Page 112 of A Single Obsession

Eliza frowned. “It surprised me when Reed told me Jet had thrown you, but I couldn’t think straight. She made me think you were dying.”

Beau pulled her into his arms, crushing her against his ribs as he devoured her lips, kissing her as if his very life depended on it. He drew back slightly and looked at her. “Now, will you believe me?”

Eliza wasn’t sure what she was supposed to be believing, but at that moment, she didn’t care. The unbearable tension that had gripped her since Reed had told her of Beau’s accident dissipated.

Beau was alive—and he loved her.

Eyes closed, she leaned toward him again, and he pressed a succession of tantalisingly sweet kisses onto her lips, before claiming her mouth in a deeper embrace that left her breathless.

“You’re not about to die, are you?”

“Not that I know of. I hope you’re not disappointed.”

“No!”

“But you were brought here under false pretences.”

“Yes, I was.”

“Hmm. The question is—why?”

He sat up in bed and surveyed the room. “Where is your maid?”

“You didn’t seem to mind her absence a moment ago,” Eliza said, shooting Beau a provocative look.

“Are you being careless with your reputation again? You shouldn’t be in a bedchamber with a man who is not about to die, even the one you’re going to marry. You will marry me, won’t you? It would be the height of cruelty not to, especially as you’ve told me how much you love me—”

“You heard?”

Beau smirked. “Every word. I thought it was a dream, and I didn’t want it to stop. Well? Will you?”

“Yes,” she said, grinning from ear to ear.

He leaned forward and kissed the dimple on her chin. “I’ve been wanting to do that for a long time. And this…and this…and this,” he said, punctuating his words with kisses. He stroked the side of her face as she’d just done to him, and brushed his fingertips across her lips before once more pressing his mouth to hers.

At length he drew back. “Now, before I forget myself, you’d better go. As you went to such lengths to free me from marrying you out of duty, it would be a shame if we were forced to wed because I had compromised your reputation. I need you, Eliza Merry, to be certain I love you, and want you to be my wife because I can’t live without you, and not because anyone is telling me I must marry you.”

Eliza pouted. She had no wish to leave, but she supposed Beau had a point. With considerable reluctance, she walked across the room and turned the knob, but the door didn’t budge. Thinking she had twisted it the wrong way, she moved it in the opposite direction, but it still refused to open.

“It’s stuck.”

Beau’s eyes narrowed and a heavy frown creased his brow.

“What’s the matter? Why are you glowering like that?”

He pursed his lips together, spitting out his next words in disgust.

“Stuck or locked?”

Chapter 49

Beau already knew the answer to his own question. The door was locked. All the pieces were falling into place in his mind. This was what his mother had been planning. Not content to leave him to work things out for himself, she had forced them together.

His glance fell on Eliza and his expression softened. He could not be sorry she’d come, but to have brought her here under false pretences—to have played on her emotions like that—was cruel, and it would be hard to forgive his mother for that.

He peeked under the bedclothes and was relieved to discover he was dressed, apart from his jacket and boots. After thrusting back the covers, he jumped out of bed and walked over to the door to try the knob for himself. It didn’t budge.

“As I suspected. Locked.”