Page 68 of After the Abduction

She fired. This time the ball nicked the outer rim of the target.

“Very good.” He took the pistol from her. “Practice makes perfect.”

She wiped her shaky hands on her skirt. “Is that why you spent time with me—to practice honing your skills with women? I suppose you were merely amusing yourself with me since I was conveniently here.”

The ache in her voice was unmistakable, and it suddenly dawned on him what she wanted to know. “It wasn’t like that.” He loaded the pistol himself this time, needing to keep his hands from reaching for her. “To be honest, my interest was more honorable. I was courting you.” He held his breath, uncertain what she’d say to that.

“Rosalind said the same thing, but I didn’t believe her.”

He let out his breath. “Why not?”

“Because I’d already decided you were trying to distract me from my purpose.”

“That’s what you were doing. Trying to madden me into saying something rash.”

“Yes.”

Her honesty startled him. “Yes?”

“If you’ll recall, the straightforward approach got me nowhere that first night.”

She had him there. Turning, he stared out over the fields beyond the cottage and asked the question that had been plaguing him for a week. “So all that talk about my ‘adequate’ kissing and my trite compliments—”

“—was the not-so-straightforward approach.” She lowered her voice. “You melted my bones when you kissed me two years ago, and you’ve done it every time since.”

Pulse racing, he swung around to stare hard at her. “Is frankness your latest trick?”

She shook her head, her eyes dark with imploring. “No more tricks, I told you. I’m being perfectly honest. I’m attracted to you, too. I enjoy being with you, too.” A blush stained her cheeks. “I-I enjoyed what you did…what we did…” She stiffened. “But I can’t go on without knowing why you kidnapped me. Is it so very much to ask?”

Hot blood pulsed through his veins. When she looked at him like that…

He must escape her, before she dragged him back under. “You have no idea,” he ground out. Turning, he stalked toward the cottage.

She froze a moment, then hurried to catch him, reaching him just as he’d opened the door. She caught his arm. “Please hear me out, Sebastian. I know you think I want revenge, that I’ll use the truth to hurt you, but I swear I won’t. Don’t you see? It’s the not knowing why you did it that’s tormenting me. I just have to know why.”

He stood with his hand on the doorknob, shaking with the need to tell her. But what if this was the most devious trick of all?

Her hand tightened on his arm. “Isn’t there some way I can prove that I’m not seeking revenge? Something that will make you feel secure enough to confide in me?”

There was one thing. He stared down into her anxious face and felt a twist inside his gut. “You could marry me.”

She released his arm, paling. “Wh-what do you mean?”

“Precisely what I said. If you marry me, then I’ll know that whatever secrets I have—if there are any—are safe with you. It would prove I could trust you. You wouldn’t turn against your husband. I know you wouldn’t.”

She frowned and glanced away. “But if I marry you and discover that you’re not the man I thought, that you possess a dark or criminal nature, then I’ll be trapped in an unworkable marriage with no recourse.” Her gaze swung back to him. “No, you have to tell me the truth first. Then I’ll consider whether to marry you. That’s only fair. You weren’t the one wronged, after all. I was.”

She was right, and he knew it. He wanted her so badly, he almost agreed. But he wasn’t ready to risk so much, not after having glimpsed how strongly she felt about what he’d done. And certainly not with his life and Morgan’s in jeopardy.

Suddenly he thought of a solution to their dilemma. “All right. You could do one thing that wouldn’t trap you, but would prove you care for me enough to keep my secrets.”

“What’s that?”

“You could come to my bed.”

Chapter 15

Take heed lest passion sway