Colin considered that for a moment. “If she is kind to you, then I suppose I can allow her to visit. You may travel to Scotland to visit her too.”
Miss Hampton seemed to be satisfied with that response, and her pretty lips curved softly. “Do you have any other conditions?”
“Several more,” he answered and her sharp dark brows rose. “We will share a bed for one purpose. I need an heir.”
“Only one heir?” she asked, her mouth twitching slyly at the corners.
“I will not be opposed to another but one will suffice, and this leads me to my next condition. Once you have given birth to my son, we will no longer live together.”
“In the same bedchamber?” she asked, her large eyes innocent.
“No, Miss Hampton. In the same house. I have a property in Northumberland, Edinfield hall, and I will like you to stay there.”
She swallowed. “Northumberland is quite far.”
Lord help me!She was disarming him. He had these conditions for a reason. It was why he had taken a long time to choose a wife, and he could not abolish them for anyone. However, she could make them difficult because he wanted nothing more at this instant than to taste those tempting lips and let his hands roam her body, hear her moan his name as he pushed her up toward ecstasy. His manhood twitched, and he raised one of his legs and crossed it over the other.
“You will be closer to your sister,” he pointed out.
She smiled, seeming to welcome the notion more. “I did not think of that, but it is well.”
He would not have felt any guilt about sending any other woman away, but after witnessing her parents’ ill-treatment of her, something protective was moving inside him. Perhaps it was because he and his mother had suffered something similar.
Colin cleared his throat as he steered his thoughts away from the direction they had taken. “We will eat dinner together but I will ask you to not make conversation. I do not appreciate talking while I eat, nor do I believe we shall have much to talk of while we stay together.”
“Very well,” she replied, seemingly unperturbed by that request.
“We will also never attend social events together. Of course, you are allowed the liberty to attend as many as you like. After all, you will be the Duchess of Ashden, and that title comes with social obligations.” When she did not remark upon that, he moved to the next condition. “There are times in the day when I am not to be disturbed. I need that respected.”
“Yes.”
“And lastly, you may not question me about my life in an attempt to know me.”
“But you will be my husband, and I want to know my husband.”
Colin’s eyes narrowed slightly. “I am the only child of Dorothy and Joseph Maxwood. I was born before sunrise thirty years ago, and I was extensively schooled on the topmost floor of Dawnton Hall before I went to Eton at twelve where I received a gentleman’s education. There is nothing more for you to know beyond that.”
Miss Hampton impertinently quirked a brow. “Not even the colors you favor?”
“No.” Colin bit a smile. She was charming.
“I think you are fond of blue.” She reached up to brush a wisp of her dark hair away from her face.
“What gave you that impression?”
“I have never seen you in anything but. You wore blue to the balls I saw you, the banyan you wore yesterday was blue, and the coat you have on now is, as well.”
He did prefer blue, but he did not tell her that and simply continued to watch her. He also wondered how he had never seen her at the balls she had mentioned. If he had, he certainly would have remembered.
“Green is mine,” she said. “Catherine said it suits my hueless skin,” she chuckled to herself, her voice trailing off. After a moment, she raised her gaze to his. “I did not thank you for coming back for me.”
Colin smiled and inclined his head. He never left. The only reason he had stepped out of the house was so he could truly determine what was happening, and he had when he caught her parents and Darpley in the middle of their cruelty. He understood that they would reveal themselves the minute they believed him gone, and it had taken a great measure of willpower for him to keep his composure because he needed to be calm to help her.
Not thinking, he leaned forward and took one of her hands, raising it to his lips as he had been longing to do. He heard her inhale sharply, and when he looked up, her cheeks were the most delightful shade of pink. “I have wondered what your lips would taste like.”
“So have I,” she whispered, her eyelids growing heavy. It was all the invitation he needed before he pulled her from her seat and onto his lap.
Running a finger up her delicate neck, he cupped her jaw and brought her lips to his. The hunger he had been holding since he saw her the night before began to consume him.
