Ready for King's Seduction
Page 16
“Then do,” he insisted, pulling her into the circle of his arms, where she most wanted to be. “Rose, I told you a little of how I grew up.”
She nodded, not wanting to speak, or interrupt him now, when every word spoken mattered.
“Well, I never believed love really existed. Never saw it, up close and personal. Then you walked into my life and suddenly, nothing was the same. You changed me. You changed everything. Forever.”
She rested her forehead against the center of his chest and bit down hard on her bottom lip. This was all so good, she was afraid to take the chance. He was saying everything she had hoped he would and still, a part of her held back, worried and too cowardly to take the next step—trusting him to mean what he had said.
Tears welled in her eyes and choked her throat as she whispered, “I just don’t want you to be saying all of this because of the baby.”
“I’m not, Rose,” he insisted, shifting so that he could cup her face between his palms and tip her face up to his. Gently, his thumbs rubbed away the tears that spilled from her eyes. “I’m saying all of this because of you. Who you are. What you’ve given me. What I want us to give each other. I love you, Rose Clancy. I always will.”
A wave of love so rich and thick she could hardly breathe moved through her, and Rose could only stare up at him through her tears.
“I want this baby, Rose,” he said, bending to press one brief, heartfelt kiss to her mouth. “And all the others that will come after it…”
“All?” she asked on a laugh.
He grinned and added, “But make no mistake, ever. You are the prize for me, Rose. You are the heart and soul of me. You are all I will ever need. Without you, I have nothing. With you, I have the world.”
“I love you so much, Lucas,” Rose whispered.
“Thank God,” he said on a heavy sigh. “You had me worried, I can tell you.”
She smiled up at him. “I never want to be apart from you again. These past two weeks were just so lonely.”
“Then marry me, Rose.” He kissed her again, harder, deeper, letting the passion between them sizzle and burn like a promise. “Come and live with me in that big, empty house. Help me make it a real home. For both of us.”
“I will marry you,” she said, finally giving in to the magic that was happening. Somehow, her world had righted itself again. She believed. In love. In Lucas. And in the life they would build together. “And I promise, that beautiful old house won’t be empty for long.”
ISBN: 978-1-4592-1417-0
READY FOR KING’S SEDUCTION
Copyright © 2011 by Maureen Child
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†Reasons for Revenge
††Kings of California