His lips curled upward. “The kind of parties where you invite your friends and brothers every summer for a reunion.”
Damnation. He knew the way to her heart.
He knew her heart.
She blinked and straightened.
Cash knew her heart.
Wide-eyed, she realized she was already leaning toward him. “Ye really do love me, Cash?”
“With all my heart.” His voice softened as his fingers rose to caress her cheek. “These last days, without you…” He shook his head ruefully. “I believe I was in love with you before that afternoon at the inn, you know. But when I learned who you really were, I stubbornly pushed you aside, believing I knew the way things should be. But I realize now I was being just as judgmental as Society has always been. Ilove you, Athena Oliphant, and I want to keep on loving you for the rest of my life. Not as my mistress, or some other temporary arrangement. I want you to stand up in front of your friends and family and swear that you’ll be mine forever.”
Oh.
Oh dear. She was crying, wasn’t she?
Although he’d gone all blurry, Athena was able to lift her hand to cup his cheek. “And ye will be mine forever?”
She saw him smile. “Is that a yes?”
Instead of answering—not sure she could form the words—she tugged him closer, and he came willingly. When his lips closed over hers, it was like coming home. He tasted of mint and her tears, and something undefinable. Familiar. Perfect.
He tasted offorever.
With a little groan of need, he pulled her closer, sliding her onto his lap. She went willingly, twining her arms around his neck and failing in her attempt to retain a smidge of awareness. They were sitting in their sons’ fort, for God’s sake, and any minute?—
His hand closed around her breast, hidden beneath her corset, and she moaned as all objections fled her mind. Instinctively, her pelvis arched against his hardness, as if meeting an old friend, and the desire she felt for him, which always flickered not far beneath the surface, burst into flames.
As his lips traveled across her jaw to that sensitive spot beneath her ear, Athena tilted her head back with a sigh. Her eyes were closed, and she accepted the truth.
She loved this man.
She loved this man, and she trusted him enough to spend a lifetime loving him.
“Athena,” he whispered against her skin, his breath causing her to shiver. “Athena, love…”
“Aye,” she groaned, her fingers twining in the hairs at the base of his skull, and her knees falling open instinctively. “Please.”
His grip shifted, moving her in his lap until his hardness pressed against her hip, and his other hand cupped her arse. She was prepared to attempt to make love to him in this cramped space?—
The knock on the door had them both jerk in surprise.
Cash slammed the back of his head against the shelf again, then muttered a curse. “What?” he barked, as Athena did her best to regain control of her breathing.
The knocker hesitated, then spoke. “Father? Ma’am?”
“Matthew,” Athena whispered, meeting Cash’s eyes in time to see him wince.
Had it been ten minutes?
Her entire life had changed in only ten minutes.
Dinnae be stupid. Ye have loved him for far longer.
Aye, but she didn’t knowhelovedher.
With a sigh, Cash began to set her gown to rights. “I don’t suppose we could plan an assignation to continue this later?” he whispered to her with a naughty wink.
