Chapter 4
Flat, emotionless, and cold, Genevieve’s declaration rang out with the same low vibration of a church bell booming in the air. What the devil did she mean she would handle things herself? Shock delivered an almost physical blow to Theo’s stomach.
Christ Jesus, she meant to end the pregnancy rather than marry him if she discovered she was with child. Horrified, he stared at her pale features in disbelief. Was the thought of marrying him so terrible that she was willing to do anything to avoid being his wife?
“I need to return to the abbey before someone comes looking for me,” she said in a dispassionate voice as she met his gaze. He shook his head and scowled down at her.
“Sit down, Genevieve,” he bobbed his head toward the chair she’d been seated on only a few minutes ago. “You’re not going anywhere until we resolve this matter between us.”
“There’s nothing to resolve. I won’t marry you,” she said in cold defiance. “As to this afternoon’s indiscretion, I’ll deal with any ramifications on my own and without your assistance.”
“Goddamnit, Genevieve. Sit down.”
Even to Theo, his voice sounded like a thunderclap in the croft, and his jaw tightened as he saw Genevieve flinch.
Without looking away from her, Theo nodded toward the chair again.
His mouth tightened as she appeared ready to defy him.
After a long moment, she slowly sank into the chair, eyeing him with mutinous anger.
Theo studied her in silence for a long moment, trying to frame his chaotic thoughts into concise, logical sentences. Clearly unsettled by his assessment, Genevieve turned her head away from him to stare out the window that illuminated the room with the afternoon’s gray light.
Her riding coat still hung open, and in silence, he bent to button it for her. Genevieve jerked at his touch and slapped his hand away, then proceeded to slide the buttons through the buttonholes herself. The tension flowing between them was like cut glass slicing into him.
A tiny shiver pulsed through her, and his gaze returned to her face. While her features were calm, almost blasé, he could still see beneath the facade. Fragile and defenseless weren’t words he had ever associated with Genevieve before, but at the moment, they provided an apt description.
Frustration blasted through Theo in the face of her vulnerability, and he began to pace the floor in an effort to release the emotions rising inside him.
Peter had repeatedly said Genevieve’s strength and indomitable will were a mask she wore to ensure she never revealed any weakness she might have.
Theo now understood what his friend had meant.
In the past month, Genevieve had been the rock her family had needed.
Uncle Percy had seen to comforting Aunt Rhea, while Genevieve had consoled her siblings and the rest of the Rockwood family.
She’d been strong and defiant when facing the world as she’d hidden her sorrow, but at the moment, there was an air of defeat about her.
It was a facet of her Theo had never seen before.
Genevieve’s calm serenity had been her way of controlling whatever situation she was in.
Until now, Peter had been the only one able to see beneath the mask Genevieve wore every day.
But that had changed. Whether she realized it or not, the fragility she kept hidden from the world was in plain view for Theo to see.
Was this the woman only his best friend knew? Had today been her breaking point?
Peter’s loss had been painful for the entire Rockwood clan, but outside of Aunt Rhea and Uncle Percy, Theo knew he and Genevieve had been hit the hardest by Peter’s murder.
Theo halted his prowling in front of the fireplace to stare at the flames dancing across the logs.
At a loss as to how to convince Genevieve to marry him, Theo contemplated his best friend’s observations about her.
Peter had played the role of a big brother, protecting Genevieve as best he could from the horrors of the East End.
But Theo’s friend had been unable to save her from the wealthy degenerates who’d abused an innocent child.
It had taken Genevieve years to confess the darkness of her past to the man they had both looked upon as a brother.
Fear and shame had made her remain silent when it came to the horrors of her childhood.
When liquor had unwittingly loosened Peter’s tongue, and he’d told Theo about Genevieve’s past, his friend had been riddled with guilt.
The man Theo had loved like a brother had been convinced he’d failed Genevieve by his inability to save her from the men who had abused her.
Even when Theo had tried to console his friend by pointing out how absolute Ruckley’s control had been over all of them, the alcohol Peter had consumed that night had not allowed him to see reason. All the liquor had managed to do was exacerbate his friend’s guilt.
After several moments, Theo turned toward where Genevieve sat stiff and still in her chair.
