Secrets of Seduction (Legendary Lovers 3) - Page 51

uld, Skye thought despondently. She hadn’t realized that by marrying her, Hawk would be forced to make an enormous decision—which made the obstacles to her winning his heart even greater.

She wouldn’t admit defeat, though. “Regardless of our dilemma, I still think Miss Olwen is not the right bride for you.”

His eyebrow rose. “Just recently you offered to help me court her.”

“Yes, but I would be acting under duress. It goes against every romantic fiber in my body to aid a courtship that is so unsuitable. And much more importantly …” The things Skye had wanted to say for a long while spilled out of her. “You should be free to live your own life, Hawk, and not be compelled to wed for duty. Even if you never wish to marry me, it is time you think of yourself. Your happiness should matter. You cannot keep punishing yourself for the tragedy to your family.”

His mouth tightened. “I am hardly punishing myself.”

“Are you not? That night when I found you in the burnt wing, outside what remained of the nursery, you said you were to blame and that you should have died with them. I don’t think your late wife would have wanted you to die with her. Instead, you need to try and move on with your life. You deserve to be able to live again, to know laughter and joy and love.”

Evidently, the earnestness in her plea on his behalf was unexpected. For a long moment, Hawk simply stared at her.

Then his mouth twisted. “You are the most infernal, interfering busybody I have ever known.”

At the reappearance of his familiar exasperation, relief flooded Skye. “Yes, but my motives are pure.”

“Your motives are absurd—finding true love based on a fairy tale.” His tone was part scoff, part disbelief, yet he reached out his hand to her. “Come here.”

She returned his gaze warily. “What do you mean to do to me?”

His eyes were penetrating, perceptive, yet no longer cold. “To hold you. I ought to wring your pretty neck, but we both need to get some sleep.”

When Skye tentatively moved toward him, Hawk drew her into his arms so that her cheek rested on his shoulder, and pulled the covers up over them both.

“You will let me stay the night with you?” she mumbled almost humbly into his nightshirt.

“For a few hours at least. You will need to return to your own room before daybreak, but for now we will comfort each other.”

Skye was slightly stunned that after all her revelations, Hawk hadn’t banished her or worse. If he wasn’t willing to wholly forgive her pursuit of him, at least his anger seemed to have tempered. That was progress of a sort.

Hawk was nearly as surprised by his decision to let her stay. For all her brazen intrusiveness, Skye Wilde knew human nature very well. She wasn’t wrong about Sir Gawain’s niece. In truth, he was already having second thoughts about the sacrifices he would have to make in order to wed her. The girl would doubtless make a terrible match for him—but in some ways, that was a very good thing. He would never be at risk of loving her. A convenient marriage would suit him well enough.

Moreover, his obligations to Sir Gawain were no small matter. During his younger days, Hawk had lived the carefree life of a wealthy noble buck. His work for the Foreign Office had started more as a lark than a worthy occupation, but he quickly learned he had an aptitude for espionage, and he’d come to relish doing his small part to defeat the little French tyrant who was bent on world domination.

After Hawk’s tragic loss, Sir Gawain had saved his sanity by recruiting him into the Guardians. The highly elite organization was a covert arm of the Foreign Office, dedicated to protecting England and its allies from threats and championing the cause of justice across Europe. Hawk had devoted himself wholly to the league to atone for his guilt. He hadn’t saved his wife and son, so he’d turned to saving others. He’d accepted the most dangerous missions because he had nothing left to lose. He’d challenged death unafraid because his life was so very empty.

His work had become profoundly rewarding, though. And leading the Guardians after Sir Gawain’s expected retirement would continue to offer a fulfilling purpose, Hawk believed, even if the need for protectors and champions had diminished somewhat after Boney’s final, bloody defeat at Waterloo.

As for Skye’s other arguments … For years he’d been a stranger to laughter and joy and happiness, so he wouldn’t miss them, whether or not he deserved them.

And as for Skye herself? His anger was chiefly because she’d duped him from the first, Hawk admitted. But she hadn’t tried to entrap him in marriage. Were that her intention, she could have easily forced his hand after he’d claimed her maidenhead and spent the night in her bed. But Skye had adamantly refused his grudging proposal.

Oh, she’d been very willing to give him her innocence that night. He couldn’t forget how she’d clung to him when he’d wanted to withdraw, or the ardent way she had locked him to her body with her slender legs.

But he couldn’t hold on to his anger now. In fact, he was strangely flattered by her desire. And how could he fault her for following her romantic ideals?

They were totally unrealistic, yet he had to admire her determination to control her own destiny. He shared that trait with her. He couldn’t bear being helpless, at the mercy of capricious fate. However quixotically Skye strove to change the world to her liking, that made her deserving of his respect, even when he was her target.

Admittedly, he’d been hard-pressed to resist her sweet persistence. Now that he understood her chief goal, though … well, forewarned was forearmed. He wouldn’t let her seduce him.

And he would quickly have to disabuse her of the notion that he was her life’s mate. She wanted love in marriage, and he had no love to give. He’d known true love once. He’d been smitten by Elizabeth at their first encounter and had married her by the end of the Season. But their love had ended in tragedy, and he couldn’t—wouldn’t—endure feeling that kind of agony again. He would never let himself dream or hope for happiness, certainly not love.

On the other hand, he knew full well that he needed to move on with his life. He was resolved to overcome the pain of his loss. After ten years of wallowing in darkness, it was time.

His thoughts were interrupted just then when Skye caught his fingers and brought the back of his hand to her lips to press a soft kiss against the savage scars there.

“The burns you suffered must have been excruciating,” she said quietly.

Tags: Nicole Jordan Legendary Lovers Historical
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