Page 132 of Tiger's Voyage
“Well, don’t you think you’re being overdramatic,” I held up my fingers in a pinch, “just a teensy bit?”
“Maybe. Perhaps it’s because I’m a coward. Shakespeare wrote, ‘Cowards die many times before their deaths, the valiant never taste of death but once.’”
“How does that make you a coward?”
“Because I’ve died many deaths, mostly over you, and I’m still alive. Trying to have a relationship with you is like trying to rescue someone from Hades. Only a fool would keep going back to get a woman who fights him every step of the way.”
“Ah, but that makes you a fool, not a coward.”
He frowned and said, “Perhaps I am both.” He studied my face and asked quietly, “Was it too much to ask you to wait for me? To believe in me? Don’t you know how much I love you?”
I squirmed under his gaze.
Ren pressed on, “I die a little death every time we’re separated, Kelsey.”
I swallowed the guilt and let pride take over. “Lucky for you, cats have nine lives. I only have one life and one heart, and it’s been jerked around so much I’m surprised it still beats.”
“It would help if you stop offering your heart to every man you meet,” he suggested dryly.
“I don’t fall in love with every man I meet despite what you think, Mr. Exaggeration.” I poked him in the chest. “At leastIdon’t parade scantily clad suitors with artificial bosoms around. Besides,youpushedmeaway, not the other way around. It’s your own fault.”
“Well, I didn’t expect that you’d immediately settle down with someoneelsenow, did I? It’s a small ship, I figured. Butno, leave Kelsey alone for five minutes, and she suddenly has a line of boyfriends. Every man on board immediately moves in, don’t they?”
I glared at him. “YousaidKishan and I should—”
He angrily ran a hand through his hair. “Iknowwhat I said. It made sense at the time. But even so, a part of me believed you’d never do it. I didn’t think I could actually convince you that I didn’t love you anymore. It was a bad decision with obviously negative ramifications. I made a mistake. A huge one. But now we’re even. You left me, and I left you. Now we’re done with that. We can set it aside and forget about it.”
“No, we can’t. We’re not the only ones involved this time.”
“There’salwayssomeone else involved. I have to repeatedly bring our relationship, bring us, back from the brink, and frankly, I’m becoming an expert on yanking you away from moving on with other men. How many is it now? Ten? Twenty?”
“You’re exaggerating again.”
Ren was becoming irritated. “Maybe I am. But you know what? That’sokay. It’sfine. That’s right,F-I-N-E,fine. You just go ahead and keep on lining up your fan club because I amalwaysgoing to be there to keep knocking them down.”
A tear trickled down my face, and after a quiet moment, I said, “Ren, yougaveme away. You pushed me into another man’s arms. Did you really think you could just snap your fingers, and I’d come running back to you? That I could break his heart and not hurt my own in the process?”
“I know what I’ve done has hurt you, hurt us, and I also know it’s hurt Kishan. If I was a braver man, I’d leave things the way they are, but Ican’t. You asked me why I’m a coward. I’m acowardbecause I refuse to be without you. I cannot fathom any kind of a happy existence if you’re not in it. I won’t even consider it. So you’d better get used to it, because I won’t stop trying to win you over. If it’s a battle for your heart,iadala, then I’m ready. Even if it turns out the one I’m fighting against isyou.”
“Really, Ren. Can’t you just abide by my decision?”
“No!You’re just as in love with me as I am with you, and if I have to beat that into your thick head then so be it.”
“So much for the poetry, huh?”
He sighed, cupped my chin with his hand, and then turned my face to his. “I don’t need poetry,prema. I just need to get near enough to touch you.” He trailed his fingers lightly down my neck and over a shoulder.
My pulse pounded, and my lip quivered as I sucked in a breath.
“Your heart knows. Your soul remembers.” He leaned over and started kissing my neck, barely skimming the sensitive skin with his lips. “Thisis something you can’t deny. Youbelongwith me. You’re mine.” He whispered softly against my throat, “‘I am he am born to tame you Kate, and bring you from a wild Kate to a Kate comfortable as other household Kates—’”
I froze and pushed him away. “Don’t. Ren, stop! Don’t you dare finish those lines!”
“Kelsey.”
“No.” I got up and walked away quickly, leaving my book on the deck by his feet.
I heard him threaten as I left, “The battle lines are drawn,priyatama. The more formidable the foe, the sweeter the victory.”
