Or perhaps it had been all those times. Perhaps her presence, her inner strength and light had slowly whittled away all his resistance to loving her. And piece by piece, he had surrendered his heart and soul.
But now she would leave. Because he’d been too cowardly to face that emotion.
“I won’t force you to stay, Evie,” he whispered, longing to touch her, though he knew that wouldn’t help his cause. He needed to show her she was more to him than an extension of his hedonistic life. To show her what she meant to him. This time, without holding back. Because if there was even the smallest chance that she would stay at his side, it was worth the risk.
“But I am begging you not to go.”
She turned at those words, unlike any he’d ever said before. When she met his eyes, he went down on his knees.
“I, Rafael Sinclair, who have never been on his knees before a woman except to pleasure her, am begging you not to go. Not because I want you, not because I need you, though those things are more true than you will ever realize, but because I love you.”
She flinched. “Don’t mirror my words back to me in an effort to get what you want!”
“I know that is what it sounds like. But I swear to you on my life that it isn’t. I have never declared any similar feeling to a woman. I have never loved anyone but you. What can I do to prove it to you?”
She began to turn away. “Sin-”
He cut her off by grabbing her hand and pulling her back. “Should I give up everything I have? I’ll gladly do that for you. If you asked me to come to court and declare that I love you, I would. I’ll give you anything you ask for, anything you desire to prove this to you. And if I can’t do it now, I won’t break my vow never to see you ever again. I promised that to you and I’ll keep that promise. But I’ll write to you every day. I will keep asking you to allow me access to you.”
She looked down at him. He could see how much she wanted to believe him, but she couldn’t.
“Name what you need, Evie. I’ll do everything in my power to grant it.”
She hesitated. “Would you give up sex for me, Sin?”
He blinked. Never be inside her again, but be with her for always. “I would want you more than anything, but if you desired that, I’d do it.” He smiled faintly. “Though I couldn’t promise I wouldn’t try to convince you to change your mind.”
Her cheeks twitched like she wanted to smile, but kept the expression at bay. She cupped his cheeks.
“Would you give up your revenge on my father?”
That made his smile fall. He’d been so angry for so long. And while he had no intentions of revealing this affair in public now, he hadn’t yet surrendered the notion of destroying Trevington in every way possible.
He stared up into Evie’s eyes, so dark and filled with hope and fear and anticipation all at once. Her fingers fluttered against his face nervously.
“I wouldn’t,” he said. Her face collapsed and a tear rolled down her cheek. She began to pull away, but he caught her wrists, holding her palms against his face. “He owes me a debt. And I will collect it still, Evelyn. But this is how I will count it fulfilled. I will demand your sister be set free from his influence. I will ensure he will never harm her again.”
Her eyes lit up, but there was a wariness there still. “You would do that only if I agree to stay with you?”
A dark part of Sin briefly considered saying yes. He could see she would acquiesce to anything if it meant protecting Juliana. But instead, he shook his head. If he loved Evelyn, he had to be a woman worthy of her love in return.
“Whether or not you agree to stay with me, I will do this. If you will not consent to be my wife, than I will demand your father free you, as well. I will make sure you and your sister have a place to live and money of your own, whether he provides it or I do. And I will never demand anything in return because this debt is between your father and me.”
“Your wife?” Her eyes were wide.
“Yes. I know I said I wanted you as my mistress. But that was a coward’s request. I don’t want a mistress, Evelyn. I have had those. What I feel for you is so much more than anything I’ve ever felt for anyone.”
She looked at him in wonder. “But even if I said no, you would still help me escape my father’s influence and home?”
Pain rushed through him, but he nodded jerkily. “Yes. I would rather you be happy, even if you weren’t with me. That would be the second best option to keeping you with me, having you love me and allowing me to love you. So I will ask you one last time, Evelyn… will you stay here with me? Will you marry me and let me love you?”
Her throat worked as she swallowed and tears streamed down her face. Then she dropped to her own knees and leaned up to kiss him.
“Yes, Sin. Yes. I will marry you. I will stay with you. And I will love you for the rest of my life.”
Epilogue
Evelyn’s mouth dropped open. “So you were married all this time to Landon?”
Her sister Juliana gave her another hard hug as they stood on the terrace of her new home and smiled. “Yes. I’m sorry I kept the truth from you. I’m sorry I tried to protect you by lying.”
She shook her head in disbelief. Her sister had given up happiness for so many years to protect her… and then her father had betrayed them both anyway. But now they were free.
She looked down over the railing to where Juliana’s husband and her own husband were walking together through the grounds. They were waiting for Landon’s brother, Hawk and his wife, Bianca, to arrive to celebrate the two new marriages.
“And you,” Juliana said. “Are you certain you can be happy with this man?”
She smiled as she watched Sin turn and raise a hand in greeting to the two women. “He is everything in world to me. I love him with all my heart and I know he loves me in return.”
He’d certainly proven that since the night he dragged a groggy minister from his bed and the two were married because he wouldn’t wait another moment. Just a week ago today that had happened.
“Isn’t it funny,” Juliana said as she looked at the two men who were now coming back toward the house. “Father’s bargains and lies and betrayals kept us at his mercy for so many years. But in a round about way, they brought us to our happiness, as well.”
She nodded, thinking of her father for the first time without a glove of fear gripping her heart. Sin and Landon had worked it out so that she never had to see him again… and she realized she probably never would. Her family was here now. With the man below who looked at her with such love in his eyes.
“Yes. We’ve earned that happiness after all this time. Both of us.”
They turned as the door opened and a servant came outside with Landon’s brother Hawk and his wife. As Juliana introduced them, Sin and Landon came onto the terrace. The two brothers and their wives began to talk, but before Evelyn could join in, Sin caught her arm and led her to a quieter corner. Wrapping his arms around her, he pulled her into an embrace.
“Are you happy?” he whispered.
She nodded as she held him closer. “So happy, Sin. And it’s all because of you.”
He smiled against her hair. “I love you Evie.”
“And I love you,” she whispered as she pulled his mouth down to her own.
Jess Michaels also writes highly sensual historical romances as Jenna Petersen and runs a website for aspiring authors called The Passionate Pen. You can find her online at http://www.jennapetersen.com .
Table of Contents
An Erotic Collection of Novellas
Book 1: Wager of Sin
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
&n
bsp; Chapter Fourteen
Book 2: The Sweetest Sin
Prologue
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Book 3: Sin’s Mistress
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Epilogue
Jess Michaels Page 35