Finally relaxing into the bed, she let out a long sigh. Moving a hand to the back of his head, she speared her fingers through his graying hair until she felt him shiver.
“When you said that, did you mean... for a moment?” he asked. “Or... or longer?”
“Both,” Katherine replied, remembering what he had said about the hunting lodge. She wasn’t about to allow him to leave Whyte Hall Park if he intended to die.
“What if you... what if you grow tired of me?”
She turned her head so she faced him, their noses nearly touching. “Do you think you can manage bedding me twice a week?”
“I can imagine far more than that,” he replied. His brows furrowed, as if he realized he might be overconfident in his estimation. “As for if I can actually manage it, I would say at least three times, I should think.”
She tittered. “Then you’re stuck here with me. Except for a few weeks every year when we’ll go to Bath to attend some entertainments.”
“You make it sound so awful,” he accused.
“Can you manage it?” she repeated, a look of worry crossing her face.
He scoffed. “The more important question is, can you?” Grinning, he asked, “You haven’t changed your mind about marrying me?”
Katherine blinked, just then remembering their conversation at dawn. “Will you show up for the ceremony?”
For a moment, he looked hurt. “I promise I will,” he said. “Unless I’m dead from all this lovemaking,” he amended.
Noise beyond the window had them both sitting up. Katherine inhaled softly. “They’re back,” she murmured.
“Who?”
She stepped out of the bed and lifted her dressing robe from the floor. “A footman and my driver. They left this morning right after dawn. Took the traveling coach to go look for your driver,” she explained, settling the garment over her shoulders and wrapping it around her body. Moving to the window, she pulled back the drape on one side and peered out the frost-rimmed glass. “They’re pulling two horses.”
Thomas joined her, his naked body pressed to her back as he peeked over her shoulder. “The nags must have returned to the coach after the fire died down,” he reasoned. “I intended to ride one of them after I unhitched them, but they ran off.” He wrapped his arms around her body. “I suppose I should go down.”
She turned her head and rested her chin on her shoulder. “Not like that, you’re not,” she said.
He chuckled. “Ring for your maid, sweeting,” he suggested. “I fear it’s time for me to face the day.”
Knowing he was referring to the fate of his driver, Katherine stepped away from the window and kissed him. “We’ll do it together,” she said. Backing away from him, she arched a brow. “For a man who claims to be fifty, you don’t look a day over five-and-forty.”
Chuckling, Thomas inhaled deeply. “I suddenly feel far younger, if you must know.”
“Good,” she replied, understanding his comment. Despite what faced them downstairs, she felt more alive than she had in a very long time. “I’ll ring for my maid and have hot water brought up for the both of us.” She disappeared through the dressing room door, well aware Thomas watched her exit.
She made sure to give her hips an extra sway as she did so.
“You’re killing me,” he accused in a hoarse whisper.
