25
Kinsley, Ireland,
1844
The familiar sound of tiny pebbles hitting her window stirred Cora from slumber. Smiling, she threw off her blankets and floated to the window on a cloud of happy anticipation. It had been almost two months since she’d met the handsome thief who’d climbed into her life by surprise. Not long after that second encounter, he’d come back in the night to see her again. It had become a ritual for them. Whenever Liam could get away, they’d meet beyond the garden gate, sometimes walking the fields if the moon was full enough to see, other times just sitting against the stone wall, talking about anything and everything. Ever since she met him, life had gone from a dull, lackluster existence to something unbearably precious.
She threw open her window and peered down into the darkness. There was a full moon tonight, so she could just make out his smile as he stood under the trellis.
Impulsively, Cora took a rose from the vase at her windowsill and tossed it down to him. Then she spun away, drew on her dressing gown and slippers, and tiptoed down the stairs. The house was quiet as a tomb, but Cora wasn’t worried about being caught. Her father slept almost as soundly as the cook who imbibed too often, and her old nanny never heard anything. The rest of the servants—few as they were—slept in a different wing of the house.
Cora made her way through the drawing room to the door that opened to the side garden. She ran the last few steps, too excited with the prospect of seeing Liam again. Her Liam. She’d begun to think of him as hers within that first month. Now that they’d shared their dreams with each other, she felt more connected to him than anyone else in her life, even her own father. Cora loved her father, but he’d always been stern and overprotective. She could never have told him the things she told Liam in secret. How she longed for the happier days when her mother was still alive. How she wished for freedom to travel. How she didn’t want to get married right away. None of those things would have been well received by her father, or even her nanny, for that matter. They both just wanted to see her married and settled into a boring routine. With Liam, Cora could dream all she wanted because he never judged her. Liam was her only true friend.
She swung the door wide, and there he stood, with his wild dark hair and that secret smile on his face. Even in a threadbare shirt, worn boots and patched trousers, he was the handsomest man she’d ever seen.
“Hello, thief,” Cora said with a grin.
“Captain Cora.” He swept his hand out and gave a gallant bow. “What wild adventures await us this evening?”
She giggled. Then she flew at him and gave him a hug. It was an impulsive thing to do. If her actions surprised him, he didn’t show it. Since they’d met, he’d been nothing but a gentleman and taken no liberties. Not a single one. Cora was beginning to wish he would.
He lifted her off her feet and spun her around until she was dizzy. When he finally set her down, their quiet laughter mingled until it faded into something equally wonderful, but far more intense. He held her close, his expression more serious than she’d ever seen it. When he looked at her like that, she felt like the most precious thing in the world. Was he going to kiss her, finally? She wanted him to! What was he waiting for?
“Liam,” Cora whispered, standing on her tiptoes and tilting her face toward his. “Kiss me.”
He blinked and pulled back, his hands gripping her waist tightly. He looked like he was in pain. “No, Cora.”
Heat scorched up the back of her neck, and she tried to pull away. Stupid Cora! His rejection stung like nettles. Maybe she was as naive about the world as her nanny said. Maybe he only thought of her as an interesting diversion. All this time she’d been falling more in love with him every day, and he didn’t feel the same. How could she be so wrong? “I’m sorry,” she said on a hitched breath. “I shouldn’t have said—”
“No.” He cupped her face with calloused hands, his voice thick with emotion. “It’s not that I don’t want to kiss you. God knows every day that passes I can’t think for wantingyou, but...” He laid his forehead against hers and whispered, “I’m a coward.”
Elation mingled with confusion. He wanted her, but he was afraid? “You’re the farthest thing from a coward I’ve ever met.”
“Not true. Not when it comes to you. The more I’m with you, the harder it is to imagine being without you.” He released her and turned away. “If I kiss you, Cora, that will be it for me. You’ll have my heart and my soul. And I’ll have to learn how to go on living without them.”
“No, you won’t.” She gently placed a hand on his broad back.
“It’s true.” He spun to face her. “You have a whole life ahead of you that doesn’t include me.”
“Don’t say that.” Tears pricked her eyes. The thought of what her father planned—marriage to his solicitor Finley Walsh—brought nothing but despair. She’d spend the rest of her days embroidering cushions by the fire, taking tea in stuffy drawing rooms and growing old listening to Finn drone on about...whatever it was he and her father talked about. She didn’t even know because he rarely spoke to her. How could she be expected to cast away all her hopes and dreams for a man who knew nothing of her heart? “What if I don’t want that life?”
Liam shook his head sadly, brushing a curl away from her face. “We both know these are stolen moments. We speak of dreams and adventures, but someday you’ll have to move on.” He grimaced. “You’ll have to get married to—”
“No, I won’t,” Cora said fiercely. “I’ll refuse. I only agreed to an engagement with Finn because my father wanted it, but that was before I knew myself. That was before I knew you.” She gazed up at him with her heart in her throat. “Liam, I love you.”
“And I, you,” he said huskily. “But that doesn’t change—”
“You said life was a series of adventures, some big and some small. Why can’t we have one together? You’re resourceful, and I’m braver than I look. We could run away. Leave this place. We could start a new life together and have the biggest adventure of all. I want that with you. Only you.”
Liam’s eyes glittered with emotion. She could tell he wanted it, too. “I’m nothing but a thief, my love.”
“So, steal me away, then!”
He gave her a teasing smile. “What if you regret it? You could grow tired of me and toss me aside.”
“Never,” Cora said fiercely.
“I have nothing to offer you, macushla. And you deserve everything.”