Chapter 14
Genevieve sucked in a sharp breath as she stared up at Theo, trying to take in the words hanging in the air between them. For a moment, she wasn’t sure she’d heard him clearly. Had he just said he loved her?
Studying him closely, she saw a number of emotions reflected in his face. Fear, hope, yearning, and adoration flashed across his handsome face, but it was the stormy emotion she saw in his dark blue eyes that said she’d heard him correctly.
Everything about Theo’s expression said he was speaking the truth.
It was the same depth of emotion she’d seen on her father’s face whenever he looked at Genevieve’s mother.
It was the look of a man deeply in love.
Elation and a happiness she’d never felt before warmed her.
The sensations caught her unawares for several seconds before an alarm slid an icy finger down her spine.
With a slow, steady awareness, it dawned on her why his statement had aroused such powerful emotions inside her.
It explained why her heart raced out of control every time she was near him.
It was the reason the sound of his voice or the mere sight of him buoyed her spirits.
This had never been just desire, it had been something much deeper, and she’d failed to realize it until just now.
She loved him. The full realization of her folly made her throat tighten further. When had she fallen in love with Theo? Worse, how could she have allowed this to happen? Like a moth drawn to a candle, she’d not seen the danger until it was too late.
Determination tightened his features as he narrowed his eyes, and Genevieve grew stiff with panic.
For the first time, her brain registered the fact that he’d pinned her to the bed with his body.
Unlike that day in the croft when she’d had the element of surprise and had found it easy to escape his arms, tonight was different.
He had obviously learned from that moment to ensure she couldn’t flee. Now, she was trapped beneath his hard, unyielding body, making it much more difficult to break free. But do you want to escape, Genevieve? She tossed the thought aside.
“Say something,” he growled. The ferocity of his low words made her swallow the knot threatening to close her throat.
“I…I don’t know…what to say,” she whispered the lie in a shaky voice.
“You do know. We both know. You wouldn’t respond to my touch the way you do if you didn’t have feelings for me, and I want to hear you say it,” Theo said in a firm, inflexible voice.
Genevieve flinched at the command, her heart beginning to pound rapidly in her chest with trepidation. What was she supposed to tell him? A voice in the back of her head scoffed at her. The truth.
She could tell him the truth. The thought sent a wave of hopelessness rolling over her, before a despair so stark replaced the joy unfurling in her heart.
It was an anguish so dark, it threatened to pull her into the depths of hell.
A look of tenderness crossed Theo’s face as he brushed the back of his hand across her cheek.
“It’s just three words, mo leannan.” His breath was a soft breeze against her cheek as he called her sweetheart in Gaelic. It echoed with tenderness, and it did something to her insides that thrilled and terrified her at the same time.
Tears welled up in her eyes, and she closed them to avoid meeting his gaze.
If she admitted the way she felt, he’d be even more unrelenting in his resolve to make her his wife.
Theo had made his determination clear to her.
He’d said she’d lose the war, and she knew with a certainty that pained her that she had to refuse any offer of marriage he made. He deserved better.
“Please, Theo. Please don’t ask it of me. Can we not continue as we have been?” The moment she asked the question, his eyes flashed with anger.
“As we have been? Is that what you really want? Stolen moments in the darkness of someone’s library, trysts in the croft—here?
Do you actually want me to believe that will be enough for you?
” Theo bit out with a savagery that shocked her.
“It’s not enough for me. I want to wake up beside you every morning for the rest of our lives.
I want everyone to know how much I love you.
I want to hear your laughter, see you smile at me from across the room.
I want to see you grow round with child. ”
The instant he mentioned the word child, a vicious stab of anguish burrowed its way into her soul with a brutality that threatened to stop her heart.
A silent cry of raw agony tried to pass her lips as a sudden explosion of strength sped its way through her limbs.
With a hard shove, she pushed Theo off her, then rolled off the mattress to land on the floor like a cat.
