He hugged her. ‘You must never be sorry,’ he muttered fiercely into her hair. ‘I should have explained, made you believe me. We must be married, as soon as possible. I won’t risk losing you again.’
She pushed away from him and looked up. ‘Is—is that a proposal?’
He kissed her again. ‘No, it is a command.’
‘Because the children need a mother?’
He scowled at her. ‘No, because I need a wife. A friend. A lover.’
A bolt of liquid fire ran through her body and she trembled. She would have looked away, but he caught her chin and forced her to meet his eyes. The glow in their granite-grey depths made her breathless.
‘You know I have a damnable temper, God knows you have felt the lash of my tongue already. I will try to mend it; but I make no promises: in any event you are more than a match for me and will give me my own again if I grow too tyrannical.’ He gave her a wry smile. ‘Do I not have the wound on my arm to prove it?’
‘Pray do not remind me of that, Damon. I never wanted to hurt you.’
‘It was only a scratch, Ju, but enough to bring me to my senses.’
She smiled up at him mistily. ‘For days afterwards I was afraid it would become infected and give you a fever,’ she told him, her voice breaking.
He hugged her tightly. ‘You gave me a fever, Ju. I could think of nothing but you.’ He looked up at the ceiling and gave a deep sigh. She waited patiently and at last he looked at her again, a touch of uncertainty in his eyes.
‘I love you, Juliana. I have no great fortune to offer you, but Giles’s engineer is confident the coal mine is viable and I plan to build the cotton mill—in a few years they could both be giving a good return.’
‘Do not forget the reward Sir Richard spoke of,’ she added shyly.
He shook his head. ‘That shall be settled on Thomas and Amy. Well, Ju, will you agree to marry me, and to share my life and my fortune, such as it is?’
She lifted her hand to his cheek.
‘You are my fortune, Damon. And my life.’
Chapter Twenty-Six
Juliana woke up to the sound of birdsong. She stretched languorously and felt Damon’s sleeping form beside her. She reached out a hand and ran her fingers over the silky hairs on his naked thigh. He stirred.
‘Good morning, Mrs Collingham.’
Mrs Collingham! She had been married for a whole month and still smiled when she heard that name. Damon turned and pulled her back against him, kissing her neck. He cupped her breast in his hand and she sighed with contentment.
‘What shall we do today, sir?’
‘Fewell’s brother is bringing his plans for the new mill.’
‘Have you told Giles he is coming?’
‘Yes, he will be there. He is interested in machinery and has a natural gift for such things—I think he will be very useful. I am sending him to Birmingham; Sir Richard has contacts there amongst the engineers and Giles is to work with them, learn what he can.’ His arms tightened slightly. ‘You will come to the meeting with me, will you not? You won’t find it dull work?’
‘By no means.’
His fingers moved down over her body, caressing her stomach, then down to thread themselves among the soft curls at the hinge of her thigh. She caught her breath.
‘It is still early.’ Damon nibbled at her ear.
He was curled around her and she smiled as she felt the hardness of him pressing against her skin.
‘Then I think you should be looking to maintain your reputation in the bedroom,’ she murmured provocatively. ‘Devil Collingham.’
With something like a growl, he pulled her round to face him. ‘You will be gaining something of a reputation yourself, madam, insatiable as you are.’ He captured her mouth, her lips parted invitingly and her body moved sensuously beneath his caressing hands until the ache deep within her was too great to be denied and she rolled on top of him, taking him within her as he had taught her and revelling in the exquisite, joyful pleasure of their mutual love.
ISBN: 978-1-4268-1532-4
MORE THAN A GOVERNESS
Copyright © 2008 by Sarah Mallory
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