The Vampire's Mail Order Bride(49)
Hugh tugged her boots off, trying not to wake her. He thought he’d managed it until, as he stood at her bedside, studying the woman he was undeniably falling for, she murmured his name.
“Hugh.”
“Shh. It’s very late. Go back to sleep.” He sat on the edge of the mattress and brushed her hair off her face. He hadn’t turned the lights on, but he didn’t need them to see how beautiful she was.
“Are you mad at me?” Her voice was a sleepy whisper.
“Mad? No. Not at all.”
“You weren’t talking to me.”
“I didn’t know what to say.” Or how to say it, or how to explain what a mess his head was.
“Do you want me to leave?”
“No.” Emotion clogged his throat. Damn it.
Her hand found his. She slipped her fingers through his and held on. “Then what are we going to do?”
“About?”
“Me. Falling in love with you.”
He sat very still, unable to think or move or process. “Delaney, you can’t—”
“Too late. I am.” She released his hand and rolled to her side. “Don’t worry,” she whispered, the tiniest sob clinging to her voice. “I’ll get over you. Eventually.”
Anger at his own inability to respond finally took hold of him. He had to say something. “Delaney…” Sweet, beautiful Delaney.
She rolled back over, squinting at him.
He knew she couldn’t see him in the dark the way he could see her. “I cannot ask any woman to risk her life for me. You must understand that.”
“You’re not asking me. If we get to that point, I will either make that decision or I won’t. But it will be my decision. Why can’t you understand that?”
“Because…” He swallowed. “Because I am a fool.”
She smiled and even in the dark room it felt like he’d been granted a moment in the sun. “Good thing I have a soft spot for foolish men.”
He bent his head to her stomach, the earthy scent of her leather top mingling with her sweet fragrance. Losing the presence of her light and joy in his house was an unhappy thought. “Don’t leave me.”
Her fingers threaded through his hair. “I can only stay if you promise not to shut me out anymore. I know I’m only human but—”
“No.” He lifted his head and turned his face to kiss the inside of her wrist. “Don’t say you’re only human. There’s nothing wrong with that. With who you are. Nothing at all. I won’t shut you out again. Will you stay?”
She nodded. Then smiled. “Can you see me? That I nodded?”
“Yes.” He slid his hands to her rib cage, his emotions raw and lying on the surface of his soul. “You scare me, Delaney.”
“I scare you?”
He tugged her closer. “The way you make me feel.”
She put her hands on his shoulders, her voice still breathy but very awake. “Which is?”
“Vulnerable.” He kissed the soft curves of her body that spilled over the edge of her leather top and was rewarded with a small purr of pleasure. “Predatory.” She was warm and delicious. His mouth found the hollow of her throat. Her fingers dug into him. “Protective.”
She arched beneath him, sighing.
Each kiss brought him nearer to her mouth, but he teased her, refusing to come closer than the line of her jaw or the corner of her lips. It was the kind of torturous pleasure he’d never indulged in with any other woman beside Juliette, preferring to keep those relationships as emotionally unattached as possible.
She growled softly when his lips brushed the soft spot behind her ear, then pulled away suddenly. “I can’t do this. I can’t do this with a man who isn’t willing to fully commit to the possibility of love. It’s the surest way I know to get my heart broken. And you said you’d never hurt me.”
He looked her squarely in the eyes. She was wily, this one, to use his own words against him, but she was right. “Delaney, I want no one but you. And if that means someday we have to face the very difficult decision about what a future together means then…I’m willing to take that chance. Even though you know where I stand.”
“And you know where I stand.”
“I do.”
She hesitated. “So, basically, we’ve got a big fight coming up.”
He laughed softly. “Yes, I suppose we do.”
She pushed his jacket off his shoulders. “Then I guess we’d better enjoy the honeymoon phase as much as we can.”
Delaney was still asleep when Hugh planted a kiss on her temple and crawled out of her bed. He let her sleep, especially since she hadn’t gotten much of a chance to do that last night. With a grin he couldn’t shake, he showered and dressed and went downstairs for coffee.