“Mmm,” she purred, feeling like a cat being stroked.
“I have something I need to tell you.”
That sounded far too serious for a lovely dream. But then he started kissing her neck just where she loved him to press his lips most. She sighed and arched her back, trying to get herself nearer to that delicious warmth.
“Wake up, love.”
He nuzzled her throat.
A hand cupped her breast, expert fingers finding her hard nipple and tugging.
She wanted his mouth on her there. His tongue.
She rolled to her back and into a wall of solid masculinity. Bright light pierced her lashes, rocking her from the vestiges of slumber altogether. She blinked sleepily to find Dom stretched out beside her in bed, fully clothed, a tender smile on his sensual lips.
She cupped his cheek, a potent surge of emotion hitting her. “I love you.”
Since she had revealed her feelings to him a fortnight ago in the carriage on their way home from her father’s house, she had repeated the words to him often. Each time, he seemed surprised. Humbled. She could not say them enough, and he deserved to hear them. In time, she could only hope he would return them to her.
She had a patient heart.
She could wait.
“I love you, Adele.”
She blinked. “Am I still dreaming?”
“Not dreaming, I hope.” He grinned, his dark gaze burning into hers with such undisguised reverence and tenderness she could scarcely breathe. “I love you.”
“Dom.” She could not manage another word past the emotions clogging her throat. She clasped his face with both her hands in lieu of speaking and hauled his mouth to hers.
The kiss was long, slow, sweet. Filled with promise. Awareness settled between her thighs, made her breasts tingle and her nipples tighten. By the time their mouths parted, she was convinced she was awake.
And that her husband had just told her helovedher.
She had not been dreaming.
“I have news,” he said, caressing her hair.
She could not resist the urge to rub her cheek against his palm. “Go on. Tell me.”
“Jasper Sutton is selling the waterworks to Devereaux Winter. Winter has also extracted a promise from him that he will not further attack any Winters or Winter holdings.”
Hope crept into her heart. “What does this mean?”
“It means, my darling wife, that I do not need your father’s land. Nor do I need to use your brother’s vowels. Deveraux Winter is purchasing the Sutton Waterworks using the trust our father set aside for the bastard Winters. We will control it, and we will be able to provide our people with better quality water at a lower price. Jasper Sutton gets the warehouse he wanted, and we have our safety and freedom.”
She searched his gaze, noting, not for the first time, the flecks of gold and cinnamon hidden within their rich depths. “Does this mean we will return to The Devil’s Spawn to live?”
“Not unless you wish it.” He kissed her again, swiftly. “With you here, this house feels like home for the first time.”
She smiled, tears threatening her vision. “I feel the same way.”
Not that she would not have lived above his gaming hell if he wished it, but with the attempts that had been made on the building and a babe on the way…this home seemed safer. It seemed moretheirs. A place where they could start anew, grow both their family and their love.
“And now, I ought to leave you to your nap, since you are in a delicate condition,” he said, dropping a kiss upon her lips, then another on her nose and yet another on her forehead. “You need your rest.”
Rest had been wonderful whilst he had been gone, but rest was the last thing on Adele’s mind now. When he would have left the bed, she clutched his arms, holding him there. “Do not go. I do not think rest is what my delicate condition needs just now.”
