Page 41 of The Burning Passion of a Fiery Lady
“I do not want your money,” he continued. “It is not about that, for me, Susannah. I have money of my own. It isyouthat I want. I want all of you – your sweetness, your honesty, and your wild spirit. I am so in love with you that I can barely think straight, anymore.”
His heart started to thud painfully. She still hadn’t said a word, but the quivering within her had intensified, spreading through her limbs.
He took another deep breath. If he didn’t speak all of what was in his heart and mind now, then he never would. She needed to know exactly how he felt.
“I do not require your hand in marriage if you do not wish to give it,” he said slowly. “I can just stay here, still as your master of horses, if that is what you desire, so long as I can be close to you.”
She gave a deep, shuddering sigh. It seemed to fill the small barn, reverberating around it. His breath almost stopped as he waited for her response.
“It is not marriage that scares me,” she said eventually. “I have rejected suitors since Gilbert’s death, not because I want so desperately to keep my independence, but because I believed that part of my life was dead and gone, forever. That it was buried alongside my husband, in his grave.”
He couldn’t breathe. He literally couldn’t breathe as he listened to her.
“None of those fine gentlemen desired to court me because they wantedme,” she continued in the same quiet voice. “They wanted this …” she spread her arms wide. “They wanted The Willows, and the wealth that it brings. The thousands of pounds in the bank that were left to me by Gilbert. None of them loved me …”
There was an ache now, deep in his throat, as he listened to her. He could almost picture her here, alone in her castle, like Rapunzel trapped within her tower. Lonely, and grieving, and so desperately hurt by what had happened to her, at her husband’s hands. Still trying to make sense of it all, and find out who she was, at long last.
“I did not want any of them,” she said, her eyes glittering with tears again. “I would rather be alone than be caught in a loveless marriage, trapped and forsaken, yet again. That was untilyoucame along, Jasper Stone.”
Her grey eyes seemed to turn blue in the light as she gazed at him.
“I love you,” she whispered. “I truly believed that I would never love again, and I never expected it could happen so quickly.” Her voice turned bitter. “I have doubted you, but that is not your fault. It is about my own lack of trust in the promises that men make. But I know now that you are a fine man; the best of men, and that the love that I feel for youshouldbe trusted.”
His heart leapt with a joy so profound he could barely contain it.
“You love me?” he whispered in a tremulous voice. “You love me, just as much as I love you?”
She nodded slowly. “I do, Jasper Stone. And I do not want it to be a secret.” She took a deep breath. “I do not want you here as a hired hand, skulking in corners, whispered about, rumoured to be my lover. I do not want our love to be sullied in such a way. I want to publicly declare our love. I wanteveryoneto know that I am loved, and that I love in return.”
He couldn’t stop himself, then. He simply couldn’t wait another minute longer.
He grabbed her, fiercely hugging her to him. Then his hands were on her, all over her, and he was kissing her frantically. He could not get enough of her. He felt like he could never get enough of her. That if they were forced to spend the rest of their days in this small barn, then that would be just fine.
He had arrived at The Willows mere days ago, intending to do a job, and then leave. He had been heartbroken and lovelorn. He had been drifting aimlessly from job to job with no real sense of what he wanted to achieve in life.
All that he had known was that he needed to keep moving. To keep ahead of the sadness and the pain that had dogged him like an illness, ever since he had found that letter in his room, telling him that his intended loved another.
He had no expectation of his time here. He had no knowledge of the woman who lived here. The Widow Drake, a faceless person, who he would get to know then promptly forget, as soon as he had moved on.
And now, everything was different. Everything had changed in the blink of an eye.
He pulled back, gazing down at her, so overcome with love he couldn’t speak. She was the most beautiful woman that he had ever beheld; infinitely desirable.
Their physical connection was so strong he could imagine making love to her forever, and never tiring of it. Even now, his manhood was rising again as he gazed at her, and the urge to tip her over into the hay once more and plunge into her, feeling that supreme joy, was so powerful he could barely restrain himself.
But it was much, much more than that. He had felt desire for women before; it had consumed his senses, overwhelming him, making him believe that he could not live without them. Susannah was different. He wanted tobewith her, even without that. He loved simply everything about her.
He wanted to be with her forever. He wanted her to be his wife.
He took a deep breath. It might mean giving up his vocation and staying on here, settling down. He might have to let David go, so that he could continue his apprenticeship with another horse master. But he was willing to do all of that, and more, if he could only make her his own.
Yes,everythinghad changed. And it was truly a glorious thing.
“My love,” he whispered fervently, pulling back. “I cannot believe that a woman as wonderful as you can love me. I will do everything I can to be worthy of that love. I will worship you, forever.”
Her face changed, almost crumpling with emotion. He leant forward, kissing her again. He felt her move against him, restlessly. Her desire was shifting within her once more, as well. For a moment, he deepened the kiss. It would be so easy to begin again, to forget about the outside world, to get lost in each other’s arms. But he knew that there was no time left.
“We must go,” he whispered, pulling back regretfully. “There will be other times, my love. So many. I will wait for you …”
