“Not necessarily. I can have papers drafted granting you full control over everything you bring into our marriage.”
Her eyes misted with wonder. “You would do that for me?”
He smiled. “I have no interest in acquiring your assets or in taking away your independence, Viola. All I want is you, the woman I’ve fallen in love with.”
When she spoke again, her voice scraped her throat. “I love you too.”
His heart swelled with joy. “So you’ll marry me then?”
“Yes.” She pressed her mouth to his, kissing him as if she meant to fuse herself to him forever.
He kissed her back with the desperation of a man who’d just been given carte blanche to ravish her completely. Except his grandmother was just down the hall, still waiting for them to return.
That put a damper on his passion.
He broke the kiss with reluctance and eased her away. Her breath was just as ragged as his, her eyes wonderfully dazed. “I cannot promise a positive outcome in court, but at least you will have my family’s support. An earl and three dukes isn’t so bad.”
“I’d say it’s quite good.”
He cleared his throat and retreated a step to stop from dragging her back for additional kisses. There would be time for that later. “They’ll show the world they accept you and I’ll show the world that I love you. Together we’ll fight the scandal that’s bound to arise when Robert reveals your mother’s identity to the papers.”
Concern tightened her features. “Are you absolutely certain you want to face the consequences of marrying me?”
“I’ve never been more certain of anything else in my life, Viola.” His voice was level and sure. “As my wife, your chance of winning the case will also improve. You’ll be more than the woman accused of taking advantage of an old man on his deathbed. You’ll be Mrs. Lowell, the future Viscountess Armswell, respected and adored by her husband and in-laws, which is bound to undermine Robert’s claims about you. And if we can do that, the case might just fall apart.”
“Do you honestly think so?”
“We would have to consult with Steadford to be certain, but I do believe it’s our best chance. Either way, my feelings for you won’t change. I want to marry you no matter what, Viola.”
She smiled with adoration in her eyes, and it took every ounce of restraint on Henry’s part to remain where he was. “We’ve a lot to do then, don’t we?”
He grinned. Between investigating Olivia Jones’s death and planning a hasty wedding, they would have time for little else in the coming week. “We should probably return to the parlor and inform my grandmother of our decision.”
Viola turned toward the door but he stepped in front of her, blocking her path. He could not resist after all. “One more kiss.”
Her willingness to accommodate him was evident in the haste with which she flung her arms around his neck and rose up to meet his mouth. Henry drew her against him, molding her perfectly against his solid frame. His back hit the door with a thud but he ignored it. All he could focus on at the moment were her lips, her scent, the feel of her fingers teasing his hair.
His hands trailed down her back, then lower until he could clasp her more firmly against him. A slew of wicked thoughts stirred his imaginings. God, how he wished they could simply surrender, right here, right now. The nearby sofa would do rather nicely because by all that was holy, he wanted Viola this instant.
Something soft moved against his leg. A sharp meow followed.
Viola grinned against his mouth. “I think Newton wants to remind us that this is not the proper time or place to get carried away.”
Henry silently cursed the feline’s unwelcome interruption, even though he supposed it had come at the right time. He glanced at the sofa on which he’d begun to imagine some rather scandalous things.
Right. Time to collect yourself and pretend you’re not ready to chase every fantasy your brain has been contriving since the moment you first clapped eyes on this woman.
“Your grandmother is waiting for us,” Viola added.
Bollocks!
Hadn’t he just said as much seconds earlier? Yet somehow the kiss had made him forget. It had driven all thought from his mind and replaced it with one singular goal. “I think we need to acquire a special license posthaste,” he muttered, while sending a quiet apology to his nether regions.
“I quite agree.” Her eyes, he saw, were filled with a mixture of understanding, regret and desperate longing. “The sooner we do, the sooner we’ll start doing... other things besides kissing.”
Henry reached behind him and yanked the door open. “After you,” he said. She chuckled low and sensually, and Henry prayed he’d have the strength to survive until their wedding night. He followed her out of the library and back to the parlor, his gaze feasting on the gentle sway of her hips as she moved.
Viola wanted him just as much as he wanted her, and he could not wait to make her his.
