Part 39 (2/2)
”I'm right here.”
His chest began to ache, lungs straining beneath his broken ribs. ”Swear you won't leave.”
”I'll be here when you wake,” she said.
But what if she wasn't? What if she went away, disappeared as she'd once said she might? What if this was the last time he saw her?
”Swear,” he demanded.
”Shh, I swear. Don't upset yourself. I'll stay for as long as you want me.”
He searched her eyes for a long minute, then let himself relax again. But he didn't ease his grip on her hand. ”That means forever, you realize? Because I'll always want you. I love you.”
”And I love you. Sleep now. Just sleep.”
But he didn't want to sleep. He wanted only to lie here and look at her. Memorize each beautiful line and graceful curve of her face.
There was something else, though. Something he needed to tell her. Something important.
”Did Lawrence tell you?” he asked.
”Tell me what?”
”That I made a will.”
A shudder went through her. ”You don't need a will,” she said fiercely. ”You aren't going to die.”
”I could. I heard the doctors.”
”Whatever you heard is nonsense and doctors are quite frequently wrong about such things. You're only twenty-five years old. You just need to rest and recover, that's all.”
”Still, if I don't get better-”
”Of course you're going to get better. I won't let you do anything else.”
”But if I don't,” he said insistently, ”I want you to know I've made provision for you.”
”Provision? What do you mean?”
”I'm leaving you my fortune.”
Her eyes rounded. ”That's impossible. I don't want your money.”
He ignored her statement. ”When we parted a few months ago, I know you turned me away out of some misguided notion that I would be happier without you. That I would have a better life if I moved on. But I won't. I can't.”
”You may not think so now.” She glanced down at their joined hands. ”But you'll realize I'm right someday.”
He squeezed her hand. ”I won't.”
She looked up again.
”I love you and I'm not going to stop. Not ever,” he said. ”There is something you should know about Byron men.”
”Oh? And what is that?”
”We live wild lives until we find the right woman. Once we do, we hold fast and never let go.” Pausing, he drew a breath. ”I know we cannot marry, but it doesn't matter, not to me. In my heart, you are already my wife. Am I your husband?”
”Leo,” she murmured.
”Am I?”
For a long moment, she said nothing. When she spoke, her words were as solemn as a wedding vow and just as meaningful. ”Yes. In my heart, you are my husband.”
He gave a faint nod, satisfied. ”And a husband provides for his wife, even after his death.”
”You are not going to die. Stop saying such things.”
”I couldn't rest easy, not without knowing you were provided for. You'll never want for anything again, Thalia. Everything that is mine is now yours.”
”I told you, I don't want your money. All I could ever want is you.”
Tears welled in her eyes, then overflowed.
He reached up and brushed his thumb over her cheeks, ignoring the pain that went through his back and chest at the movements. ”Kiss me and tell me you love me, wife.”
”I don't want to hurt you.”
”You won't,” he lied.
”I love you, husband. More than I've ever loved anyone in my life. More than I will ever love anyone again.”
Her lips met his, soft and gentle and infinitely sweet. He closed his eyes and drank in her touch, her warmth, knowing if this was the last, then he would die happy.
Slowly, the blackness returned, pulling at him again, drawing him down and away. He tried to resist, hearing her voice calling him, as if from a distance. But he couldn't hold on; the darkness was just too powerful to resist. Like a great ocean wave, it swept over him into nothingness.
Chapter 34.
Thalia startled awake at the touch of a hand on her shoulder. She looked up to find the Dowager d.u.c.h.ess of Clybourne's clear, gentle green eyes resting upon her, a concerned smile on her lips.
”Why don't you go get some proper rest in one of the bedrooms?” Leo's mother suggested softly. ”I can watch him for a while.”
”No, I'm all right,” Thalia said, shaking off her sleepiness as she sat up in the chair at Leo's bedside. ”I promised him I would be here when he wakes.”
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