Rafe considered this gravely for a moment, and then, surprisingly, a rueful look flitted across his face.
'I guess I've always had this tendency to be more explicit about the unimportant issues, but words always seem to fail me when I have to discuss the things I care most about.' He drew her close again and gently kissed away the tears that glistened on her lashes. 'Do you think you could ever forgive me for making such a hash of our lives and for being such a cad to you these past months?'
'I think I might,' she teased, 'but it's bound to be a long process which may take years, and until then, I'm afraid, you're stuck with me.'
'Take your time, my love. Take your time,' he said, laughing softly down into green eyes that sparkled with mischief. 'I can't think of anything I'd like more than being stuck with you for the rest of my life.'
'You must be a glutton for punishment, my darling husband,' she teased.
'Punishment can always be made tolerable by spicing it with the occasional dash of pleasure.'
There was a deliberate sensuality in his lowered voice, and Jo's senses were leaping wildly in response when he picked her up in his arms and carried her through the silent house to their bedroom. Later that night, when they lay awake but wonderfully content in each other's arms, Rafe shifted his position slightly and laid his hand gently against Jo's lower abdomen, which still gave no outward indication of her pregnancy.
'About the baby—' he began, his eyes darkening with concern, but Jo silenced him with her fingers against his lips.
'I want this baby, Rafe, and I'm very happy about it.' There was a tender warmth in her voice and in her touch as she combed her fingers through his hair and tugged playfully at the greying strands against his temples. 'I know now that this child was conceived in love and not really by demand, and that makes all the difference.'
I want this baby too, and not for the callous reason I mentioned before. Please believe that, Jo.'
'I believe you.' Her fingers lovingly explored the hollows and planes of his features, and she looked up at him with eyes that glowed with the feelings she no longer needed to hide. 'I'm glad you've banished the devil I was forced to marry under such hateful circumstances, and I would like to welcome back the man I married for the first time four years ago. That's the man I never will stop loving.'
'God knows, I love you, Jo,' Rafe groaned, capturing her hand in his and kissing the soft tip of each finger in turn. 'I may not always say it, but I want you always to know it and to feel it.'
'I know it now, and I feel it. And I'll never doubt it again,' she promised against his descending mouth as she curled herself into his body and surrendered herself once again to the pleasure of his skilful manipulations.
It was odd, but when she finally drifted off to sleep that night she was aware of a new sense of belonging. For the first time she could think of Satanslaagte and acknowledge that this was home. She belonged... at last.
Valley of the Devil Page 15