“Oh God, I love you too, Davis!”
With a few more deep strokes together they went up in flames, reaching their peak in unison.
34
“E nough that you’d consider marrying me?” Davis picked up the conversation where they’d left off, before they’d slaked their first-round lust for each other’s bodies.
He had her small body positioned in front of his and they lay facing one another on her soft bed, amid all one hundred and one of her pillows. He hadn’t noticed how many she had when they’d laid down, because his entire focus had been on getting them both naked.
“Did you hear me, baby?” He felt his heart thud in his throat the sound was so loud, while he waited for her answer.
When she remained silent dread settled in his gut and he pulled her tight against his body, his hands wrapped securely around her small waist.
“You may as well say yes, Candy. I won’t accept anything else,” he warned, darkly.
“Oh? Is that a fact?” she responded. Davis detected a hint of lightness in her voice and he felt a bit of the constriction around his heart ease.
“Yeah, that’s a fact.”
“We have a few things to discuss, before we go there, don’t you think?”
“Yes, we do,” he agreed, solemnly.
He raised her chin with two fingers and stared down into her beautiful light brown eyes, eyes which had haunted his dreams for almost a year.
“Candy, I owe you a lot.”
“You owe me?” she echoed, and he heard the surprise in her voice.
“I do. You’ve helped me connect with my daughter, which forced me let go of the guilt of the past. Without you, I don’t know if I would have been able to do so,” he admitted.
“You would have eventually, Davis. But I’m glad I was able to help. And neither do you owe me anything. I care about you and Angelica. If I was able to help in any small way, that’s payment enough.”
His heart did a flip when she smiled up at him, and in the dark, her smile illuminated the entire room. She traced the cleft in his chin with featherlight touches with the tips of her fingers. Davis captured her hand and lay a small kiss in the center of her palm before releasing it.
“At any rate you helped me realize my daughter needed more than what I was giving her. No amount of love and overindulging could make up for gifting her with the truth.”
“How did it go?”
Davis sighed and pulled her closer. He lay back against one of the large pillows with her. She rested her head on his chest, her hands playing with the scattering of hair around his pectoral muscles.
“Angel was so hungry for information about her mother, any information, that she didn’t seem to be as badly affected by learning about how we became a family as I thought she would. In fact, it pained me that I’d been the source of causing my baby so much angst.”
“How were you the cause?”
“Had I not been so bent on pretending nothing had been out of the ordinary, that we had been a happy family before her mother passed, things would have been different. For both of us,” he said.
He filled Candy in on the conversation with Angelica. How in the beginning of their talk he’d been uncomfortable, not sure how much to disclose, but in the end he told her as much of the truth as he could.
“I kept back that I felt betrayed by her mother. Neither did I tell her Gail knew she was pregnant by another man. Maybe in time, when she’s older, we can go there, but for now that wasn’t necessary to tell her, I didn’t think.”
“No, I agree, that’s too much for a nine-year-old. To understand the complexities of adult behavior can confuse the most sophisticated of us,” Candy murmured in agreement.
“Definitely. I was a convenience for Gail; there was no need to tell Angelica that. It was more important she learn what her mother was like, her personality, her likes and dislikes. Something I’d never shared with her, because I avoided discussion about Gail,” he said and shook his head at his own male, ego-driven folly. “It was important she understood her mother loved her deeply, without reservation, and wanted the best for her. That was the most important information I could impart.”
“Yes, she did want the best for her, Davis. And I believe that although what she did to you was wrong and completely unethical, I do understand. She knew you would be an amazing father for her child.”
The sincerity of her words struck him in the middle of his heart. When he laughed self-consciously, Candy leaned up and away from his chest before she grasped the both sides of his face between her warm hands.
“Davis, it’s true. You are such a caring father, such a loving man, a woman would be foolish as hell not to want you to be the father of her children. I know I would love to have you as the father of any child I’d be blessed to conceive.”
When the words left her mouth, Davis saw the way her eyes widened, her own words penetrating her brain, and a wide smile split his face.
“You invaded my dreams almost a year ago, Candy. No matter how many times I told myself I was too old for you, you were too different, you wouldn’t want me…none of that mattered because I started falling in love with you from the moment I laid eyes on you,” he said.
He pulled her close and gave her a lingering kiss before he released her.
“Hold on, I need to get something,” he said, giving her a sweet kiss, licking the tear away from her cheek before he bounded from the bed.
Candy propped her chin in the palm of her hand and rested her elbow on the bed. She grinned and enjoyed the show as the moon streaked light across his taut, chiseled buttocks and ran down the length of his thick, muscled legs as he bent over and picked up his jeans.
She watched in curiosity and then dawning realization when he withdrew a small gold box, topped with a small foil bow.
Her heart began to pound heavily as he walked back toward the bed, took the proverbial knee and opened the box. The princess-cut emerald nestled inside winked beautifully at her as he took her hand in between his.
“I love everything about you, Candy. Your intelligence, your uniqueness, your scent, your beauty, your zest for life, your beautiful caring nature, your dedication to Girls Unlimited, how you love your girls and they love you. How you love me and my daughter,” he finished his litany huskily and paused to clear his throat.
