Splendor(157)

He rubbed her neck, and she could tell from the grip of his fingers that he was disturbed at the mental images he must be conjuring up. “I still can’t bear to think of you in a place like that.” His voice was rough, thick. “It makes me want to wrap you up in this blanket and cuddle you close for the rest of my life. You know I would do absolutely anything for you, Tessa, and that I will always keep you safe and protected.” He bent down to place a lingering kiss on her lips. “I will slay dragons for you, my love, and whatever other monsters might try and hurt you.”

She reached up to caress his cheek. “I take it back. The books and renting this house weren’t the most wonderful birthday presents ever – you are.”

Then, because she was fairly certain she was going to start crying again, she swiftly changed the subject and asked him about a particular matter that she’d been avoiding for months – that of his former fiancée.

Ian sighed. “It seems like such a long time ago, when it was really less than ten years. At times it almost feels like it happened to someone else, not me. But, truthfully, there isn’t a whole lot to say on the matter.”

He told her a bit about her – a lovely, dark-haired woman named Davina, who was three years his junior. They had traveled in the same social circles, had several friends in common, and had dated on and off for a couple of years before becoming engaged. But that had been during a time when Ian was traveling three weeks out of four, and working sixteen hour days, and they saw very little of each other.

“And Davina was an especially sociable woman – adored the whole party scene. Her family wasn’t as wealthy as mine, but they could trace their roots back for centuries and had some sort of minor connection to the royal family. Davina didn’t work – not really – but she was on the boards of several charitable organizations and did a lot of fundraising for them. And it didn’t take very long at all for her to become extremely disillusioned with a fiancée who was rarely around to escort her places.”

Tessa was sitting upright on the settee now, snuggled close against his side. “So she broke things off?”

Ian shook his head. “I did, actually. I knew it wasn’t fair to her, my not being around much, but the real truth was that I simply didn’t love her, couldn’t envision spending the rest of my life with her. She was upset for a time, but it didn’t take her very long to meet someone else. Last I heard they’d been married for several years and had a child.”

“And there was never anyone else for you?”

He shrugged. “No one serious, no. I worked so hard, traveled so much, that having a relationship was a very low priority. However, I can say without a shadow of a doubt that if I had met you somewhere along the way, my priorities would have changed overnight.”

“We very nearly met a couple of years before I moved to San Francisco, you know,” she recalled. “I was still going to college, finishing up the certificate program. You were scheduled to pay a visit to the resort, we were all in an uproar getting ready for it, Mrs. C. insisting that everything had to be beyond perfect. Your visit was on one of the days I didn’t normally work, but Mrs. C. was demanding that I be there anyway. And I would have, if the date hadn’t coincided with final exams at school. There was no way to re-schedule them and I had to take them, she knew that. But she wasn’t at all happy with me, and I could never figure out why.”

Ian grinned. “I’d say it was rather obvious, wouldn’t you? She wanted us to meet, likely knowing full well what would have happened the moment I laid eyes on you.”

“And what would that have been?”

He threaded a hand into her hair, tipping her head back so that he could stare into her eyes. “What wound up happening eventually anyway – I fell instantly and hopelessly in love with you at first sight. Only it’s not so hopeless any longer, is it?”

They stayed out on the deck a while longer, not saying much more, content to simply gaze at the stars and bask in each other’s company. And when the night air grew a little too brisk they moved inside to watch a movie.

And, though they had touched, kissed, caressed frequently throughout the day, they didn’t have sex that night. It was odd, because there had been extremely few nights they had spent together when they hadn’t made love – the night she’d told him about her past; the awful night of the fire at her apartment; and a few times when she’d had her period.

But as they fell asleep wrapped in each other’s arms, both Tessa and Ian had never felt closer, or more intimate with the other, than they did on this particular night.