Page 25 (1/2)
Suddenly shaht any in skepticisht I did before But I didn’t" Despite her claie of convenience e in the truest sense
He stared, his jaw flexing as he waited
Moistening her lips, she announced, "You ended up with the wrong sister--"
"Don’t drag her into this," he cut in
Her heart twisted "Do you love her still?" she asked, knowing she sounded jealous and foolish, but she couldn’t stop herself She had to know if he still loved Madeline If Madeline would always be there, a wall between the to do with us"
Not precisely the answer she sought
"She has everything to do with us You’re punishing led her head "If Aurora had turned out to be another woht?"
She waited, her breath lodged deep in her chest
He stared at her in silence, his eyes dark and unfathon that she perhaps struck a nerve
The silence grew, a terrible thing between the that it was Jane he found objectionable Finished standing before hi that he would refuse as if foul, she sed down the thickness in her throat Gathering the scraps of dignity left to her, she thrust her chin forward "Forgive ain
"Jane," he called, but she had already passed through the door Even knowing he would never cross its threshold, she locked it behind her, collapsing against its solid length, her chest heaving as if she just raced a great distance
He knocked, the wood reverberating at her back "Jane, let’s talk about--"
"We’ve talked enough Good night, Seth"
She held her breath, waiting to see if he would sayshe wanted to hear what he could never say
She pressed the base of her pal back a sob as she coet she had ever loved Seth That she still did
The sob swelled higher in her throat, threatening to burst free as that realization washed over her
She had never stopped loving him Even after all these years
The journey back to Toas a miserable affair, even without the waves of tension, palpable as fog, swirling around the countryside, convinced she could never look Seth in the face again Not without reliving the sha ht e A queasy belly that crahts of Seth froainst the carriage wall, slipping in and out of misery-induced sleep
"Are you well?" Seth asked at one point, his hand falling on her shoulder
She whimpered at his touch, as if it somehow co her eyes, concentrating on not retching all over the carriage floor "Just tired"
At soed slu lifted froe and carried up the steps of the St Claire townhouse
Her cheek rested weakly against Seth’s hard chest, the thudding of his heart filling her ear as her head lolled with the pound of his footsteps She lifted her head, deter nearness, to neither need nor want it, but that still left the hard bands ofbreadth of a veryherself she took no pleasure in his holding her
He deposited her upon a large tester in the roo their vows
Relieved to be free of the rollicking carriage, she curled on her side, closing her eyes as she sank into the down-filled rateful she did not even protest when he re her hand beneath her cheek, she released a shuddery sigh as warers squeezed the blood back into her feet "M onto her back, afraid to open her eyes and find hione and the pleasant sensation a dreauorous circles over the arch of her feet His fingers slid up, thosestrokes until she felt boneless, a weakened mass of her forroaned as hestrokes along her quivering thighs Her hands stretched out to her sides, fisting the brocade counterpane as small noises of pleasure escaped her
She opened her eyes, letting herself look at hi into her thighs, a feverish look in his eyes that brought a rush ofthrob tugging low in her belly, de badly to assuage that ache--wanting him to pound it into submission as only he could
"Jane!" a voice intruded
Seth’s hands dropped froh burned and he took a hasty step back
Anna charged into the room, her broad faced creased and lined orry "I heard you were carried inside the house Are you unwell?" The older woed her skirts, sitting up "I’m fine Only a little travel-weary"
"H with the realization that Anna stood before her, Jane exclai here?"
Anna nodded at Seth, folding her hands before her substantial figure
Jane’s gaze jerked to Seth