Edith Layton (28 page)
Authors: The Cad
“And yours to me,” she said, raising a hand to his face, “but I’ll never believe you were an artless boy. Never. I’m sorry she hurt you so much.”
He took her hand and put it over his racing heart. “She hurt my pride. Not this. She couldn’t. I hadn’t given it to her or any other woman—until you. And no other woman shall ever have it, or any part of me. I suppose I deserved what happened. A man ought not marry
for any reason but for the one I wed you. I lusted after you, true, but then, to my wonder and delight, I found I loved you.”
His voice grew softer, his fingers brushed against her cheek, his eyes held hers. “I burned for you, yes, of course, you knew that, how well you know that. But the reason I rushed you into my bed so soon after we wed…” He sighed. What he wanted to say would leave him open to her entirely. But what of it? Now he was entirely sure it was right and necessary. He spoke quickly, before he could remember how hard it was to say. “The truth was I didn’t want to lose you, not for any reason. You see, I decided if there was to be a babe, it would be mine, with no questions asked.”
He hushed her gasp with a quick, light kiss, and when he spoke again his voice held a smile. “You gave me none to be answered. Yes, I was very lucky. But I already loved you by then. Bridget. I do so love you.” He paused. He cocked his head and smiled widely; she saw his teeth gleaming in the moonlight. “I’ve never said that before. How good a sound. I love you, Bridget, and there you are.”
“No, there
we
are,” she said, and held him close. “Now,” she said after a moment, battling back tears, forcing control, “now then…” She snuffled and cleared her throat. “Now we live happily ever after, don’t we?”
“We can but try,” he said tenderly.
“Oh, Ewen,” she said, “you can do better than that.”
Laughing, joyous, more the lost boy she’d never met than the cool man she’d come to know, he carried her back to their bed and did his best. And then she helped him do better.
A native New Yorker,
E
DITH
L
AYTON
began writing at the age of ten. After graduating with a degree in theater and writing, she did publicity, PR, advertising, and promotion for various TV, radio, and movie companies. She’s the mother of three grown children and lives in Long Island with her husband.
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This book is a work of fiction. The characters, incidents, and dialogue are drawn from the author’s imagination and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
THE CAD
. Copyright © 1998 by Edith Felber. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
Adobe Digital Edition March 2009 ISBN 978-0-06-191322-8
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