Had he truly taken it into himself?
Eventually he stopped pacing and faced her way. His head was lowered, his hair shrouding his face in shadows. Tension emanated from the place where he stood. “You cannot go back to him.”
Yes, he really had taken her burden into himself.
Chloris knew from the way he was that he had felt and seen it all. “I have to,” she whispered. “I made marriage vows.”
“Vows that you have already forsaken.”
Shame engulfed her, but it was the truth and she could not chastise him for his words. “That may well be, but it was with honorable motives to begin with.” Then I fell in love with you, and that has torn me asunder.
“What is there to lose by leaving?”
“Honor. Redemption.”
“Redemption? You do not believe in it, otherwise you wouldn’t have come to me and my kind, desperate for our help.”
Even though he spoke the truth, his words wounded her to the core. She lowered her head. “Please, Lennox. Take pity.”
He closed on her. Forcing her chin up with his fingers under her jaw, he looked down into her eyes. “Pity? I do not want to pity you. It is not something you deserve and you should never ask for it.”
His eyes narrowed, his expression determined. “Leave him.”
“And where would I go? I cannot stay here. Tamhas will have nothing to do with me if I leave my husband.” Discomfort assailed her, but there was no way to make her situation clear to Lennox without telling him its true nature. “They have an agreement. I was the seal. If I break it Tamhas would cast me out. Trade, money and power depend on it, for them both.” She wanted him to see there was no way out, but her words only seemed to make him more possessive and angry.
His eyes were wild. “Damn their agreement! Neither one of them are worthy of you.”
“Lennox, please. There is no one else, all my kin have gone. Tamhas currently harbors me under certain conditions, and being a loyal wife to Gavin is one of them. That is why you should not be here. I was foolish in allowing you to come here in the first place.”
Was that guilt she saw flit through his expression? Had he woven magic over her that day in the market? Before she could quiz him on it, he shook his head.
“You will come to me for safe harbor, not Tamhas Keavey.” His tone was low and commanding.
She shook her head. “It cannot be. We are too different. Your people would treat me with suspicion. I would not be welcome amongst them.”
“They will grow to understand. They will grow to care for you, just as I have.”
He cared for her. Hours earlier he had spilled scorn on her for being beaten at her husband’s hands, turning away from her as if she sickened him. Now he turned her in his hands as if she were a mere rag doll he tended to. Although it gave her sweet succor, she could not risk letting him toy with her again.
“Do not make promises that cannot be kept.” She showed him she was serious. She was the stronger one now, the one who had faced the reality of this. It could only bring trouble to them both. Nevertheless, it was hard to stop him making these wild statements, because deep down she wanted him more than life itself.
His mouth set in a tense line. He was a passionate man, and she felt that he
meant it—in this strange moment of honesty he did believe he could make it happen, but it could not be. She expected him to argue, but he did not.
Once again he surprised her.
He drew her to her feet, then moved her hand from the place where she held her nightdress in place over her breasts, allowing the garment to drop completely.
The pale fabric pooled around her feet like a garland of May lilies.
It was the first time she had stood completely bared before him, but she did not feel shame. She felt desire. The man before her exuded power, and she wanted to feel it again. One last time.
He gazed at her naked form in the bedside candlelight, and the look in his eyes was both passionate and possessive. Chloris swayed under his scrutiny, her body pulsing. Yet he stood tall and unwavering, studying her as if she were the most important thing he would ever see. The man was a consummate seducer, for he had ways in which to make a woman feel his desire that were too powerful to resist. His gaze made her tremble. She wanted him so badly. Wanted him to take her and fill her and join them together completely. Was it so wrong? Her mind said it was, but her heart and body craved him like no other.
Beyond him she caught sight of the door and what it represented—a futile barrier between them and discovery. “Lennox, there is not even a key here to lock the door.”
His gaze lifted and held hers, silencing her. “No one will enter.”