She wasn’t sure she could bear to stay even if he would allow it.
“Answer me,” he said, stepping back. “Why didn’t you come home?”
She flinched. “Home?” she repeated. “Your Grace, we both know that is not my home.”
His lips pressed hard together. “You know what I mean. You said you would return after me, but I’ve been searching for you for almost an hour, and now I find you heading up the road that leads away from my estate? Do you know how dangerous that is?”
She folded her arms, forcing herself to take a step back from him. “I-I wasn’t leaving. I don’t think I was leaving. I just…I couldn’t go back. I couldn’t face you after…after…”
He bent his head. “I’m sorry, Marianne.”
She caught her breath. His tone sounded so truly grieved and apologetic. But she couldn’t let herself be lulled. She shook her head. “You needn’t be. You could have been kinder in your rejection, of course, but you have made it clear you feel nothing for me. I just don’t know if I can stay here in that cottage you have offered, after this. I would hate to cause you discomfort and I don’t know if I could encounter you and—”
“Please be quiet,” he interrupted.
She arched a brow. “I’m sorry?”
“You talk and talk, Marianne,” he said, and he laughed. She stared, for she had never seen him smile, not in any real way, and here he was…smiling. And he was beautiful. So beautiful that her heart hurt to look at him.
“I—”
“Honestly,” he grunted, then caught her hand, tugged her forward and kissed her.
She was so surprised by the action, she didn’t fight it. She just melted against him, letting him explore her mouth right there in the middle of the road. And when she was thoroughly breathless and dizzy, he let her go.
“I shall remember that is the only way to make you stop talking. Though I must be honest that I rather love the way you chatter. Every word brings life back to my heart,” he said.
She blinked at him as those words, those lovely words, pierced into her soul. But he couldn’t mean them. Not after what had happened earlier. “I—”
“Please, let me tell you this,” he said softly, and she closed her mouth. “Marianne, when I realized you hadn’t returned, I was terrified. I have been searching for you, fearing the worst, knowing that if something happened to you, it was my fault.”
She shook her head. “No. You made yourself clear from the beginning in what you wanted from me. I was a fool to allow my heart to convince me that there could be more.”
“No,” he said, and he reached out to take her hand. His rough palm felt like heaven in hers. “I was a fool to think that I could bring you home and not have you permeate every part of me, every part of my world. You have, Marianne. And that terrified me. It still terrifies me, truth be told. But there is one thing that frightens me more.”
She stared at him. He was…softer somehow. More connected and gentle as he spoke to her.
“What is that?” she asked, her voice shaking as she tried to rein in her hopes, her dreams.
“Losing you,” he said. “I don’t want to lose you, Marianne. Even if I don’t deserve you, I still…I still want you.”
She frowned. Want. He wanted her. That was something, but could it be enough?
“I love you,” he said, and his breath hitched.
“You…you love me?”
He nodded. “I do. I do love you.”
Her mouth dropped open. “Please tell me you aren’t playing a game with me, Alexander.”
“I’m cruel, but not so cruel as that,” he said, and he reached out to stroke her cheek. “I love you, Marianne. And I don’t want you to run away. I want you to stay with me.”
Chapter Twelve
Marianne was just staring at him, and Alexander could see the confusion and pain and fear and hope all mixed on her face. She wasn’t certain of him and he couldn’t blame her, for he had given her so little reason to have faith since he met her.
But he had faith. And he was determined to share it with her. Even if it was terrifying to him. Even if he had to overcome the voice inside of him that said to run away from this future, from this woman who was so determined to heal his heavy soul.
“There’s a reason you found my sister’s cameo,” he said. “I believe that. I believe she led you to me. You are her final gift to me. You, a frustrating, amazing, sensual woman who can make me say and do all the things I’ve avoided for years. The woman who can see past my scars, and I don’t mean the ones on my face.”
Marianne’s bottom lip quivered and her frown deepened with every word he spoke. His heart sank. Had he waited too long? Was his rejection of her earlier in the day a final moment she couldn’t overcome?
