The wedding? Theirs? “Naaaaayyy…”
“Doing horse imitations now, are we?”
Thea sputtered.
“Indeed. As for Wylde, his reputation is so tarnn-nished it’s practically rust. D-did you sense d-disapproval from him the other night?”
“Not exactly.” Was this her? Calmly discussing this? As if it were possible? “But he’s quite indecipherable.”
“Unlike my sister, eh?” He smiled, stroked his palms from her shoulders to her elbows. “Told me you were fetching. He’ll b-be fine. As to anyone else, it matters not. I’ve learned to live my life in ways that p-pl-please me and those I care for. You’re part of that small, growing number now.”
As his conviction and sincerity started to build, and the magical, moat-surrounded castle receded to be replaced by the truth of what this wondrous man offered, her soggy slipper ceased to matter, toes started to warm…
“I wrote you a p-poem.”
“But you hate poetry.”
“And I adore you. Planned on t-telling you so when I came over, even b-before your d-declaration sang past my ears.”
And there it went, wet toes abounded once again, her heart melting right back into her slipper. “D-Daniel.”
His thumb caressed her inner arm as he smiled. “That’s my pro-nn-nunciation.”
Their shared laughter didn’t stop her from thinking she really ought to be the voice of reason. She pulled away. “’Tis a lovely sentiment but who knows if I can conceive?” The reality of that had to be faced. Wishing wouldn’t make it so. “Years with Mr. Hurwell yielded naught. And that is the sole purpose of a peer’s wife.”
He was already shaking his head. “Ah, b-but you haven’t given years with me a chance.”
“Daniel!” He was making this so difficult. “The reality is you need a titled lady. An equal, to bear your heir and—”
He hushed her with his lips. “What—who—I nneed is you. No more blathering about equals. I’m more of a man with you than I ever was without. I trust the future will t-take care of itself—as long as ours is ent-t-twined. Now sit.”
Feeling more than a bit out of sorts, she turned to Cyclops. “Do you let him talk to you that way?”
“Woof!”
“Thea.”
“You growl more than your dog, do you know that?” The heated glare he sent her had her feet stumbling backward until she felt the edge of the desktop at her posterior. She hitched one side of her bottom on its surface. “There. I’m sitting. Are you sure you didn’t fight someone today—other than Mrs. Freshley? Get clobbered on the head? Oh wait—you did!” Grimmett had been that morning?
He answered her banter seriously. “I’m d-done with fighting, Thea. I’ll train Tom, maybe spar a b-bit a few times a year but no more weekly p-pummelings to prove I’m a man or p-punish myself for living when David didn’t. You made me see that.
“Now I’ve worked on this p-poem and speech just for you. Do you want t-to hear it or not?”
“By all means. I can hardly breathe, I’m so bound with anticipation. But I can hear you going hoarse. I do believe you’ve talked more in the last hour than in all the time I’ve known you. Should you not rest? I can be patient.” Oh, but ’twould surely send her out to sea.
He came up in front of her, the tendons in his strong neck flexing as he swallowed. “It cannot wait. I cannot wait.”
The desk beneath her backside was as hard as his whiskered jaw. She feathered her fingers over the beckoning bristle. “Daniel, what if you hurt yourself?”
“Will hurt more t-to keep quiet. Now hush and listen.”
Her hand found its way to his chest, just over his hammering heart. “Rapt silence. I shall endeavor to give it to you until you ask for something else.”
“Minx.” He cleared his throat. Once. Twice. He backed up several paces and clasped his hands behind him. Then he began to speak with that same measured, purposeful quality she’d always found so appealing. “You asked me several questions once. I would like to answer them now.
“I spend my days thinking of you.
“Matters that concern me include fixing that damn orrery—which is finally done, thanks to you and my meddling sister. Getting a good night’s sleep. Seeing Ellie made happy. And now you as well…”
As he spoke, answering all the items Thea had listed in that audacious letter, she realized she no longer noticed the stammer. The sound of his deep, so desired, voice glided past her ears without hesitation and went straight to her heart.
She grabbed the sharp edge of the desk and held on. Because with every word this man uttered, he swept her feet right out from under her.
“What do I like? How you viewed me as a whole man before I did myself. I was lost before you, Thea, like a little boy. But through you, I found my way home.
“Gads, I like so much about you—your patience, your smile. How you laugh at the absurd and have taught me to do the same.
“I adore your beautifully expressive eyes, how gentle and caring they are at times, brimming with inner fire at others. How they recall to mind things best recalled and have returned to me sweet memories of the past I’d forgotten before you came into my life.
“I love how you look at me when I talk to you, how calmly you wait, without ever hurrying me to rush my words.
“I love how you ask me to do naughty things to your bum and blush while saying it.” (Which only made her face flame anew.)
“How you’ve opened my eyes—and lugs—to the pleasures to be found beyond my study.
“I could go on, and I will—another time.”
She nodded when he paused, seemingly for her agreement. How much more could she take? Her heart was full to bursting.
“I dream of you. Have, I think, for a long while now, but it took meeting you to make me
