She launched herself at him and rained kisses all over his face. "You are so wonderful! Thank you!"
For the first time, she saw him look embarrassed.
'This is just…" Her voice trailed off as she glanced to her closet. The door was slightly ajar, and the light inside was on.
Surely, he hadn't…
Slowly, Grace approached it. She opened the door wider, and looked inside.
Joyous tears filled her eyes as warmth spread through her. Her shelves were again covered in books. Her hand shook as she reached out and ran it over the spines of her new collection.
"Am I dreaming?" she whispered.
She felt Julian behind her. He wasn't touching her, yet she could feel him with every pore, every sense of her body. It wasn't physical, but it was earth-shattering. And it left her breathless.
"We couldn't find all of them, especially your paperbacks, but Selena said we got the most important ones."
A single tear fell down her cheek as she saw copies of her father's books. How had they managed to find them?
Her heart pounded as she glanced at all her favorite titles: The Three Musketeers, Beowulf, The Scarlet Letter, The Wolf and the Dove, Master of Desire, Fallen, The
Lawman Who Loved Her, on and on it went until it made her dizzy.
Overwhelmed and giddy, she let the tears fall down her cheeks.
She turned about and threw her arms around Julian. "Thank you," she wept. "But how? How did you do this?"
He shrugged, then reached up to wipe away her tears. It was then she noticed his hand.
And what was missing from it.
"Not your ring," she whispered, seeing the light skin on one of the fingers of his right hand where the ring had been. "Tell me you didn't?"
"It was just a ring, Grace."
No it wasn't. She remembered the look on his face when Dr. Lewis had asked to buy it.
"Never," Julian had said. "You've no idea what I had to go through to get this."
But after hearing his stories of his past, she had a good idea. And he had sold it for her.
Trembling, she stood up on her tiptoes and kissed him fiercely.
Julian froze in shock as her lips touched his. She'd never before reached out to him in such a manner. Closing his eyes, he clenched his hand in her hair, letting it spill down his forearm as he moaned into her mouth.
His head spun from the taste of her. From the feel of her. From the way she kissed him as he'd never been kissed before-
With the whole of her heart.
It shook him all the way to his cursed soul.
In that moment, he truly wanted time to stand still. He didn't want to live another second without her in it. Couldn't imagine a day when he didn't have her by his side.
He felt his control slipping. The pain of madness sliced across his head and his groin simultaneously.
Not yet! his mind shouted. He didn't want it to end. Not right now. Not when he was so close.
So close… But he had no choice.
Reluctantly, he pulled back from her. "I take it you like that, as well?"
She laughed at him. "Of course I do, you crazy man." She wrapped her arms around his waist and laid her head against his chest.
Julian quivered as unfamiliar emotions tore through him. He enveloped her with his arms, feeling her heart beating in rapid time with his.
If he could, he'd stay like this, holding on to her forever. But he couldn't. He stepped back from her. She looked up, her brow wrinkled. He smoothed the frown away with his hand. "I'm not rejecting you, my sweet," he whispered. "I'm just not feeling like myself at the moment." "The curse?" He nodded.
"Is there anything I can do?" "Just give me a minute to fight it." Grace bit her lip as he moved stiffly to the bed. It was the only time she hadn't seen absolute, fluid grace in his movements. He looked as if he could barely breathe, as if he had a terrible ache in the pit of his stomach. He wrapped his hand around the bedpost so tightly that she could see his knuckles protrude.
Pain sliced through her at the sight and she wanted to comfort him. More than ever, she wanted to help him. In fact, she wanted him… She wanted him. Period.
Grace's jaw dropped as the full impact of her thoughts swept over her. She loved him.
She truly, deeply, and most profoundly loved him. How could she not?
Her heart hammering, Grace swept her gaze over the books in her closet. Memories assailed her. Julian the night he'd appeared and offered himself to her, Julian loving her in the shower, Julian comforting her, making her laugh, Julian coming through the top of the elevator to save her, and Julian lying on the bed with the rose as he watched her find his gifts.
Selena was right. He was a major keeper and she never wanted to let him go.
It was on the tip of her tongue to tell him, but she caught herself. Now wasn't the time. Not when he was in such obvious agony. Not when he was vulnerable.