Page 112 of The Viscount and the Vixen
“I don’t care about my bloodline. I care only about you.” He glanced down. “And this child that means so much to you.” He raised his eyes to hers. “As I said earlier, if you are carrying a boy, he will be my heir and I shall recognize him as such. He will know me and no other as his father. My own set a good example for me. He raised two other men’s sons as if they were his. I think he would be the first to agree that family is not determined by blood.”
“Will you tell him the truth about this child?”
“He already knows it. It’s our child.”
Her sob was the most awful sound she’d ever made, but then to her best recollection, she’d never cried other than the night he’d learned the truth. She’d always been stoic, strong, and determined to carry on. But this soul-wrenching blubbering shook her shoulders. As his arms closed around her, she pressed her cheek against his chest, heard the steady pounding of his heart. “I love you, Killian. So much and for so long. I don’t know why I ever thought I’d loved another.”
“For what it’s worth, he did love you.”
In surprise, she jerked her head back, met his gaze. Slowly, she slid her hand up his cheek, around to the back of his head. “But not enough. You love me enough.”
She brought his head down, opening her mouth to him, her heart fully, her soul. He took, with no apologies, no excuses. Yet for all the kisses that had come before, this one was different, unguarded. He was no longer shielding his heart; it was no longer locked to her.
She owned him, just as he owned her. Heart, body, and soul. At long last, someone was accepting her, frailty, warts, and all. She had made mistakes, taken wrong turns, but she couldn’t regret a single one when they had led her to him. It stunned her that she could love him so much, that he could love her without conditions.
Lifting his mouth from hers, he stroked his thumb over her swollen lips before glancing around the room. “Let’s go home.”
“You should know that Beaumont never took me out in public, never introduced me to anyone in the nobility, so it is unlikely—as long as he holds his tongue—that my past will haunt us.”
“He gains nothing by hurting you, except his own ruination. He knows that. He was also an idiot for not appreciating what he had.”
“I’m rather glad he didn’t.” Otherwise, she might not have Locksley, and she was so much happier with him.
She grabbed her traveling frock and pelisse. Downstairs, she found Sophie in the parlor. “We’re leaving.”
“Of course you are,” Sophie said as she rose from the chair and came over to give her a hug.
“I’ll send back your dress tomorrow.”
“Keep it. It never fit me properly anyway. Be happy, Portia.”
“I will be.”
The front door suddenly opened and Lord Sheridan strode in. He came up short. “Locksley, what the devil are you doing here?”
“My wife and I were just visiting with her friend.”
“Her friend? Sophie, what’s going on?”
“As he said, I was simply catching up with an old friend. They’re on their way out now.”
Portia leaned in, kissed Sophie’s cheek, and whispered, “If you ever want another life, you know where to come.”
Lifting a shoulder, Sophie gave her a sad smile. “I love the sod.”
Portia found it odd that love could break and mend hearts. Joining Locksley in the entryway, she wrapped her hand around his arm and let him lead her out of the house and away from her past.
Chapter26
As soon as the coach took off, Locke dragged her to his lap, latched his mouth onto the soft skin at her throat, suckled, nipped, journeyed up and down the long column, while she moaned, dropped her head back, gasped short breaths. “If you ever leave me again, without so much as a word of warning—”
“You’ll what? Spank me? Lock me in my room? There is little point in running away if you warn the person ahead of time or leave a message stating where you are.”
Threading his fingers through her hair, he brought her head level with his, held her gaze. “Never leave me again.”
“I did it for you. To spare you—”
“The agony of losing you nearly killed me.” Something he’d never admit to another soul, but to her he suddenly felt that he could admit anything.