“Please say something,” he whispered, hoping, praying.
“You love me?” she repeated again.
He nodded. “Yes.”
She was quiet for a moment, just staring at him, and then she moved forward, into his arms, her mouth lifting to his, her tears merging with his own as he kissed her deeply, passionately, and with all the love in his heart.
She drew away with a smile. “I love you.”
Joy flooded him, but he couldn’t surrender to it, not immediately. “There is something I must tell you.”
Her brow wrinkled. “More secrets?”
He shook his head. “No. It’s about Juliet.” She buckled and he caught her. “It’s all right, Marianne,” he reassured her. Then he told her of his encounter with her cousin and the bargain he’d made.
She stared at him when he’d said it all. “I cannot believe he would do that.”
“Nor could I.” He nearly spat to eliminate the nasty taste her cousin left in his mouth. “But I think we should go to London, Marianne. Juliet must be fetched. I don’t want to give that bastard any opportunity to renege on our bargain.”
She nodded. “I agree.”
“Good,” he said, and motioned to his horse. “Let’s go back, shall we, and I’ll make the arrangements right away.”
He helped her up on the animal and then swung up behind her. She settled back into his arms and he turned them back toward his home. Their home. His heart soared with the thought.
“At any rate,” he said, nuzzling her neck gently. “You’ll want her here for the wedding.”
She jerked her face toward him. “Wedding?” she repeated.
He laughed. “I love you, Marianne. Don’t you think there will be a wedding? As soon as possible?”
“You’re asking me to marry you?” she whispered.
“If you’ll have a beast like me,” he said, holding his breath as he awaited her answer.
She gave it by lifting her lips to his. She gave it with the smile he felt against his mouth. She gave it as she shouted, “Yes!” to the skies.
And for the first time in years, his life had meaning again.
Epilogue
Six Months Later
Juliet sat by the lakeside, a fishing pole in one hand, a book in the other. As Marianne watched her from the bench at the lakeside, she laughed. “She’s going to lose the fish and the book at this rate.”
“I’ll buy her another book, and I suppose I could catch her a fish,” Alexander chuckled.
Marianne turned toward him, still in wonder at the fact that this man was her husband. Her love. Her life. And also in wonder at how much he’d changed since their hasty wedding just after they retrieved Juliet from London.
Oh, he was still clever and dedicated to his tenants and duties. He was still uncomfortable with the idea of a return to Society. But he was also quicker to smile, quicker to laugh. He’d taken on the role of father to her sister with kindness and patience, and Juliet adored him.
And as for his skills as a husband, he remained a passionate lover, but he was also a fine friend and partner, who looked out for her needs every day and in every way. Better still, he allow
ed her to do the same for him.
He caught her staring at him and reached up to touch his scar, “What? Do I have something on my face?” he teased.
She shook her head as she reached up to draw him down and kissed him gently. “I love you,” she whispered.
His teasing faded and he pulled back from her lips to stare into her face. “I don’t know how I earned that love, Marianne. But I cherish it. And I return it. With all my heart.”
She sighed, tucking herself into the crook of his shoulder as she returned her attention to her sister. Half a year before she had been pondering the horror her life had become, fearing for the future that felt so dire.
Today she was certain of her happiness. And her love. And that was all that mattered.
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Lady No Says Yes
Sophie shook her head and muttered, “I should not have said such a thing. I do not speak of it—I have no idea why I was suddenly inspired to do so.”
“I’m not sorry,” he said softly, and found it was true. “I would like to be friends with you, Sophie.”
“Why?” she asked, her attention returning to his face.
He cleared his throat. “Because you make me nervous, too. Which means you are an adventure waiting to happen.” He leaned a touch closer as the strains of the music ended. “Would you be friends with me?”
He saw the struggle across her expression. The fleeting moment where she seemed to want to run. The fight to find an answer. Then she nodded. “Y-yes.”
