Bobbi Smith - Captive Pride

Noah read her distress and didn’t understand it. “Unless what, CC? What the hell are you talking about?” Noah was completely confused by her wild charges, and he raked a hand nervously through his hair as he stared down at her in consternation. Where in the world had she ever gotten the idea that he was a traitor?

“Unless Ryan and the others have already been arrested…” She backed toward the door, her very real fear reflected on her features. “No wonder I couldn’t find anybody! You’ve already turned them in!”

“Turned who in, CC? I’m no traitor!” he protested, reaching out to snare her arm as she would have fled the room.

“You expect me to believe that after what I saw and heard this afternoon?” CC struggled against his overwhelming strength as he drew her closer to him.

“Yes, I expect you to believe it, especially since it’s the truth! And I’d also like to know just what it is you supposedly saw that convinced you I was so devious.” Noah countered, trying to make sense out of her accusation. “Don’t you know that I just sold the arms shipment to Ryan for half of what I’d originally asked?”

“Oh, I know all about that. You almost had me convinced that I’d been wrong about you.” CC glared up at him mutinously. “Almost. I had forgotten for a moment what a despicable, amoral man you really are, but after seeing you with Eve today, you can be sure that won’t ever happen again!”

“You saw me with Eve?”

“I went to the jail and accidentally walked in on the two of you. I saw you kissing her, and I heard you make a deal with her!”

Noah was stunned. CC had gone to the jail to see him? Why? He longed to know the answer, but first he had to find out what it was she thought he’d done.

“I made no deal with Eve. In fact, CC, when Eve left my cell, she was in quite a temper.”

“If Eve was in a temper when she left you, it was probably because she couldn’t bed you right there! I saw you kissing her, Noah! I heard her say that she knew you were a man who liked to deal and that she could have you out of jail before the day was over!”

“Just what kind of deal do you think I made, CC?” Noah asked, his tone quieting as it became clear to him just what had happened. For some as yet unknown reason, CC had gone to the jail to see him and had evidently walked in just as Eve was trying to blackmail him into marrying her. He regretted that CC hadn’t stayed past that one kiss, for, if she had, they wouldn’t be having this confrontation right now.

“She was probably working for the authorities, trying to convince you to turn us in in exchange for your freedom! What else?” CC looked up at him, her gaze cold and accusing upon him.

“Ah, CC,” he murmured in understanding as he lifted one hand to gently caress her cheek, “what else, indeed…”

CC slapped his hand away in irritation as she tried to deny the desire that was stirring within her. “Don’t patronize me, Kincade!”

“I’m not patronizing you, CC. I’m trying to explain exactly what it was you thought you saw and heard this afternoon.”

“I know what I saw and heard!”

“You’re right about Eve kissing me, and you’re right about her offering me a deal, too, but you’re wrong about everything else.”

CC looked at him skeptically as she began to doubt her long-held beliefs about him.

“Think about it,” he urged as he sensed that she was calming. “If I had done what you accused me of, why in the world would I be here?”

His reasoning was maddeningly logical, but still CC didn’t want to believe him.

Noah read her mistrust and went on. “I’m here, CC, because Matthew and Ryan arranged for my escape from jail.” As he revealed the truth of all that had happened, Noah studied her expression, hoping to see revealed there an acceptance on her part.

Despite her initial reluctance to accept his explanation, CC felt her fierce belief in his treachery begin to fade. However, the memory of the scene with Eve was still branded in her mind, and she knew that she could not completely accept what he was telling her. “But what about Eve? I heard-”

“I know exactly what you heard,” he agreed steadily. “Eve offered me a deal of sorts that would have guaranteed my release from jail. I refused to take her up on her offer. Suffice it to say that when she left me, she was pleased at the thought that I was going to face the gallows for my crime.”

“Why would you refuse her deal if it would have freed you?”

“There were too many strings attached.”

“I don’t understand.”

“Eve witnessed the fight between Geoffrey and me.”

“She did? Why didn’t she tell someone?” She looked up at him in surprise.

“She saw it all, all right, but she withheld her testimony in hopes of forcing me to marry her.” There was a bitterness in his tone that betrayed his true feelings for the cunning, beauteous widow.

“What?” CC was truly shocked at his revelation.

Noah smiled thinly, but it was not an expression that mirrored happiness. It was a cynical sneer that reflected the contempt he had for the woman’s sly maneuverings. “It seems Eve was at Geoffrey’s the night I went there and quarreled with him. Geoffrey had just discovered that I had killed his brother in a duel in England. He was determined to seek revenge, and he drew a pistol. He planned to shoot me and then tell the authorities that I’d attacked him, but I wasn’t about to let things end that easily. He didn’t expect me to fight him for the gun, so at least I had that much on my side. The gun went off accidentally while we were struggling over it. The whole thing was entirely a matter of self-defense, but unfortunately, I was discovered in the very compromising position of having the murder weapon in my hand when the authorities arrived. Had Eve been a woman of honor, she would have come forth then to profess all she knew. Instead she maintained her silence, condemning me to arrest.” He gazed down at CC standing so close to him, listening so intently. “I wasn’t even aware she’d been there until she showed up at the jail this afternoon. Her deal was that she promised to tell all and see that the charges were dismissed if I would agree to marry her.”

“And you turned her down?” CC knew Eve was capable of such treachery, but she thought Noah’s refusal to save his own skin oddly out of character for him. He was a man who first and foremost took care of himself, with an eye always on profit. His decision was to remain in jail when he could have been freed. “I don’t understand. You would have been free…safe…”

“I would have been trading one prison for another, CC.” Noah’s voice was hoarse as he regarded her solemnly. “Death seemed far preferable to the prospect of a lifetime married to a woman I didn’t love. I didn’t want to spend the rest of my life knowing that I had sold myself to her for a price.” His gray eyes were dark and filled with emotion as they met hers. “There is only one woman I’ve ever loved, CC, only one woman I’ve ever proposed to…”

There in the smoky depths of his very serious regard she saw the truth of his feelings openly revealed for the first time. Her breath caught in her throat, and she found she could not answer.

“I love you, CC,” Noah went on, finally professing the emotion that had tormented him for so long.

CC had dreamed of having his love for so long that she could only stand there and stare up at him. She wanted to ask him about the night at the inn when she had told him the truth of her love for him and yet he’d rejected her. She didn’t understand why he hadn’t told her of his love then.

When she didn’t respond immediately to his declaration of love, Noah’s heart sank. He was too late. He had feared as much but had held out a last shred of hope until now. Now he knew that there was no hope at all. She didn’t love him, and he couldn’t blame her. “I know I’ve treated you badly. I know I have no right to expect you to feel anything for me at all, but I had to tell you. I had to let you know before…” He looked away from her as he tried to bring his feelings under control.