Page 93 of A Bride for the Devilish Duke

“I cannot fathom how one can go from such heights of bliss to depths of despair in such a short space of time,” Emma murmured vacantly.

“I couldn’t say,” he replied, “I have rarely experienced heights of bliss. Not until...”

Emma glanced at him. Her hair hung about her face, shadowing her eyes. She looked haunted. Orhaunting. She could easily be a devastating phantom, sent to dog his footsteps in vengeance. If so, he would wish for the day when he would join her across the great divide.

“Until…?” she asked.

“Until I met you,” he finished—words that now felt empty.

“Until you discovered that I was pursuing you simply for your title,” she muttered, chin resting in her hands.

“That did not happen. I do not believe it,” he replied.

“Do you always say that which you do not believe in?”

“No, that was anger talking. A sudden madness. It did not come from the heart.”

“But how can I know what is in your heart?” Emma said, plaintive, “I want to, but it is closed to me.”

Damien felt each word like a knife. He reeled from the blows, consumed by guilt.

Guilt at betraying his cause. Betraying his brother. His revenge.

But now, a greater guilt. At hurting his love.

Histruelove.

He rushed to her, falling to his knees before her. But Emma rose and stepped away, shaking her head.

“No, I will not allow myself to fall under your spell again. Do not bewitch me!” she snapped.

Damien felt his shoulders crumple. “Ibewitch? I am no sorcerer. I am just a bumbling man who thought himself content with naught but a quest. I thought it enough to sustain me but discovered it was poor fare. You showed me what I needed to sustain myself. I cast no spells.”

He rose to pursue her but she darted out of his reach, jumping onto a log that crossed a trickling stream that fed into the pond.

“Yet I am under one. I should have let you accept the Regent's offer to annul this marriage! I should have begged you to do it. But I could not, because the thought of not being with you, waking in your bed, sleeping in your arms... those thoughts make me wish I were dead!”

Damien stepped onto the log and Emma tried to back away further. Impulsively, he lunged for her, caught her in his arms. She struggled, and suddenly his balance was gone. He released her, arms windmilling for balance. Emma clutched at him, and... he righted himself, balance restored.

“I am sorry for my foolish comments. They were born of worry. Please forgive me,” he said breathlessly.

Emma shook her head in sorrow, stepping away. “I will not live with secrets.”

“You know of my past. Of my father and my brother,” he tried.

She scoffed. “But what about your present? You spoke of a revenge. You disappear on business and come back to me wounded and scarred!”

“I swore an oath,” he uttered.

“Tomewhen we married,” she retorted.

“To my brother,beforewe married, and I do not break my oaths.”

She cannot ask me to. I will fight for her. Kill for her. I will die for her, but I will not break my oath. And yet what use is honor to a man whose house is as empty as his heart?

He dropped down to sit upon the log, feet dangling to brush the surface of the water. It felt as though Emma were slipping from his grasp, fading into the mist that still clung to the cool, dark places between the trees.

It does not matter. The Regent is on my side. The twins cannot sway him now. I do not need this marriage any longer. And there is only one more property for me to destroy and my father's legacy is gone. All we have ever wanted. AllIhave ever wanted.