Imperfect and irrevocable. Stormy and soul-stealing.
The kind of love that lasted, that never abandoned you, that simplywas.
“Do you hate me, Lottie?”
Jack’s voice was gravelly. He stared at her with hooded eyes, as if he had to have her answer but was also resigned to what it would be.
“Are you planning to lie to me in the future?” she asked.
Brows drawn, he shook his head. “Since my return, I may not have always told you everything, but I haven’t deceived you. I have been trying to do the opposite. What I want, more than anything…”
He trailed off, his hands balling, and she felt a fierce pang as she finally realized what stopped him from voicing his desires. What had made him believe that he was not good enough for her. What had prompted him to speak of his love but not ask for the same in return. Born fatherless, raised parentless, then pressed into service at a young age, Jack had occupied the bottom rung of the social ladder. Society had taught him that he and his needs did not matter; he was there to serve, nothing more. A natural protector, he had been shaped by those around him to give even more—to give all of himself, sacrificing his own happiness to do what he believed to be his duty.
Protecting those he loved with his life.
Tenderness washed through her.
“You can tell me,” she said steadily. “You have a right to your desires. Even if it feels selfish, even if you believe you aren’t deserving, you can ask for what you want.”
“Youare what I want.” Hunger and longing blazed in his eyes. “The only thing I have ever wanted as Sebastian or Jack, Fayne or Granger. I love you, Lottie—and even if you want me out of your life, I don’t know how I will stay away. Because I knew, from the moment we met, that you are my home and always will be.”
Home. What she’d always yearned for. What he had given her with this house but, most of all, with his love.
“I love you.” She said the words without fear or hesitation.
His eyes widened, then he squeezed them shut. When he opened them again, moisture spiked his lashes, and his irises were midnight scattered with bronze stars.
“How…how could you?”
His words, rough with wonder, abraded her heart.
“Because you are a good man, Jack Granger, and deserving of love,” she said softly. “You protect those you love, even at the cost of your own happiness. You are loyal and strong, and as long as you promise not to deceive me, for any reason, we can make things work.”
“I will never lie to you again,” he vowed.
“A wise woman once told me that if there is love, nothing else matters.” She gave in to the wifely impulse to straighten the lapel of his frock coat. “I think she might be right.”
He placed his hand over hers, pinning it against his chest.
“I love you more than life itself,” he said hoarsely. “If you let me stay, Lottie, I will never leave again.”
“Stay with me, Jack. Always,” she whispered.
She hadn’t known that happiness could feel this simple, this freeing. She saw the same incredulous joy on his face. She leaned up and he down, their mouths melding in a sizzling kiss.
Thirty
Jack didn’t understand how it happened. One minute, they were fighting; the next, he’d blurted out the sordid truth of his past. Instead of throwing him out of her life for good, however, Lottie had given him another chance. She’d told him she loved him…the realhim. Not a marquess, not even a gentleman, just Jack Granger, bastard servant-turned-spy who had nothing to offer but his love.
He’d even told her about how he’d failed Sebastian. While he hadn’t revealed all the shameful details, he’d given her the essentials. The truth—he hadn’t lied. Maybe one day he could bring himself to talk about Judith…but not tonight. Not now, when he had love and hope and everything good within his grasp.
If life had taught him anything, it was to never look a gift horse in the mouth. Especially when that mouth was as sweet and hot as his Lottie’s. He drove his hands into her hair, savoring the fine silk between his fingers while he held her steady for his kiss. He possessed her with his tongue and lips, and she did the same, claiming him for her own.
All I’ve ever wanted.
The thought made him even hungrier, and he feasted on his beloved. She kissed him back with equal fervor, her feminine desire driving him mad with wanting. He thrust his tongue deep between her lips, and he groaned when she sucked on his offering, reminding him of her unparalleled oral talents. When her touch feathered across the pulsing ridge of his erection, he tore his mouth from hers with a groan.
“Let’s go to your bedchamber.”
