Heart's Debt (Lost Lords Book 5) (35 page)

She moved as if she might rise, and he snapped, “Don’t you dare get up.”

“I really should find Sophia.”

“Bugger, Sophia! Stay right where you are.”

Like a trained pony, she sank down, watching silently as he grabbed a chair and pulled it in front of her. He sat too, near enough that their legs were tangled together.

He glared at her, and again he seemed to be waiting for her to speak, and she was kicking herself for being such a coward.

Ultimately he said, “I’m giving Kirkwood to Kit as a wedding present. Over the years, he’s done me so many favors, and I’m eager to do this one for him.”

“I think it’s wonderful.”

He always surprised her. He could be so kind and generous, but there was an opposite side to any coin. He could also be cruel and callous.

“He lived in a place much like Kirkwood when he was a boy.”

“I didn’t know that.”

“For some reason, his mother lost it after his father died. Kit was so young that he never understood why, but he always yearned to own the same sort of property.”

“You made his dream come true.”

“You get some of the credit.”

“Why?”

“You suggested it when I visited you in Whitfield.”

“Yes. Whitfield. I remember it well.”

Her cheeks grew even hotter—if that was possible. They’d had a horrible fight that was too excruciating to recall.

“Have you ever regretted the answer you gave me that day?” he asked.

“Ah…ah…”

He jumped on her hesitation. “What does that mean? You do regret it? You don’t?”

“I have no idea what I mean.”

“I ran into Kit,” he casually mentioned, “out in the barn when I was stabling my horse.”

“Did you?” she replied just as casually, but her pulse was racing.

“He told me an interesting story about you.”

Ah! He’d been aware of her predicament before she’d walked into the room. The rat! He’d merely been toying with her. How aggravating! How humiliating!

“Why don’t you tell me what you need to tell me,” he said. “Let’s discover what happens.”

She glanced down at her lap. “I can’t figure out how.”

“Just say it. I doubt the Earth will stop spinning on its axis.”

She took a deep breath, took another, then spat out the words. “I’m increasing with your child.”

He didn’t comment, but was so still that if she hadn’t been able to see his feet, she might have assumed he’d sneaked out. She peeked up, and he was studying her intently.

“I never wanted to be a father,” he said.

“Perhaps you should have thought of that before you seduced me.”

“Yes, perhaps I should have,” he concurred, “and since it’s occurred I guess I have to decide how I feel about it.”

“How you…
feel
?” She sputtered with offense.

“Yes. I was previously willing to marry you, but you were mortally opposed. Now you’re desperate to have me because you’re in the family way. You didn’t want me then, and maybe
I
don’t want you now.”

“Oh.”

He stared, wearing her down with the full force of his personality. She never could fend off his potent magnetism. He was simply too grand, larger than life, a god among men.

Suddenly he grinned. “But I could probably be convinced to rescue you from your dire fate.”

“Rescue me!” Her temper flared, and she leapt up. “Listen to me, you rude oaf. I would rather slit my wrists than be shackled to you.”

“I realize that. You’ve been very clear.”

“I want to wed for love and affection. I want to be cherished for once. I want a husband who worships me.”

His grin widened. “You want to be worshipped?”

“Why are you grinning? Are you laughing at me? If you are, stop it! Have you any notion of how afraid I’ve been?”

“Why would you be afraid? I told you I’d always help you.”

“We couldn’t find you! No one knew where you were!”

“That put you in a fine mess, didn’t it?”

He was still sitting, relaxed in his chair and looking as if he didn’t have a concern in the world. She was standing so she towered over him for a change, but—with her shouting and scolding—she sounded like a shrew. Why didn’t he stand up too? Why didn’t he say things she might like to hear?

He never behaved as she needed him to behave!

“What am I to do?” she wailed.

“What would you like to do?”

“I’d like this to never have happened!”

“You don’t want to have a baby?”

“I want to have it!”

“You don’t want to have me with it? Is that the problem?”

“It’s not that.”

“What is it then?”

“I never expected I’d have a child, and now that I am it’s all wrong.”

