Page 69 of What's a Duke Got to Do With It
His face lit up. “Well then.” He reached into his trouser pocket and pulled out a simple gold ring with the clearest aquamarine stone she had ever seen. And Katrina thought her heart would burst from the happiness pouring into it.
“It is not much, I know,” he said ruefully as he held it up. “Lady Tesh was more than happy to give me one of her many—very many—rings to propose properly. But have you ever looked at that woman’s jewelry? Good God, she has some gaudy taste.”
A watery giggle bubbled up to Katrina’s lips, and he grinned that wonderfully crooked smile of his, his eyes soft on her face.
“But when I saw this one, that reminded me of your beautiful eyes, I knew it was right. And so I offer it to you, my Katrina. I love you, with every version of myself, from the selfish boy I was, to the cynical man I am, and everything in between. And I shall love you with every rendition of myself that I become. I know life will be difficult. We will have trials and tribulations and heartaches. But I also know, with a certainty that makes my heart beat, that if we can get through them together, nothing else will ever matter.”
He smiled, and his eyes glinted in the lamplight, glistening with unshed tears. Tears, she knew, that would mirror the ones in her own eyes.
“Marry me, my darling Katrina.”
She swallowed hard. “I come to you with nothing, Sebastian.”
“You come to me with everything,” he rasped, lifting her hand to his lips, kissing it fervently. “Your sweetness, your goodness, your loving heart; those are the things that will save me. I love you.”
And then, again, “Marry me.”
As she gazed down into his eyes, so full of love, so certain in their future, Katrina felt all her doubts and fears melt away. He was right: if they were together, nothing else mattered.
“Yes,” she whispered, a tremulous smile spreading across her face. “Yes, Sebastian, I will marry you.”
“Thank God,” he breathed before, slipping the delicate ring on her finger, he rose to his feet and dragged her into his arms, his lips claiming her as surely as he had claimed her heart.
Sebastian had not intended to seduce Katrina when he had brought her out here to this isolated stretch of beach. No, he had merely wished to make a beautiful spot for them where he could proclaim his love and convince her that they belonged together, no matter what might oppose them.
In that moment, however, he could not help thinking that his decision to use blankets and pillows had been positively genius. Now that he had her in his arms, and he knew they belonged to one another and no one else, he could not possibly stop at one kiss. No, one kiss became many, their lips tangling, parting only briefly to whisper words of love before returning for more. And then their hands came into play, roaming over curves and planes, loosening clothing, fanning the flame of their desire. They dropped to the blankets, one mind, one need, Katrina pulling on his shoulders until he settled between the welcoming cradle of her thighs.
He ached to sink into her heat, to lose himself in her. Instead, however, he paused, pulling back to gaze down at her, this incredible woman who had given her heart so unreservedly to him after a lifetime of believing she was not good enough for anyone.
He would spend the rest of his life making certain she never believed that about herself again.
“I love you, Katrina,” he whispered, cradling her face in his hands.
“I love you, Sebastian,” she replied, her voice cracking with emotion.
He lowered his head to hers again. Though now there was no rush, no haste. They had their entire lives ahead of them, together. And when, finally, their bodies joined as the sun began to crest the horizon, a new dawn bathing them in gilded light as they became one in body and heart and soul, they knew it was just the beginning of their forever.
Chapter 23
How,” Honoria said later that day as she bent down to scratch an ecstatic Mouse behind the ears, “am I going to survive without seeing this great lummox during our weekly meetings?”
“Not to mention Katrina,” Seraphina said dryly as she closed the lid to the trunk she had been packing.
Katrina, carefully folding a shawl, laughed as the other Oddments joined in on the lighthearted banter. Lady Tesh had invited them all to Seacliff to assist Katrina in packing for the upcoming trip with Sebastian to Gretna Green, a last gathering of the group. Katrina would forever be thankful to the dowager for such a gift. Though she could not wait to start her life with Sebastian, she would miss her friends dreadfully. They had been there for her when she had been lost and friendless, welcoming her into their group with open arms and open hearts. She would love them forever, no matter how many miles separated them.
Just as she would love Lady Tesh. That woman had been waiting for them by the open front door when Katrina and Sebastian had arrived back from the beach, her cane tapping impatiently against the tiles of the front hall. There had been a time when Katrina would have panicked to see her employer in a moment such as that, knowing the woman would guess what they had been up to on that beach just by looking at their faces.
Not now, though, knowing she had grown strong, and had the love of a good man behind her. And so instead of dropping Sebastian’s hand, she had held on tight, proudly even, and strode forward without hesitation. Lady Tesh had spied their clasped fingers, and a wide grin had spread itself over her heavily lined face. And it seemed the woman had not stopped smiling since.
The dowager hobbled into the small room just then, followed not only by a prancing Freya, but also her lady’s maid. That woman’s arms were full of linen, a pile so high that it teetered precariously as she made her way to the bed and carefully lowered it to the mattress.
“What is all this, Lady Tesh?” Katrina asked, approaching and running her fingers over the bright white cottons and creamy laces and bits of delicately embroidered linen.
“You cannot go off to marry a duke without a proper trousseau,” the woman said. “And goodness knows I have too much for any one person to use. Consider this my wedding gift to you.”
Katrina gaped at her. “But you have given us so much already.”
“Poppycock,” the dowager said in her typical sharp tone before, smiling, she patted Katrina’s arm. “You deserve so much more, my dear. You have been like a granddaughter to me, and I could not love you more if you were.”
