The Thawing of Mara (20 page)

"Don't pretend you don't know what I'm talking about." Mara was stung into retorting. "You were beginning to keep a distance between us. Even when we were together, part of you seemed to remain aloof."

"From that you concluded I was getting tired of you," Sin ground out in a voice that questioned her intelligence. "It didn't ever occur to you that I'm a man with a man's appetites and that all that playing around was becoming a strain?"

Warily she drew her head back, recognizing it was possible but afraid to believe him. "No, it didn't," she admitted.

"What difference was it to you whether or not I was getting tired of you?" He changed the direction of his questions, his eyes narrowing on her. "We were just experimenting anyway, so why should you care?"

Her lips closed together mutinously, but her father supplied the answer. "She's fallen in love with you."

Sin's gaze never wavered from her face. "Is that true?" he demanded without an ounce of softness.

Angered by the attack from both sides, Mara shouted, "Yes!"

Briefly he flicked a glance to her father. "Adam, I want your permission to marry your daughter."

"Granted." Adam's dark eyes twinkled brightly at Mara's stunned expression.

Reaching into the pocket of his topcoat, Sin took something out and tossed it across the room to Mara. Sheer reflex enabled her to catch the ring box. She was dazed by the unexpected chain of events. She wasn't even certain if she knew what was happening. With shaking fingers, she opened the box. A diamond solitaire winked rainbow hues back at her.

"Will you marry me?" Sin demanded. The room still separated them.

Dragging her gaze from the ring, she looked at him. "Yes," she answered, starry-eyed and breathless.

For the first time since he had arrived, his hard features began to soften, relief mixing with another, stronger emotion. The edges of his mouth turned faintly upward.

"If you take the first step, Mara, I'll meet you halfway," Sin promised.

Mara had the giddy feeling that she floated across her half of the room. Her feet never seemed to touch the ground. They certainly didn't when he crushed her in his arms to bruise her mouth in a possessive kiss. Her father discreetly left the room.

"I don't believe it," she gasped when he finally let her up for air. "Am I dreaming this?"

"It's no dream." His mouth moved roughly over her hair, unsatisfied not to be touching her.

"And you really love me?" She felt the shuddering force of his arms around her, but still needed the reassurance of his words.

"Yes, you crazy little fool," he muttered against her throat. "Every time I saw you I fell a little bit more in love with you until I was hopelessly lost."

"It was the same for me." Her lips began brushing feather kisses over his male features.

"After that first time I met you at the cottage, I told myself I was merely fascinated by the dark-haired, dark-eyed icicle who greeted me. It only took one brief thaw for that fascination to become something deeper." Sin stopped her teasing lips with a demanding kiss. Mara gave it back with vibrant intensity. "I should have guessed you were playing the coward again and running from me," he accused.

"I thought I was losing you," Mara tried to explain. "I decided I'd rather make the break swift and clean than let it drag on until you did it. I knew I'd be that much more in love with you and the hurt would be that much greater."

"And I was determined not to rush you into admitting all emotion when you were just learning to feel." He took some of the blame for the misunderstanding.

"What if Adam hadn't called you?" She suddenly realized she wouldn't be in Sin's arms or have his ring on her finger.

"I hadn't given up. I was just trying to come up with a new battle plan," he assured her. "Now I don't have to worry. You're going to be my wife…and soon."

"Yes," Mara agreed readily. "I would like a church wedding, though, so my…father can give me away to you."

Sin lifted his head long enough to smile at her. "I'm glad to hear you say that." Then he made sure she didn't say any more for quite a while.