Page 16 of The Runaway Heiress
“Gray!” She meant to scold but it came out as a laugh and then she felt a suspicious hardness strain his pants and press against her buttocks. “God, you’re insatiable.”
“I can’t get enough of you.” He smiled against her neck.
“If only I wasn’t so sore.” She’d lost track of how many times he’d been inside her and knew she’d be tender for weeks as it was.
“I’m not sorry for that.”
“Beast,” she accused as she turned in his arms and wrapped hers around his shoulders.
He growled and kissed her until reluctantly pulling back to retrieve her clothes. He even helped her dress, kissing each body part before he covered it. Once she was fully dressed the mood changed subtly, and the reality they had tried so hard to keep at bay slowly began to infiltrate their nest. When she turned from the shaving mirror, finished with her hair, he grabbed her hand and silently pulled her down onto his lap in the chair.
She curled into him and buried her face in his neck, breathing deeply of his scent while some invisible clock ticked away their last minutes together. Even now, with only moments left in their solitude, she was reluctant to ruin it with talk of what might happen. But she knew it must be discussed. There would be no time alone once they met Monsieur Sinclair and Martine at the dress shop.
“Gray, I…” His thumb, all this time absently stroking a stray lock of her hair, stilled. She watched him gently disentangle his hand and move it to grip the arm of the chair. Her gaze turned then to find his, to understand why he had suddenly gone stiff. But he only looked at her, giving nothing away. She recognized it as the facade she often wore herself, a wall between them, and it scared her like nothing else could, but she persisted.
“How do we go on from here? I can’t imagine…I don’t want to go on without this—without you.”
He didn’t say anything. They gray of his eyes had turned to steel.
Her stomach twisted in fear, but she had to say it. She could not go the rest of her life without saying it. “I’ve never felt aboutanyone else the way I feel about you. I want to be with you.”I think I could love you.There was no time left. It was now or never. “I think I—”
He flinched when she touched his cheek, throwing cold water on the words lodged in her throat. The chill worked its way to her extremities until her fingertips were numb with it, and her hand dropped uselessly to her lap.
“There has to be a wedding, Sophie.” The words only confirmed what his face had told her. She barely felt it as he gently took hold of her and set her on her feet.
“I don’t understand,” she finally managed in a near whisper.
He was standing then, close enough to touch, but their arms stayed firmly at their sides. She watched him open and close his mouth several times in an effort to gather his thoughts. Finally he spoke, but it fell pathetically short of what she needed to hear. “We had last night.” He did seem regretful as he spoke and touched a wisp of her hair. “I can’t promise you anything. I never promised you more. Please.” He dropped his hand and took in a deep breath.
“Please?” The expression of resigned regret he wore did nothing to soothe her. “Please what?” For the life of her she had no idea what he was asking or wanting from her. She could not accept what he was telling her, could not accept that he was ready to move on. Each time they had made love it had been more achingly tender than the last.
“Don’t ask more of me.” His voice was low, aching.
As reality came crashing down, she realized the possible consequences of their night and her hand instinctively went to her belly.
“Don’t worry,” he quickly reassured her, correctly interpreting her action. “I never spilled my seed in you.”
She jerked as if he had slapped her. She was thankful he had thought to ensure there would be no child to consider, but itwas a harsh reminder that he had been thinking of this moment when he would say goodbye to her all along. Which, of course he had been, the night wasn’t supposed to be anything more.
She was the fool here. She was the one trying to make more of it than it was.
His hands were on her shoulders. “Sophie, don’t be mad. I would change things if I could.”
What he meant by that statement she didn’t know or care to take the time to figure out. She whirled away from him and quickly settled the veiled hat on her head. The room had become stifling, and she needed to get away from him.
“I understand.” She managed to keep her voice steady. “I wouldn’t ask you to face my uncle.” And she didn’t want him to face Jean. He’d only be hurt or, more likely, killed. It was best this way. This way she was the only one hurt.
She fled down the stairs and blindly made her way back to the dress shop. She knew he shadowed her by only a few steps, but she did her best not to look at him. Anton Beaudin was her future and she cursed herself every kind of fool for forgetting it even for a moment.
Only the strength of his iron will kept Gray from pulling Sophie to him and refusing to let her go. He wanted her in his life. Hell, he’d acknowledged that from the moment he’d watched her come apart in his arms. Being with her had given him a sense of redemption, of life, of what it would be to love and have a future. What it meant to be accepted. No one had ever looked at him with the love and acceptance she had shown him. But he had a job to do and that had to come first, because if he didn’t put it first they would have no chance at all.
If only he could tell her all of that. He couldn’t take the risk she might reveal their plan. His only choice was to endure her hate until the wedding and beg her forgiveness after.
And hope that everything went according to plan and she didn’t end up married to Beaudin.
Chapter Ten
Sophie closed her eyes and held her face up to the cool wind that blew in from across the valley, doing her best to settle her nerves for the drop that was ahead of her. She perched on her knees by the open window of her bedroom and slowly opened her eyes to look down. Her bedroom faced the back of the house and the roof of the sunroom was just below. It was only a short drop down and then another to the ground.
