Page 86 of A Necessary Wife

He had fallen hard. It was raw, and it terrified him, too. It was always there, in the way they reached for each other in the dead of night. The way she silently drew him in closer and gave herself without reservation.

They were in love, and Amelia was desperate to run from it.

He could not let her go.

“What if those feelings don’t leave you?”

“They have to.”

Her anguish only made him smile. “Well, I don’t want you to leave me.”

“But I shouldn’t feel anything. I promised!” Her fingers trembled over her lips again. “I can still be your wife, faithful to you alone, and a mother to your children, even if we live separate lives. It was what I expected all along.”

“It was for me, too,” he agreed.

“If you leave, or I leave, one of us will always remain with the children. I won’t complain if it’s you that goes.”

“But you’ll miss me,” he suggested, and fought not to laugh at how stupid this all was when she nodded. “How did I ever think I could marry a woman and keep a distance?” He caught her cold fingers in his and squeezed them tight. “I don’t want to leave you, Amelia,” he swore, kissing them. “I’ve been so very wrong. I don’t always know what is best for me, but I was right about your place in my life. We have so much more to learn about each other. We cannot do that if we live separate lives.”

“But I cannot do this!” she cried out, wrenching her hand from his as she turned away. “Please don’t make me.”

She put her hands over her face and sobbed behind them. Milo caught her in his arms again, his heart swelling with love for the woman he held.

She was breaking her own heart to keep her word and didn’t realize it was no longer necessary. She’d break his heart if he couldn’t see her every day. “What don’t you want to do?”

Her hands dropped from her face. “Pretend that I don’t want you to hold me like this all the time.”

That was all he wanted, too.

They felt the same.

Exactly the same.

The impulses that plagued him to be near her, the unwanted suspicions and jealousy, tormented her, as well. He knew exactly what to do to fix things, but he was going to break a promise to her when he did.

He’d vowed not to love a second wife, but he well and truly did.

He adored Amelia.

She’d made him love again.

He turned her around to face him and held her hands tight between his against his chest. “Amelia…do you have any idea how much effort it takes not to reach for you because I fear I might go too far?”

Her eyes widened in shock at his confession.

“I cannot get enough of you,” he whispered. “And there is a reason for that.”

Amelia blushed. “I, too, feel strong desires…”

“It’s so much more than desire between us.” He smoothed his thumbs over the back of her fingers, trying to prepare her. “I tremble whenever you are near. I long to follow you about like the smitten fool I promised not to be. My dear—I am afraid I love you. I have loved you for some time but was too blind to understand what I was feeling. I was a coward.”

Amelia froze. “No. That’s not possible.”

Milo smiled. “Why is it impossible for me to love you? You are my wife. You are everything I need. Sweet and kind and very, very appealing. We have shared countless hours together in perfect symmetry.”

“That is different. That was passion.”

“Can passion and love ever truly be separated? Just like us, they are irretrievably bound together. I was a fool to think I could keep my heart at arms length.”