Prudence headed for the fire and stacked more wood on it, waiting for the heat to ease the burning cold in her feet and legs. She glanced at Reid as he closed and secured the door. “We must be insane.”
He smiled at her, bringing a smile to her own lips. “Probably. But isn’t life wonderful with a touch of insanity? We’ve made memories here tonight. And some time, many years from now, something will jar those memories and we’ll laugh once more and shake our heads.”
She shivered as her body began to react to her outdoor adventures. “I’m sure you’re right. And on that day, I will also recall that my feet were so cold they burned.”
He sat near her in front of the fire and took her feet into his hands, rubbing them. “I’m sorry Pru. But itwasfun…”
“Yes, it was.” She had to agree.
He looked like some ancient warrior, wrapped in the oldest blanket, his arms glowing in the firelight and the muscles flexing as he massaged her feet and ankles. She stared, thinking thatherewas the memory she’d cling to in the future. A brief instant of simple pleasure in another person, shared and returned, both erotic and loving.
Such memories were as scarce as hen’s teeth. She would cherish this one forever.
“Prudence…”
Her attention recalled by his voice, she glanced at his face. “Yes?”
“Marry me.”
“What?” she gasped, whipping her toes away from those all-too-clever hands of his. “Are you out of your mind?”
“No.” He looked quite at ease, as if proposing marriage were something one did every afternoon at three. “I would like to spend the rest of my life with you. I would like to have children with you. I would like you to be my Mistletoe Marchioness because I don’t want to be the first man to break the Chillendale tradition in three or four hundred years. And also because that damn wreath is extremely uncomfortable and I don’t wish to suffer alone.”
“Hmm.” His tone was rational, his arguments logical. But it was all too fast, too…unexpected. “I am very honored by your proposal, Mr. Chillendale.”
He grinned. “As honored as a naked woman could be under the circumstances.” He stared pointedly at her breasts.
They pointed back. “Well, yes. Quite.” The blush crept over her cheeks. “Don’t distract me.”
“Sorry. Please go on.” He moved next to her, brushing her thigh with his arousal. “You were saying?”
She sighed. “Damn you, Reid. Take me to bed again…”
He gathered her into his arms once more and she found herself on the bed, this time straddling his body. “As you requested, my dear. However, since I’ve been doing quite a bit of the work, I thought perhaps this time, you might like to put some effort into it.”
Her lips twitched against a grin. “Oh, that’s what you thought?”
“I did indeed.” He shifted his hips, to make sure she understood.
“And you think it’s my turn to…put a little effort into it, I think you said?”
He nodded. “Mm hmm.”
“Ahh.” She wriggled backward a little, feeling the warmth of the fire blazing on her spine. It was a wonderfully sensual experience—the fire behind her, the man beneath her and the eyes devouring her.
“Well, let me see now. What would constitute effort…” She reached for his cock with both hands.
And then lowered her head.
Reid squawked as her cool lips met his hot hard flesh, but then she began to move and the only sounds he made from that point on were moans, groans and a final shout of satisfaction.
Prudence sat back with a satisfied smile and licked her lips. “How’sthatfor effort, Mr. Chillendale?”
