Page 54 of The Royal Rogue
Evan gave him another wide-eyed, innocent look that Thomas didn’t buy for a minute. He waited silently, one eyebrow raised, and Evan sighed. “Fine. If you must know, I believe in doing things the correct way.”
“No, you don’t. You do what you want, and protocol be buggered,” Thomas said.
“I’m particular aboutcertainthings,” Evan amended. He reached out and took Thomas’s hand. “If I intended to marry someone, for example, I’d want to invite his parents to the wedding personally.”
Thomas’s breath caught in his throat.
Marriage?
Thomas had thought about it—of course he had. He’d been on the verge of dropping on one knee and proposing more than once. But the part of him that was always aware that Evan was royalty couldn’t help wondering if it was his place to ask. Even though he was now Sir Thomas—something he was still getting used to—his courage had so far deserted him whenever it came time to ask.
But apparently Evan had had the same thoughts about marriage as Thomas and obviously he was the braver of them, because here he was, proposing.
Hewasproposing, wasn’t he?
Evan was watching him carefully, and he must have taken too long to respond to the unasked question. Evan’s smile faded. “You don’t have to say yes,” he said. “I know it’s probably too soon. Only I don’t see the point in waiting, and I really do love you.”
Thomas fought back a smile. “Perhaps you could try actually asking.”
Evan blinked at Thomas’s words, his brow creasing, and then he gave a soft laugh, shaking his head at his own foolishness. “Right. Of course.” He cleared his throat. “Tell me, Captain, would you consider marrying me?”
Thomas couldn’t hold back the smile this time. “If I remember rightly, my parents will be in Ravenport in three weeks’ time for the Blessing of the Fleet. You can meet them then. Don’t let my father talk you into a wager, don’t get into adrinking contest with my mother, and whatever you do, if she offers to give you a knife throwing demonstration, say no.”
“Is this you saying yes?” Evan asked, his eyes bright.
“This is me saying yes.”
A surge of exhilaration raced through Thomas as he leaned in and kissed his future husband. Evan was handsome and clever and capricious and nothing like Thomas had first expected. But it turned out he was everything that Thomas needed. And Thomas was going to make sure Evan knew it.
He planned to pin him to the bed, kiss every inch of bare flesh he could reach, and whisper words of love against his skin until they sank into Evan’s very bones. Because Thomas wasn’t sure what he’d done to deserve this level of happiness, but he did know one thing.
Evan Devere, Duke of Ravenport, was quite perfect after all.
