She sighed. “I have three children.”
He kissed the tip of her nose. “You are about to have five.”
Her brow furrowed. “Forgive me for finding fault in your arithmetic, but it shall only be four.”
“You are forgetting Davy.” He kissed the constellation of freckles over her cheekbone. “The imp needs a proper father and mother.”
“He does.” She rubbed her cheek along his in the fashion of a cat. “I could never forget Davy. Do you suppose he will thieve the candlesticks this time?”
“He’ll not be thieving at all if I have my way.” He frowned, raising his head once more to study her. “It won’t matter anyway, because he won’t be living here in your palace.”
“It is hardly a palace, Damian. But if not here, where shall he live?”
Excellent bloody question. “Where we all will be living.”
“Why not here?” she asked.
He had not come to her intending to offer marriage.Hell, he did not know what he had come here for, other than to see her. To touch her, hold her. To persuade her to return to his life. But how swiftly everything had changed.
The moment she had revealed she was carrying a child, he had known that any promises he had made to himself to allow Mira to set the pace would have to be broken. He would not allow his child to be born as he had been, on the wrong side of the blanket. Still, there remained the matter of how they would actually make a union between an East End ruffian and a duchess work.
“I don’t belong in a place like this, Mira,” he told her as gently as possible. “I will break something.”
“Then we will buy a replacement.”
“I will say the wrong words.”
“I say the wrong words regularly.” She kissed his jaw.
“I’ll never be a lord.”
“That’s bloody good, because I do not want one. I wantyou.”
“Curse you, woman,” he growled without heat. “You ought to watch your vulgar tongue.”
The grin curving her lips was seduction personified. “I can think of other uses for my tongue.”
He groaned, his cock going instantly hard. “It has been too long since I’ve made love to you, Mira mine. Do not taunt me here in the midst of your salon.”
“Do you agree?” She kissed his ear, then the swath of neck above his cravat.
“When you are the one asking, I will agree to anything,” he admitted before he sealed his mouth over hers.
Chapter 12
Ameeting of the Winter siblings had been called to order.
It was not often that all the Winters assembled in the same room at the same time. Indeed, it was quite rare, given that they were mostly wed and their lives were consumed with the whirlwind of duties, children, and for some of them, country estates. But Demon had requested the presence of his siblings today with a most important purpose in mind.
He stared at the assemblage seated before him in their older brother Dev’s townhome, which had been chosen on account of the size of his drawing room. Fitting twelve Winters into a room proved no easy feat. Except, today, there were only eleven. Ten expectant faces were turned toward him.
“Where is Gavin?” he asked, looking at Gen, for Gav often kept her more apprised of his plans than anyone else.
Gen looked about. “He hasn’t come? I have not heard from him for several days now, I believe. Not since I last saw him at Lady Fortune, dragging you off to drown yourselves in blue ruin.”
She was dressed in a gown today rather than her customary breeches, cravat, and boots, which was surprising in itself. Not nearly as surprising as her words, however.
“That was a week ago,” he observed. “Has no one seen Gav since?”
