Page 73 of A Duke in Her Fate
“Might I see him?” Isla asked, slowly turning to look at Ronan.
“I’ve just sent him off,” he informed her apologetically. “He was restless and worried for you. Once you’ve both had some rest, I shall bring him here personally for you two to see one another again.”
“But…”
Rising to his feet, Ronan gave a slow shake of his head. He kissed her hand before gently placing it down on the bed. “Rest now, Isla. We’ll all be here when you wake.”
“You will?”
Him. She wanted him. His heart warmed as he gazed down at her, a new feeling of warmth rushing through him.
“I’ll be here,” he promised.
Already her eyelids were struggling to stay open. All of that blinking, all the excitement, wore Isla down so quickly. Ronan didn’t have a chance to take the nearby seat before she had closed her eyes and sunk deeper into the blankets. She was practically drowning in them, but he didn’t dare move anything lest she wake.
He found himself reaching back out to her like he might hold her, touch her, cling to her. He didn’t want to leave Isla’s side for fear something changed when they were apart.
But he stopped. Isla’s breathing had deepened. He didn’t wish to wake her.
Still, he lingered for a spell to ensure she remained breathing. That the circles under her eyes didn’t grow any darker and that the bleeding did not begin again. He attempted to take a seat, but couldn’t, finding himself too antsy.
The room was too hot and too small. His heartbeat had yet to calm down for him. It was as though he swung from a tight piece of string between near panic of fearfully losing her or abundance relief that all was well. Because it had to be well. It had to be. She had to be well.
I can’t lose her again or else I fear I shall go mad. How does she have such a tight grip over me, this young woman who sleeps so deeply now?
There was no one to answer this question for him. Ronan knew he never could. So he finally forced himself to move. Slowly he backed away from the bed, his gaze lingering on Isla to be certain of what to expect the next time he saw her.
Because he would see her. Because she would wake. Because there was much for him to mend between them.
Ronan felt the string snap within the moment he stepped out into the hall. It was deserted, dark and quiet, where he felt he could finally breathe again.
Exhaustion nearly swallowed him whole. The weight of the fear crashed over him, and he finally let him feel all that he had been hiding for a long time. Not just today but for the last couple of years, for all that he had become and all that he had survived.
He only meant to catch his breath. But his heart said otherwise. Thoughts of Isla’s strength and fragility were too much. Sliding down against the doorway, Ronan buried his face in his hands and wept.
CHAPTER 27
“What the devil is going on here?”
Isla tightened her grasp on the bed post and noticed nearby her maid, Doreen, sending her a pointed look. She ignored that to face the doorway.
“I’m only––” She started but the duke gave her no time.
There wasn’t even a moment to look up before he had scooped her in his arms. A surprised squeal escaped her. The thick scent of apples and baked bread overwhelmed her senses, leaving her dizzy.
Then suddenly he was setting her back onto the bed. As Ronan straightened up, she pouted.
“That was unnecessary,” Isla said.
“Hardly,” he scoffed with his brooding expression. This was how he always looked at her now, at least when he knew she could see him. But every now again, Isla swore he softened his gaze on her.
“I have been abed nearly four days now,” she reminded him. “I have been resting day and night. My head is well again.”
“You complained of aches just last night.”
Isla turned to shoot Doreen a glance, but the maid merely shrugged. So Isla went back to her husband, refusing to be shamed. “I’m restless. It’s perfectly natural. Even Lambert the physician says I’m doing well enough to be on my feet.”
“Only because you denied any further discomfort, which I know is not the case. You were limping yesterday as well. That and the migraine surely disprove your wellness. I shall have him return tomorrow and you must give him an honest accounting,” Ronan told her sternly.
