Chapter Seven
Throughout his life, Rafe had seen himself as a man who was confident of his own abilities.
He knew how to get things done. He knew how to get what he wanted.
But now, walking along Regent Street under a glowing moon with the woman he’d never stopped loving, he wondered if the one thing he wanted most in life was out of his reach. And it was his own blasted fault.
He wasn’t about to admit defeat. He wanted Nell too bloody much to simply walk away. There had to be a way to break down the shields she’d erected around her heart. He might well suffer a defeat to rival Napoleon at Waterloo. But bloody hell if he wasn’t going to try.
She was breathtaking in the moonlight, a goddess come to life. And she didn’t even know it.
“I haven’t told you the whole story… the reason I left Paris,” he said after they’d walked in near silence from the gallery to Piccadilly Circus.
“You told me everything I needed to know,” she said. “I don’t believe you misled me.”
“I did not,” he said. “Not directly. But perhaps by omission.”
“You told me you had a duty to fulfill. I did try to understand.” Her voice was soft as velvet, slightly husky with emotion.
“Nell, my father had intended that I marry the daughter of his business partner. It was to be a merger, of sorts.”
“The union was a lucrative prospect, I would imagine.”
She sounded so reasonable and so resigned, it plowed into him like a punch to the gut.
“We were never betrothed. There was no proposal. And no words of love. Simply an understanding between two families. Our fathers had decided this for us when we were children,” he explained.
“When I left for Paris, I knew I would be expected to return to face my duty… the future that had been mapped out for me.” Reaching for her hand, he was pleasantly surprised when she did not jerk away. “But then I met you.”
And I fell in love with you.
“You should’ve told me,” Nell said, her words low and controlled. “Perhaps I would’ve understood. I might have been able to accept that we would not be forever and simply relish the time we had together.”
“You’re right. But I was selfish,” he said with complete honesty. “I wanted you so bloody much, I didn’t even want to think of what was to come.”
“But still, you left.” She veiled her eyes with her lashes. “You left me.”
“I will regret that decision until my dying breath.” He raked a hand through his hair, searching for the right words with which to speak the truth.
“As soon as I boarded the train, I knew I did not want to live out my days without you. When I returned home, I cut off any discussion of a marriage neither of us wanted.”
She wandered over to the ornate fountain. Gaslight glimmered against Nell’s golden hair. Blast it, he wanted to weave his fingers through those silky strands. He wanted to taste her lips and hear her whisper his name.
Forcing his attention to the fountain, if only to distract from the sudden rush of hunger, he spotted the coins tossed against the bronze bowl of the structure.
“I returned to Paris within a fortnight. But you were gone.”
“I’d been on a journey with my aunt. Tilly decided she was in the mood for German cuisine, so off we went.”
“I searched the city, but I did not know how to find you. Suddenly, I was called home… I came into this blasted title. Everything shifted in the blink of an eye. But still, one thing never changed.” He cupped her cheek, drinking in the loveliness without compare. “I never stopped wanting you.”
He saw the sheen in her eyes, the tears she was trying not to shed. He’d hurt her. How he regretted ever making her cry.
“What we had was lovely, Rafe.” She sounded a bit wistful as she met his gaze. A hint of a smile touched her rosy mouth. “I even made a wish, right here, at this very fountain, for a happiness very much like what we had.”
“Did you now?” The thought of it charmed him. He tried to picture her tossing a coin into the water with a pleasant hope for the future.
“It was Penelope’s idea. A simple amusement on a beautiful day.”
He drew her to him, one hand still clasped with hers. Gently, he caressed her cheek with the other hand. By thunder, she was looking at him with a tenderness he’d long dreamed of seeing in her eyes.
“Nell, tell me what you wished for.”
She lightly shook her head. “It was quite fanciful. Perhaps even silly.”
“But what was it that you asked for?” he pressed, tracing the curve of her mouth with one finger.
