The further he raided, the closer he came to the other rooms. Those unused, cobwebbed chambers of her heart. Would he dare to venture there? She doubted. Jumping off a cliff was a flashy sort of courage, but a man would need true strength and valor to break through those padlocked doors. There were dark, uncharted spaces within her that had been built to house love, and even she was afraid to explore them. Terrified to learn just how vast and how achingly empty they truly were.
Tessa DareDonโt. Donโt play that game.โ His brow pressed to hers. โWhen I heard you cry out . . . it was like a saber to the gut. I wanted to die.
Tessa DareOh, dear." She let her head fall back to the pillow. "There it went. I've fallen in love with you now." "Just now?" Chuckling, he came to a sitting position, resting his forearm on one bent knee. "Well, thank God for belated blessings." He ran a hand through his hair. "It's been coming on rather longer than that for me." "What?" She sat bolt upright. "What can you mean? Since when?" "From the first, Amelia. From the very first.
Tessa DareItโs all right,โ she said. โYouโre through.โ โJesus,โ he finally managed, pushing water off his face. โJesus Christ and John the Baptist. For that matter, Matthew, Mark, Luke, John.โ Still not enough. He needed to reach back to the Old Testament for this. โObadiah. Nebuchadnezzar. Methuselah and Job.โ โBe calm,โ she said, taking him by the shoulders. โBe calm. And there are women in the Bible, you know.โ โYes. As I recall it, they were trouble, every last one.
Tessa DareThatโs it,โ she said, balling her hands in fists. โIโm not letting you out of it this time. I insist that you take me to Scotland. I demand you ruin me. As a point of honor.
Tessa DareI knew right then you were the only one for me." He pulled her hand from his face, kissed her palm, then pressed it flat against his chest. "Beatings, battles, fights. No matter how bleak the circumstance, no matter how my soul despaired ... this heart never once gave up." His voice deepened, went thick with emotion. "I've a theory as to why. Do you want to hear it?" She nodded. "This heart is yours. It's yours," he said. "It always will be.
Tessa Dare