Page 110 of Wicked Rivals
“I mean every word. I would protect you with my dying breath if you let me.”
She shook her head. “I mean when you speak of love.”
Everything inside Ashton went still, like a summer’s day when there was no breeze and yet the sun wasn’t too hot. He had said the words, hadn’t he? They had come so easily. Not out of manipulation or word play or saying what one had to in order to gain some advantage. It had been a simple statement of fact. It was the purest realization he’d ever had. He did love her. So much that it had made him irrational.
“You speak of love when you mean duty or honor,” Rosalind countered, not wanting to accept his words at face value.
Ashton smiled, and the exhaustion from the last two days lessened. He let go of her wrist and cupped her face in his hands.
“No. I speak of love because it is love that I feel. I love you, my little hellion.”
Rosalind’s gray eyes, once full of hate, and then doubt, were now filled with worry. “You cannot.” She bit her lip, and he could barely hold his control over himself.
“Yet I do. So much so that I question every decision I make, asking myself if it’s what’s best for you. When you left”—his voice deepened—“I was half mad with fear.”
She looked down at where the letters lay on the floor. “Only because I have what you need.”
“Yes, you do.”
Rosalind looked back at him in shock.
“You have my heart.”
She peeked up at him through her lashes. “No man has ever gotten under my skin like you, Lennox.” She stood up on tiptoes and curled her arms around his neck. Excitement flooded through him.
“Please. Tell me you love me.” He closed his eyes for a brief instant, needing to hear those words more than he’d ever needed anything in his life.
“I do. God help me, I do love you, you stubborn man.” She feathered her lips over his, and in that moment he swore if he had wings, he could fly.
Ashton returned the kiss, pulling her close, refusing to ever let his Scottish lass walk out of his life again. He teased her lips apart and tenderly ravished her mouth. He wanted to claim her right there, but with her brothers waiting outside it was hardly a wise course of action.
When he finally broke the kiss, Rosalind was leaning into him, her eyes dreamy, as if she too could barely keep her urges in check. That was what bewitched him, knowing that when they kissed it made them both become fools.
But we shall be fools together.
Ashton held on to Rosalind, and she curled into him, neither wanting to separate. He rubbed his hands along her back, trying not to think about all the worries that were building in his mind. He needed to convince her to come home to London. Then, most importantly, he had to prepare all of her property, companies and debts to be freed from his control and given back to her, even after they married.
“Will you come back to London?” He made it a question, because this had to be her choice.
She gazed at him, pensive.
“I should add that if you do not, then I will move to the castle here. I’m not sure your brothers will be thrilled to have someone like me underfoot, but I’m not letting you go. Not again.”
“You would move into a drafty old castle far away from your family and friends?” Hope filled her tone as though she was afraid and excited to believe what he was saying.
“For you I would.” He would leave his entire world behind for her. Of course, he knew that keeping the League out of Scotland would be impossible. Within a fortnight they’d all have bought summer cottages nearby.
Rosalind brushed a fingertip down his cheek, her lips curving in a gentle smile. “My life has been in England for a long time now. London is my home. Nowyouare my home.”
His heart skipped a beat. It simply couldn’t handle the sudden surge of joy in his body.
“I suppose I ought to tell my brothers,” she added. “They are ready to disembowel you.”
“Because I want to marry you?” He supposed he couldn’t blame them for being overprotective.
She wrinkled her nose and tried to hide a smile. “Waverly told them you were hurting me and forcing me into marriage. That’s why they came to rescue me from your dastardly clutches.”
Ashton shook his head. “That’s ridiculous.” But if that’s what her brothers thought about him, no wonder they wanted to kill him. He would do the same to any man he thought would hurt his sister.
