Page 89 of The Earl Takes All
“I told you that I’m hot. Stiflingly so. I feel as though I’m suffocating.” He tugged on his neck cloth.
“Wait.” Her voice held no panic but there was something primal in it that caused his lower extremity to stir. Not that it generally took much from her for that to happen. “Nanny! Take Lady Alberta to the nursery. I fear it’s growing much too warm out here for her.”
“Yes, m’lady.” She placed her book in the bag that contained Allie’s things, slung it over her shoulder, marched over and plucked the child into her arms. Allie squealed with delight. “You are flushed, little one. Let’s leave Mummy and Daddy to enjoy the picnic while we enjoy a nap.”
With the nanny’s parting words, he felt Julia’s mood change as though a shroud had been dropped over her. Neither of them spoke nor moved until the woman had disappeared over the rise.
“Would we ever tell her about her father?” Julia asked quietly, her gaze directed where they had gone as though she had the ability to follow their progress to the manor and into the nursery.
“When she’s old enough to understand the import of keeping it a secret.”
“Until then she’ll believe you’re her father. How will she feel when she finds out differently?”
“We don’t have to tell her.”
With a sigh, she looked at him.
He rose up on a knee, held out a hand. “Come here.”
She took the time to remove her hat before coming into his arms.
“It’s not perfect, Julia, but the alternative is that we shall never have this.” Gently, tenderly, holding all the hunger and need at bay, he angled her back over his raised knee and lowered his mouth to hers. It was as though he had finally come home. As though all his journeys, all his adventures, had been simply a quest for what he could not identify. But here it was at last, with her fingers cradling his jaw, her sighs filling his ears, her mouth moving over his with wild abandon.
No other woman made him feel whole, complete. No other woman touched the very essence of him. No other woman made him want to put away his roguish ways. How much simpler life would be if he could walk away, but he could no more do that than he could cease to breathe.
She twisted in his arms, changing the angle so he could more easily deepen the kiss, and he did just that, sliding his tongue over hers, threading his fingers through her hair until he could hold her head. He wanted to take her down to the blanket, take her as though she belonged to him. But that step had to come from her. He wanted her to have no doubts, no regrets. Once they were as one, there would be no turning back.
She was not a woman who gave herself lightly. It made him want her all the more, made him determined to be what she deserved.
Breaking off the kiss, he held her gaze, her eyes pools of limpid blue. “I could give you the vows.”
Her gaze roamed over his face as she feathered her fingers lightly through his hair. “I want to show you something I’ve done in watercolors.”
Not what he’d expected. A profession of love was more what he had in mind. Not a desire to share whimsical creatures with him. He cursed his foolish heart for misjudging her readiness, for believing that a kiss and a few well-placed words could turn the tide in his favor.
Helping her straighten, he said, “I’d like that very much.”
“I’ve heard more enthusiasm from someone on the verge of having a tooth extracted.” She gave him a teasing smile. “But trust me, you’re going to be ever so glad that I showed it to you.”
AsJulia watched Edward pack up their picnic, she could no longer deny the strength of her feelings for him. She’d almost laughed aloud watching him strive for a look of innocence that barely passed muster while he removed his jacket. She was fairly certain the neck cloth and waistcoat were going to join it in the pile quickly enough. A few loosened buttons, the rolling up of his shirtsleeves to expose those corded forearms, and he’d have had her mouth watering.
She wasn’t averse to being taken on a blanket in a field by a pond—on another day. On this one, she needed something different.
He offered his arm, and she wound hers around it. Strange how he made her feel small and delicate. He’d regained the weight he lost during his illness. He was out riding every day, assisting tenants where he could. He thrived in the outdoors. She wondered if he would ever be truly content serving as lord of the manor, or if a time would come when the wanderlust took hold again.
“Do you have any plans to travel?” she asked as the wide front steps of the manor came into view.
“Not presently. Is there somewhere you would like to go? I’ll book passage wherever you want, whenever you want.”
“I’ve always found the idea of being on the sea rather daunting. To look out and see nothing stretching into forever.” She’d seen it from the shore. She couldn’t imagine being in the center of it.
“Ah, but then you sight land after days or weeks of travel, and the joy of it can almost make a man weep.”
“I shall take your word for it.”
“You have no desire to travel?”
“Not while Allie is so small.”
