shan’t,” he said in response. “I never break my word, Sabrina.”

Even so, the look in his eyes made her take another step back. Panic fluttered in her breast as her backside bumped into something behind her, the wardrobe.

“I promised I’d leave you alone for the remainder of the night when I was done,” he continued.

“Yes, you did—now leave!” she choked. Fumbling behind her, she searched for the edge of the obstacle, not daring to take her eyes off him.

“Ah, but I’m not finished, Sabrina. In fact, I’m far from through with you.”

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