Page 75 of Unmasked By a Captivating Lady
Slowly, she sat up. She felt like she was in some kind of trance.
She glanced down at him. “We should return to Rudwick House,” she said slowly. “My mother was quite insistent that we must return within an hour…”
He sat up, too, staring up at the sky. “Yes, you are right. As much as I long to stay here with you, on this hillside, I did promise your parents that I would return you safe and sound. I do not want them to start worrying, after what has just happened. They have endured enough, I think, on that score.”
They both stood up. He packed up the blanket. Ara stared around, longingly. She didn’t want to leave.
“Can we always come here?” she asked suddenly. “After we are wed, can we come back here, from time to time?”
He laughed softly. “I will take you here every year, my love, after we are wed,” he whispered, gazing at her tenderly. “Every year, at the same time, I will bring you here, to make love amongst the wild daffodils. I promise.”
Her heart exulted.After they were wed.
The words promised a magical life, with him. A life where they could be with each other, every day. A life where they could lie in each other’s arms, for as long as they wished, without having to steal time as they had just done. The constraints of other people would no longer affect them, then.
It seemed barely possible, that such constant joy was before them. She felt like a child on Christmas morning, about to open all the presents.
“I love you, Ara,” he said suddenly. “I promise you, that I will always love you.” His eyes were burning. “I worship you. I worship everything about you. Your body, your mind, and your soul. I never dreamt that I could feel such love.”
Her heart quickened, gazing up at him. “And I love you, Miles. Body, mind and soul, in exactly the same way.” She hesitated. “You have shown me that the union between a man and a woman is something beautiful, rather than something to be avoided. I never wanted to marry, before I met you. But now, I seek it, eagerly. I simply cannot wait, until we are man and wife.”
It was true. She simply couldn’t remember now why she had been so adamant that she must not marry.
She remembered the birds, dancing in the sky, revelling in their freedom. All her life, she had felt constrained, like a bird in a cage. She had longed for freedom, to be who she really was. And now, she had it, she realised. Marriage with Miles would give her the freedom she always longed for, because he loved her for who she truly was.
He would never try to cage her or change her. With him, she would fly higher than she had ever dreamt possible.
***
That night, in her bed, she turned to the side, staring at the single yellow daffodil in the slender vase, on her bedside table.
Miles had picked it for her, before they had left the meadow, returning slowly to the house.
“I have no ring to give you, yet,” he had whispered. “You must make do with a single flower. But it contains all my heart, within its petals.”
Slowly, she reached out a hand, stroking the bright yellow petals, vividly remembering their passion. It had burnt brighter than the sun.
She would never forget this day, as long as she lived.
Chapter 34
“Ara! What on earth are youdoing, child? You do realise what day it is, do you not?”
Ara opened her eyes, sitting up in bed with a jolt. She was still half asleep. Her mother’s voice had managed to penetrate the very pleasant dream that she had just been having. A dream where Miles had been pleasuring her, leading her slowly but surely towards that dizzying peak…
She groaned, rubbing her eyes fiercely. The last lingering pleasure popped abruptly, like a bubble. Her mother was standing there, staring down at her, her hands on her hips. Mrs. Nott was frowning.
“I thought that you would be awake with the birds,” continued her mother. “Most brides can barely sleep a wink, the night before their wedding day!”
Ara gasped. How could she have forgotten, even for a moment?
It was her wedding day, at long last.
She gasped again. The day that she had been waiting for, all these months, had finally dawned. The day when Miles would finally make her his wife, and their life together could begin.
Mrs. Nott sat down on the bed, staring at her pensively. “There are a few things that I must discuss with you, now that you are about to become a wife,” she said quickly, looking uncharacteristically uncomfortable. “My own mother had this talk with me on the morning before I wed your father, and I must do the same. A mother’s final duty, before she sends her daughter off into the hands of her husband…”
Ara frowned slightly, staring at her mother, mystified. What onearthwas Mama rabbiting on about? She stifled a giggle. Her mother looked so intense, as if she were about to impart the meaning of life.