Having broken free of his restraint, Genevieve flinched as she heard him utter a harsh oath.
The low growl that accompanied his curse made her heart sink to the pit of her stomach.
Ignoring the unpleasant sensation, Genevieve sprang upright and raced toward her clothing, and started to don the garments she’d left home in earlier that evening.
If she delayed her departure, Theo would convince her to tell him the truth.
“So, you’re running away again?” he snarled with an anger that sent a shiver of dread through her.
“I told you. I don’t want to worry my parents. They’ve become far more observant since Peter’s death.”
Genevieve didn’t look at him as she pulled on her bloomers, foregoing her stockings. No one would be the wiser that she was bare-legged as she would go straight to bed when she got home. But she knew she wouldn’t sleep. It was doubtful she’d ever sleep peacefully again.
Her chemise slid over her bare breasts, followed by her combination garment.
Fingers trembling, she managed to secure the undergarment before she swept the gown up off the chair she’d dropped it onto when she’d first arrived at the safe house tonight.
The material rustled loudly in the icy silence as she threw the dress over her head.
She pushed her arms through the garment’s sleeves, then did the best job possible buttoning the back of her gown.
Thank God she had a cloak to cover up the haphazard way she’d closed the dress.
Without any warning, Theo’s firm hand gripped her upper arm.
Like a wildfire raging out of control, the touch sent a white-hot heat streaking across her skin until it sank through her pores and into her blood.
“Not this time, Genevieve. No more running. You’re not leaving here until you tell me what you’re so afraid of.”
“Please, Theo.” She shook her head as pain gripped her body. It was as if someone were hitting her with a blunt instrument over and over again. “Please. I can’t—don’t ask this of me.”
“And yet, I am asking. Tell me the truth. Do you love me, Genevieve?”
The small space between them seemed to grow even smaller.
Unable to speak, she shook her head in the hope he would see it as a denial.
It was a pointless gesture. He’d been right.
They both knew she was in love with him, and he was determined to make her confess what she shouldn’t.
Once more, the shadows of the past washed over her.
When she looked away from him, he caught her chin in his fingers and forced her to meet his gaze.
“Do you love me, Genevieve?”
A wild tremor swept through her as she stared up at his unyielding expression.
Genevieve closed her eyes and swallowed the knot closing up her throat, knowing it would be impossible to lie with any success.
But he had no comprehension of the torment he was unleashing on her head.
It would rip her apart inside if his love couldn’t weather the full truth. A truth she was terrified to share.
“Genevieve.” The way he said her name echoed with a warning she knew not to ignore. She slowly opened her eyes, and as she met his gaze, her chest tightened with dread.
“Yes, I love you,” she whispered.
Relief swept across his handsome features, but before he could speak, Genevieve broke free of his grasp and put several feet between them. As she stared at him, he stole her breath away.
Still naked, every sleek, beautiful line of his masculine body was glorious.
There wasn’t an inch of him that wasn’t well-toned and muscular.
He was splendid in every way possible. Transfixed, she couldn’t look away.
Everything about him was perfect, and all she wanted to do was fly into his arms to show him with her body, heart, and soul how much he meant to her.
Never had she ever thought it possible for her to love a man so much the thought of living without him would be enough to destroy her.
But the impossible had happened, and her heart was already beginning to shatter.
No matter how often Theo said her past didn’t matter, he was wrong.
There were just some things love couldn’t overcome.
He took a step toward her, and Genevieve uttered a small gasp, retreating a step.
She raised her hand in a sharp gesture that told him to stop.
“Don’t. Don’t come any closer.”
“Christ almighty, Genevieve.” Frustration furrowed his brow as he glowered at her. “You finally admit you love me, and all you can say is don’t come any closer.”
“My loving you doesn’t change anything,” she said softly, and she felt tears beginning to clog the back of her throat. “I told you I can’t marry you, but you refuse to listen.”