“Why not?”
The tease came so naturally it surprised even himself. “A bit of mystery is good for a marriage.”
“Marriage?”
Ah, right. Confession. Time. Place. He turned to her and swiftly lifted her up into his arms, hands splaying over her arse, her body pressed along his.
“Drake! Put me down!”
“In a moment.” He turned with her in his arms and strode to the door.
Reginald’s voice rose behind them. “You bastard! You think you’ve won? You think she’ll stand by you when the blood starts flowing?”
Drake did not look back. “Tell that cockchafer when he wakes up to settle in,” he called back evenly. “You’ll both be here for a while.” He reached for the torch mounted beside the door, wrenched it free, and strode toward the passage. The light leapt and danced along the stone, throwing their melded shadows across the walls. The sight made him tighten his arms.
“You are impossible,” Violet muttered, though there was more breath than bite to her words.
Reginald hurled another curse, then another, his threats fading into the dark as Drake mounted the steps two at a time. Some admissions could not be made in the dark with an enemy at your back.
And he had things to make clear.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Violet’s feet metthe floor as Drake set her down in his chamber, her body sliding along the hard line of his before he let go. The chamber was dark, and he crossed to the table to light a match. Moments later, candlelight wavered across the walls, tracing Drake’s broad shoulders as he turned back toward her. The air still carried the damp chill of the night, steeped with the familiar scent of him, an essence of him she had never known how to name, but now recognized as home.
The last time she had stood in this room, she had not left happy. The memory brushed her, unbidden and unwelcome, but it did not take hold. Too much had changed since then.
Shehad changed.
She remained where he had left her, fingers curled loosely at her sides, her skirts heavy with rain and grime, her hair clinging to her neck. Her body still quivered with the effects of the night; her legs trembled faintly, though she would not have said it was from fear but rather relief. Reginald and Percival would never be a worry in her life again. And she had the man before her to thank for that.
Her gaze flicked to the bandage at his temple, which stood out starkly against his dark hair, and the sight of it tugged at her heart.
And to think you were planning to leave, Vi.
She took a breath. Then another.
That might have become the biggest regret of her life. And she supposed she had Percival to thank for helping her avoid that. His cruel actions had opened her mind to so many things.
For a moment, neither of them spoke.
“Violet.” He crossed back to her, capturing her hands in his and lowering onto one knee. “Would you be my lover? My wife? My partner?”
She blinked down at the man’s blunt question. Blazes, how could she answer if he stole her breath in such a straightforward fashion? “That’s...”
He smiled. “Too forward?”
“A bit.”
“To be frank, I still don’t believe you belong in my world.”
Her heart seized. “You don’t?” Then why was he asking her to be with him?
“No.” He shook his head. “It’s too damn dangerous and you’re too damn good for the darkness, but I also believe you belong with me. So I find myself in a hopeless position.”
“Do you know what I think?” Violet asked. “I think I came to Brighton for you. I think when we follow our hearts, when we choose not to hide, not to run, that’s when we truly start to live our lives.”
“I love you.”
