The Diamond of the Rockies [03] The Tender Vine

Read The Diamond of the Rockies [03] The Tender Vine for Free Online

Book: Read The Diamond of the Rockies [03] The Tender Vine for Free Online
Authors: Kristen Heitzmann
Tags: Romance, Historical, Ebook, Western, book, Inspirational
should be thankful.”
    His fists clenched at his sides. “I am. But it doesn’t make it any easier.”
    Carina tossed her head back and flung her palm upward. “First you don’t want me—”
    “That’s not true!”
    “You told me every time you came, ‘Go away, end this marriage.’ ”
    Quillan pressed his fingers to the sides of his head. “Not because I didn’t want you.”
    “No?”
    “No.” His voice was firm, insistent.
    She sighed, letting her hand fall. “I don’t know where to start.”
    He came and dropped to one knee beside the bed. Carefully he unfolded the paper from one of the chocolates in the box. He held it up and met her eyes. “Start here.” He brought the candy to her lips, and she bit the edge, tasting the rich, velvety confection.
    It melted away in her mouth, and she licked her lower lip. “Start with chocolate?”
    His mouth quirked. “Why not?”
    A pang of fear and loss seized her; fear that Quillan’s cold, hurtful side would return. And loss—well, all the loss. Why couldn’t it have been this way from the start? Why, Signore? Quillan slid the rest of the chocolate piece into her mouth. Receiving it from his fingers was so intimate, so tender, her heart quaked.
    He cupped her cheek with his palm. “I want to show you I care. To court you as I should have.”
    She searched his face. What was he saying? He was her husband, the man she loved.
    “I read something last night.” He closed his eyes, then looked again. “ ‘Now I rejoice, not that ye were made sorry, but that ye sorrowed to repentance.’ ” His throat worked. “I’m sorry to repentance, Carina. You said you forgive me, and God also, but I want to make it right.”
    She felt the intensity of that desire. She knew it herself, that driving need to right a wrong. She said, “You have. You’re here.”
    He gripped her hand almost painfully. “Don’t make it so easy.”
    “It’s all I want.”
    “You deserve more.”
    Was he saying he loved her? He’d never said the words. He’d spoken poetry, and twice they’d come together, once shyly, deeply, on their wedding night, the other time in anger. But never had he said he loved her. Dio, he must . He couldn’t look at her that way unless he did.
    She dropped her gaze to his lips and willed him to say it. Her pulse raced, waiting. Surely he would kiss her. She looked up as his face drew close, drawn there, she knew, by her own desire.
    Then he brought her fingers up between them, pressed them to his lips. His breath was hot. “I married you to prove that I could best Berkley Beck.”
    “I put you in that position.”
    “You came to me for help.”
    “You helped.” But after their wedding, she had faced his desertion, the vigilante hangings, her danger and rescue, then Quillan’s repeated offers of divorce.
    He pressed her fingers to his lips again. “You’ve been under my skin from the start.”
    Under his skin? Was that the same as love?
    He opened her hand and kissed her palm. “From the day I saw you on the slope scavenging the bits and pieces left from your wagon.”
    “Thanks to you,” she scoffed.
    “If I’d known I’d be paying for that the rest of my life, I’d have dismantled your wagon and killed my team hauling every ounce of it.”
    Carina stared at his intensity.
    His voice thickened. “All I want is the chance to make it right.” He laid her hand down and drew back.
    She sensed the moment lost. He would not kiss her, not say he loved her. She sank into the pillows. What did he want from her? Would she ever understand this son of Wolf and Rose? Signore, would you be so kind as to give me a clue? She could almost hear God laughing. She failed to see the humor.

F OUR
    If travail has a purpose, let me find it now.
    If honor needs a taker, O Lord, me endow.
    If wisdom is a garment, let me wear it well.
    If goodness needs a champion, help me dark dispel.
    —Quillan
    Q UILLAN ROSE EARLY . The need to make things right gave him

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