Second Best Wife
Page 18
'Possibly.'
'She's a bit spoilt,' Georgina continued, picking her words with care. 'Our parents have always given her her own way—'
'And so have you!'
'She's younger than I am. I could always look after myself, but she's such a delicate little thing—'
'So I thought too! But not for long. I soon discovered which one of you needed protecting from the wolves of this world — and it
wasn't her!'
Georgina looked at him then. 'You mean me?' she asked, astonished.
He smiled slowly at her puzzled expression. 'I daresay you'd manage well enough in a fair fight,' he consoled her, 'but wolves in sheep's clothing seldom fight fair. Like Jennifer!'
She accepted that, but she wasn't going to let him get away with his own deeds so lightly. 'Do you fight fair?' she challenged him.
His eyes met hers. 'Are you lodging a complaint?'
She shook her head. 'I don't want you to think badly of Jennie, that's all.'
He propped himself up on to his elbow, unbalancing her as he did so and triumphantly imprisoning her against the long length of his body.
'Jennifer can live with my opinion of her. I doubt it will so much as dent her self-conceit. But last night was the last time she takes you apart in my hearing. There's no comparison between the two of you, and I was lucky enough to get the best of the bargain when I pushed you into marriage with me. I knew it almost at once, and I thought you knew how I felt too. I forgot women have to have everything put into words before they'll allow themselves to believe a man's fallen in love with them—and you more than most, because you still think everyone is going to prefer Jennifer to yourself, don't you? Well, it isn't true. You didn't only black my eye, my darling; you hit me hard where it hurts most, and I couldn't believe my good fortune that I'd made my bed with you and had every right to make love to you as often as I could persuade you to co-operate!'
She veiled her eyes with her long lashes. 'I love you,' she said.
He ran his fingers round the collar of her dress, finding the top of the zip. 'I know that, sweetheart.'
Her eyes opened wide. 'How could you know?'
His lips found the hollow between her breasts. 'You told me so.'
'When?' His closeness disturbed her breathing and she put up a hand to prevent his from exploring any further. 'I'm sure I didn't!'
'Not in words perhaps, but I knew. You might have known how I felt about you too, if you'd thought about it. You must have known how much I wanted you!'
'That isn't quite the same thing,' she said primly.
His eyes lit with laughter as he kissed her. 'With you, I think it is, my lovely wife. You have a rare talent for love.'
'Mmm,' she murmured, distracted by the increasing passion of his kisses. 'I've loved you ever since I was ten years old, only I wasn't going to admit it! You wouldn't have made me marry you otherwise, William Ayres! I might not have known it was love exactly, but I knew I was going to marry you as soon as you kissed me when I came to tell you about Jennifer and Duncan.'
'Hush,' he commanded her. 'You talk too much. Be quiet and let me kiss you some more!'
But, laughing a little, she wriggled away from him to the far edge of the rug, turning her back on him. 'I thought this was going to be my time,' she reminded him, her voice not quite steady. 'I thought you were going to be gentle and loving—'
He plucked a leaf and tickled the back of her neck with it. For a moment he considered hauling her back into his arms whether she would or not, but then he acknowledged the justice of her complaint.
'Okay, little Georgina, what is it you want to know?'
She turned over to face him, her expression very serious. 'I want to know when you began to love me. You didn't at first. You were much too involved with Jennifer to notice me at all.'
He bent forward and kissed the tip of her nose. 'Not nearly as involved as you thought. I was attracted, that's all, and she seemed a very suitable person to deal with Celine. Not my most intelligent move, I know, but fortunately you came along and with great energy put an end to that arrangement for me.' His smile deepened, but the glint in his tawny eyes had nothing to do with amusement. 'I started falling for you when you claimed you were better stacked than Jennie. You are too!'
'Oh, William, I didn't! I might have indicated that I am—well, better endowed —'
His delighted laughter effectively silenced her. 'It amounts to the same thing,' he teased her. 'Is that all you want to know?'
There had to be a hundred other questions she wanted to ask him, but she couldn't think of one of them. She edged a few inches closer to him, overcome by the gush of warm excitement she felt as his arms closed about her.
'William, please love me!' she begged him.
She put her hands against his chest and discovered that his heart
was beating as fast as hers. 'William?' she murmured, opening her lips to the pressure of his.
'I'm waiting to do so,' he said.
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