Page 156 of Dukes for Dessert

Oh God, she’d almost said husband. They’d not even discussed what this arrangement would look like on paper.

He held those fingers to his lips, only pulling back to speak. “I would make you a countess again, if you’d allow it. Give you a new name, even if it shouldn’t belong to me.”

“I would love that more than anything,” she sighed, unable to help being swept away by the fervency of her reaction to his words. “With everything that’s happened to us both…do you think we could truly ever trust each other?”

“I will strive to earn your trust,” he vowed. “But it will take time…time I’m willing to give. As long as you need. Forever, if that is what it takes.”

A brilliant smile broke over her features and reached in to set her heart aglow as she saw an identical joy lift his lips. “I think…I would look forward to forever. I’d be much more interesting with you at my side.”

“Lovely!” He kissed her, lifting her against his chest. “Let’s get married, then! Today, if you like.”

She laughed in earnest this time, squirming to be let down. “Do you call that a proposal?”

“I call it a suggestion until I can get a ring.” He rubbed his jaw, now rakishly prickled by a night’s growth of beard. “Shall we go buy one at the Turkish Bazaar? Or perhaps I should take you to Antwerp or—”

“Take me to bed first?” Sliding her arms around his neck, she stretched up to seal her lips over his in a searing kiss, while rubbing her body against him like a hungry cat. “We could stay there until the train runs out of track…then decide what happens next.”

That wicked smile spread over his breathtaking features, the one that’d first arrested her attention so many months ago. “My lady, your wish is my command.”

---