Page 27 of To Follow her Heart

She knew he wouldn’t move, wouldn’t close the gap between them, so she did, crawling on hands and knees, careless of her skirts and grass stains, until she sat beside him.

“I thought I’d die of misery,” she said, taking his hand and lacing their fingers together, as they’d done countless times before. “But I knew I’d find you. I knew we’d be together again, and the knowledge kept the worst of the pain at bay, else I’d not have endured it.”

“Kitty,” he said, and there was anguish and frustration in the sound of her name.

“Luke,” she said. “I won’t give you up. I won’t let them win. They’re bullies, that’s all, and you have to stand up to bullies, or they’ll rule you forever.”

He covered his eyes with his hand, and she reached out, pulling it away, forcing him to look at her. She knelt in front of him, leaning forward, her voice barely more than a whisper.

“I won’t let them steal our future, not if you still want it too. Tell me you don’t love me anymore, Luke, tell me it was just a childish idyll and that you’re a man now and I’m not what you want. If you can do that, then I’ll walk away and not look back, I swear it.”

Even though she knew the answer, her heart gave a sharp, terrified series of thuds, until she saw his eyes darken and his gaze fall to her mouth.

“I can’t,” he said, his desperation audible. “You know, I can’t. Damn it, Kitty!”

Before she could say anything, he reached for her, pulling her into his arms, his hand grasping her hair, holding her in place and kissing her as if his life would end if he didn’t touch his mouth to hers. It was such a kiss, fierce and angry and passionate and filled with despair and love, such love. She’d hadn’t known such kisses existed. The innocent boy who’d pressed his mouth to hers with gentle affection was gone and she wondered who’d taught him those skills, only to push the sudden spear of jealousy away. He’d been alone, when she’d had family and friends; she should thank any woman who’d given him some respite from his isolation.

As fast as he’d reached for her, he let her go, cursing and stumbling to his feet, moving away from her.

“Do you want to see your parents bankrupted?” he demanded, fury in his voice. “You’d have us all in the gutter, would you?”

Kitty rolled her eyes at him. “Stop being so melodramatic and think a moment, Luke,” she said, remembering this about him. His sudden descents into pessimism and despair were no doubt the result of living with his mother’s histrionics for too long. “You will be Trevick. Perhaps not today, perhaps not for a year or five, but you will be, and no one can stop that. You told me yourself the earl’s health is deteriorating, and that Derby suffers from a heart condition. They won’t live forever, but you’ll be married to a woman you care nothing for, and for the rest of your days if you don’t act. Soon enough, you’ll be wealthy and powerful and well able to right any wrongs. Would you forget all your responsibilities if we married? Would you leave all the female relatives who rely on you to starve?”

“Of course not,” he said indignantly, but she saw first flicker of hope in his eyes. She smiled at him, hoping her words were as reassuring to him as they were to her.

“Besides which, you should not write off my family so easily. My Da’s a cunning one where there’s money to be made, and once he knows the prize is an English earl, he’ll think the risk worth it. He’d have not stirred himself to help me marry Mr Baxter, or to drag our family through the courts if you opposed me, but if the future Earl of Trevick wants me for his wife? Good heavens! Just try to stop him. No, the threat the earl poses is a real one, but not insurmountable. It’s her who’s the danger. Lady Frances, not the duke. I think he’ll only go after you if she’s humiliated, but the engagement has not yet been announced. It must not be announced, Luke. She’ll still want revenge, perhaps… but there are other noblemen and she’ll not be lacking, with her beauty and wealth. We both know she doesn’t love you; she just wants your title.” Kitty paused. “Or one like it.”

There was silence for a moment, but only a moment.

“How do you do that?” Luke demanded. He ran a hand through his hair, paced around in a circle and then stared at her in wonder, utterly bewildered. “How do you always do that? You make the impossible seem a perfectly ordinary problem, a meagre mole hill instead of Ben bloody Nevis. This is how you get me. This is how I was persuaded into haunted houses, and up mountains, and into caves in search of treasure.”

Kitty shrugged. “You can’t blame me if you’ve no imagination.”

“No imagination?” he exclaimed, outraged. “Oh, I have imagination aplenty, love. I imagined us falling to our deaths, murdered by cutthroats, and drowned, and that last one was very nearly a reality, thank you very much.”

“Oh, you’re not still bleating about getting a bit wet?” she said, purely for the delight of seeing his indignation. It had been so long since they’d bickered like this, fighting for the fun of it, for the delight of making up again afterwards.

He glared at her. “A bit wet?”

The words were almost a growl and she delighted in the low timbre of his voice. It sent shivers chasing over her. Such a man he was now, a fine big, strong man. Desire simmered beneath her skin, but she just sighed dramatically and shook her head. “Now you’re just repeating everything I say.”

“We nearly drowned,” he flung back at her, throwing up his hands.

“I love you,” she said, smiling at him like a fool. Her heart was alight with it, with the joy of being with him despite everything they faced, with the knowledge that he loved her still and they would find a way to be together.

Whatever he might have said next was forgotten as a crooked smile caught at his lips, tugging it up at one corner. His red hair gleamed in the sun, and his eyes had never been so blue.

“I love you,” he repeated obediently, knowing at once the game she played, as they’d done it a hundred times before. “I do, Kitten,” he added, a little rueful now. “But we must go back now, before they come looking for us. St Clair and his mother have done us a great kindness in helping us meet like this; we cannot exploit their generosity.”

Kitty huffed and pulled a face but got to her feet and walked towards him. “Why must you always be so nice and polite?”

“You’re nice,” he said, bumping her shoulder.

“No, I’m not,” she said, laughing. “You of all people know it. I’ve a horrid temper, and I won’t be thwarted once I’ve set my heart on something.” She sent him a warning glance.

“I remember,” he said, giving her a grin that sent her tumbling back in time a full ten years.

There was the Luke she’d fallen for, right there, with his freckles and his cheeky smile and his willingness to follow wherever she led. He would save her without a murmur of resentment, he’d get her down from trees and from the clutches of an angry sea when she misjudged and got them into trouble, but he never failed to follow on the next adventure, no matter how reckless she was.