think so.”
“You could do better than me,” he said quietly. Then he watched her face.
“Aye, I could.” That was all she said. And she didn’t smile. She didn’t flinch. She didn’t show remorse. She just yawned widely.
“Then why do you want to settle for someone of my ilk? You could have children. And a husband who doesn’t need to feed on the life source of others. Particularly yours.”
“If ye think ye can stop offerin’ me pleasure that way, now that I’ve tasted it,” she whispered, “ye better think again.”
He couldn’t keep from smiling at her.
“And yer heart could wake.” She scooted closer to him in bed and laid a hand over his chest. “Just like Kettering’s and Blodswell’s did.”
“That’s not going to happen for me, Sorcha. Don’t go into a marriage with me assuming that will be the outcome. Marry me because you want to spend your days by my side and your nights in my bed. Marry me because you want to spend your time with me.”
“What if I fall in love with ye?” she whispered quietly.
He reached out for her hip and tugged her closer to him.
“Then I will be the most honored of men.”
“But ye willna be able ta love me back, is what ye’re sayin’?” She spoke from where her head rested beneath his chin, so he couldn’t see her face.
“I’ll be a good husband to you. And that’s all I can offer.”
He waited, afraid to move. Afraid she would toss him from the room. Afraid she would cry again. Afraid she wouldn’t care enough to have any emotion at all.
“I’ll take it,” she whispered as she spun in his arms and pressed her bottom into the spoon his body made when he wrapped around her. She settled peacefully within moments, and he lay awake for not long after, listening to her breathe. This was how it would be for the rest of their life together. Sorcha in his arms. Sorcha in his life. Sorcha in his bed. But he couldn’t love her, though he wished he could. It was a shame to make the wood sprite settle, but he was just selfish enough to do so. And if Seamus Ferguson wouldn’t accept his offer, Alec wasn’t sure what he would do.
Chapter Twenty-Three
A sleeping Sorcha burrowed closer to Alec on the bench, and he tightened his hold on the wood sprite. Over the last week, he had grown accustomed to having the lass at his side, and he smiled down at her. So peaceful, so trusting, so wonderful: he didn’t deserve her.
Across the coach, Eynsford shifted in his seat and Alec briefly glanced at the Lycan. After more than a sennight of traveling with Sorcha, Caitrin, and Eynsford, Alec wasn’t certain he liked the Lycan any better than he had before their journey began, but he could at least tolerate the man’s company now. Most of the time, anyway.
The marquess still kept a close eye on Sorcha and made Alec’s attempts at getting the lass alone more than difficult, but he also took the gentlest care with Caitrin. At one time, Eynsford’s doting would have been one more reason to hate the man, but Alec instead found himself quietly envious. Not of Cait’s affections, but of the Lycan’s mortality. Eynsford could be the husband Cait needed.
Eynsford coul d give Cait the children she deserved.
Eynsford could grow old with his wife.
Alec knew he was a scoundrel for going ahead with the plan to make Sorcha his wife, but as the journey had turned into days upon days, he couldn’t imagine letting her go. Of course, if Mr. Ferguson tossed Alec out of Ferguson house on his vampyre arse, he wouldn’t have a thing to say about it. And there was every chance Sorcha’s father would laugh Alec’s offer right out the door. Seamus Ferguson had more wealth than most Scots. He didn’t need Alec’s fortune or connections to ensure his daughter’s future. And he might not be keen on inviting a vampyre intohis family.
Every time Alec mentioned as much to Sorcha, she’d giggle and remind him that her father had always been fond of him. But that had been Alec the mortal. Alec the vampyre was an entirely different person. Of course, he didn’t have to reveal his true nature to the man who hopefully was his future father-in-law, but Alec couldn’t start his life with Sorcha by deceiving her sire. It wouldn’t bode well for their future, and they needed every bit of good fortune they