Chapter Thirty-Four

She was utterly magnificent… His breath caught at his first sight of her in far too long. His body seemed to move toward her, seeking the warmth of her as though she were the only source of it in the whole world. Her long black hair was confined to a tight braid that reached to the tops of her shapely buttocks, and her sapphire eyes spat sparks of surprise, then anger as he moved closer.

Understandably, she tensed, her gaze watching his every move as he strode toward her.

“Richard,” she murmured, her voice level. He couldn’t tell from her expression or her tone if she were affected by his appearance in her training room. “Why are you here?”

Instead of answering immediately, he began unbuttoning his coat. Her mouth turned down in a pout, but her eyes followed his fingers as he popped each button from the hole. Finally, he shrugged the coat from his shoulders and tossed it onto the floor. He didn’t care where it landed; his focus was on the woman before him.

“As I said before…I am here for my rematch,” he replied, a slow grin lifting the side of his mouth. She sucked in a breath and crossed her arms, lifting her glorious assets even higher. She was beautifully made—every inch of her body honed to perfection.

She was made for him… He just had to convince her of that.

“What say you, Victoria? Spar with me?” He moved closer until he was standing over her, staring down into her upswept face. Her expression fluctuated from hard as flint to soft and sensual, then back to flint.

She wanted him, desired him as much as he did her, but was there more to it than that? He wanted more from her than her kisses and her kung fu. He wanted all of her: her heart and her soul. Forever.

He had his work cut out for him, but she was worth the cost, no matter what.

Without a word—though he could tell from the way she pursed her lips that she wanted to rail at him—she walked to the wall of blades and selected the same rapier she had for their first sparring match.

Holding back a chuckle, he took the rapier he’d chosen before as well, feeling the familiar weight of it in his hands. He gave a few practice swings before turning to face Victoria, who was standing in the middle of the large square mat, glowering at him. He didn’t blame her for being upset—he deserved every bit of her derision.

“I will not have mercy on you,” she ground out, her voice husky. Tingles erupted over his skin at the sound.

Without warning, Victoria thrust. He evaded, his blood singing. It was the second time she’d begun their match like this, and it made him smile.

“That was wicked of you, darling,” he drawled.

She growled, a primal sound that rumbled through his chest. He growled back.

“En garde!” she cried as she thrust again, aiming for his heart. Oh, she didn’t yet know that she’d pierced it long ago.

He evaded, blocking her next thrust and moving back, sliding his feet over the floor.

As before, they danced around the room, slicing at one another in controlled arcs and parries. It was as though they knew each other’s moves, knowing where to strike and where to evade. He was attuned to her, her every breath, her every grunt, and every twitch and explosion of movement.

“Why are you here, Richard? You agreed that we should end things as they were.”

“I have come to fight,” he said as he maneuvered her back toward the far wall. Just a few more feet…

Bunching his muscles, he swung with a little more weight than necessary, making her step back to avoid getting a rapier in her face. She swung, nearly taking a slice from his ear, as a lock of his hair slid down his neck, tickling his collarbone. A chuckle escaped.

She snorted.

He grinned at the frustrated sound. “You have come to lose, you mean.”

He chuckled again, which only seemed to drive her movements. She became erratic, her rapier sweeping the air without any true target. It was then he realized she didn’t have her heart in the battle. Taking advantage of her lack of fight, he continued swinging, bringing his sword down in controlled clashes with hers, until her back slammed against the wall.

Right where he wanted her.

Rapier pointed to her chest, he demanded, “Yield!”

Her lush lips narrowed to a thin line, and her chest rose and fell, her nostrils flaring. Beautiful. Perfect. Amazing.

This woman was everything to him.

“Do. You. Yield?” He spoke each word as the blood pounded in his chest.

She dropped her sword, the rapier clanging to the floor. But her eyes never left his.

She tilted her chin to the ceiling and said, “Fine. You win.” The defeat in her voice nearly made him crumble. But he couldn’t, not right now. Not when he needed to be at his strongest.

“No,” he said, dropping his own sword. “I lost.”

Confusion settled over her features, which were pink and sweaty from their battle.

“What do you mean? I yielded. That makes you the victor,” she said, throwing her arm into the air. “You won. You beat me. You took everything I was and you smashed it to pieces.”

Suddenly, she was shuddering. She crossed her arms over her body to cradle her elbows.

Shaken, he held his breath. He’d never seen her so…vulnerable.

Have I done this to her?

He walked to her, taking her face into his hands. He peered down into eyes he would never find equaled. Closing his own eyes, he brushed his lips over her forehead. She trembled.

“Victoria, darling, it is I who lost. I lost my mind that night of the rescue. I saw Elizabeth on that bed, helpless, and only there because I thoughtlessly pursued you. I knew that it was my fault she’d been taken, and it killed me to know she could have died.”

His body shook as the words formed. “When I looked at you standing there, outside the warehouse, this magnificent creature of grace and beauty, I knew that I couldn’t spend any more time with you without wanting to claim you as my own. But I had an obligation to my family first, to see that they never knew such fear and danger again. And so I agreed with your decision, there, in the carriage. However, I did not plan to let you go forever, Victoria. It’s impossible.”

