Only Mine by Cheryl Holt

Author:Cheryl Holt
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Published: 2016-09-20T04:00:00+00:00

BENJAMIN KISSED HER, AND for just a moment she refused to participate. Then, with a sigh that could have been resignation, disgust, or despair, she joined in and kissed him back.

He’d been frantic all day, worried about her and terrified over why she’d run off. He still hadn’t learned where she lived. If she got it in her crazed female head to sneak off and never return, how would he locate her?

The idea that she could vanish forever was disturbing in ways it shouldn’t be. As she’d bitterly mentioned, he was about to wed Veronica, and he wouldn’t cry off from that decision. So what about Annabel?

He was starting to suspect he might be in love with her. Was that it? Well, if it was, it was a hell of a time for it to occur. He was utterly besotted, almost obsessed and so physically attracted he feared he might ignite the whole Earth with his searing desire.

“I can’t do this with you again,” she said.

“Hush, Annabel.”

“We’re courting disaster.”

“I could never view a single minute with you to be a disaster.”

“You’re simply enthralled by me because you can’t have me. You’re rich and spoiled, and you’re aggravated that I can’t be yours.”

“It’s much more than that.”

“What is it then?” she asked. “Explain it to me.”

“I told you. You make me happy.”

“It will kill me when we part.”

“Then we won’t part.”

“Am I to hang about on the fringe of your life as your paramour?”

“Yes.”

“For how long, Benjamin?”

“Until we’re sick of each other.”

“I can’t do that!” she complained.

“We’ll figure it out.”

“I love you,” she suddenly said.

On hearing her declaration, his heart actually lurched in his chest.

I love you too!

The vehement message rang through his head, but he couldn’t speak the words aloud. So what if he loved her? Why announce it? Heightened emotion would merely ensure matters were more complex between them.

“I’m lucky then,” he murmured instead.

She didn’t weep or beg him to reply with similar sentiment. She simply said, “That’s how pathetic I am, and it’s why I left Lyndon Hall. I love you, and it doesn’t change anything.”

“What would you like it to change?”

“I want you for my own!”

“I’d marry you if I could, Annabel.” Would he? The prospect produced a wave of delirious joy.

“You would not,” she scoffed. “Don’t pretend. I’m so far beneath you I’m surprised you can see me.”

“I would marry you,” he insisted. “Truly, but I can’t because I’m bound to someone else, and you understand what kind of man I am. I won’t cry off. I can’t.”

“I know. It’s just that I’ve never craved much in this world. I’ve never demanded things or pined for things. I learned at a young age that it only brought disappointment.”

“I’m sorry to hear it.”

“This one lousy occasion I allowed myself to dream, even though I shouldn’t have. I’m sick with regret.”

He couldn’t bear her distress, not when it was impossible to fix the dilemma. He wished he could give her what she sought. He wished he could wed her, but it was the one gift he wasn’t free to bestow.

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