Page 42 of The Marquess’s Forbidden Bride

‘Nothing,’ he said as he dismissed the odd feeling and focused on her enticing smile. ‘Soldier’s overreaction again. Now, where are you leading me, minx?’

‘To the Temple of Bellona, a small folly walled inside with plaques celebrating the soldiers who fought in the Seven Years’ War. Shall we look?’

He just managed to murmur an assent, the sensual tension that always simmered between them suddenly intensifying. He knew without speaking that it was not to view plaques that she led him into the privacy within.

Sure enough, once inside, she said, ‘Not a leafy glade, but the dome offers its own shelter where one can…seal a bargain.’

The heated urgency within him burned hotter as he looked down at her upraised face, eager expectancy in her gaze.

‘So let us seal it.’

Drawing her close, he bent down and kissed her, first a slow brush of the lips, then fiercer, harder, his tongue urging entry. She opened to him willingly, her own tongue seeking his in a long, delicious exchange of stroke and counterstroke that had his heartbeat racing, and desire, thick and hot, throbbing in his veins.

Despite her murmur of encouragement, he knew he must stop this before rampaging desire pushed him into attempting even greater liberties. Reluctantly, he forced himself to break the kiss.

She looked so tempting as he stepped back, that delectable bosom rising and falling with her rapid breaths, her eyes opening to gaze at him with wonder. He almost succumbed to kissing her again. But he was neither a green boy nor a fool; he knew better than to skate too close to the razor-edge of control.

Ah, but if he had the right…

Maybe he ought to seriously consider obtaining that right…sooner rather than later.

As always, when his thoughts veered toward voicing his deepening feelings, some inner caution chilled his ardour as effectively as a spring plunge into the icy stream flowing through the woods at Harding Glen.

Not yet, that voice of caution whispered. You’re not settled enough to speak to her yet.

So much remained to be accomplished. His presentation in the Lords. A trip into Derbyshire to visit Stratton Hall, inspect its farms, meet its tenants and the local squires, then visiting the lesser properties scattered in various counties, meeting their tenants and squires… Taking over the reins of control from Lord George’s trustees, mastering the myriad details of managing all those properties, shouldering the mantle of leadership within the county and all that the Lords expected of the man who was Marquess of Richland.

Emotionally, he was still floundering, adrift somewhere between the confident army officer he used to be and the marquess he must become, thrust into belonging to a family he didn’t know and a heritage he had yet to sort out.

But he didn’t want to think about all that now. Pushing away all the turbulent thoughts and emotions, he told himself he would simply enjoy this day and this time with Emma.

Perhaps also recognising they were heading toward dangerous ground, she’d not protested him drawing away. Instead, she merely looked up at him, her expression a bit dazed.

‘That was so lovely,’ she murmured. ‘It makes me want to think of a dozen more bargains we could seal. If I could think, that is. When you kiss me, my thoughts dissolve and trickle away like a snowball set on a sunny log.’

He had to smile at that. She offered no reproach for his once again taking the liberty of kissing her, despite the lack of the formal bond Society would say was necessary to permit such intimacy. Unlike all the obligations and duties pulling at him, she asked for nothing. And gave back only approval and appreciation of their mutual pleasure.

What a treasure she was, he thought, his heart swelling with warmth.

‘Maybe we will have more bargains to seal in the future,’ he said, pushing back against that inner caution. ‘Maybe when we begin again in Society we could do so as more than just…friends.’

Her eyes widened, something like alarm flickering in them. ‘M-more than friends?’

He knew she was too intelligent not to understand his meaning. ‘Unless…you don’t feel ready for that?’

‘I… I do enjoy our friendship.’

‘As do I! But might you like it to become…more? If not now, then—someday?’

‘I think I would…someday.’

It seemed she was even more cautious and uncertain than he was, despite the undeniable strengthening of the bond between them. But then, she’d already avowed that she didn’t want to wed a nobleman. While he went about mastering his role, he must also work to persuade her not to fear linking herself to a marquess. Convince her that at heart, he would always be the man she’d first befriended—simple Lieutenant Marsden.

‘Can we both agree on…someday, then?’

She gave him a shy smile. ‘I think so.’

A quiet joy suffused the warmth that still swelled his chest. He would work toward making the hazy future he’d dreamed of with her a reality—someday. She’d given him hope and time to become the man he wanted to be for himself—and her.