Chapter Twelve
857 Words
Marcus's POV
I didn't know how to feel about a woman seeing me at my weakest.
Yet as I looked at Little Kitty sitting across from me, embarrassment wasn't what I felt.
It was curiosity.
She had every reason to fear me, yet there she was, teasing me as if I were an ordinary man.
Her amusement almost made me laugh.
I'd never met anyone quite like her.
I caught her staring at me. The moment our eyes met, she quickly looked away, pretending to be interested in anything but me.
Why had she come here in the first place?
My gaze drifted to the clock on my desk.
10:29 p.m.
Then I looked back at her.
"You weren't supposed to be here," I said, keeping my voice steady.
Truthfully, I didn't like the idea of her wandering into my quarters this late at night.
"Well... I'm here," she replied with a playful shrug. "And don't worry. I won't tell anyone I caught the mighty Colonel crying."
A faint smile tugged at the corner of my lips.
How naïve.
Even if she told the entire barracks, no one would believe her.
"About dinner tonight..." she began.
"Forget it," I interrupted.
The last thing I wanted was to relive that conversation.
It was one thing for my mother to worry about me.
It was another for her to spend every family dinner trying to find me a wife.
"So... is that why you won't let your mother have grandchildren?" she asked.
I wasn't surprised.
She was still thinking about the woman she'd asked me about earlier.
Jane.
She knew nothing about her.
Nothing about what really happened.
Yet she believed I was mourning a woman who had simply walked away.
If only it were that simple.
"She's just desperate," I answered, leaning back in my chair, silently hoping she wouldn't press any further.
"What do you expect?" she replied. "She's getting older, and she wants to see her son build a family. You're her only hope of seeing grandchildren."
I stared at her.
Was she really taking my mother's side?
"So you're siding with her?" I asked.
"Don't give me that look," she teased. "I just watched you cry. I have the upper hand."
I frowned.
She really was impossible.
"You're impossible."
"I'll keep your secret," she said, "but only on one condition."
Curiosity replaced my irritation.
"And what would that condition be?"
Our eyes met.
"You stop treating me like I'm worthless... and you promise to keep me safe."
The words caught me off guard.
Safe.
Why did she need protection so badly?
Who—or what—was she running from?
She looked so determined, yet beneath that determination was fear.
A fear she refused to speak about.
Silence settled between us.
Finally, I nodded.
"Okay."
"But I have one condition too, Kitty."
I rose from my chair and walked toward her.
She remained seated, though I noticed she avoided looking directly at me.
When I reached her, I gently turned the chair until she was facing me.
Our eyes met.
"Tell me how you got that scar on your back."
It wasn't a request.
It was the one question I needed answered.
Her entire body stiffened.
She immediately looked away.
"I told you... it was just an accident."
"And you know you're a terrible liar," I said quietly.
She sighed.
"It's really nothing, Marcus."
Her voice was barely above a whisper.
Soft.
Just like her.
She stood, intending to leave.
Without thinking, I reached out and gently guided her back into the chair.
She gasped softly.
Our eyes locked once again.
She was beautiful.
I'd noticed that before.
But tonight, I wasn't looking at her beauty.
I was looking at the sadness she tried so hard to hide.
I should have stepped back.
I should have remembered who I was.
Instead...
I closed the distance between us.
My lips found hers.
The kiss was slow.
Gentle.
Far gentler than I expected.
For one impossible moment, the guilt... the grief... the loneliness I'd carried for ten years simply disappeared.
Then reality returned.
Jane.
What was I doing?
I pulled away and looked at her.
She stared back at me, too stunned to speak.
Neither of us said a word.
I turned and walked back to my desk, trying to regain the discipline I had just lost.
I couldn't let her see the battle raging inside me.
The silence was broken by a knock at the door.
"Come in."
One of the soldiers stepped inside and stood at attention.
"Escort her back to her room," I ordered before looking at her one last time.
"Goodnight, Little Kitty."
My voice was calm.
Far calmer than I felt.
She looked at me as though she wanted me to explain what had just happened.
I couldn't.
Not even to myself.
She nodded and quietly left the room.
The door closed behind her.
I released a slow breath.
What was happening to me?
Ten years.
For ten years, I'd convinced myself that my heart had died with Jane.
Tonight...
For the first time in a decade...
I wasn't so sure anymore.
- Writer
