Page 39 of To Desire

He feigned ignorance even as Roland pulled him, literally tugged on his tunic, to the side.

“You care for her.”

So much for being mysterious. Some Shadow Knight he was, unable to hide his feelings after only one day.

“It is that obvious?”

Roland laughed. “We all knew last eve. Don’t look so startled. The two of you avoided looking at each other so thoroughly, I can only be thankful Alden and Elara were better at hiding their secret.”

It was true, they’d played their parts as instructor and student well, and none suspected a deeper attachment for some time.

“I’ve not felt this way about a woman before,” he admitted. “Liana is beautiful, of course. But also kind and insightful and intelligent and⁠—”

“You are in love with her.”

Darien could deny it, but why bother? He’d known when he kissed her, it was no ordinary kiss. When she saw the snakes in her tapestry, after the previous vision . . .

“We were always meant to be a part of each other’s lives, but not yet. And not in this way.”

“Seems fate has other plans for you.”

“Fate. I’d wish to be the master of my own destiny.”

“Says the man who embraces the inevitable, or at least, whose ancestors have for many years.”

Darien shook his head. “I do not know what to think.”

“Can you wed her?”

He’d thought of little else since their kiss. “My father would not be pleased.”

“I did not ask if your father would be pleased. I asked if you could wed her.”

“I can as easily wed Liana as you did a lady’s maid.”

Roland laughed. “I nearly lost my inheritance because of it, as you know.”

“But did not.”

“Nay. I did not. Neither likely will you.”

Darien shook his head. “It is not so simple. How could we hide her true nature if Liana were thrust into the role of Lady of Ellsworth?”

“I would think as easily as she does now.”

“Liana lives in the shadows, in a cottage in the woods on the outskirts of the village.”

“It seems to me no one would wish to live that way.”

Also a thought Darien had many times. “But ’tis she who insists her true nature must not be revealed. You heard Stirling and admit there are many like him.”

“But there are many like me, and the others too.”

“If I have ever seen two men who looked more suspicious than you, I do not know of them,” Roland’s wife Amalia said, walking toward them.

Roland grabbed her hand as she approached, pulling her toward him and kissing her in full view of those streaming into the keep.

“Roland,” she scolded, clearly not upset at all about the kiss. “Darien, I’ve met your Liana. She is quite lovely.”

His Liana. Darien wished it were so.

“She is well?”

“Quite well. She and Evelina are finding Liana new gowns. The dreadful journey you forced her on here quite ruined the ones she came with.”

“Go easy on him,” Roland teased. “I am certain Darien treated her with the same care I would have if dragging you across the countryside.”

“I am certain he treated her with care. If you were to drag me⁠—”

Whatever Amalia had been about to say was lost in her scream as Roland picked her up, tossed his wife over his shoulder and headed out of the hall. “Roland,” she cried. “Everyone is staring.”

Darien was still laughing when, a few moments later, the smile on his face froze into place. Walking toward him was Liana in a royal blue gown, her hair piled atop her head.

She looked spectacular.

She looked . . . like a future countess. Like his future countess.