“I will show you where your bedroom is and then we will make full use of it.”
She halted, pressing her hand to her chest. “During the day?”
At first, he thought she jested, but her gaze revealed she hadn’t thought making love normal in the afternoon. It reminded him of exactly how innocent she was. “Yes. There is no inappropriate time of day for me to show my wife how much I love her.”
A pretty blush colored her cheeks. “And is this any day or just for our wedding day?”
He let his need to make her his show in his gaze. “Any day.”
“Oh.” Her breathless excitement was all he needed to hear.
He turned down the hall and pointed to his bedroom. “This is where I sleep, and right next door is your bedroom.” He halted before the door and turned the knob, letting the door swing open.
She disengaged her hand from his arm and took a step inside. “Oh, it’s perfect.”
The walls were covered in lavender wallpaper, the bed and bed curtains though were a pale green. The color theme was carried throughout the room from the settee to the rugs. The room had originally been decorated in all lavender, but over the last weeks, he had a sense of what she would like and had the green accents added to the room. Hearing her genuine pleasure, he grinned, quite happy with himself.
She scanned the walls, turning as if looking for something.
He studied them as well, wondering if he’d forgotten something when his gaze came upon a new painting. His heart stopped and emotion closed his throat.
“Do you like it?” Her voice whispered through him.
He couldn’t take his gaze from it and strode toward the nude portrait she’d done of him in her studio. She made him appear like an ancient Greek hero, standing proud with the acropolis behind him and his hand resting on the neck of a large lion who stood slightly across him, hiding his male parts. Almost everything was painted in a golden or brown shade except the bright sunset glimpsed in the top corner of the piece.
He walked closer to it, his chest swelling with pride at her accomplishment. “This is a masterpiece.”
She came up next to him, her violet scent announcing her presence before she spoke. “I arranged to have Pratt hang it for me when I sent some of my belongings. You are pleased then?”
He couldn’t believe the painting was him, yet it was. She’d added much to it besides the background since he’d last seen it. His hair was longer in the painting than he usually wore it and filled with lights and darks. His face had more beard growth than he sported, but every nuance of his physique and features was exact. In the portrait, he gazed into the distance like a king surveying his realm and a soft smile played about his lips.
He forced himself to look away from the creation to gaze at the creator. “It is perfect. Far better than I could have imagined. It’s as if you have caught a mystic moment, even though such a moment never occurred.”
Color rose in her face, but she didn’t look away. “I thought so as well, but never sought such an epitome of talent.” She looked at the painting and back at him. “I think it was my subject. You brought this out in me. I could not have achieved such genius without you. To be honest, I am a little in awe of it.”
Seeing how she truly felt, he decided to put off his own need to make her his wife in truth for just a bit longer. He’d known she had talent in addition to all of her other qualities, but seeing this now, he felt confident in his decision to transform one other room. “Come, I wish to show you something.”
She gave him a shy smile. “But I thought you wished to consummate our marriage.”
“I do, but there is something as important to you, to us.” He took her hand, his excitement growing as he led her back into the corridor and to the room next to hers. Without preamble, he opened it and allowed her to precede him.
She scanned the space in an instant before her eyes widened as her gaze came to rest on him. “A studio?”
“Yourstudio.” He opened his arm to allow her the pleasure of discovering everything. He’d enlisted the aid of her sisters to furnish it with not only all the furniture and supplies from her studio at Thornwood, but also to add additional items they suggested.
She began to walk around the circumference of the room, her hand touching first an easel, then a table, and finally stopping at the settee across the room from him. Even from where he stood, he could see the glistening in her eyes.
“Is it sufficient?” He found himself holding his breath.
Instead of answering, she wound between the tables and two chairs coming to stop just inches from him. “It’s more than I dreamed of. You really do wish me to continue painting.” The wonder in her voice was unmistakable.
He pulled her into his arms. “Of course I want you to continue painting. You are welcome to as long as you wish. It is a part of who you are. And I love who you are.”
A tear slipped down her cheek as she wrapped her arms around his neck. “And I love who you are, Greek hero or peer of the realm.”
“Or bowl of fruit?”
Her laughter filled the room and sent a feeling of contentment deep into his soul.
