Page 90 of The Earl Takes All
“We could take her with us.”
She laughed. How like a man. “Have you no idea what all is required to travel with an infant? Even our journey to London will require extra planning and room for her things.”
“We can purchase whatever she needs when we get to London.”
“She will require things along the way. And you like to go to remote, unpopulated places. How will you provide for her there?”
“I can be most resourceful.”
She didn’t doubt it. To be honest, she would like to be with him somewhere far away beneath the stars where they would not be subjected to Society’s censures. No matter what choice she made, it came with a cost. The gossips were not prone to listening to reason, to making allowances, to understanding circumstances that warranted unprecedented actions.
Inside the residence, they walked the familiar hallways until they reached what had once been her favorite room. Now she was torn between the nursery, his library, and the billiards room. She enjoyed each one with equal measure.
Still, this room and what she did within it brought her peace. She led him to a table where an assortment of drawings were scattered. The one she wanted was on the bottom, hidden away. Bringing it out, she set it on top. “A new character for the stories.”
“A wolf in a linen shirt, knee britches, and boots. And you’ve given him a rapier. That’ll please Johnny.”
Mrs.Lark and her children had settled in at Evermore. From time to time Edward would take the lad for a ride. She suspected he wove his tales for him then.
“I suppose it will. What do you think of the new addition to our menagerie?”
“People don’t generally like wolves. They’re wily. I take it he’s another villain.”
“No, he’s on par with the steed. He’s noble, protective. Strong. The others look up to him.”
“I’ll work him into the next story.”
She smiled. “You don’t recognize who he is?”
He shook his head, clearly baffled, and she didn’t know why his reaction caused her to love him all the more. “Yet you saw yourself so easily in the weasel.”
“That’s supposed to represent me?”
“Not supposed to. It does.”
He brought his gaze to bear on her, and she saw the torment and doubt woven there. “Julia, I am not noble.”
“Yes, you are.” She placed her hand against his jaw. “Protective.” She slid her fingers up until they could toy with the hair at his temple. “Strong. I was wrong. You’re not the weasel. You were never the weasel. That was just a façade. You are a good and honorable man.” She stepped forward until her breasts flattened against his chest, took delight in his sharp intake of breath, the darkening of his eyes. “If the only way that I can have you is to live a lie, then I choose to live a lie.”
“Jules.” He tugged her in closer, locked his arms around her, pressed a kiss to her neck, her cheek, her temple.
She held him tightly. She’d struggled with this decision, but she knew it was the right one, the only one. She wanted him in her bed, wanted to give him children, wanted to be his wife.
Leaning back, he took her face between his hands, burned his gaze into hers. “I, Edward Alcott, promise to love, honor, and cherish you as long as we both shall live. I shall be as good a husband as a man can be.”
“I, Julia Alcott, promise to love, honor, and cherish you as long as we both shall live. I shall be as good a wife as a woman can be.”
Reaching down, he took her left hand and placed his fingers on the ring. “May I?”
Swallowing hard, she nodded. He gently pulled off her ring and set it in the palm of his hand. “I could purchase you a new ring, but I know how much love this one represents. I don’t want to take that away from you. I want to add to it. So if you’ve no objections—” He slid the ring back onto her finger. “—with this ring, I thee wed.”
Tears burned her eyes at his unselfishness, his willingness to let her honor what she had once had. “I love you, Edward.”
His mouth came down on hers with such passion, such power, such urgency, that she might have stumbled backward if his arms hadn’t clamped around her at the same time. His tongue slid like velvet over hers, stirring everything she felt in her heart for him until it was whirling through her body. Her limbs went weak, she went weak. Yet she didn’t know if she’d ever felt stronger.
They’d been teasing each other for weeks now. It was only natural that her awareness would be heightened, and yet she felt as though he had struck a match to the kindling of her desires.
Quite suddenly he swept her into his arms and began striding from the room. “I want you on a bed,” he growled low, as though he were providing a message to himself as well as her.
