Chapter Fourteen #2
With a plethora of questions swarming in his mind and the desire to kiss her, hold her, raging through his system, he was unsure what to do, where to start.
He wanted everything now, all at once, but knew that wasn’t how things happened.
With a hand, he gestured towards the parlour that was across the hallway from the front door.
She gave a nod and walked forward. ‘You have a lovely home.’
He laid a hand on her back, guiding her forward.
The touch, though simple, sent heat racing up his arm and directly to his heart.
He sighed at the familiar warmth growing there.
‘Thank you, but I can’t take any credit,’ he said.
‘George and Agnes, my driver and housekeeper, get all the honor. It was empty when I bought it. They furnished it and keep it up.’ He wanted to tell her that she could make any changes she wanted, or they could move; he could build her a new house—but that would be getting ahead of himself. ‘I merely stay here while in town.’
They entered the parlour and, though there was plenty of furniture, she stopped in the center of the room and turned about. ‘I am here to ask a question of you.’
Drake remained standing, his face inches apart from hers, and tried his best not to think about kissing her. That couldn’t happen. Not yet. There was too much that he needed to tell her, but first he would answer her questions. ‘All right. What is it?’
‘Does the London Star ever take passengers?’
That was the last thing he’d expected her to ask. He gave his head a slight shake of astonishment. ‘No. She’s a cargo ship.’
‘Would it be something you would ever consider?’ she asked. ‘Say, just one passenger?’
An eerie sensation rippled his spine. ‘Why? What’s happened?
’ The conclusion that immediately formed in his mind made air lock inside his lungs.
‘Are you thinking about running away because your family is forcing you to marry someone?’ He’d worried about that happening.
Every day that went by, he’d felt as if he was working against an hourglass with the sand slowly trickling downwards, filling up the base.
‘No,’ she replied, ‘they’ve given up on the idea of forcing me to marry someone.’
The relief that washed over Drake from head to toe was real and allowed him to breathe again. ‘That’s good.’
She nodded. ‘Yes, it is.’
‘I’m glad they’ve accepted that you can make up your own mind.’
‘So am I,’ she replied. ‘I also have to admit that I was wrong about a few things. They weren’t trying to get rid of me—they merely wanted me to be happy. They had promised my father to take care of me, and that’s all they were doing. I just wasn’t seeing it that way.’
‘They love you,’ he said, knowing the feeling of both loving her and wanting to make her happy. It was his greatest hope that those two things could go hand in hand.
‘Yes, they do, and I love them. Peter said that you and your cousin have formed a partnership for Coastal Shipping.’
‘We have. I was wrong about several things, too. One of them was my family. Archibald and I have decided to work together to make Coastal Shipping all it can be.’
‘I’m happy for you.’ She lifted her brows, looking at him expectantly. ‘So, would you consider taking on a passenger?’
There was more to her expression than lifted brows.
Her eyes were sparkling, her lips curled upwards at the corners in a coy smile, and there was a teasing tone in her voice.
He had to stick his hands in his pockets to keep from touching her.
From pulling her up against him and kissing her until time ended.
She was affecting more than just him. The space between them was practically sparking, as if lightning was about to strike. Not a dangerous bolt. More like the arrows that had struck Drake before, just bigger.
Maybe he was imagining it all, simply that love-struck. For he did love her. Loved her beyond all else.
He couldn’t stop the smile that lifted his lips, as his entire being filled with happiness. Now that he understood just how precious love was, he couldn’t contain it and wanted nothing more than to share it with her. He was ready to do that. ‘That would depend on the passenger,’ he replied.
Meridith lifted her chin, searching his face with her eyes. ‘I see.’
‘What do you see?’ Before allowing her to answer, he said, ‘Because I’d like to tell you what I see.’
‘What do you see?’ she asked, and bit her bottom lip.
‘I see the woman who changed my life,’ Drake said, his throat thickening with emotion.
‘The woman who made me look inside myself and admit that I was wrong. Wrong about so many things. And a fool for believing that I never wanted to get married. I had decided that a few years after I’d decided to be happy.
When I was thirteen. My aunt had died, and I’d heard people talking about how she had burdened herself raising an orphan, referring to me. ’
Compassion filled Meridith’s eyes. ‘Oh, Drake, you were just a child.’
‘With childish thoughts that I carried with me for years. Until I met you. And then I was scared.’
‘Scared?’ She tilted her head to one side. ‘Why?’
‘Because love is what I had been running away from my entire life. I didn’t understand that.
My aunt was the only person I can remember saying that she loved me.
I didn’t ever want to be a burden to someone again.
So, I claimed the sea was calling to me and I left.
I stayed away for years, never understanding that what I had run away from was inside me, and not something that I could escape.
’ Knowing, or at least hoping, that Meridith, and only she, would understand and not think it was ridiculous, he continued, ‘And then I met Hugo. He cracked the seal I’d put around my heart, because he needed me, and I needed him.
I didn’t realise any of that at the time.
Not until I met you, and you…’ He shook his head.
‘You ripped the seal off my heart and tossed it out to sea. I had no idea how strong, how incredible and extraordinary loving someone could be. It truly is glorious, and I’m no longer afraid.
I love you, Meridith. Love you with all my heart and soul. ’
A single tear slipped from the corner of Meridith’s eye as she lifted her arms and looped them around his neck. ‘I love you, too, Drake. And I agree. Love is incredible, extraordinary, and the most glorious thing ever.’
He’d been right about the lightning bolt earlier, because what struck him now was much larger than an arrow.
It didn’t just hit his heart. It smote his entire being, releasing all the love he’d been keeping locked up for years.
His arms encircled her, and he crushed his lips against hers in a passionate, nearly uncontrollable kiss.
Her immediate response was just as enthusiastic, and she led the kiss to the next level by parting her lips and boldly slipping her tongue into his mouth. He loved everything about her, including her never-flagging spirit.
She had changed his life in so many ways and made him excited about the future in ways he’d never known existed. It was as if they’d both been caged birds, and now had been set free to soar. Soar together.
Meridith had never felt more victorious.
Not in her heart, her mind, or her body.
Drake loved her! Loved her! The knowledge encouraged her to become even more brazen.
As their kissing—a total, wonderful onslaught of lips and tongues merging, twisting, and teasing—continued, she pressed her body up against Drake’s.
He let out a low groan, and she released a matching one that came from deep inside her. Feeling the solid and muscular length of him was beyond thrilling, and invoked desires that she welcomed. Her breasts tingled at the connection, and lower, a swirling heat made parts of her quiver with delight.
Their kissing and touching paused only briefly when they sucked in air, and then continued again, unabashed, as if they were both releasing all the passion they’d kept contained prior to this very moment.
Meridith certainly was releasing everything that had been pent up inside her, and considering all she now knew for certain, she wasn’t the tiniest bit embarrassed about the depth and breadth of her unbridled lust. This was the man she wanted to marry, to love and cherish, for the rest of her life.