Part 26 (1/2)
She should not be wearing her only seductive gown.
But she wasn't trying to seduce him-Virginia had no intention of ever going there again. He might remain the most interesting and disturbing man she had ever met, not to mention the most magnetic, but she would never make the mistake that she had. s.e.x is not love. She had been a fool once, but never again. How those words hurt.
She had wanted an admission that he had been stunned by their pa.s.sion, too, that he had cared, that he still did. But none of those sentiments would be forthcoming, not ever, and she remained a fool, to think he might admire her at all in her dress, when it was clear that he didn't find her attractive anymore.
Virginia rang the bell pull, wanting a bath. An icy fear seemed to grip her now. And she dared face her darkest thoughts: he hadn't admitted anything that she had secretly hoped for because he was a man of the world, and she was only one more woman out of the hundreds he had already used.
Virginia knew she was growing up because she did not shed a single tear.
IF DEVLIN WAS SURPRISED to see her, he gave no sign. He nodded politely, sitting on the emerald-brocade sofa, legs crossed in soft beige britches that delineated his every muscle, not having bothered to change his Hessians for stockings and shoes. He wore a navy-blue velvet coat, a sapphire blue and silver-brocade waistcoat beneath, his ivory s.h.i.+rt exquisitely ruffled at the cuffs and throat, the jabot carelessly tied.
He did not even glance at her; instead, he sipped his red wine as if deep in thought.
But Virginia stared. He had been in a fight. His left eye was swollen and bruised, as was the same side of his jaw. What in G.o.d's name had happened?
She was diverted when Sean leapt to his feet and rushed to the threshold to escort her inside. He smiled but glanced searchingly at her.
”I'm fine,” she said to his unspoken question. She stole one more glance at Devlin, then told herself, quite firmly, that she did not care if he had been fighting the devil himself.
Sean smiled again and squeezed her hand. ”He's taking you to his country home tomorrow. It's close to Eastleigh. He plans for you to meet him. Are you all right with this, Virginia? Will you be able to manage?”
She nodded, glancing over at her captor, who now, finally, eyed them. No expression could be seen on his implacable face. It crossed her mind that she could thwart him easily by denying that she had ever heard of Virginia Hughes and claiming to be someone else. And if she really wanted to hurt him, to thwart him, she could go to the authorities once she was freed. Devlin would wind up in prison for years, unless he had a plan for that contingency, too.
Neither alternative gave her any pleasure. She only wanted to go home-if her home still existed. Unlike Devlin, she had a heart and it was human and kind. She would never deliberately hurt him, and not out of revenge.
”You are lovely tonight,” Sean added. Then he added, ”You are always lovely, Virginia.”
Something in his tone caused her to start and she met his gaze. ”If you are overly kind, I might lose what is left of my composure,” she said softly.
Sean smiled a little. ”Don't do that!” Then he said, ”Virginia, would you step outside with me? We have to speak.”
”Now?” She knew it was seven and they always dined precisely on the hour.
”Please.”
Something was afoot. She nodded, searching his expression for a clue as to the matter at hand and they crossed the room. She had no idea what was on his mind. Devlin murmured, ”Do not mind me.”
Virginia decided to h.e.l.l with it and she glared at him.
He saluted her with his gla.s.s and then picked up a Dublin newspaper.
Outside, the night was pleasant, a few stars beginning to emerge in the inky blue vastness overhead. To Virginia's surprise, Sean gripped both her arms. ”I am going to miss you,” he said roughly.
Her eyes widened. ”I will miss you, too,” she said.
His gaze searched hers. ”I don't want you to worry about Devlin. I have become your protector, Virginia. You do not have to fear another episode like the last one. I won't allow it and...” He hesitated.
She was becoming moved beyond words. ”And?”
”And he is resolved to treat you with all of the respect that you deserve.”
Oddly, the twinge of dismay was at once rude, surprising and strong. ”I doubt he said that.”
”He didn't have to. He is very sorry, Virginia-”
”Don't! If that man cares about what he did, how he did it and how he left, he can tell me himself.”
”He may never have the courage,” Sean said softly.
Virginia started. As Devlin was the bravest man she knew, what in G.o.d's name was Sean talking about?
Sean touched her cheek. ”Virginia, I must ask you something.”
She was suddenly wary, though Sean had become her best friend.
”Do you still love him?” Sean asked.
Virginia gasped. She was so fl.u.s.tered and so stunned she could not respond for a moment. ”Sean!” She gripped his hand, causing it to drop from her face. ”I do not love that man,” she said fiercely. ”Maybe, once, for a brief moment, I was deluded into thinking that I did. I do not even know him! He has treated me abominably. There is nothing, absolutely nothing, there!” she cried.
But so many images of Devlin O'Neill a.s.sailed her now. She saw him standing strong and proud on the quarterdeck of the Defiance, the scourge of the seas; she recalled Devlin staring at her fierce with pride, telling her that all the land, as far as the eye could see, was Askeaton, that all the land belonged to him.
And finally there was Devlin, his body hard and aroused, covering her, his eyes brilliant and unfocused with the maddened haze of his l.u.s.t.
Virginia tried to breathe and calm herself. He hadn't always treated her abominably. He had treated her well until those last few hours-and if she dared to remember, she had sought to seduce him then, never dreaming what her success would mean.
”I'm afraid I don't believe you,” Sean murmured, his hands sliding around her now.
She stiffened, stunned. ”What are you doing?”
”I have tried very hard to think of you only as a friend,” he said slowly, his gaze holding hers.
And in the fading light of dusk, Virginia saw every emotion that he was feeling in the pale gray disks that were his eyes. Unlike Devlin's, they s.h.i.+mmered with sorrow, with sincerity and with something far greater than friends.h.i.+p. He was in love with her.
His hands tightened. ”I will always be your friend,” he said grimly. ”But what I want to know is if there is any chance that you could forget him and what you have shared with him. If there is any chance, no matter how small, that you might ever think of me as something more than a friend.”
Virginia reeled. She did not know what to say. And she was so touched that she cupped his face in her hands, a strong, handsome face, his features as hard, defined and angled as his brother's, a face so terribly similar except for his dark brown hair and brows. But she had never confused the brothers, because his eyes were windows to his soul, as Devlin's were not. ”I don't know,” she began hoa.r.s.ely. ”I am so surprised....”
His hands moved into the heavy weight of her hair, which she had pinned back but left down. ”I lied to my brother,” he said as hoa.r.s.ely. ”I am in love with you, Virginia.”
His words were a terrible trigger. She loved him, too, but not that way-and what a fool she was not to love him as a man. Because she knew him completely. He was a man incapable of treachery while capable of loving a woman deeply, forever. ”Sean, I can't.” She dared not admit why, not even to herself.
He nodded, not speaking now. But he held her for one moment longer before dropping his hands. Instantly she seized them and clung. ”Don't leave me now! I need you now more than I ever have!”
”I know.” He smiled sadly, then the smile turned grim. ”I will always be here for you, Virginia, but I am not going with you and Devlin to Wideacre. It is a terrible idea. I prefer not to be with the both of you.”
”But-”