“There was a familiarity, an awareness, a deep sense of comfort in my chest the moment we met. I found you interesting.” Her heart raced the second he tugged off his boots. “I thought you were the most handsome man I had ever seen. I fell in love with you so quickly I’m still struggling to catch my breath.”
His smile widened. “You fascinated me from the beginning, too. It became impossible to deny my need for you, and I knew then this was more than a fleeting infatuation. I knew I’d fall madly in love with you.”
“Noah,” she breathed as he pushed his breeches past his lean hips to reveal his erection.
Oh, her body was aflame.
He palmed the solid length, hummed with pleasure while his emerald eyes held her captive on the bed.
Why did he not touch her?
“You’re trying to seduce me into believing a title doesn’t matter,” she said, desperate to have him spread her wide and push deep into her body.
“No, love, I’m about to show you how good we are together.” He came forward, placed his hands on her knees and pushed her skirts up to her waist. “Marry me. Love me. Bear my children. Become the next Lady Hawkridge if that is our destiny. But whatever fate has in store, I need you.”
Were she not already intoxicated with desire, his words would have left her giddy.
“But I work for a living and cannot deny my creative passions.”
He crawled onto the bed and settled between her thighs. “I work, too, and intend to continue serving the Order.” He pushed into her body. “You’re so wet, Eva.”
The moist sound of their joining heightened her pleasure. “But there’ll be no time—”
“We will manage somehow. We will manage together.”
“Oh, Noah.” She wrapped her thighs around his hips and vowed never to let go.
“Marry me,” he repeated, withdrawing to the point she felt empty without him. “Let me love you.”
“Yes.” She gripped the muscles in his back as he thrust into her body.
“Yes, you’ll marry me? Or yes, you welcome my attentions?”
“Yes, to both. I love you.”
“I love you.” He kissed her then, kissed her and made love to her like a thirsty nomad dying to drink the water.
* * *
Four weeks later
The wedding took place in the chapel on the grounds of Drummond’s Folly, Noah’s rambling estate in Gloucestershire. It was a private affair attended by close friends. In the absence of family, Eva had asked Cole to stand in her father’s stead, an honour he had not refused, but one he had not necessarily welcomed.
Eva looked so stunning in pale blue, Noah could do nothing but stare like a besotted fool. Her bright smile stole the breath from his lungs. Every time she touched her fingers to her mother’s diamond earrings, she dazzled him with her radiant glow. She had been so tormented on the day they met he could not have envisioned her looking so happy. He almost burst with happiness, too, when they were pronounced “Man and Wife together”.
They removed to the house for an informal breakfast. Later, they mingled in the drawing room with their friends. For a while, Noah stood by the hearth, sipping his brandy, watching Eva laugh and thread arms with Sybil Daventry.
“Our wives have become good friends,” Daventry said, moving to stand beside Noah.
“I must thank Sybil for all her help. Eva was most grateful for her advice and company.”
“And I should express my gratitude. My wife made a few choice purchases while selecting garments for your wife’s wedding night.” Daventry brought his brandy goblet to his lips and continued to stare at the ladies. “When it comes to grabbing my attention and making a point, together they can be quite the tour de force.”
“Friendship is important when one has no family,” Noah said.
“When I played escort on their many shopping trips, they brought a concerning issue to light.” Daventry glanced around the room. “Where’s Cole?”
Noah looked through the large sash window and scanned the rose garden. “He went for a walk. I don’t expect to see him for the rest of the day.”
Cole struggled with excessive displays of affection, and Noah couldn’t keep his hands off his wife.
Daventry released a weary sigh. “Sybil fears he is slipping deeper into the darkness. Eva believes he will soon be so consumed in misery no one will reach him.”
Noah could not dispute either opinion. “I’ve tried broaching the subject of his wife, but he won’t listen. Guilt eats away at him.”
“Were they in love?”
There were different sorts of love. Noah believed Cole loved Sophia Adair. But Cole had loved Hannah in his own way, too. “They cared for each other.”
Daventry remained silent for a few seconds. “I have something to tell you, and would value your opinion.”
Noah was all ears. “Something about Cole?”
Daventry nodded. “Lady Adair approached me a few days ago, asking to hire Cole as her agent.”
“Her agent?” Hellfire! Cole would go berserk if he knew. “And what is the nature of her dilemma?”
“You must not repeat this to a living soul, but Lady Adair has a secret.” Daventry paused. “Her sister resides at Blackborne. Everyone thinks she lives abroad, for reasons I cannot divulge. But Lady Adair is convinced someone has attempted to abduct her sister and has begged for Cole’s help. I’m told Blackborne is a rather eerie place located in the heart of a haunted wood.”
Noah rubbed his jaw. “I’m not sure a house full of ghosts is the right place for Cole.”
“Sometimes, a man must face his demons.”
While Noah considered pleading with Daventry to dismiss the idea as folly, instinct said it was a chance for Cole to find redemption. Still, Lady Adair was hardly a poor soul without connections.
“Must I remind you that we do not come to the aid of wealthy members
