A Love Worthy

Chapter Thirty-Six

            "Are you going to run like a coward?" he asked with a slight hint of humor.

            Her eyes sharpened like daggers. "I am not a coward."

            He laughed gently but his laughter faded as he released her. "It is your courage and defiance that has me captivated."

            "Dorian-"

            "Are you certain of what you saw, Ginelle?" he demanded, stepping closer until they were a breath apart.

            "Yes!" she cried. "Would you have me describe it perfectly?" she shoved at his chest and he captured her wrists easily, jerking lightly until she fell against him.

            She was forced to peer up at him as his mouth hovered above her own. "What you saw was all an act." He said gently, "Every gesture, every smile, every longing look-all fabricated."

            Ginelle shook her head desperately, "No, you're lying-"

            "'I had to make her believe. I would have never convinced her unless I devoted all my time catering to her. I had to make it seem real, that I was hopelessly and erratically in love with her-"

            "I don't want to hear this!" she wrenched her hands from his and attempted to cover her ears but he pulled them back down.

            "But its you, Ginelle." He captured her chin gently and lifted her tearful eyes to his. "It's you that I have fallen hopelessly for. I could love no other."

            Her shoulders shuddered as she closed her eyes against the tears that streaked her face, shaking her head, refusing to believe the validity of his words.

            He reached up and brushed away her tears. His hand cupped her face and his thumb adoringly caressed her cheek. "If what you say is true-" Ginelle said, "-then what did you accomplish by gaining her trust?"

            His blue eyes leveled firmly on her mouth and she struggled to not encourage his kiss for she yearned for nothing more. "I had to ensure your safety." He said softly as his breath fanned her lips. "I had to make certain that no one would attempt to steal you from me again. She was all that stood between us."

            Ginelle couldn't imagine Dorian harming anyone especially a woman he had once been intimate with, nor would she wish that upon anyone but she feared asking what became of Victoria.

            As if sensing her thoughts, he laughed suddenly, startling her. "Your thoughts are as transparent as glass, my sweet. Surely you don't think of me such as a monster?"

            She detected the humor in his voice and despite all she had thought, she felt her mouth tilting into a smile. "Perhaps a brute-" she said lightly, "-but never a monster."

            Dorian laughed and captured her lips in a fevered kiss. Ginelle gave in to the fierce hunger that erupted with his fiery possession as he crushed her against him.

            She broke free of his kiss, breathless as she asked, "What did you do to her?"

            He was silent a moment before replying, "I convinced her that I tired of London. Knowing her taste for new and engaging things, I offered to take her to America, to begin a new life together."

            Ginelle gasped, "Victoria is on a ship?"

            "Let's just say when she learned that she would be traveling alone, she wasn't as delighted." His grin widened, "Lieutenant Cummings has obligingly volunteered to see her safely escorted to her new abode."