This time Candy allowed the emotion to run through her and felt tears sting the corners of her eyes. He withdrew the ring and tossed the box over his shoulder and she gave a small laugh around a hiccup.
“You said you loved me, Candy,” he reminded her, with a hint of smugness to his voice. “And I think I’ve gotten to know you well enough over these last months to know when you love, you do it completely, no holds barred, full steam ahead…am I right?”
“Yes,” she agreed and bit the inside of her cheek to prevent herself from smiling.
“Well, I’m here on the clichéd bended knee to ask that you love me enough to allow me and Angelica to become a permanent part of your life. The last few weeks have been unlike any in my life, as we’ve gotten to know one another, and not just physically. It goes beyond the physical in a way no one would understand unless they’ve experienced true love.”
Joy welled inside Candy as his loving words cascaded down on her like welcomed rain after a drought.
“Baby, you complete me, and I’m asking you to allow me to show you I’m willing and ready to do whatever it takes to make you happy. I want you in my life, fully, wholly. Trust me, Candy. I won’t ever knowingly hurt you. Your well-being and happiness will always be placed above all others, yours and Angelica’s. Do you have enough faith to believe I will always take care of you? That I love you, mind, body and soul?” he asked, his eyes earnest, the emotion on his face raw, real.
Candy, who prided herself on her communication skills, was unable to utter a word, her mind in a whirl as she considered his request.
She allowed her eyes to roam his face, looking for what, she didn’t k
now, something to help her make the most important decision of her life.
The only thing she saw, the only thing that mattered, was the light of honesty and love she saw reflected in his eyes and her decision was made.
She loved this man with all her heart, had loved him from the moment she laid eyes on him.
The last months had only sealed her fate, a fate that had been decided long ago, before they’d even met. She needed to be with him. There were no two ways about it. She loved him, loved Angelica and there was no way she was going to let either one of them go.
With a nod of her head she gave her answer and he let out a loud “whoop!”
With shaking hands he eased the ring on her finger. Tears of joy ran down both of their faces, as they grabbed on to one another and clung as though for dear life before Davis smothered her faces with kisses.
“Yes, baby. Yes, I’ll marry you.” She promised and saw a wealth of emotion pass over Davis’s handsome features; relief and joy only some of them.
“You’ll never regret it, Candy. I’ll make sure of that. You can trust me. I have you now, and I’m never going to let you go,” he told her gruffly. “Now why don’t we seal this bargain with a kiss?”
He captured her mouth with his in a toe-curling kiss, and with a sigh of happiness she allowed him to tumble them back on the bed.
Her last coherent thought, before he covered her body with his and eased inside her welcoming sheath was that the kiss was only metaphorical. Candy’s fate had been sealed the moment she’d met Davis, the moment they’d laid eyes on one another. They belonged together.
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1
Southampton, England, 1815
S ara pressed her fingers to her mouth to stop from gasping as she watched the man and woman writhe together on the tangled bedsheets. Daisy’s plump thighs were locked around the hips of the man who pushed relentlessly inside her. The violent rhythm of his thrusts made the iron bedstead creak as Daisy moaned and cried out his name.
Sara knew she should move away from the half-opened door. But she couldn’t take her gaze away from the frenzied activity on the bed. Her skin prickled, and her heart thumped hard against her breasts.
When Daisy screeched and convulsed as if she were suffering a fit, a small sound escaped Sara’s lips. To her horror, the man on top of Daisy reared back as though he’d heard something. He turned his head, and his eyes locked with hers. Sara spun away, gathered her shawl around her shoulders, and stumbled back along the corridor. She had her hand on the landing door when footsteps behind her made her pause.
“Did you enjoy that?”
Lord Valentin Sokorvsky’s amused voice halted Sara’s hurried retreat. Reluctantly she turned to face him. He strolled toward her, tucking his white shirt into his unfastened breeches. His discarded coat, waistcoat, and cravat hung over his arm. A thin glow of perspiration covered his tanned skin, a testament to his recent exertions.
Sara drew herself up to her full height. “The question of enjoyment did not arise, my lord. I merely confirmed my suspicions that you are not a fit mate for my youngest sister.”
Lord Valentin was close enough now for Sara to stare into his violet eyes. He was the most beautiful man she had ever seen. His body was as graceful as a Greek sculpture, and he moved like a trained dancer. Although she mistrusted him, she yearned to reach out and stroke his lush lower lip just to see if he was real. His hair was a rich chestnut brown, held back from his face with a black silk ribbon. An unfashionable style, but it suited him.
He arched one eyebrow. Every movement he made was so polished, she suspected he practiced each one in the mirror until he perfected it. His open-necked shirt revealed half a bronzed coin strung on a strand of leather and hinted at the thickness of the hair on his chest.
“Men have…needs, Miss Harrison. I’m sure your sister is aware of that.”
