Marcus seemed to stiffen. 'Anything?'
'Yes!' .
'Does that include making love to a blind man?' he rasped.
'No!' she gasped. 'That wasn't to help you, that was for me.'
'Then you did mean what you said last night?'
'What I said?' she repeated uncertainly.
'That you'd never stopped caring for me?' He waited tensely for her reply.
'You were awake?' Her eyes were wide.
'All the time,' he nodded. 'I'd had to tell you to go, how could I possibly sleep? And then when you came to my room, touched me, said the things you did, I knew I couldn't let you go without making love to you.'
Delicate colour heated her cheeks. 'Then you must know it's the truth,' she choked.
'Why were you a virgin, Olivia?' he persisted relentlessly.
She turned away, her breathing ragged. 'I told you, I never wanted another man.'
'And I never wanted another woman, not since the first day I met you. There's been no one else all these years, Olivia.'
She spun round at the softly spoken words, seeing that amazingly all the tension had left him, that he was actually smiling. 'Marcus?' she queried tentatively.
He came towards her with confident strides, talking as he walked. 'I used to torture myself imagining you with other lovers, possibly with a husband, children.' He came to a halt in front of her, their bodies almost touching, their warmth reaching out to each other. 'And then Sally came home and told me that you didn't even have a boy-friend, let alone a husband! I'm afraid she asked Rick for that bit of information,' he smiled down as she gasped. 'I at once began hoping, praying that I could mean something to you again.'
'When I realised I was blind I daren't even acknowledge that I remembered you. Yours is the sort of kind heart that makes sacrifices, and I knew that if you once guessed how much I needed you…' His mouth twisted. 'But I'm afraid you've been a temptation to me ever since you came here, a temptation I couldn't always resist. I'm sorry if I've hurt you with my cruelty, Olivia.'
She forgave him every single second of pain in that moment. 'Tell me—tell me—'
'Yes?' he prompted as she chewed awkwardly on her bottom lip.
She looked up at him fearlessly. 'How did you feel about me six years ago?'
'Haven't I just told you?'
'Not completely, no,' she gave a shaky laugh.
Marcus gave a rueful grimace. 'No, maybe I haven't. Before I do perhaps I should do the explaining about Ruth that should have been made then, then you would never have doubted me. You overheard Sybil yesterday when she accused me of marrying Ruth for the wrong reasons?' He sighed as she nodded confirmation. 'She was right. Ruth was beautiful, an accomplished hostess—and we both married for reasons other than love. She enjoyed being the wife of the brilliant surgeon everyone assured her I was going to be, and I wanted a wife who would complement that position. Unfortunately, no one had told Ruth that it would take me years to reach the top of my field, and I hadn't realised how galling it was going to be to have a wife whose father would buy her anything she asked for. By the time Sally was born we were living almost as strangers. But I loved my daughter very much, and I was determined to keep the family together. I succeeded until Pierre came along.'
'Sally told me about her stepfather.'
Surprise widened his eyes, and then he nodded acceptance of the fact that his daughter had confided in her. 'At first I thought we should try and patch our marriage up, and then I realised that it wasn't a marriage at all but a business arrangement. I realised that the day I went on to a ward to visit one of my patients and a girl with eyes big enough for me to drown in walked straight into my arms!'
'You looked straight through me!' Olivia accused with indignation. 'And I was mortified.'
'I looked into your eyes—very much as I'm doing now—and I fell in love with you.'
'Marcus?' His name came out as a high-pitched squeak, searching the harshness of his face, wishing she could see behind the dark glasses. 'Did you say you could—see me?' She swallowed hard.
'Would it matter to you if I'm still blind?'
'I wouldn't care if you were blind, had six wives and twenty children—I love you, I've always loved you.'
'I think I knew that last night as I made love to you. The moment you gave me your innocence was the moment I realised that you loved me—and it was the moment I began to see again!' he told her exultantly. 'I thought you would have forgotten me the last years, pushed what we had to the back of your mind, and then there you were giving me the innocence I had wanted six years ago! Something inside me snapped with the joy I felt at that moment, the restraint was all gone, and I looked down and I could—I could suddenly see you, your beauty, your fire.'
'Why didn't you tell me?' She touched his cheek wonderingly, now knowing the reason for the dark glasses. The stark daylight was too glaring for his sensitive sight.
'I had other things on my mind at the time,' he teased softly. 'No,' he sobered, 'that wasn't it, although God knows at the time nothing was more important to me than loving you. I had to be sure, darling, that the return of my sight wasn't just temporary. No matter how much I love you, how much I've always loved you, I couldn't inflict you with a blind husband.'
'You wouldn't have been inflicting—Husband?' she repeated incredulously.
Marcus gently framed her face with loving hands. 'My darling, will you marry me?'
'I ought to be angry with you, not marry you!' She glared up at him. 'How dare you insult me by thinking I would go to bed with you, want to marry you, out of pity?'
'I couldn't offer you less than you deserve, Olivia,' he told her throatily.
'But it didn't matter to me!'
'It mattered to me,' he said quietly.
Olivia frowned. 'Are you saying that if you were still blind you would have let me leave here today, even though you love me?'
'I don't know,' he told her truthfully. 'You see, until I overheard Sybil and the lies she once told us I believed you had walked out on me six years ago. If I were still blind, and had learnt the truth, I have no idea what my reaction would have been. Give me the benefit of the doubt, hm?' he chided softly.
She looked up at him with love in her eyes, realising how close they had come to losing each other again, and she put her arms about his waist to rest her head on his chest. 'You can see again, will be completely well again—that's all that matters.' She spoke into the silk of his shirt.
'And are you going to marry me?'
'I'll think about it.'
'Six years wasn't long enough?' he joined in her light teasing.
Her arms tightened about him. 'I think I knew I loved you the moment I accidentally turned into your arms too, darling.' Her head went back as she gave him a dazzling smile. 'Yes, I'll marry you.' She and Marcus had the same everlasting love the Batesons had once shared, they both knew it and would cherish it.
Everlasting Love Page 17