It was as though something lit a fire in her eyes, like realization had struck. Her breath came out slow…heavy. “But you cannot expect them never to know fear or danger. Life is fraught with both,” Victoria supplied, ignoring that last part, her voice a mere whisper.

He nodded. “I know that.” He thrust his hands through his hair, apprehension skittering over him. “I walked away from you that night, but I cannot do it again. I cannot live my life without you in it.”

She tried to pull away, but he wouldn’t let her. “You cannot say that. I sent you away. You left. And you were right to do so. I am nothing but danger and blood, expertly concealed behind the wrappings of a debutante. I’ve lived my life training for this, for the danger, to be the thing people feared…”

He pulled her closer, until they were only inches apart. He gazed down into her eyes. There was a sadness within that rocked him, because he felt the same. The thought of never being near Victoria robbed him of all warmth.

“Is that what you really want?” he asked, and he watched as surprise flashed over her features.

“What do you mean?”

“Do you want to be what people fear?” he probed, the tremors in her body growing.

A sob escaped her mouth, and she tried, again, to pull away.

“Victoria…”

“No. All right? I don’t want to be what people fear. Who does? I want what everyone wants, a life of happiness and laughter. A husband who adores me for me, calloused hands and all. I want children—a whole passel of them. I want a home I create with the man I love and I never want to know what death looks like again.”

Love shattered him to pieces.

He pulled her into him, crashing his lips into hers. She tensed at first, but then leaned into him.

The touch of her lips was a delicious, heady sensation. Fire shot through him, igniting every nerve ending. He deepened the kiss, taking even as he gave. She moaned, fitting her body against his, chest to chest. He could feel her heartbeat pounding in time to his, and he nearly broke the kiss to crow into the ceiling. She feels the same.

She circled her arms around his neck, pulling him down into the kiss. He dropped his arms from her face to place them on her hips. They were perfectly rounded—all woman, all warrior. Just for him. All for him.

Their demanding kiss burned a path through his blood, until all that remained of him was a husk only she could fill.

Breathing heavily, he broke the kiss. He pressed his forehead against hers and closed his eyes against the desire roaring through him.

When he finally found his voice, he murmured, “I want those things for you, too, my love—but not without me.”

She gasped, her eyes searching his. “You can’t mean—”

“I love you, Victoria Daring. I think I’ve loved you since you crashed into me at the Banebridge party. From that moment, I have been caught up in you, and I never want to be released. I want to share the happiness and laughter. I want to be the husband who adores you, calloused hands and all, for I know where you got those callouses. I know how hard you’ve trained and how much of yourself you’ve given for your family. I adore you more than any man could ever adore a woman. I want to give you that passel of children, and I want them to have sparkling sapphire eyes and golden hair. I want them to know their mother is the strongest woman I’ve ever met and the most amazing human to ever grace the earth. More than anything, my love, I want you to want that…with me.”

He brushed his lips over hers, gently, silently pleading for her to accept him.

“Richard, I…” She slid her hands down from his neck, down his chest, to rest over his heart. She owned it. Utterly. “I don’t know…”

“Please…” he begged, his deep voice tremulous in the aching. “I need you…so much.”

…

Victoria couldn’t believe her ears. Richard Downing was begging her…to love him. Oh, but she already did—so much it hurt to breathe without him. But she couldn’t trust that he wouldn’t regret his decision. He’d been right in putting his family first. Being with her could mean the destruction of all he held dear.

“But what about your family? They could be in danger,” she muttered, her heart not in it.

“If you had seen Aunt Margaret’s face when I told her I was coming here, you wouldn’t ask me that question.”

She scowled at him, and he chuckled, the deep baritone vibrating through her. She nearly melted into a puddle right then.

“Darling, my aunt understands that what happened was a terrible event, but none of us—now—think it had anything to do with my loving you. It was the careless act of a desperate man, a man who met a foul end. Do not let the horror of one man’s life ruin the life we can make…together.”

She nearly sobbed at the hope in his words. “But I told you to go…and you did.”

He threw his arms around her, pulling her into an embrace she’d been craving with every part of her being. “A mistake I will never make again.”

The truth of his statement, the absolute determination in his tone, made her own hope grow.

“You mean it? You love me?” she asked, her voice whisper soft.

He squeezed her. “More than life itself.”

“Oh, Richard…” she murmured, burying her face in his neck.

“What is it, love?” he asked, nuzzling her head with his chin. It felt right to be there, in the circle of his strong arms. He felt right.

“I love you,” she breathed.

He stiffened, pulling her away from him to stare down into her face. There was a look in his eyes that made her belly flip inside out.

“You have given me life with those three words,” he ground out, then devoured her mouth with his. They kissed until they couldn’t breathe, until the light of the sun cast long shadows across the dàochǎng floor. Finally, they pulled apart, her body singing, her heart worshiping along.

“Say you’ll marry me, my Victoria,” Richard implored, making a smile break out over Victoria’s face.

“And what if I say no?” she asked teasingly.

Richard groaned and then grasped her face between his hands again, only to plant a quick kiss on her nose. “Then I’ll have to fight you until you say yes.”

A laugh exploded from her chest, one of pure joy and blazing love.

“And what will happen then, my love?” she inquired breathlessly.

“Why, then I will have won the most daring of victories.”

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