She smiled up at him when he eased his mouth off hers. “That felt wonderful, too.”
“I’m glad. You might be a little sore by morning.”
She shook her head. “I won’t mind.”
He took her hand in his. “Come to bed now, love.”
He wanted to make love to her all night, but resolved not to touch her again tonight. They had a funeral to attend tomorrow and she needed to be alert and at her best. The danger may have passed, but her feelings of turmoil and sorrow were still fresh.
He drew her close as they settled in bed together. “Sweet dreams, love.”
She sighed. “A funeral tomorrow, and I still cannot remember what happened that night.”
“I hope you never do,” he said, his body immediately tensing and his heart aching for what she might find out once she remembered. “There is a reason you suppressed it. Let those memories stay buried forever.”
He hoped time would allow any terror of that night to disappear for good. “Think of this day forward as the first chapter of a new book we are going to write for ourselves as husband and wife.”
“Out with the old and in with the new?” she remarked.
“Yes.” He smiled when she snuggled against him, for this is how she was meant to be, curled up contentedly beside him and happy as a kitten lapping up cream.
“Still, I think it is important for me to remember.”
“Don’t, love. It can only bring you pain.”
She nodded. “I am not afraid of a little pain. Besides, you will be there to take me in your arms and assure me that I am now safe because you will always protect me. However, I think you will have your wish about my never remembering. It is quite possible that the little piece of memory was knocked out of my brain forever.”
He quietly rejoiced.
He hoped she was right.
He also wanted her thinking of happier thoughts as she drifted off to sleep. “Gory, where would you like to go on our honeymoon?”
“I see straight through your ploy.” She reached up and kissed him on the cheek.
“Not a ploy. I want to take you away to someplace you have always dreamed of going. Someplace the two of us can be together with no responsibilities or cares to interfere with our getting to know each other better.”
“The only place I’ve ever wanted to be was in your arms and I am here right now.”
“Charmingly said, but I really want you to give it some thought.”
“All right, I will. However, I want you to know that I am the happiest and most content I have ever been in all my days. There is nothing better than this, although I am going to need an entire new wardrobe because I cannot keep borrowing Adela’s clothes.”
“Ah, yes. That shall be our first stop after tomorrow’s business.”
“Julius, you can call it what it is…a funeral. My uncle’s.” She sighed. “I cannot believe my aunt and that horrid weasel, Reginald Mayfield, were lovers. What could they possibly see in each other?”
“Greed, mostly. A mutual love of wealth and comforts. She needed him to act as the go-between and he needed her in order to have any chance of accessing a share of the inheritance for himself. But this is not what I want you thinking about as you fall asleep.”
“I won’t. I shall dream of your magnificent body.”
He laughed. “Scars and all.”
“Very manly scars.” She kissed him again. “Hopefully, the last ones you will ever acquire because of me.”
He expected there would be more, for Gory was not the sort to shirk from danger. Perhaps acquiring a husband and having children in the near future would temper her adventurous nature. The Huntsford Academy forensics laboratory would also keep her out of trouble since her investigatory work would be confined to there, working behind the scenes in solving any crimes.
He wished her sweet dreams again.
