Page 70 of The Duke and the Darkness

“We’ll find another way.”

She shook her head. “What our fathers did… They can’t be allowed to harm anyone else.”

To seal that promise, she finished the remaining champagne in one long drink.

“But you don’t have to endanger yourself to do it.”

“If I don’t, then your family will continue to be in danger. So will Crewe and you…and me.” She admitted, “I no longer want to live in fear of the past.”

“Just in fear of the future.”

Her heart painfully skipped a beat at his quiet accusation, and her gaze rose to meet his. “If I don’t do this, I will never be safe.” Then she added in a whisper, “And I can never find absolution for my father.”

He paused, as if he didn’t believe that would ever be possible, then said instead, “Then your new life will begin.”

“Yes.” The word emerged as a breathless murmur, barely audible, because Peyton knew it was a lie.I’m not a phoenix who can rise from the ashes to be more glorious than before.

From the ballroom, the musicians struck up the first flourishes of a new song. The music was muted, but the tune was unmistakable.

“A waltz.” Her shoulders dropped as an inexplicable yet deep sadness of all she’d lost came over her. “I’m a hypocrite. I told Theodora how to scheme her way into her first dance at a ball when I’ve never even been to one.”

“Never?”

She shook her head. “I had to leave London before I debuted.” Had she led a normal life, her debut would have been magical, a special evening shared with her mother and father, who would have been so proud of her. That loss pierced her, even after all these years. “The only true society event I attended was your mother’s musicale at Dartmoor House.”

“Well then.” Devlin took her empty flute, set it aside, and held out his hand. “Dance with me.”

Her mouth fell open. “You can’t be serious!”

“Perfectly so.” He gave her a low bow. “May I have this waltz, Miss Chandler?”

She bit her bottom lip. She should refuse. Tonight wasn’t a time for play. Yet she couldn’t resist another opportunity to be in his arms, and she slipped her hand into his.

He took her into position in his arms, then swept her into the waltz. He led her through the basic steps rather than leading her into more challenging maneuvers, as if realizing her dance skills were rusty.Rusty?She bit back a laugh. Nonexistent! Yet they moved together more fluidly than she would have thought possible, every step reminding her of how perfectly they’d moved together when they’d made love.

He shifted her closer. The heat of his body and the masculine scent of him filled her senses until she longed for nothing more than to find a way to crawl beneath his skin and be with him always.

Dear God, how much she would miss him! And not just the joining of bodies, although that had been more special than she’d ever imagined making love could be. No…she would misshim. She would miss his strength, his resolve, and most of all his assurances that all would be well, even when she knew it wouldn’t.

He lowered his mouth to her ear. “Enjoying your waltz?”

“Very much.”

“Yet you don’t seem happy.” He stopped dancing and reached up to stroke her cheek so tenderly that she had to close her eyes to bear it.

“I could be.” She forced a teasing lilt into her voice that she certainly didn’t feel. “If you kissed me.”

A smile curled his lips. “Who am I to stand in the way of your happiness?”

He lowered his head and brought his mouth to hers. The tenderness of his kiss shivered a low heat through her. Slowly, she wrapped her arms around his neck and leaned into his embrace, pressing her front against his and craving more…more reassurance, more certainty, more determination. More ofhim. But the most she could do at the moment was part her lips and let him sweep inside in a kiss that was somehow both impossibly erotic and sweet at the same time. Only Devlin had ever made her feel this way. She knew in her heart no one else ever would.

For one precious moment, they were frozen in time, completely in the present moment, and for once, not a captive of the past or the future. Peyton wanted to stop time forever and remain right here with him, when nothing from the past could rise up and hurt them, when the fear of whatever the futurewould bring couldn’t yet consume them…when the terrible sense of impending loss couldn’t overwhelm her.

But time could never stand still. She knew that better than anyone. Regretfully, she broke the kiss and stepped out of his arms.

Thankfully, he didn’t attempt to reach for her and kept his expression carefully neutral despite the visible way he worked to control his breathing. Then he asked the one question with the power to cut her like a knife—“Do you still plan on leaving?”

She allowed herself a single hard blink. “I can’t stay.”