Her gaze averted, she didn’t move as he pondered his next move.
Even with her head turned away, he could see she’d masked her emotions once more.
Theo closed the distance between them in three quick strides, his fingers capturing her chin and forced her to look at him.
Haughty, proud indifference illuminated her features.
If not for the pain darkening her green eyes, one would have thought her mood to be disinterested and scornful.
It was as if the vulnerability Theo had seen moments ago had been an illusion, but he knew better.
The knowledge made him want to pull her into his arms and tell her to cry on his shoulder to her heart’s content.
He cleared his throat as he returned his attention to resolving their rash moment of passion.
“When we return to the abbey, I’ll speak with Uncle Percy,” he said quietly. At his soft proclamation, she jerked her head free of his grasp.
“There’s nothing for you to say to him.” The wintry disdain in Genevieve’s voice made Theo’s mouth tighten.
“I disagree. I’ve compromised you, and if—”
“Compromised?” Sharp, brittle, and brutal, Genevieve’s voice vibrated with fury as she sprang to her feet.
“Genevieve, I know—”
“I was not compromised by you, Lord Selbourne,” she articulated with precise, staccato inflections, while her finger jabbed his chest as she emphasized his formal title. “You already know I’m not an innocent. So, do not attempt to suggest we marry based on an incident no one else knows about.”
“Goddamnit, Genevieve, at least let—”
“I have no intention of marrying you, or any man, simply because I chose to do what men have been doing for a millennium. I chose—encouraged you to bed me. I needed a release, and you were here. Do not try to read anything more into it than that.”
For a second time in just minutes, Genevieve’s words struck a hard blow to his gut. Each harsh word sliced through him as if she were gutting him with a knife. In an instant, his tightly reined control slipped, and he lashed out like a wounded animal.
“Oh, I think we both know I provided you with a great deal more than a release, Genevieve,” Theo snarled.
“And what’s that supposed to mean,” she said coldly. Ignoring the outrage tightening her beautiful face, Theo bent his head and brushed his lips against her ear.
“It means, my beautiful, tempestuous Genevieve. I’m certain that regardless of why you were in my arms, you experienced more than just a release.
You enjoyed my teasing those sweet nipples of yours.
I know because I heard your moans. I also know you loved riding my cock as much as I enjoyed you doing so,” he whispered.
The sound of her inhaling a sharp breath shot a bolt of satisfaction through him.
“If you’d not been so zealous when it came to me filling that sweet honeypot of yours, I would have shown you what pleasure truly is.
I could have taken you to heights you cannot possibly imagine. ”
As he straightened, he studied her features with bleak satisfaction. In the back of his mind, a voice lambasted him for being so brutal, but he was in too much pain to feel remorse. Speechless with shock, her eyes were wide in her beautiful face. In the next breath, she was sputtering with fury.
“You arrogant bastard.” Genevieve’s exclamation was a harsh explosion of anger, and Theo quirked his eyebrow upward and smiled with what he knew was a feral twist of his lips.
“Why? Because I dared to say how much I enjoyed bedding you? That I dared to point out I know how much you enjoyed that explosive climax of yours? Or is it because you’re afraid to admit I can set your body on fire until you’re willing to plead, even beg, for my cock to bring you to completion? ” he said through clenched teeth.
“I was mistaken, you’re not arrogant, you’re delusional.”
“Admit it, Genevieve. You found riding my cock far more pleasurable than you expected. I saw it on your face. I saw your exhilaration as your cunny clutched my cock hard and tight. Not to mention how that keening cry of delirious ecstasy pouring out of your depths betrayed you the moment you climaxed. That scream of rapture signaled just how much you enjoyed fucking me,” he growled.
The moment he saw her flinch, regret pounded against his body.
With a jerk, he spun away from her and continued to dress with vicious movements.
He needed to get out of here before he said something far more brutal.
Words he could never take back. Only the crackling fire broke the dense silence as Theo realized how badly his hands were shaking.
Desperately, he tried to control his trembling fingers as he fumbled to align and push buttons through the buttonholes of his shirt.
“All right, yes. It was more than a release, and yes…it was…I found it quite pleasurable,” Genevieve snapped.