in her seat, which made Alec rise from his spot. “We’ll need to be on our way,” he tossed out to the room at large. “I promised to have Miss Ferguson back to her father posthaste.” He looked down into Sorcha’s eyes as she gazed up at him. “Are you ready, love?” Storms brewed behind her lashes. Thank God, Rhiannon wasn’t nearby or a true storm would be brewing indoors.
Sorcha rose from her seat, squared her shoulders, and said, “I can see myself home just fine, Alec.” Then she started for the door.
He caught her arm and pulled her back to him, and then he whispered, “I’ll accompany you. I had planned to have a talk with your father tonight, anyway.”
“Regrettably, Alec,” she shot back, her voice cracking only once, “I find myself in need of some time alone.
Renshaw can see me back ta my home.” She glanced around Alec’s town house. “This certainly isn’t it.”
She started again for the door, and he found himself chasing after her like a puppy at her heels. “Sorch, wait,” he tried.
“It was nice ta meet ye all,” Sorcha said properly to the group. Then she turned on her heel and quit the room, her nose held high in the air, her shoulders proudly back.
It wasn’t until she was outside the front door that she allowed the facade to crumble. Sorcha caressed a strand of ivy that trailed up the house front. She whispered to the plant as she stroked it lovingly.
“Sorch!” Alec’s hand on her shoulder made her jump.
“Oh, Alec.” She frowned at him. Then she shook her head quickly and started down the steps toward the coach. “Ye should have told me.”
“Told you what?” he asked as he reached for her fingertips.
She stopped and turned back to face him. “That ye have a mistress, Alec,” she whispered. Her hand came up to stroke the day-old beard stubble on his face. “As much as I love ye, I refuse ta share ye.” She inhaled deeply and graced him with a watery smile. “She’s beautiful, by the way. Such a resemblance ta Caitrin. Miss Sewell will suit ye well until ye find a wife of yer own.”
“I’ve already found a wife of my own,” he ground out. How dare she assume his feelings had changed? How dare she let Delia’s presence change anything? How dare she throw Caitrin’s name at him again? “It’s you, Sorch.”
“Then what is she ta ye?” She watched his face closely.
“She’s a whore,” he bit out. “Nothing more. Nothing less.”
“Ye’ve bitten her?” She looked so sad as she said the words.
He nodded. He wouldn’t lie to her. But what did she expect? He had to drink blood to survive. And he’d not apologize for that.
“Ye’ve shared her bed?” She stroked his face again, her voice silky soft.
“Sorcha, this is not a fitting conversation for a gentleman and his bride-to-be.” He knew he sounded like an arse before the words even came out of his mouth. But he couldn’t help it. Discussing a mistress with a fiancée just wasn’t done, and she was making him more than uncomfortable.
“I ken ye have shared her bed. I can see it in the way she looks at ye.”
“You see an opportunistic woman who lets any number of vampyres into her bed in exchange for pleasure and a few coins.”
Sorcha looked thoughtful for a moment. “I’m goin’ home, Alec,” she finally said. He made a move to follow her. But she held up a hand. “The way I see it is this—she offers ye the same thing I did, my body and my blood, in exchange for a bit of pleasure and some coin.” She looked at his house and then down at his fine clothing. “So, what makes us different?”
There were so many answers to that question that he couldn’t even pick one. “You are mine,” he ground out.
“Yet ye said yerself ye can never, ever love me, so I doona ken what’s so different about us after all.” Then she fled into Eynsford’s still waiting carriage and departed. She was gone before Alec could even gather enough thought to chase after her.
~*~
Sorcha settled back against the squabs and fought the heavy need to cry. She’d been fortunate to find a man to love. And unfortunate that he was a man who couldn’t love her back. He’d bitten that woman. That whore. That piece of perfection. And the woman who was head over heels in love with him.
Sure, he’d bitten Sorcha too. And he’d