The reverence with which he said her name sent a shiver through her. No matter what their circumstances, she doubted she’d ever stop loving him.
He moved closer. “Do you know how incredible you are?”
She blinked at him, uncertain why he’d asked such a question. “I…” No answer came to mind.
His hand came up and brushed a toffee-colored curl from her cheek, damp from her tears. She shuddered, both from pleasure and pain. She shouldn’t enjoy this. He would soon be another woman’s husband.
“In my mentally weakened state, I’d not thought about how hard it would be to prove my uncle’s statement.”
Her gaze shot to his. His hazel eyes were soft; his mouth curved into a gentle smile. “I’d even worried that somehow they’d be able to disprove my legitimacy even though my parents’ marriage was legal.”
“You mean your uncle and mother’s marriage?”
He pulled a paper from his pocket and held it up, the writing faded but still distinct. “No, unfortunately my uncle’s marriage to my mother was not legal, but my father’s marriage was.”
She snatched the paper from his hands, reading it carefully.
His voice came low and comforting. “It seems my father did do right by my mother. They were married in Scotland just two days prior to his departure. He begged her to allow him to break the news to his parents before bringing her to Blackthorn, knowing his father to be a hard and unyielding man. It was all in thejournal she gifted your mother in hopes that she’d make certain I received my inheritance.”
Javenia raised her gaze to his. “But why marry your uncle then? Would this not have held up in the courts?”
“My grandfather would have had it annulled. She was not of great name or property and he’d had to hush up several mistakes of my father’s before this time.”
“But she lied to Lord Roberts.” Javenia handed the paper back to Algenon and he placed it in his pocket.
“She was young and vulnerable. In her mind, breaking the law was the only way to secure my future.”
Javenia’s hands trembled, the implications of his words sinking into her soul. “Did Lord Roberts know the marriage was illegal?”
He shook his head. “I do not believe so. However, this paper proves I’ve been the legal heir all along.Iwas Lord Roberts, not my uncle.” Algenon’s hands gently settled on her face, his body inching closer.
Javenia’s vision blurred.
“This means Lord Falcross has no claim on me, nor Lord Rupert on Phillipa.”
The tears in her eyes flowed over, clearing her vision enough to see his intense gaze.
“I am free, Vee. I am free to be yours forever.”
A cry of relief mingled with a laugh. Algenon was free to love her. She’d not have to relinquish him to anyone else.
She wrapped her arms around his waist, her hungry lips finding his. He met her with equal passion, his warm lips moving over hers with abandon, his hands burrowing into the hair at the back of her neck, sending pulses of pleasure throughout every inch of her.
An hour ago she’d never thought she’d ever be happy again, and now she was blissfully engulfed in Algenon’s embrace. Howcould life be this good? How had she gone from agony to ecstasy in such a short amount of time?
Algenon pulled back, his breath coming out in short gasps. “I love you, Javenia. I’ve loved you since our first kiss tipped my world on end. I tried to fight it, to make sense of anyone else in my life, but they never have and never will. You are my beginning and my end, and I cannot imagine my life without you.”
How did she still have tears to cry? Shouldn’t they have dried up by now?
“Marry me?”
“Yes. A hundred times over. Yes!”
His lips met hers again, his arms wrapping around and pulling her close. She held him tight, afraid that if she let him go this would all be a dream, that these words and these feelings would float away with the mist.
But they didn’t.
His kiss gentled, and he leaned back to look at her. She stared into his face. She’d memorized every curve throughout every stage. Over the years, lines of definition had enhanced his striking features, but his warm hazel gaze had stayed the same.
