by Amy Sandas
Her eyes shimmered with emotion. “It’s not. And I’ll happily spend the rest of my life proving there is nothing false or fleeting about what I feel for you.”
Rising to her tiptoes, she braced her hands on his shoulders and kissed him.
The touch of her lips, so freely offered and full of warmth, melted away his fear until it was just a lingering sensation in the back of his mind. At the first tentative sweep of her tongue into his mouth, Roman became lost in the sensations she aroused. Not just in his body, which had instantly climbed to a fever pitch of desire. But also in his heart, where he issued another silent vow to cherish and protect her and never give her any reason to doubt her decision to trust him with her love.
Pulling back from the heated kiss with a breathless laugh, she looked at him with eyes that glistened. “What now?” she asked.
He replied with a quirk of his lips. “A wedding, I suppose.”
“A quick one, yes?”
“Hell yes,” he growled as he doubled his arms around her in a crushing embrace and claimed her mouth once again.
Epilogue
The wedding was perfect—a small gathering of close friends and family for a quick ceremony followed immediately by breakfast. Then everyone went home while the bride and groom traveled north to Granville’s country seat in Suffolk, where they planned to spend a few weeks in blessed seclusion before returning to London.
Haylie and Roman arrived at the Elizabethan manor late at night after enjoying a fine meal at a local inn. Their rooms had been prepared for them and a maid waited to assist Haylie at her bath before dressing her in her bridal negligee and brushing her hair.
Once the maid slipped quietly from the bedroom, Haylie didn’t have long to wait for her husband to appear. In fact, she was still seated on the bench in front of the vanity mirror when the door between their adjoining rooms swung silently open. She watched in the mirror’s reflection as Roman—devastatingly handsome in lounge pants and nothing else—crossed the candlelit room.
His eyes were dark and intense as he came to a stop behind her and swept her hip-length hair over one shoulder to pool in her lap. The light caress of his fingers across her upper back gave rise to delicate goose bumps as her nerves awakened to her husband’s touch.
Holding her gaze, he bent forward to press a kiss to the side of her neck. Then another to the crest of her shoulder and another on the curve of her upper arm before he returned his mouth to her throat with a hot open-mouthed kiss that drew her skin against his teeth and sent tingling shivers down her spine.
With a sigh, she dropped her head back and he continued the tender onslaught. The sensations caused by his expert lips and tongue were soon joined by more wonderful feelings as he cupped the full weight of her breast in one hand. The heat of his palm soaked through the thin silk of her negligee, stimulating her nipple with slow circles until she squirmed in her seat.
Lifting his head, he caught her heavy-lidded gaze in the mirror. “Your beauty astounds me. I’m stunned by the knowledge that you belong to me.”
Haylie smiled. “Just as you belong to me.”
His expression grew serious. “I love you, Haylie. I should have said the words long before now.”
The roughness in his tone had her turning on the bench to face him as he took a seat beside her.
“I knew you loved me the moment you arrived at my house that morning,” she said softly.
“It’s true,” he said as he reached around her to grasp the curve of her hip and pull her up against his side. Sliding his other hand into her hair to palm her head, he brushed his thumb over the curve of her cheek. “I never thought the day would come that I’d so readily forsake my wicked ways.”
Haylie pressed her hand to his chest in protest. “Don’t say that. I happen to love your wicked ways.”
Roman angled her head back. His mouth hovered just over hers as he met her desirous gaze. “Hmm. Well, they’re all yours now, my pet.”
Then he took her mouth in a plunging kiss as he swept her into his arms. Rising to his feet, he carried her to their marriage bed for a proper showing of just how wicked he could be.
Also by Amy Sandas
Reformed Rakes Novella
Wicked (Coming Soon)
Regency Rogues
Rogue Countess
Reckless Viscount
Rebel Marquess
Relentless Lord
Watch for more at Amy Sandas’s site.
About the Author
Amy grew up in a small dairy town in northern Wisconsin and after earning a Liberal Arts degree from the University of Minnesota – Twin Cities, she eventually made her way back to Wisconsin (though to a slightly larger town) and lives there with her husband and three children. She spends her early mornings writing before heading off to her day job. The rest of her time is spent trying to keep up with the kids and squeeze in some stolen moments with her husband.
Read more at Amy Sandas’s site.