Chapter Thirteen #2
“Nonsense,” Mrs. Haddon said at the same time as his protest. “There is plenty of food for two. You hardly touched your food at breakfast, and I’m sure Lord Lockhaven would welcome the company as the rest of the guests will be out for a several more hours still.”
Selena’s eyes narrowed as she glanced back and forth between them, but they both donned their most innocent smiles. Finally, she huffed out a sigh.
“Very well,” she said, moving to perch on the edge of the chair next to the table where the maid had set the tray.
“Excellent.” Mrs. Haddon bustled back out the door. “I’ll see to it you aren’t disturbed. So you can rest,” she said over her shoulder, smiling as she closed the door behind her.
Selena frowned and stood. She made it to the door before Edward managed to jump out of bed, suppressing the grunt of pain that threatened to erupt at such an ill-advised move. He pressed a palm against the door, preventing her from opening it.
“What are you doing?” she asked, tilting her head up to look up at where he loomed over her.
“I should think that is obvious,” he said with a smirk. “Keeping you from opening the door.”
Her lips pinched together as she tried not to smile, which only made him grin more. “I can see that, my lord, but it is hardly proper for us to be alone in this room together with the door closed.”
“I know.” He leaned down until his lips were a breath away from hers. “It’s delightfully wicked. Though there is an easy solution to that. You need but accept it and we can be alone to our hearts’ content.”
She groaned. “I am not going to marry you.” She tried to push away from him, but he caught her wrist and pulled her close.
“You’ve said that. But I know you wish to say yes.”
“I…no…how do you…”
He pulled her against his chest and wrapped his arms around her. “Because you are trembling in my arms right now.”
“Perhaps I am angry,” she said, leveling a glare at him that only made him chuckle.
“I have no doubt of that,” he said, sending another tremor through her as his breath whispered against her ear. “Though I do doubt that is the reason you tremble.”
“Perhaps I’m afraid,” she said, her breathy voice doing things to him that no other sound in the world had ever done.
“Perhaps,” he said, leaning down to brush a feather-light kiss across her lips. “But not of me.”
She hadn’t tried to pull away again. If anything, she had moved a bit closer, her body soft and warm in his arms. This time when he leaned down to kiss her, she rose up to meet him, one arm slowly winding around the back of his neck as she melted into him.
He reveled in the feel of her for several moments. That’s all he allowed himself to acknowledge. Not the arguments from his family or even the ones in his own mind on why wanting this woman was madness. He knew them all. He simply didn’t care.
With Selena in his arms, her sweet scent enveloping him, her soft body pressed against his, he didn’t give a cloud of flying flatulence in the wind about anything except ensuring this woman was his until the day he died. They could figure out the rest as they went along.
“Marry me,” he said again, foolishly certain this time she’d agree.
She let out a small sigh. “No.”
He let her go and spun away with a frustrated groan, only to spin right back around.
“You…infuriating woman. Why won’t you just marry me?”
She planted her hands on her hips and leaned in. “It’s not that simple!”
He leaned in until they were almost nose to nose. “Yes, it is! I know you have feelings for me.”
She reared back, her jaw dropping open. “I…well…what does that have to do with anything?”
Edward froze, his entire body tuned into the words that had just escaped her lips. Because for the first time, she hadn’t denied it. Exactly. “What did you just say?”
It was almost comical how wide her eyes grew when she realized what she’d said. “That’s not what I meant.”
He gave her a slight half grin that had her eyes narrowing. “Yes, it was.”
“No, it wasn’t.”
“You admitted it.”
She gasped. “I did nothing of the sort.”
“Oh, the admission was there.” He waggled his finger at her, unable to keep his grin from breaking out. “You have feelings for me.”
The most adorable growl of frustration erupted from her. She covered her face with her hands and then threw them up. “Even if I do, they are irrelevant.”
The words were vehement enough he feared she might actually believe them. A thought that filled him with an aching sadness. “Not to me.”
She shook her head, covering her mouth with one hand, and all amusement faded from him when he caught the gleam of tears in her eyes.
“My darling,” he said, gently taking her face in his hands and tilting it up so she would meet his gaze. “Talk to me.”
Her smile echoed his, though it was full of a sadness he didn’t understand. It made his heart ache for her all the same.
“You are right,” she said finally, lifting a hand to briefly cup his cheek. “I do care for you. A great deal more than I would like.”
His heart leapt at her words. And crashed just as quickly. “If you care for me, if you are feeling what I am feeling, then why—”
She shoved out of his arms with a sob. “Because I do not want to kill you!”