Page 42 of The Viscount's Seduction
She pushed back her chair and stood, grasping his hands. “Get up before you wear out the knees of your breeches.”
That coaxed another smile from him, though she wasn’t sure it was any less wicked.
“If my father thinks to cut us off, well, I have a great fortune of my own, Sirena, sufficient for us to live here when we are in the city, and I have that property in Kent when you wish to spend time in the country.”
His hands had found her shoulders and he was touching her again, sending ripples of warmth through her.
“I can bring nothing to a marriage. Not even a meager dowry. It isnotright.”
“It’s not true, either. You can bring your person, your beauty, your wit. Your ability with horses. And, I would hope, your affection and your loyalty.”
Loyalty?Ah, then, they were in grand trouble, for she could never bring herself to love the English, considering all they’d taken from her. “I shall always be a daughter of Ireland.”
He turned her squarely facing him. “I’m talking about loyalty tome, to the children we’ll have, to our family, Sirena. I know you’re capable of it. I’ve seen how you are with Lady Jane.”
“Loyalty to your father?”
His eyes glimmered with the same bright desire. “Can you not see the opportunity here? You want to know things, am I correct?”
Arrgh. He’d changed tactics. He was a wily one—no wonder he was rich.
“That’s why you were down at the docks today. You want to know what happened to your brother. You want to know if he’s alive.”
Her mouth dropped open and her heart bashed against her ribs. How could he know this?
He pulled her close, wrapping her in his arms, in a cocoon that quaked with safety, and warmth and desire. She could smell soap and starch, leather and horses, and the musk of a man at the end of his day.
Her arms went around his waist—there was nowhere else for them. He had yanked her up, pressed her breasts to where they wanted to go against his coats, her cheek to the smooth wool of his shoulder. Ah, she could fall into this and perhaps never have to worry again.
“When I saw you today with that knife to that villain’s throat...Sirena, you must promise me to not set out on your own like that. If your two men had been less stalwart, if you had been alone, I could not bear to think what might have happened.” His grip tightened a fraction more. “It may seem like madness to you, but I’ve thought this through. I’ll get a special license tomorrow and we’ll be married immediately. I’ll draw up a settlement for you and our children, should anything happen to me.”
Fear tightened her embrace. To marry and lose Bakeley, another James, oh no, she could not bear the thought.
And what madness was it that she could care at all?
Perhaps she already did feel affection for him. And perhaps he was worthy of loyalty. And the chance to have children, and to have the means to care for them properly...
A trembling overtook her, and she grasped for a bit of sanity. “You’ve thought this through, you say. Tell me, what exactly did you argue with yourself? Because other than my fair person, I still cannot see an advantage to you.”
“Your fair person weighs heavily in the measure.”
He was not going to be honest. She eased herself away. “Fair maidens abound here in London, offering a much better bargain. Proper girls who won’t run the streets without your leave. You can get an heir from any one of them.”
“What did I argue? That you’re beautiful, Sirena, and no doubt brave. And not without good sense. Today you took along your two men and armed yourself.” His mouth firmed. “Would you have cut that man’s throat, Sirena?”
The memory of that momentwhooshedback upon her. “I...I think so. I don’t know. I couldn’t let him kill Josh. I was glad I didn’t have to.”
He touched her shoulders again. “My father is pressuring me to marry, but I’ll be damned if my wife will be chosen for me. It’s you I want. And for your part, you’ll be provided for, and you’ll have a husband who chose you.”
Those were no small advantages, providing he chose her for the right reasons. She took a step back and stared up at him.
“And so, you’re marrying me to get an heir and to spite Shaldon?”
His gaze skidded away, and her heart fell.
Yet…the honesty was strangely reassuring.
“’Tis a foolish reason for marrying a girl you only just met. A girl you don’t truly know,” she said, voice shaking.