As he moved closer, Sara tried to take shallow breaths. His citrus scent was underscored by another more powerful and elusive smell that she realized must be sex. She’d never imagined lovemaking had a particular scent. She’d always thought procreation would be a quiet orderly affair in the privacy of a marriage bed, not the primitive, noisy, exuberant mating she’d just witnessed.
“My sister is a lady, Lord Sokorvsky. What would she know of men’s desires?”
“Enough to know that a man looks for heirs and obedience from his wife and pleasure from his mistress.”
She felt a rush of anger on her sister’s behalf. “Perhaps she deserves more. Personally, I cannot think of anything worse than being trapped in a marriage like that.”
His extraordinary eyes sparked with interest as he appeared to notice her nightclothes and bare feet for the first time. Sara edged back toward the door. He angled his body to block her exit.
“Is that why you frequent the servants’ wing in the dead of night? Have you decided to risk all for the love of a common man?”
Sara blushed and clutched her shawl tightly to her breasts. “I came to see if what my maid told me was true.”
“Ah.” He glanced back down the corridor. “Daisy is your maid?” He swept her an elegant bow. “Consider me well and truly compromised. What do you intend to do? Insist I marry her? Go and tell tales to your father?”
She glared at him. How could she tell her father that the man he regarded as a protégé was a licentious rake? And then there was the matter of Lord Sokorvsky’s immense wealth. Her father’s seafaring enterprises had not fared well in recent years.
She licked her lips. His interested gaze followed the movement of her tongue. “My father thinks very highly of you. He was delighted when you offered to marry one of his daughters.”
He leaned his shoulder against the wall and considered her, his expression serious. “I owe your father my life. I would marry all three of you if such a thing were allowed in this country.”
“Fortunately for you, it is not,” Sara snapped. His face resumed the lazy, taunting expression she had come to dread. “As to my purpose, I thought to appeal to your better nature. I wanted to ask you not to dishonor my sister by taking a mistress after you wed and to remain true to your vows.”
He stared at her for a long moment and then began to laugh. “You expect me to remain faithful to your sister forever?” His eyes darkened to reveal a hint of steel. “In return for what?”
“I won’t tell my father about your dishonorable behavior tonight. He would be so disappointed in you.”
His smile disappeared. He stepped so close his booted feet nudged Sara’s bare toes. “That’s blackmail. And there’s no way in hell you would ever know whether I kept my word or not.”
Sara managed a small triumphant smile. “You do not keep your promises, then? You are a man without honor?”
He put his fingers under her chin and jerked her head up to meet his gaze. She found it difficult to breathe as she gazed into his amazing eyes. Why hadn’t she realized that beneath his exquisite exterior lay a deadly iron will?
“I can assure you, I keep my promises.”
Sara found her voice. “Charlotte is only seventeen. She knows little of the world. I am only trying to protect her.”
He released her chin and slid his fingers down the side of her throat to her shoulder. To her relief, his air of contained violence dissipated.
“Why didn’t your parents put you forward to marry me? You are the oldest, are you not?”
She glanced pointedly at his hand, which still rested on her shoulder. “I’m twenty-six. I had my chance to catch a husband. I had a Season in London and failed to capitalize on it.”
He curled a lock of her black hair around his finger. She shivered. His rapt expression intensified.
“Charlotte is the most beautiful and biddable of my sisters. She deserves a chance to become a rich man’s wife.”
His soft laugh startled h
er, and his warm breath fanned her neck. “Like me, you mean?”
Sara stared boldly into his eyes. “Yes, although…” She frowned, distracted by his nearness. “Emily might be a better match for you. She is more impressed by wealth and status than Charlotte.”
“You possess something neither of your sisters has.”
Sara bit her lip. “You don’t need to remind me. Apparently I am impulsive and too direct for most men’s taste.”
He tugged lightly on the curl of her hair. “Not all men. I have been known to admire a woman with drive and determination.”
She lifted her gaze and met his eyes. Something urgent sparked between them. She fought a desire to lean closer and rub her cheek against his muscular chest. “I think I will make a far better spinster aunt than a wife. At least I will be able to be myself.”
His lazy smile was as intimate as a caress. “But what about the joys of the marriage bed? Might you not regret sampling those?”
She gave a disdainful sniff. “If what I have just seen is an example of those ‘joys,’ perhaps I am well rid of them.”
His fingers tightened in her hair. “You didn’t enjoy watching me fuck your maid?”
Sara gaped at him.
His smile widened. He extended his index finger and gently closed her mouth. “Not only are you a prude, Miss Harrison, but you are also a liar.”
Heat flooded her cheeks. Sara wanted to cross her arms over her breasts. She trembled when he stepped back and studied her.
“Your skin is flushed, and I can see your nipples through your nightgown. If I slid my hand between your legs, I wager you’d be wet and ready for me.”
Sara’s fingers twitched in an instinctive impulse to slap his handsome face. She waited for a rush of anger to fuel her courage, but nothing happened. Only a strange sense of waiting, of tension, of need—as if her body knew something her mind hadn’t yet understood. She let him look at her, tempted to take his hand and press it to her breast. Somehow she knew he would assuage the pulsing ache that flooded her senses.
Just Like Candy Page 21