Page 45 of Lady, Behave
“You came at the right time.”
He threaded his fingers through her long soft tresses, then thumbed her lower lip. “I want you with me always. I love you, sweetheart, and I’ve come back to marry you. I obtained a license, too. Will you truly have me, Adelaide Devereaux?”
She kissed his appealing mouth. Now was no time to ask about his parents’ objection to her as his wife. “I cannot wait to have you for my own.”
“How does tomorrow suit you?”
She cupped his cheek and grinned. “Before noon.”
“And after that, we’ll be together for the rest of our lives.”
*
Gyles took herhome to her cousin Cass and her sister Laurel. His friends returned his horse and joined them minutes later. Colonel Lord Welles, whom Cass hailed with tears in her eyes, added a few details of Addy’s abduction that Gyles had not yet learned. Captain Fitzroy was his jovial self, accepting a bracing glass of brandy along with the offer of dinner. Lord Grey was welcomed, even by Laurel, whom he had jilted long ago.
Soon after Cass and Laurel had exclaimed over Addy’s rescue and assured themselves of Addy’s fitness and John Fellowes’s defeat, Gyles requested a private audience with Addy. She readily took his hand. Cass approved, her glance checking Gyles’s for his good intentions.
The two of them retired to the small salon on the first floor, where he closed and locked the door, then swept his darling up into his fast embrace and strode with her to the far settee.
He took her on his lap and cupped her cheek. “You are truly recovered?”
“I am. Oh, Gyles, he was quite pitiful.”
“Resourceful chap to take you in broad daylight. I will make my appreciation known to your French maid for identifying the bastard. Pardon me, my darling, for my language.”
“But he is not fit for any profession, least of allthatone.”
“So true. Now,” he said as he smiled into her eyes and brushed her lips with the pad of his thumb. “Are you ready to hear all my news?”
She frowned, and he kissed her quickly. My God, she had such wonderful plush lips. When he drew away, she still had her eyes closed, and he had to taste her once more.
“Ohh.” She breathed and fell back in his arms. “How wonderful to have you back.”
“I couldn’t agree more,” he crooned and pushed her to the cushions, then followed her down. “I’ve wanted you forever, and I must have you as my wife. But is tomorrow too soon?”
She kissed him, opening her mouth for him and allowing him to roam and savor the taste of her. “Never. I want you. Always have. Since the first night you danced with me, I saw no one else.”
“Kissed no one else?” he asked in a playful tone.
“Not one.” She fastened her gaze on his.
He caught her nape and held her still. That she could be his, stunned him. That he could love this madly, shocked him. “Will you have me for your husband?”
“I will! I will! No other!” She ran her fingers into his hair and clutched him close. Her breasts, tight little buds that poked his chest, rubbed against him even as her arms bound him close. But she looked fearful. “Tell me what you did in London.”
“I pensioned off one mistress.”
She scowled.
He drew his fingertip over the line on her forehead. “I had not gone to her for months. It was time I did the honorable thing by her and gave her money to live. Just as I did the other one months ago.”
Addy’s mouth fell open.
“They are irrelevant, my darling. I want no others ever. I promise you fidelity.”
She took a moment to process that. “As I promise you.”
He hugged her close and smiled. “I’ve acquired that license to marry, which we can use as soon as you wish.”
