Page 66 of The Untamed Heart

She spun to face him, and he took an instinctive step backward, certain her next move would be to throw something at him.

Instead, she just gazed at him, her expression filled with such fear his heart clenched.

“That wicked man means to kill you, Marcus, and… and I… I couldn’t.” Pressing her hand to her mouth, she turned away and walked to the window, gazing out at the sea. It was grey and stormy, the sky overhead heavy with the promise of rain.

Marcus felt suddenly breathless, and for once it had nothing to do with the wound in his chest, and everything to do with hope, with the possibility that she was not so far out of reach as he’d feared.

He followed her across the room and stood close behind her.

“Eustacia?”

She shook her head, refusing to look at him, but her breathing was rapid and, to his dismay, she raised her hand and swiped at a tear that slid down her cheek.

She was crying over him?

Though he knew he ought not take pleasure in a woman’s tears, he could not help the little surge of joy that dared burst to life in his chest.

“Would… Would you mind very much if he succeeded?”

She turned to glare at him incredulously. “Mind? Would I mind? Of course I would mind. I would mind very much. Really, Marcus, you are the most infuriating man on God’s green earth.”

A smile tugged at the corners of his mouth, his heart suddenly lighter than he could ever remember.

“That’s only because you’ve not spent any time with the Earl of Darenth. I assure you, he is the most infuriating man. I’m only mildly irritating.”

“More than mildly,” she grumbled, but there was an amused note to the words now and she met his eyes.

Marcus reached out and dared to take her hands in his own. His pulse was rushing in his ears, and he could remember none of the things he’d practised saying to her, but it didn’t seem to matter now.

“Will you mind very much when the portrait is done, and the garden is tidy, and I have no excuse for coming here every day?”

Her breath hitched, but she clasped his hands tightly and nodded.

Marcus let out a breath, shock and relief and hope coursing through his veins. “I do not think I could bear it, Eustacia. I don’t want to go back to the life I led before I came here. I don’t want to go back to being that man. I promised myself I wouldn’t say anything, not before the portrait was completed, but… Eustacia, I—”

This time it was she who interrupted him, apparently deciding he’d gone on long enough. Marcus didn’t mind, though, not when she had stopped his words with a kiss. Her mouth was soft, plush, and so very, very sweet.

She drew back almost at once, colour blazing upon her cheeks.

“Oh,” she said in alarm. “I beg your pardon. That was dreadfully bold of me, and I’m not… I’m really not, only… only you are the most—”

Marcus rather regretted cutting off her words, for he would liked to have known what she would say about him, but the taste of her lingered on his lips, and it wasn’t enough. It wasn’t nearly enough. His arms slid around her, pulling her closer, not nearly close enough when she was so soft and pliant… but he did not wish to overstep and make assumptions that might ruin the moment.

The sound of footsteps forced him to step back, to move away from her, though letting go of her and breaking the kiss was undoubtedly the hardest thing he’d ever done in his life.

However, there was a sharp knock at the door and Mrs Wainwright bustled in with Neil close on her heels.

“Now, love. Tell them just what you told me.”

Neil swallowed and met Marcus’s eyes. “There was a man,” he said haltingly. “In the village. He asked where he might find you, and then he asked about you, Miss Eustacia, and who you were. He asked if you were walking out together. But I didn’t say nowt. I said he’d best ask someone else, for I didn’t know, and as for you, miss, I knew better than to speak about my employer.”

“Oh, well done, Neil,” Eustacia said, her approval relaxing the boy’s taut features a degree.

Marcus darted a glance at her, finding it hard to care about bloody Keller when she still sounded breathless and her cheeks were flushed from their embrace. Yet Keller had approached Neil. His being here had put the lad in the way of danger. He was putting them all in danger.

This couldn’t go on.

“Miss Eustacia is right, Neil,” Marcus said admiringly. “You did just as you ought.”