Page 118 of Aurelia

So did Aurelia, but she was not so sure about him.

“You are regarding me with that adorably suspicious schoolmistress look again.”

“I am wondering how long this love will last for you, Roland.”

He frowned, the joy in his eye dimming. “Is such an emotion supposed to end? You will have to tell me because the feeling is utterly new to me.”

It pained her to rip the remaining smile from his face, but…

“Since moving here I have heard many stories about you.”

“I’ll wager you have.” He scowled. “And I’m sure Talbot is chief among your sources—but remember that he disparages me because he wants you for himself.”

Aurelia gave him an exasperated look. “You do Sir Gideon a great disservice. He has never once passed along scurrilous gossip about you.”

He grunted.

“But you cannot deny that you have had many lovers?”

“No, of course I would not deny that. But what of it?” He brightened. “Is there not some saying that reformed rakes make the best husbands?”

Aurelia fought her smile and lost. “There is that aphorism.”

“Well, there you have it.” Before she could respond, he said, “Talbot asked you to marry him, didn’t he?”

“Why do you say that?”

“Do not toy with me, Aurelia.” His sharp, commanding tone sent a shiver through her.

“Yes,” she admitted. “He did ask me to marry him.”

“You are a fool not to accept.”

Aurelia gave a startled laugh. “What?”

His face was taut, the black scars standing out more than ever. “Talbot is kind, wealthy enough, and he does not possess my reputation when it comes to women or marriage. And I daresay, as men go, he is handsome enough.”

“He is extremely handsome.”

Roland scowled. “So, it was madness of you to reject such a paragon of masculine virtue, but I daresay he will ask you again. When he does, you should accept him.”

Aurelia traced a circle around one of his tiny nipples, entranced by the way the muscles tensed at her gentle touch. “Is that what I should do?” she asked, wrenching her gaze away from the perfection of his body to steal a look at his angry face. “He told me that he would wait, and if I changed my mind I should—”

The room whirled around her and Aurelia suddenly found herself on her back with Roland leaning over her, caging her between his arms and knees. On impulse, she reached up and carefully pulled off the black patch. She looked up at two blue eyes, one burning as hot as a flame, the other as distant as the moon.

“It is too damned late to marry that lurking bounder. It has always been too late,” he snarled, his eyelids lowered. “I wouldn’t have given you up even if you had accepted his offer. So, unless you would have me challenge him to a duel and—”

She laid a finger across his lips, and something new flickered across his face, something… vulnerable.

Aurelia decided that she did not like seeing that expression on her arrogant lord’s battered yet infinitely attractive visage. “I want you, and only you, Roland.”

“It isn’t just my face that is scarred, Aurelia. I have done things which do not make me proud. I have taken the wrong fork in the road more than once. I have been selfish and thoughtless and chased my pleasure and my own interests above all else. Talbot has never married and has never even taken a mistress in the area as far as I can tell.” He snorted. “He might very well be a virgin and would certainly bring you his heart whole and unscathed.”

“Perhaps I like things that are a bit scarred and scathed? As for the virginal part, well… it seems like one virgin in a marriage is plenty. Somebody should know what to do.”

He gave a delighted laugh. “So, I have my uses, despite my tarnished past.”

“You do. But I hope you are satisfied to demonstrate your er, uses, only on my person henceforth?”