Susanna grinned. She turned and darted across the room to her bed. With one hand on the bedpost, she slid around to the far side. She squealed as she was picked up off her feet and pulled against his hard chest. He growled and bit her neck in delicious punishment.
“Oh, pirate king, are you going to ravish me?”
Miles spun her around wrapping her in his embrace. “Not until you agree to marry me. To be mine. I promise to love you with my whole heart, with all my ardor. I spent so long convinced that if I loved someone it would be too hard to lose them in the end. But now I can see that every day that I get to love you is a gift. Let me spend my life showing you what that feels like.”
She threw her arms around his neck. “Yes! It was with absolute sincerity when I told you that I wished our lie was the truth. All I wanted is for your heart to be mine. I love you so much.” She captured his mouth in a kiss that let him know that he would never have to chase her again. He met her lips with his own demands, their tongues tangling with a desperation born of being apart for the past week.
His hands grabbed handfuls of her nightgown pulling it up her thighs. She wrapped one leg around his in an attempt to press herself closer. Lord, she wanted to wrap herself around him and never let go. She threaded her fingers in his hair gasping when his hands gripped her backside, pulling her up against his hard erection. She rolled her hips against him. Miles tore his lips from hers on a groan.
“You are distracting me from the plan, my siren.”
“Your plan?” She scraped her fingernails across the stubble on his cheek. Perhaps he would keep it, she had rather a soft spot for the beard now.
“Yes, my plan to abduct you, head to Scotland and marry over the anvil.”
“Truly? You don’t want a big wedding at St. George’s?”
His smile was crooked. “I have already had one of those. I just want you.” He bent and threw her over his shoulder.
Susanna squealed. “What now? In my nightgown?”
He trapped her legs firmly with one arm. “Yes, I have the town coach outside. Jenni packed a trunk for you. The route is planned and rooms booked along the way. I’m not taking any chances with this adventure.”
Of course, he had every detail planned out. Eloping to Scotland, she couldn’t have picked a better plan. Halfway across the room, Miles squatted and scooped up his jacket from the floor. As he rose back up, he gave her a little bounce. Then he turned and stepped over the sill and onto a ladder propped against the house. She stared at the ground below, her whole world literally turned upside down, grinning like a fool at the way love unfolded in the most unexpected ways.
“Wait,” she said. “What about my parents?”
“I spoke to your father already. Now hush. This isn’t as easy as it looks.”
When they reached the bottom, Miles set her down in the grass. She gripped his face and brought him down for a soft kiss. “I love that you have thought of every detail. I love that you wore that ridiculous hat with a feather to fulfill my fantasy. I love you, Miles Weston.”
He kissed the tip of her nose. “Come on troublemaker, adventure awaits.”
Chapter Forty
One month later
Susanna leaned backagainst her husband as they stood on the stone terrace of her parents’ home and watched their guests. He wrapped his arms around her and kissed the top of her head. The day had been perfect. The late summer weather lending sunshine and blue skies to the garden party that her mother had insisted on throwing for them when they returned from their honeymoon. Everyone had come to see for themselves if the rumors were true that the most respectable Lord Hawksridge had tamed the Dearborn’s scandalous daughter.
Charlotte and Daniel walked up. “What a lovely party, Susanna,” Charlotte commented.
“You may give your compliments to my mother. I had very little to do with this.” She waved her hand at the elegantly dressed guests milling about and chatting at tables set under tents. “All I had to do was promise to be well behaved.”
Miles chuckled from behind her. “And all I had to do was promise to keep an eye on my wife.”
Susanna loved when he called her that; she squeezed the hand he had at her waist. She looked down at her wedding band and smiled. The row of square-cut jewels across the gold band sparkled in the sunshine; ruby, citron, topaz, emerald, sapphire, amethyst. A rainbow fit for a princess, he’d said when he slipped it on her finger during their vows.
“Dear God man, that ring is enormous.” Lucius and Ellie walked up to join their group. “Are you trying to make the rest of us look bad?”
“It’s beautiful,” Olivia said. She and Max walked up the stairs from the grass. “Congratulations, you two.”
Susanna stepped forward to give her a hug. Then she turned to Ellie and embraced her as well. “I’m so glad you all could come. But where is Sophia?”
“She is down there speaking with Mr. Evans.” Ellie pointed toward a large weeping willow. The pair stood close, heads bent toward each other, hands just a hair’s breadth apart. Then Sophia laughed and Mr. Evans looked down at her with a look that even from this distance was unmistakably intimate.Hmmm.
Then Susanna spotted him, tall and distinguished in a dark gray morning suit striding across the lawn. She gripped Ellie’s arm. “Oh, look he came!”
“Who came?” Olivia asked.
