“I have trusted you for nearly a decade, it was myself whom I did not trust.”
“And now?”
“I don’t believe I could make a better decision for my future.”
He let out a long, sweet breath as if he had been holding it for years. He kissed her then and she nearly spilled the ink over the two of them before he pulled away. “Sorry,” he said but the look in his eyes was anything but apologetic. He looked as if he would ravish her if she didn’t sign the contract quickly. “You’re torturing me, Phoebe love.”
Phoebe love. Had any two words sounded more beautiful? More decadent? She rubbed against him, torturing them both and she closed her eyes with the wonderful sensation.
“Phoebe.” Her name was a petition on his lips.
She set the inkstand down on the seat and dipped the quill in the inkpot. Then she held the marriage contract on the wideexpanse of his chest and signed her name. It was neither neat nor elegant, but it was hers.
She looked up into his face and found his gaze riveted on her signature. “We don’t have a witness,” she whispered, too afraid the moment might shatter if she spoke too loudly.
“Gentlemen don’t require a witness when negotiating a marriage contract for a bride. I hardly see where a bride and groom would require one if both are of sound mind and body, and neither have a guardian.”
That was just one of the reasons why she loved him; they were equal in their decision-making, fifty-fifty. It was why she had loved him and trusted him like no other for years, yet she’d been too afraid to acknowledge it. But no more. “I love you, Joshua Forrester. You are a man who recognizes a woman’s capabilities and helps her reach her potential without judgement of her because of her sex.”
“Can you say that again?”
“You are a man?—”
“No. Not that part.”
She grinned wickedly, teasing him with false naiveté. “What part?”
He pinched her backside. “You minx, the other part.”
“I love you, Joshua Forrester.”
“Put the powdered gum sandarac on the contract and let’s get down to business.”
“Business?” she asked with a cant of her hips.
“Completing New Year’s resolutions can be arduous work,” he replied.
“I hope you plan to work exceedinglyhardat it,” she said as she sprinkled the sand on her signature and blew on the ink. “I think the sand froze on the vellum.”
“Leave it. Put it all back in the compartment before I lose control and paint us with ink.”
“Of course, husband.” Her lips quirked as she carefully placed the container of sand into the inkstand and then returned everything to the compartment with the addition of their marriage contract. She threw the latch and Joshua snapped the reins several times. His Royal Highness responded, galloping across the field at an exhilarating speed.
“You do realize that you will have to do most of the work at this speed?”
“That’s exactly how I fantasized about it.”
A growl was torn from his lips as she reached down and undid the falls of his trousers. She sat on his lap facing him, his arms encompassing her in an embrace as he drove the sleigh across the field. “You are a woman with all the power to wreck me.”
“Keep your eyes on the pasture so that is the only way we wreck.”
His brow dipped in concentration. “I will not risk your safety.”
“That’s why I would only do this with you at the reins.” She freed the length of him from his garments and ran her hand up and down his shaft. She couldn’t help but admire his strength and power and wondered if this position would be too much with a man like Joshua.
She looked up at his face and saw the tightening of his jaw. “Are you well?”
“I am beyond well, but I would love to be inside you fulfilling your wish.”
