Falling For You [Tom Hiddleston]

45

Claire's POV

I exhaled slowly before turning to face Tom. "Don't beg; it's undignified."

"I could care less about my bloody dignity," Tom retorted as he tugged me closer. "It's you I care about - but there's just so much I still don't know about you, darling. Your ability to avoid answering questions about your past is downright uncanny."

"Most of it's too depressing to even want to think about."

Tom brought one hand up to gently cup my face, his thumb caressing my cheekbone as his somber azure gaze held mine. "Depressing or not, I suspect there are things from your past that are never far from your thoughts."

I held my breath and swallowed several times until the tight ache at the back of my throat eased enough for me to speak. "Tom, you do know you won't ever be able to fix me, don't you?"

"Claire," he sighed as he brought my cold hand to his warm lips and pressed a kiss to my fingers. "I don't need to fix you to care for you as you deserve...or to cherish you...or to love you."

Hearing him say the damn 'L' word again was the last straw. I immediately tore my hand from his grasp and flew towards the door - I just couldn't do this right now.

*        *         *

Tom's POV

I stood there, completely gobsmacked by her unexpected reaction, for much longer than I should have. It wasn't until the door clicked shut behind Claire that I forced myself into motion, flexing my hand to rid it of the stinging sensation left behind. 

Hurrying to the door, I swore inventively when I discovered I couldn't open it until I took the time to unlock it again. I tried not to think about the implications of the fact that she'd deliberately attempted to slow my pursuit of her by throwing the lock during her precipitous exit. 

Hastening back to the sitting room, I hoped to find that Claire had returned there and was visiting with my mum and sisters, but it was instantly apparent that she wasn't present. The moment I determined that, I strode over to Sarah. 

"Have you seen Claire?"

She shook her head. "Not since leaving the study; I thought she was still with you."

"Fuck!" I muttered under my breath, dashing back out of the room. Where could she have gone?

I took the stairs by twos and threes; perhaps she'd decided to go up to our room until she'd calmed down and was laying down for a spell. I threw the door open, not realizing how badly I'd wished to see her there until my hopes were dashed; nothing in our bedroom or ensuite indicated Claire had been there recently.

I sank down onto the bed with a sigh, relieved that all of her belongings were just as they'd been earlier; wherever she was right now, she intended to return at some point. Wondering where she could have gone, I pulled out my mobile to ring her as I began searching the other bedrooms.

I swore in frustration when it just kept going directly to voicemail; she'd switched her mobile off.

As I descended the stairs at a much slower rate than I'd climbed them, I noted that Claire's shoes were still in their place by the front door; surely that meant she was still somewhere in the house as she had no others here. 

Both my sisters were waiting for me at the foot of the stairs, engaged in a hushed conversation that halted as I approached.

"We checked everywhere, Tom," Emma murmured, biting her lip.