He smiled, though there was something unsatisfying about her single-word answer. Was she saying yes merely because her aunt had forced her into a bargain, or did she truly want to be a friend to him? To get to know him.
It was a jumbled situation, that was certain.
She pulled her hand from his, her cheeks suddenly flushed with color. “I-I should go.”
She didn’t wait for him to respond, but rushed from his side. He watched her careen through the crowd, past her aunt and her friends and all the mercenary gentlemen who were waiting to press their suit. She passed it all and exited directly onto the terrace.
He didn’t recall making the decision, but he found himself striding after her. He pushed through the terrace doors and found her standing at the stone wall, staring up at the moon above. He caught his breath at how lovely she was in the moonlight, and there was nothing in the world that could have stopped him in that moment.
She gasped as she turned toward him, watched him approach her wordlessly. She gasped again when he put his arms around her, bent his head and brushed his lips to hers. She was supple against him, molded to his chest as her trembling hands lifted to grip the lapels of his tailored jacket.
Her lips were impossibly soft, and he tilted his head for better access as he lightly traced the bee-stung swell of them. She caught a breath and he delved deeper, tasting the hollows of her mouth as she made a low moan in the back of her throat that hardened his cock and boiled his blood in his veins.
Reluctantly, he drew back, steadying her gently before he stepped away. They stood panting, staring at each other, for what felt like an eternity before he said, “That is what I should have done in the parlor, Sophie.”
Her lips parted in what appeared to be shock, and he could see her mind racing again, just as it had in the ballroom. He didn’t wait for her reaction, for her arguments, for her decisions about what she should or shouldn’t do. He merely smiled at her. “Until we meet again, my lady.”
Then he turned on his heel and left the terrace, left the ball, left her standing there to ponder what had just happened between them. And knew that he would do exactly the same thing.
Click here to learn more about Lady No Says Yes.
Other Books by
Jess Michaels
The Scandal Sheet
One wicked little paper, six stories of the scandals within.
The Return of Lady Jane (Book 1)
The 1797 Club
For information about the series, go to www.1797club.com to join the club!
The Daring Duke
Her Favorite Duke
The Broken Duke
The Silent Duke
The Duke of Nothing
The Undercover Duke
The Duke of Hearts
The Duke Who Lied
The Duke of Desire
The Last Duke
Seasons
An Affair in Winter
A Spring Deception
One Summer of Surrender
Adored in Autumn
The Wicked Woodleys
Forbidden
Deceived
Tempted
Ruined
Seduced
The Notorious Flynns
The Other Duke
The Scoundrel’s Lover
The Widow Wager
No Gentleman for Georgina
A Marquis for Mary
The Ladies Book of Pleasures
A Matter of Sin
A Moment of Passion
A Measure of Deceit
The Pleasure Wars Series
Taken By the Duke
Pleasuring The Lady
Beauty and the Earl
Beautiful Distraction
About the Author
USA Today Bestselling author Jess Michaels likes geeky stuff, Vanilla Coke Zero, anything coconut, cheese, fluffy cats, smooth cats, any cats, many dogs and people who care about the welfare of their fellow humans. She watches too much daytime court shows, but just enough Star Wars. She is lucky enough to be married to her favorite person in the world and live in a beautiful home on a golf course lake in Northern Arizona.
When she’s not obsessively checking her steps on Fitbit or trying out new flavors of Greek yogurt, she writes erotic historical romances with smoking hot alpha males and sassy ladies who do anything but wait to get what they want. She has written for numerous publishers and is now fully indie and loving every moment of it (well, almost every moment).
Jess loves to hear from fans! So please feel free to contact her in any of the following ways (or carrier pigeon):
www.AuthorJessMichaels.com
Email: [email protected]
Twitter www.twitter.com/JessMichaelsbks
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Jess Michaels raffles a gift certificate EVERY month to members of her newsletter, so sign up on her website: http://www.authorjessmichaels.com/
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