Lydia stared at him.
Was it possible that all this time they had been feeling the same thing but had expressed it in different ways?
When she thought he had been aloof, he had been suffering. When she thought he had been distant, he had been protecting himself.
“But… but… what about the kiss?” she asked.
Victor tilted his head and gave her a questioning look.
“The kiss? What kiss?”
“Our kiss!” she said, throwing her hands in the air.
“We have never kissed,” Victor replied.
“Yes, we did. I came into John’s room. You had been watching over him and had fallen asleep in the chair. I was placing a blanket over you, and then you woke suddenly. You caressed my cheek, and then we kissed. But you never mentioned it afterwards.” Lydia bowed her head, feeling the shame of being rebuffed again.
“I have no recollection of that. I’m sorry. I must not have been fully awake. I did… I did have vague memories of a dream, but I thought it was just that. I did not realize we…” He trailed away and looked at her lips. His eyes shone with desire, and she could feel the layers of her heart being peeled away, yet she was not sure she was brave enough to fully embrace them. However, the fact that he had come all this way to see her had not escaped her attention.
“Victor… what are you saying?”
“I’m saying that I miss you, that I don’t want to lose you. I’m saying… I’m saying that I love you, Lydia. This has never beeneasy for me, and I’m not sure it ever will be, but I have seen what my life can be like with you and what it is without you. I do not want to endure the latter and if there is any lingering affection in your heart, then I ask that you listen to it because I do not wish to be alone anymore. I want you to be my wife.”
“I am your wife,” she said.
Victor scowled and shook his head. “You were my wife because the situation demanded it. I want you to be my wife because you enrich my life, because my heart demands it, and I hope yours does too. Tell my Lydia… tell me what your heart desires.” His voice was low and rasping. There was desperation in his eyes, and this was surprising for a man who was usually so composed and unflappable.
His words washed over Lydia, and she found herself quite unbalanced. She blinked frantically while her heart thumped against her chest, feeling as though it was going to burst out. Somehow, they were standing close to each other, she wasn’t quite sure how. His fingers twitched and reached up although they did not touch her.
“I…”
He didn’t wait for her to say anything else.
He couldn’t wait.
She felt the urgency in his lips, the ardent passion that had been denied for so long. This time there was no chance for either of them to step away, and the kiss was filled with such vibrancy that it could never be ignored or forgotten. Lydia felt his hands cupping her face, and then his chest pressed against hers. His heartbeat was so fierce, it thumped against her, and the sound of it reverberated into her mind, drowning out everything else.
Victor’s lips were firm and warm and sweet. They crashed into hers, and the more they kissed, the more it felt as though misunderstandings and the hurts between them were being stripped away. Things like propriety, things like hesitation, things like doubt. All of these and more were being shed like autumn leaves. She was exposed, vulnerable. All the deep aspects of her soul were being shown to him, and he was delving inside them, his feelings reaching where his lips and fingers could not.
They were breathless and trembling. Victor’s hand ran around the back of her neck while hers draped over his shoulders. He squeezed tight, and she felt a great sense of relief as they kissed, for this love was a salve for her soul and was exactly what she needed after missing John. It had been delayed, but as had been evidenced by Agatha and Theodore, love was always sweet even if it took a lifetime to arrive.
For a moment they broke apart to catch their breath. Victor’s hand was against her cheek. His breaths were hot and heavy, rolling against her mouth and cheeks, warmer than the Florence sun.
“I love you, Lydia. I want to give you everything you desire. I need you,” he said.
“I love you too, Victor. I’m sorry that things got so muddled between us.”
“You don’t have anything to apologize for. It was all my fault. I should have been more forthcoming, about Harry and Juliet… about everything.”
They kissed again. Victor’s hand fell from her cheek to join his other at her waist. They spun around and moved towards the bed. Lydia’s head was filled with a dizzying sensation, and her eyes sparkled, as though the stars had fallen from the sky and now resided there.
“Were you really upset about losing John?” she whispered.
Victor bowed his head and nodded. His forehead rested against hers. Their lips were barely inches apart.
“I was. I came to think of him as my own. I had visions of him growing up in our house, teaching him everything I know, and learning so much from him.”
“You were a wonderful father to him.”