Page 91 of Unbound Duchess

“I needed to do something to get you two up here!” Madalene said, almost sounding proud from the other side of the door. “But I assure you, I am fine. It is you two that need help, not I!”

“Madalene,” Laurence warned, pounding his fist against the locked door, “Let us out!”

“Not until you two speak!” came her haughty reply. “You love each other! Now it is time that you both stop assuming what the other thinks or wants, and admit it!”

From the corner of his eye, Laurence saw Ellen wince at his sister’s words.

“I will let you out when I believe you are ready,” Madalene called from the other side of the door. “But until then, I have commanded the servants to stay away, no matter what you demand. Now sort yourselves out!”

Laurence snarled as he banged his fist against the door again, but the only answer was the sound of Madalene’s fading footsteps.

“Maybe she is right,” Ellen said quietly from behind him.

Laurence turned to her, his brow lifting in surprise.

Ellen no longer appeared frustrated by Madalene’s intervention, but instead, there was a vulnerability in her eyes as she looked at him. Something shifted inside him as he saw that look. That final wall around his heart crumbled to dust, and suddenly he was grateful for Madalene’s interference.

“I do not want an annulment,” he confessed, taking a tentative step toward her. “I want you. As my wife. For the rest of my life.”

Ellen’s eyes grew wide, and her lips parted as he lifted his hands toward his chest, feeling the ache there growing unbearably heavy.

“I do not know what this thing is inside me. This…urge to walk that line between pain and pleasure with you. I do not know where it came from or why it was created, but I do know that in those moments with you, when we explore that line together, I feel…”

He searched for the proper word.

“Safe,” he finally confessed. “Seen. You do not cower from me; in fact, you seem to embrace me.”

A small smile lifted Ellen’s lips.

“You make me feel the same way,” she confessed, taking a step toward him. “I like it. No.” She shook her head. “Whatever is between us, I love it. I love how free you make me feel. Not just when we share those intimate moments, but all of the time. You allow me to be my own person.”

“And you allow me to be mine,” Laurence agreed, taking the final step that closed the space between them. He reached for her, unable to stand not touching any more, and he choked out a sob as she willingly stepped into his arms and nuzzled into his chest.

“I love you,” he admitted, brushing kisses atop her head as he held her close. “I love you so much; please do not leave me.”

In his arms, Ellen let her own sob loose.

“I was only going to leave because I thought that was what you wanted,” she replied, her voice breaking with emotion. “I knew I was in love with you days ago, but I did not want to stay when the feeling was not returned.”

“It is,” he swiftly promised. Then his hand slid to her throat, and he tilted her face up until he could kiss her lips. An aching sound of need ripped from his throat as she kissed him back and drew her arms up to his neck, holding him in place as he was holding her.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered between their passionate, hurried kisses, “I’m sorry. Please do not leave me.”

He moved to kiss her again, but Ellen pulled away, just long enough to open her eyes and look up at him affectionately.

“I love you too,” she swore, “and I am not going anywhere.”

CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT

“Thank God,” Laurence groaned.

He pulled her back into their kiss, those delicious sparks she now loved shooting throughout her entire body as their lips once more connected.

There would be no more denying. No more asking him to help her forget. From then on, she was fully intending to live each day not running from the past or dreading the future. Instead, she would dwell in the peace of the present.

“I have missed you.” Laurence’s husky voice was full of ache as he swept her off her feet. “I cannot begin to describe how much I have missed you.”

“Show me then,” she teased, her eyes alight with mischief as he carried her to her bed.