Hope glimmered in Elara’s eyes, and Constantine was sure his heart stopped as he waited for her answer.
Her tears stopped, and she took a small step toward him as she took in the features of his face with an expression he could not read.
“I will not stop nagging you over everything,” she stated.
And Constantine blinked slowly in surprise as a grin took its time spreading across his lips.
“And I will not stop pointing out that your stubbornness to be right is most annoying,” he replied, sliding his hand around the nape of her neck.
“I will argue with you when you are wrong,” she stated, her tone stronger as they drew closer.
“And I will demand proof that you are right,” he countered, pulling her closer to him.
A soft laugh escaped Elara’s lips as a most beautiful grin split across her lips, and she leaned in, careful of William between them, and rested her head on his chest.
“I love you,” she whispered, nuzzling into him.
“God, I love you so much,” Constantine groaned, then forced her head up and gave her a passionate kiss.
Epilogue
“Your Grace, you are back!” Mrs. York exclaimed, a wide grin splitting across her lips.
Elara smiled back. She had missed Constantine’s housekeeper and her pluck.
“So lovely to see you again, Mrs. York,” Elara answered, walking toward her with a sleeping William in her arms. “Would you mind taking the little lord to the nursery for his nap? And be sure to let the wet nurse know that he will probably be quite famished when he wakes up.”
Elara’s heart swelled a little more as she saw the genuine relief in the housekeeper’s eyes, and her lips quivered as she took the baby.
“Of course, Your Grace,” Mrs. York answered, her voice wavering a little as she bowed her head toward Elara. “Welcome home.”
Then Constantine snatched Elara’s hand, and suddenly she was almost being dragged toward the stairs.
“You two may catch up later,” he said over his shoulder. “For now, we have more important things to attend to.”
Elara could practically hear the smirk that was no doubt on his lips as he pulled her along, and she could not help the wicked smile that spread across her own lips as she hurried to match his pace.
“Good day, James!” she said cheerfully as Constantine kicked in the door to his bedroom, revealing the startled valet.
“Get out, James,” Constantine all but snarled, and quickly, as a crimson blush colored the young man’s face, he hurried out of the room, doing them the kindness of shutting the door behind him.
Before Elara could scold him for his rudeness, Constantine kissed her again, the taste of his need instantly fueling her own and making her delightfully dizzy as he held her in his arms. She wrapped her arms possessively around his neck and dared to sweep her tongue across the seam of his lips. Constantine groaned and immediately parted his lips to receive her.
God, how I missed this.
All too quickly, Constantine ended the kiss, pulling away with panting breaths and setting her gently on her feet. She had no time for concern, however, as Constantine whirled her around and began to undo the ties of her dress at her back.
“I must warn you, I was made aware of something earlier today,” Constantine said, his voice deep and raspy as he made quick work of pulling her dress from her body.
“Yes?” she breathed, feeling goosebumps erupt over every inch of her flesh in excitement.
She then gasped as Constantine jerked her toward him, his arms going possessively around her waist as he clamped his mouth to the side of her throat and suckled. Her gasp quickly turned into a moan, and her knees threatened to buckle.
“Mrs. York shared that our… ‘noises’ were far louder than we expected,” he replied.
Elara’s brows furrowed in confusion, and she turned her head to look at him.
“Noises? Noises, what...” she stopped, seeing the heat in Constantine’s eyes and the smirk on his lips. “Oh my,” she breathed, feeling a blush color her cheeks.
