The Unquiet - J. D. Robb [64]
“Yes, all three Griffins are thoughtful people. I can see how he would be won over.” She touched her necklace as another thought came to her. “Now I see why you came to my rescue. You make a habit of it.”
“No.” He spoke more slowly. “Not so much rescuing as helping people find themselves. In your case, Mrs. Chernov, you had already rescued yourself.”
“I made that claim myself, my lord, but now I suspect that without your help there would not have been nearly as tidy an ending.”
“We are not at the end yet, Mrs. Chernov. We still do not know who wants your necklace and why.”
He stood up and began to pace the room. “Do you know which necklace the thief wants?”
“My lord?” She touched the chain at her neck. “As I told you the other night, this is the only necklace I own. Alexei sold everything when we made our escape from Russia ahead of Napoleon’s troops.”
“And why did he not sell that one?”
“Well, I am not sure he had come into possession of it at the time. He only gave it to me just before he left on what proved to be his final trip. He told me to wear it always, that it would be my greatest treasure and he would explain its value when he returned. He was lost at sea and never did come back.”
“He used those words?“ He stopped pacing and cocked his head. “Mr. Chernov used the same words that Nesbitt said his contact used?”
“Yes.”
“Then it must be someone who knew him, someone he told of its value.” They both spoke almost the same words at the same time.
The silence settled around them. It was the like-mindedness of their thought that distracted her.
“May I see the necklace, Lydia?”
It was the first time he had used her Christian name. Bemused by the significance of that, Lydia pulled the chain out and would have taken it off, over her head, but Lord Chase came close to her and took the coin in his hand. She felt everything about him when he stood this close: his breath, his scent, his undeniable manliness.
He looked up. The expression in his eyes changed and challenged Lydia to tell the truth. A truth that had nothing to do with her necklace or Nesbitt’s stupidity.
“Why are you looking at me like that?” she asked.
“I want you to admit that you know as well as I do that we were brought together by fate, drawn together by this adventure. I want you to tell me you see that we are destined for so much more.”
“Chase, yes, I feel the attraction, but I hardly know you. The purely physical is not enough.”
“It would be if you trusted me.” He held the coin as he spoke. “Lydia, I wish you would believe me when I say that you are unique among all the women I have ever met and that you will look beyond my empty name and see me for who I truly am and for what we can be together.”
The coin flashed golden, but Chase barely noticed as he kissed her. “Bright and vibrant,” he whispered against her lips. “Everything about you is enchanting.”
Just one kiss, she thought. In the mere second it took to make that decision, a dozen thoughts pirouetted through her mind. Her attraction to him felt fast, but it felt right. Not like Alexei. Not selfish. Not secretive. For her this was not a choice colored by desperation. Could it be no more than lust? Or might it be love? There was only one way she would find out.
EIGHT
She didn’t so much surrender to his kiss as welcome it. The blending of their mouths felt so much like finding her other half that tears trickled down her cheek. She wanted to give all of herself to him, take all he had to offer and never let go.
They kissed and whispered and played the sweetest games until they bumped up against the edge of the cot. It startled both of them, and they had another choice to make. Chase framed her face with his hands, using his thumbs to wipe away the tears.
“I can’t imagine ever walking away from you, not being with you in every way a man and a woman can be.”
She lowered her head and a frisson of fear whispered through him to her. “I cannot imagine sending you away.”
He relaxed. “But first?” It was a question he did not have to finish.
“Oh yes, there