“Why is it wrong?”

Without warning, she burst into tears. These days, she was so blasted emotional, and she couldn’t control herself. “Because you could never love me, but if I don’t marry you, I won’t ever have a home or a family. How will I get by?”

“You can have me.” He chuckled, appearing vexed, but pleased too. “Oh, Georgina, don’t cry. I can’t bear it.”

Finally he stood, and he pulled her into his arms and snuggled her to his chest. She was too fatigued by events to push him away, and her body remembered how much she yearned to be in this exact spot.

“It will be all right, Georgina,” he murmured.

“How will it?”

“I’ll make it all right.”

“But you’re a confirmed bachelor.”

“It won’t kill me to wed.”

“It won’t
kill
you? See? You’ll propose because you
have
to. It’s not a good way for us to start our life together.”

“No, it’s not so what if we agree we’re proceeding because we choose to and not because we have to?”

“You’d be an awful husband,” she bluntly stated, and she was definitely blubbering.

“I might be awful,” he mused, “or I might surprise you. I might turn out to be a perfect husband, and you’d be deliriously happy.”

She cried even harder, hating it when he was funny, when he was sarcastic. It forced her to recollect how much she liked him, how interesting and appealing he could be.

“I’m sorry you’ve been so afraid,” he said as he dried her tears.

“I don’t know what’s best.”

“The answer is simple. You need a husband immediately, and in case you haven’t noticed, I’m available.”

“What would I do with you?”

“You’ll figure it out. Wives always learn how to manage their husbands.”

“I was planning to ask you for money so I could support myself.”

“Yes, Kit informed me of how crazed you were being, but I’m not about to provide any financial assistance. Not if you intend to remain single and unwed. You’ll have to attach yourself to me to get any of my help. It seems I have a price and that price is marriage.”

“You don’t love me,” she muttered.

He sighed with frustration. “Why do you keep saying that? You made the same complaint that afternoon in Whitfield, but you’re wrong.” He took her hand in his and linked their fingers. “I love you, Georgina Fogarty. I love you so much I’m dying with it.”

She shook her head. “I don’t believe you.”

“Say you love me too,” he urged. “You used to, and it hasn’t been that long ago. You can’t have lost all your fondness in such a short period. Some of it has to still linger.”

“It might,” she grudgingly admitted.

“Then if there’s a flicker, you have to give me a chance to fan it into a raging inferno.”

“I doubt you can.”

“Me! Not able! You’re mad if you think so.”

“You’re not even staying in England!” she moaned.

“No, I’m leaving, but I want you to come with me.”

“To where?”

“To wherever you like. You once confessed that you have your mother’s wanderlust. Well, I have the wealth to indulge it. Let’s just…go.”

“Go?” she repeated like a dullard, yet at the notion, she rippled with excitement.

“There’s nothing to keep us here, especially with my offering Kirkwood to Kit. We’ll leave, and you can pick our destination.”

She pondered forever, then tentatively said, “I might like to escape from Kirkwood. I might like to see other places.”

Was she actually considering it? Would she trot off with him to strange lands? She had a baby on the way. She’d have to be insane to contemplate it. Had he driven her insane? Was that what had happened?

“We could head to Scotland and wed in Gretna Green,” he said.

“We’d elope?”

“Why not? Who is there to care what we do?”

“Sophia and Kit might care.”

“They’ll get over it. Then after the wedding I have to stop at Radcliffe Castle.”

“What’s there?”

“A woman named Anne Blair.”

Georgina stiffened. “An old flame?”

“No. She was a convict who mothered me in Australia, and I brought her back to her family. I’d like you to meet her, and I’d like
her
to meet you. She’ll like you.”

A person from his past? Someone besides Kit Roxbury? She thought she might enjoy that very much.

“I would love to meet Anne Blair,” she said.

“You’d have to pass through Gretna Green with me first. I have a price, remember?”

“Yes, I remember.”

“Have me, Georgina. Marry me. Please? Give me something to live for. Give me something to call my own. Give me yourself and this child we’ve created together. Let me dedicate myself to making you happy.”

