In Magician's Embrace [BOOK 1 of Price Family Saga]

42. Chapter (The Fallen Pretence)

Observing that audacious scoundrel certainly stirred a multitude of emotions within her core. Yet, despite the glimpses of possibilities of him pleasing her in one of his many ways, she resolved to remain steadfast.

She couldn't allow him a thing, could she?

"You better explain yourself - what brings you to this place?!" Eliza exclaimed softly.

"I implore your forgiveness, but I could not resist the compulsion to see you after such a long time," Daniel replied swiftly, though his words were lined with sarcasm. He took a few steps toward her, to which she instinctively stepped back. "You left me there as if I were some smelly rag."

"You—you shouldn't be here," Eliza said in a hushed tone, shaking her head, "and you deserved such a treatment—nay, you deserved much worse!"

He advanced towards her, grasping her shoulders, and sending a shudder down her spine. She had sensed that something momentous would occur between them that day—not ill-omened, but urgent and breathtaking, far different from what they had experienced thus far.

"I could only agree with your words, for I'm a fool, Eliza. I certainly adore you, yet there is this issue...," he said, then halted, as if it pained him to find the proper wording to convey.

"If it concerns Lord Leighton..." Eliza began but ceased when Daniel shook his head. "Nay, it has nought to do with him. I fear that once I tell you what it is about, your sentiments towards me shall turn to indifference or, perchance, abhorrence."

A moment of silence lingered between them, and Eliza was the first to break it. "It seems you got nothing to say in the end, Lord Gray. Which is a pity, considering the risks you took and the boundaries you crossed already by coming here. Yet, I cannot believe a man saying he adores me when he clearly chooses his issues over me."

She shrugged off his hands from her shoulders and commenced the task of gathering the gifts bestowed upon her by her benefactors, placing them back into the box. A myriad of emotions surged through her, but the prick of pain outweighed them all, for she knew that an insurmountable wall of doubt stood between them.

Daniel, however, was not one to be easily deterred. He reached for Eliza's hand, covering it with his palms, and gazed directly into her curious, amber eyes. "Eliza, I apologise to you for my misconduct in Hertford. I implore your forgiveness for my unkind words and feigned indifference on occasion. Not one transgression of mine toward you was motivated by the intention to tarnish your name nor wound your sensibilities, and yet... What I harbour at present is an ardent affection for you... and dread you may not harbour the same."

His voice shifted from a resolute tone to a hushed whisper as he conveyed his concern. Eliza blinked her eyes several times until she fully grasped the gravity of his admission. Truly, her small heart fluttered and took a leap!

"And my dread ste—," he began, but she intervened by cradling his countenance in her hands and placing her lips upon his.

And as much as Daniel relished kissing her, he tried to gently push Eliza and conclude his speech.

„Eliza, I must impa—"

"Nay," she said with determination, quieting him by placing her fingers upon his lips. "I am certain that true to your character, whatever you utter now will effectively trample this precious moment, and I cannot allow you to do so!"

She resumed kissing him with heightened fervour, delicately pressing against his torso, causing him to retreat until he felt the edge of the bed. Daniel settled onto her bed, and she, in turn, joined him, finding herself in his lap.

„It is impo—"

"Allow me to demonstrate the depth of my affection," Eliza murmured in a voice veiled with passion as she guided him to recline, and commenced bestowing a cascade of tender kisses upon his neck.