his side. The fire in the grate burned low, the tapers extinguished. Her fingers wandered idly across his chest, and her leg was tossed over his. As far as heaven went, he was fairly certain this was it.
“What is your life like with your son?” he asked.
“It’s wonderful.” Her tone held a soft breathy quality of happiness. “Every day is an adventure. You never know when you will find a toad in your bed or a grasshopper loose in your dining room. Some nights there are monsters in the armoire and on others, there are faeries in the air.”
“I would enjoy that, I think.”
He felt her smile against his skin. “You will be a wonderful father, I’m sure. I realize now that it was only my own insecurities that made me feel as if you looked unfavorably upon me. You were merely trying to protect me from myself. I think you will be somewhat of a mother hen, fussing after your progeny and taking great pains to ensure their safety.”
He snorted.
“And that snort,” she commented. “I used to think it was arrogant and dismissive. Now I collect that you make that noise when you are embarrassed by praise.”
“Provoking wench. Is the only way to keep you from teasing me to make love to you? You are much more agreeable then. Tractable even.”
She hugged him tightly. “You are quite good at the business, you know. I did not know that I could…feel like
He looked down at her. “An orgasm?”
“I have had them before,” she amended quickly, lifting her head to look at him. With her face framed in a riot of short, dark curls, and her eyes bright, she looked younger and happier than when she had arrived. Pushing his fingers into her hair, he massaged her scalp, finding deep joy in his right to touch her as he wished.
“But not during intercourse?” He smiled. “I hope you enjoyed it. I intend to repeat the experience as often as possible.”
She sighed forlornly. “I would love to stay, but time draws short. The sun will rise soon.”
He cupped her cheek. “Only hours separate my body from yours.”
Sophie pushed up, baring her curves to his gaze. In the faint orange glow from the banked fire, she looked like a pagan sexual goddess. His cock twitched in appreciation of the view.
“What are you saying?” she asked with a frown.
“I am saying that I will have you again tonight, if not before then. Do not be startled to find yourself in a secluded corner with your skirts around your waist.”
“You said you were leaving!”
Justin arched a brow. “That was before you asked me to bed you.”
She gasped. “I will not be your mistress! I have a child who shares my life.”
“You insult me,” he said, swinging his legs off the edge of the mattress and standing. “I would never ask that of you.” Collecting his black silk robe from the armoire, he shrugged into it, then moved to the grate. “Do you truly believe that I would think you were sufficient for fucking, but not for wedding?”
“I cannot marry you!” she protested.
He blew out his breath and kept his face averted to the fire. It would not do for her to see him wounded. Though it was ridiculous to feel that way, he knew. He had known from the moment he acknowledged what he must do, that she would fight him tooth and nail. “That sounded like a refusal.”
“Oh, do not be daft!” she muttered. “Marriage to me would ruin you.”
“Allow me to worry about that.”
“What is the matter with you?”
He finished stoking the new coals and rose from his crouch. “Sophie-” His voice fell to silence as he faced her. She had pulled on her discarded chemise and knelt on the bed with her hands cupping both knees. He thought her the most glorious creature in the world.
His gaze moved away from the flashing green eyes and came to rest on the Fontaine crest carved into his headboard. Immutable resolution filled him. Sophie was where she belonged and he would fight to keep her with every breath in his body.
“You are a model of respectability,” she continued, warming into a full-blown heated debate, “and an admired member of the aristocracy, and I am an example of how far one can fall from grace.”
Justin crossed the distance between them, caught up her hands and pulled her from the bed. “Lady Sophie Milton-Riley,” he said with all due seriousness, “would you do me the great honor of becoming my wife?”
She stomped her foot. “No, no, no, you mad fool. You said there was no way for us to be together that we could both live with, and you were of sound mind then. Obviously sexual congress disturbs your brain functions in some way. You need sleep,” she pronounced. “Once you wake, you will see how insane your proposal is.”
“I love you.”
“Dear God.” She gasped and bent over slightly, as if struck.
“I have always loved you.”
Sophie shook her head violently. “You are mistaking the remnants of orgasm with elevated feelings. You did not feel that way before sex.”
“My love.” He pulled her into his embrace. “We would not have had sex, if I did not intend to marry you. I asked you, quite clearly, if you were prepared to be owned by me. You agreed.”
“That is not what you meant!”
“It was. Kindly remember that
Sophie pushed at his chest in a bid for freedom and he released her, knowing that she would pace in her agitation. It was quite comforting to know her so well.
“You might grow to love me,” he said, watching her.
“I already love you,” she snapped.
He grinned.
She glared. “But that is the worst of all reasons to wed!”
“I
“Justin.” She heaved out her frustration, striding back and forth in front of the fire, oblivious to the way the back-lighting revealed every inch of her delectable form. “Why must you always be so difficult? I will not allow you to sacrifice yourself for me.”
“Yet you intend to sacrifice our love for me?” He shrugged out of his robe and went to her, tossing it about her shoulders to keep her warm. “Where is the fairness in that?”
She stopped, her gaze dropping between his legs. He saw her swallow hard. “You would resent me after awhile. Society will never accept me, and that would reflect upon you. I would become a great hindrance. That would be unbearable for a socially active man such as you.”
He lifted her chin so that their gazes met. “Not having you would make me more wretched.”
“You’ve no notion.” Her eyes were luminous with unshed tears. “It is not pleasant to be relegated to the fringes.”
His hands settled on her shoulders, then slid down to her elbows. “Do you trust me?”
“You know I do.”
“Then trust me to manage this.”
“How?”
“I will find a way,” he promised, sliding his hands beneath his robe to circle her waist and lift her off her feet. The feel of their bodies touching made his heart leap and then race madly. His cock swelled between them, and her breathing quickened. The instant, intoxicating, wildly uncontrollable hunger that flared between them was delicious.
To feel so alive, to be loved by the one woman whose affection he had needed for so long, to have the opportunity to correct the greatest error of his life…it was all together nearly enough to make him shout with joy.
But the weight of their dilemma hung over them like a dark cloud. They were both highly aware of the imminent thundercrack and the downpour of censure that would follow. The only certainty was this moment, these last hours