“I think you already know.” She glanced away. “What we had in Paris was beautiful. I had never been happier.” She met his eyes. “But it wasn’t meant to last forever.”
“And if I want it to be forever?”
“I don’t know if forever was ever truly a possibility. Not then.” She pulled in a breath, appearing to hold back tears. “Not now.”
Drinking her in, he studied her. If only he could heal her wary heart.
“I think I have a solution,” he said finally.
“Do you, now?”
Her eyes lit with intrigue. She was always so very curious. How he adored that about her.
He took two coins from his pocket and tossed them into the water. “There, now I’ve solved everything.”
“Might I ask how you accomplished this feat?”
“I made a wish,” he said. “Two, as a matter of fact.”
A smile played on her lips. Bloody hell, he wanted to kiss her.
“And what precisely did you wish for?”
“First, I wondered if you might ever forgive me. I know I hurt you, darling.” He swept a kiss over her temple. “I regret that I ever caused you a moment of pain.”
She nodded slowly, taking in his words. “And what else?” Her voice was soft, yet slightly roughened by emotion. “What else did you wish for?”
“You.” He spoke the word as a confession, heartfelt and utterly true.
A tear flowed down her cheek. With infinite care, he glided the tip of his finger over her cheek, softly brushing away the fat teardrop he knew she’d tried so very hard not to shed.
“Darling, I should like to begin anew.” With deliberate restraint, Rafe brushed his lips over hers, tasting her sweetness. “We are so good together. Let me prove it to you. Again.”
When he looked into her sapphire eyes, he saw an emotion that made his heart soar.
Hope.
“I think I should like that.” Her velvet-smooth voice was hushed, but the words were spoken without a hint of hesitation.
For a long moment, Rafe watched her, taking in the subtle shifts in her expression. Her beautiful mouth curved up ever so slightly at the corners, her pensive smile more tempting than any he’d ever seen. In her gaze, he read the true depth of her feelings for him. Of her love.
The steady cascade of water streaming down the fountain seemed a symphony to his ears. With a gentle touch, he framed her face in his hands. He wasn’t entirely sure he deserved her, but he would devote his life to proving himself worthy of Nell. Worthy of her heart.
And then he kissed her again, a slow, unhurried caress he would remember until the end of his days.
“I love you, Nell.” Drawing her close, he swept his lips along the curve of her throat and murmured the truth in his heart against her ear. “More than I ever believed possible, I love you.”
“Oh, Rafe.” Her words sounded like a plea as she looped her arms around his neck. Rising on her tiptoes, she kissed him, a tempting caress of her delicious lips against his. “I do love you, Rafe. So very, very much.”
Holding her in his arms, he knew Nell was the woman he would want until his last breath. “There is no other,” he said, kissing her again. “You are my forever love.”
*
In that moment, standing beneath an iridescent sliver of moon before the very same fountain into which she’d tossed a coin, Nell knew beyond all doubt she had gotten her wish.
And so much more.
Rafe’s sleekly muscled arms enfolded her in his embrace. He held her close. So very close. Drinking in the subtle herbal notes of his shaving tonic, she closed her eyes. She could feel the steady rhythm of his breaths and sense the steady beat of his heart.
Dipping his head to kiss her, he claimed her lips with tenderness and desire, taking and giving and tempting her beyond all reason. She melted against him, delighting in the pleasure of his sensuous touch.
Through the haze of emotion, she heard the slight gasps and twitters of the crowd, onlookers murmuring in delighted approval or shocked dismay.
Not that it mattered. Nell did not care. Not one whit.
For so many nights, her heart had ached for him. And now, she was going to savor this moment in the arms of the man she adored.
She drank in the feel of him. The power of him. The taste of his mouth and the heat of his body and the delicious, wicked promises Rafe whispered against her ear.
And in that moment, Nell knew the truth.
He loved her. And she loved him. Together, they would forge a bond of trust and passion and heartfelt need.
And all because she’d made a wish.
The End