It was such a pretty speech and she was shocked by it. When such tender sentiment had been voiced, when such remarkable words were on the table, how could she ignore them? How could she refuse him?

He dipped down and kissed her. She reacted instinctively, her arms going around his neck, her torso leaned into his. Though it had only been a few months since they’d embraced, it felt as if years had sped by. She might have been drowning and he’d thrown her a rope. She might have been roaming in the desert and finally found an oasis.

He kept on and on, gradually knocking down all the barriers she’d erected. He’d been bruised and battered and unfairly abused for most of his life. He was a hard man, a difficult man, a man with ghosts and demons that plagued him unmercifully.

He could be cold and callous, but he could be wonderful too, could be kind and loyal, and he was begging to devote himself to her. Hadn’t his heart’s debt been paid?

She could provide friendship and succor, compassion and comfort, and in return she might just get what she craved. She’d get him and his child and a family of her very own.

Eventually he drew away, and as he stared down at her, his gaze was so warm and affectionate that her knees nearly buckled. If she wed him, he might gaze at her like that every day until her last day.

“Yes,” she murmured.

“Yes, what?”

“Yes, I will marry you. I will ride to Gretna Green and visit Radcliffe Castle with you. I will meet your substitute mother, Anne Blair. Then I will go anywhere you ask me to go—so long as I can always remain by your side.”

His handsome face broke into a smile. “Do you mean it?”

“Of course.”

“I won’t let you change your mind.”

“I never will, and I won’t let you change yours.”

Suddenly boots sounded in the hall, and they glanced over to see Kit enter the room.

“I thought you two might be in here,” he said.

“You’ve always had the worst timing,” Damian told him.

“I had to be certain you didn’t kill each other.”

“Nobody’s killing anybody,” Georgina scoffed.

“Actually,” Damian said, “we have news that might surprise you.”

“What is it?” Kit inquired.

“I asked Georgina to marry me.”

“And…?”

“She said
yes.
”

“That’s not news,” Kit replied, “and I’m not surprised. If her answer had been any different, I’d take a switch to you.”

“I tried to refuse,” Georgina confided, “but he wore me down.”

“She didn’t have much choice,” Damian pointed out. “She’s in a bind, and there’s not exactly a line of husbands willing to have her in a hurry. She had to stoop pretty low to settle on me.”

“The poor girl,” Kit mused. “I hope she won’t live to regret it.”

“Regret it!” Georgina huffed. “I never will.”

“I never will either,” Damian said. “She ensnared me the very first moment I laid eyes on her. It simply took me a bit of time to realize it.”

Georgina sighed with delight. “I’m glad you did.”

Kit grinned at Damian. “You’re so stubborn. I can’t believe you came to your senses.”

“Why wouldn’t I have? She’s giving me everything I need, but didn’t know I wanted.”

“How about you, Georgina?” Kit asked. “What’s your opinion?”

“He’s giving me everything too, and I’m the luckiest person in the world.”

Damian shook his head. “No, I am.”

“Maybe we both are,” she said.

“Maybe we are,” Damian agreed. “In fact, I’m sure of it.”

THE END

HEART’S DELIGHT

HEART’S DESIRE

HEART’S DEMAND

SCOUNDREL

HEART’S DEBT

CHERYL HOLT
is a
New York Times
,
USA Today
, and Amazon “Top 100” bestselling author of over forty novels.

She’s also a lawyer and mom, and at age forty, with two babies at home, she started a new career as a commercial fiction writer. She’d hoped to be a suspense novelist, but couldn’t sell any of her manuscripts, so she ended up taking a detour into romance where she was stunned to discover that she has a knack for writing some of the world’s greatest love stories.

Her books have been released to wide acclaim, and she has won or been nominated for many national awards. She has been hailed as “The Queen of Erotic Romance” as well as “The International Queen of Villains.” She is particularly proud to have been named “Best Storyteller of the Year” by the trade magazine Romantic Times BOOK Reviews.

She lives and writes in Hollywood, California, and she loves to hear from fans. Visit her website at
www.cherylholt.com
.