Page 85 of Dark Rival

He breathed hard.

“And in the middle of the night,” she said, “you held me and smiled and we talked about the Masters and the Brotherhood.”

His eyes went wide. “I talked to ye while we were in bed?”

She nodded. “For quite some time.”

He turned away from her, as if shaken.

Allie tried to find some composure. It wasn’t easy when she was now so acutely tuned in to his lust, which seemed to match hers completely. “You were very talkative—compared to now. And you weren’t afraid to smile, either.”

He faced her, eyes wide and searching. “T’is the truth!” he exclaimed.

She nodded. “Surely I’m not the first woman you’ve had a conversation with during sex?”

“The bed is for sleep or sex, nay for speeches.”

Allie felt bug-eyed. “You’ve never cuddled and chatted with a woman in bed before?”

“Never,” he snapped. Then, cheeks flushed, he asked, “Did I tell ye I love ye, too?”

Allie went still.

And he knew. His color diminished. “I dinna say the words.”

It was hard to confirm the terrible truth. “No, you didn’t, not even while dying. But you didn’t have to. Because I saw the love in your eyes.”

He shook his head fiercely. “I couldna become such a fool in old age!”

Allie didn’t like this. “For God’s sake, Royce, falling in love is wonderful, not foolish.”

“Aye—for an ordinary man.”

It took Allie a moment to respond. “Malcolm has Claire.”

“And I pray every day she willna suffer for it. Every day, I pray Malcolm willna regret his choice.”

In that moment, she felt his thoughts go to a featureless woman with titian hair. “This is about Brigdhe!”

His eyes blazed. “I took vows. I follow the Code. There’s no room in my life for foolish sentiment.”

Allie shook her head. “Earlier I realized you’re afraid for me because of what happened to her. But I am not her! I am stronger! And if this is why you are trying to avoid a relationship—”

He cut her off. “Yer nay my wife—or my love—and ye’ll never be either,” he said savagely.

Allie recoiled, hurt to the quick. He had loved his wife. And even though Allie felt terrible for what Brigdhe had been through, and even though that had been eight centuries ago, she couldn’t stand how much he had loved her—and that he refused to open his heart to her now.

“Ye’ll never have my heart,” he said.

She covered her aching chest with her hand. Did he know how cruel he was being?

Then he said harshly, “Yer a Healer, Ailios, an’ ye belong to the world, not to any one man.”

She trembled. Even she knew that was her Fate.

With that, he whirled, leaving her alone in the dawn.

IONA SPARKLED in the midmorning sun, its gleaming beaches as pale as pearls.