A good natured laugh greeted him followed by a kiss.
“My gown is ruined.” She lifted her brows “I suppose ye’ll have to remain partially naked.” She clucked her tongue. “Such a pity.”
It was his turn to raise a brow. “A pity?”
Aye,” she answered flippantly. “Ye’ll be quite the distraction and I must concentrate.”
She gave him a wicked grin and bent to retrieve the fallen books. His gaze went to the scant bit of skin showing where the hem rode up her thighs.
“As if ye’re no’ a distraction?” He gestured to her long legs. The very sight of her lean limbs sent heat coursing to his cock once more.
Evina rose gracefully and set a stack of books on the corner of the desk. “Ye have fifteen years to make up for. I dinna think ye’d mind.”
Before his brain could remember how to work, she lifted up on her tiptoes and teased the tip of her tongue over his collarbone. She backed away with sparkling eyes. The warm wetness of her lick remained, tempting and wonderful.
Even if Evina were not the woman who could break the curse, Duncan would have found himself losing his heart to her. She’d brought down his defenses, stone by stone until he was left unshielded and completely vulnerable.
She was the woman he’d been waiting for, the woman who could set him free. But there was more – she was the woman with whom he could find happiness.
Seven days was not enough.
An eternity wouldn’t be enough.
If he only had another few weeks, even several more days. What’s worse, he had the information she sought, but it would rob him of the precious few days they had left together. He couldn’t take that from her for his own benefit.
Could he?
CHAPTER 10
DUNCAN HELD the information Evina sought. She plucked a thick, red bound tome from the pile and thumbed to a page in the middle.
What he knew would lead her to learn who she was. And it would be her only chance to do so. Damn him, he was aware of this, and yet he hesitated.
Sharing what Gillespie had told him would cost Duncan his life.
If he told her, she would leave. Based on the research, she would never return in time before the last leaf fell from the rowan tree. There wouldn’t be time to fall in love. He would die.
And yet…
Evina leaned against a wall, one naked leg propped behind her, and traced her finger along a line of text. Her return to the search was as intense as it had ever been.
Could he deny her the one opportunity to meet her mother? To find out who she was?
He was suddenly struck with the need to pull her into his arms once more and stroke her face, memorize every inch of her. His heart practically crumpled with the longing. But he didn’t go to her. He didn’t pull her into his arms. He couldn’t, or he would never let her go.
A war raged between his heart and his mind. He could forego telling her and she’d never be the wiser. But he would know.
“Ye’re staring at me again.” Evina’s lips curled into a smile and she shot him a glance. The quiet joy faded. “What is it?”
He continued to stare for a long moment, willing the words to come to his tongue with every drop of his being. They did not form, nor did they emerge. He remained quiet. Staring.
She pushed off from the wall, and closed the book with one finger pressed between the pages to mark her spot. “Duncan.”
He pulled his gaze from her and dragged a hand through his hair. She needed to know. He needed to tell her, but damn it, he could not. How could he allow himself to die when not only did he face the possibility of life, but also the promise of happiness? For the first time in his life, he’d been given the chance for something beautiful and wonderful.
“What if…” he spoke slowly. “What if ye had to choose between a lifetime of love, or discovering who you are?”
She cocked her head. “I’ve been waiting a lifetime to discover who I am.” She drew in a sigh, a deep, drawn out sound, as if the act caused her pain. “There’s always time for love.”
“But what if there’s not?” He fired back without thinking and immediately wished he had not. If he told her any part of her involvement with the curse, he would ruin any chance of her breaking it. A person could not know their involvement, or it would not work.
But there was more than that. He didn’t want her to have to take on the decision he now encountered. To have to sacrifice so much for the other person. For him. How could he place her in such a position?
“Why wouldn’t there be time?” She placed the tome on the table and slid her finger from the page she’d been holding.
He picked up a book from the pile. It was one he’d looked through already before, but he opened it and let his gaze skim the carefully written text regardless.
Her gentle touch fell on his forearm. He lifted his eyes to hers.
“I’ve gone my entire life with no memory of my childhood,” she said. “I dinna know who I am, who my father was, how I ended up in that forest.” She shook her head and a tangle of dark hair caught over her shoulder. Duncan swept it back for her, reveling in the silky softness of it. He would
