Chapter 29
Evelyn couldn’t breathe.
Was he saying what she thought he was saying? It was there in his eyes, in the way he was looking at her, but still, she needed to hear him say it.
“But… why? What’s changed?” she asked, staring up at him, her voice just above a breath.
“Isn’t it obvious?” he asked, his eyes dancing between hers. “I love you, Evelyn. With everything I am. It just took me longer than it should have to realize it.”
Evelyn stared up at Asher.
Her husband.
The man who had told her that their marriage could only ever be one of a partnership to save one another’s reputation, that nothing more could ever come of it.
Who was now professing his love to her.
His love.
To her.
She blinked up at him, saw his face drop, knew what he was thinking, but it was taking her a moment for even her mind to process all of this — the kidnapping, the rescue, and now Asher’s declaration.
“Asher, are you— are you sure that you are not just reacting to the danger, and that you actually feel this way?”
He took her hands in his, looking around them, especially at Norwood on the floor, glaring daggers up at them. She followed his gaze, grimacing at the man.
“Why don’t we go outside?” Asher suggested, taking her hand and leading her out the back door, as gently as possible. “Are you sure you are fine?”
“Positive.”
He nodded, though his jaw was still set tight.
“I won’t lie to you. The danger you were in forced me to confront my feelings.
But none are fabricated. For a few minutes, I thought you might have left me of your own choice, and I felt the same then as I did once I knew Norwood took you.
The same desperation. The same need for you to be returned to me.
I know now that I have loved you for some time.
It has just taken me longer than it should have to realize the depth of my feelings toward you. ”
Evelyn’s heart bloomed with every word he spoke.
“Oh, Asher,” she said with a sigh, gazing up at him. “I love you too. I have for days. Possibly weeks. I was frightened to give you my heart, knowing you didn’t want it, but… it found you anyway.”
Relief filled his face as he stepped in, taking her hands in his. They were warm, and she leaned into him as the shiver overtook her.
“Good,” he murmured, his hands moving up her arms until they were around her waist, tugging her close.
“Because I’m not letting it go. Not any piece of you.
It took me far too long to overcome my fears of losing you, Evelyn, but I’ve realized that it doesn’t matter how you might leave me – any way would be unthinkable. ”
She leaned in then, wrapping her arms around him and pressing her face against his chest. She relaxed against him, realizing that, for the first time in her life, she had completely trusted someone else to come for her, to save her.
She could do it herself — she had time and again — but she had known, deep within, that Asher would be there for her, that she was no longer facing any of life’s obstacles alone, but there was someone at her back and by her side.
That meant more to her than she would ever have thought possible, especially for a woman who had accepted that she would likely spend the majority of her life alone.
“Are you ready to go home?” he asked, placing a kiss on the top of her head.
“More than ready,” she answered, lifting her head for a kiss. “But we should probably determine what we are doing with Norwood.”
“Right,” he said, his lips set in a grim line. “Forgot about him for a moment.”
Evelyn gave him one more tight squeeze before something hard pressed into the side of her hip.
She pulled back, looking down with a quizzical stare.
“Asher?”
“Yes?”
“There’s something hard in your pocket.”
He winced. “I know you have been through trauma, so I wasn’t trying for anything, truly, it’s just having you this close to me—”
“Asher,” she cut him off with a laugh. “That’s not it. It’s something else.”
She reached in herself, her fingers closing around something very hard, a solid weight hanging from her fingers as she lifted them out, holding the object between them.
“Asher,” said in a small voice. “Is this—”
“Yes,” he said, his voice just as shaky. “That’s the Paragon Diamond.”
Asher could hardly believe what he was looking at.
“Evelyn,” he said, lifting his head to meet her eyes. “I had no idea, I didn’t—”
“I know,” she said simply, that small nod telling him all he needed to know. She believed him. “But how did it come to be there?”
“That’s a very good question,” he said. “Do you think Norwood put it there?”
“No,” she said decisively. “He was very clear that he was waiting for you to come and bring him the diamond.”
“Then how in the world did it end up here?”
“Did you come directly from the house?”
“I did.”
“Hmm,” she looked up at him. “Another puzzle to solve, I suppose.”
“I suppose,” he said, turning it over in his hands.
“It’s beautiful.”
“Beautiful,” he said, looking at her, one lip curling upward. “I rode my horse here in my haste, but I’ll lead you home. I have a friend who lives nearby. I can ask him for help with Norwood until we’re ready to speak with the authorities.”
She nodded. “Who is that?”
“Lord Damon Ashby. He’s a… reclusive sort.”
“I think I have heard of him,” she said. “Was he not injured when he was young?”
“He was,” Asher said, but they would speak more of Damon later. Right now, he wanted to get his bride home — to a home where she felt welcome. “I want you to know that I spoke to my mother.”
“About?”
“Thalia told me what my mother said to you about moving to the country,” he said.
“While perhaps I hadn’t done anything to dispel her notions that we were anything more than an arranged marriage, she never should have said that to you.
I made it clear that Ravenscar House is your home, and you are to feel that as much as anyone else. ”
“Thank you,” she said, biting her lip. “I do want her to like me, Asher, as crazy as that might be.”
“I don’t know how anyone couldn’t help but like you,” he said, placing his arm around her and squeezing her close against his side before helping her onto his horse. “I know I am smitten.”
“You are sweet.”
“Can’t say anyone has ever called me that before.”
“Then they are missing the real you,” she said before smiling at him. “But that’s fine. You can save him for me. Be what your position requires of you as the Duke of Ravenscar. With me, you need only be Asher—and that is enough.”
He pressed her hand against his cheek before leading them home. Together.
Evelyn’s eyes closed the moment she lay down in bed. Her lips curled into a smile when Asher climbed in beside her, wrapping his body around her, tugging her in close.
“Sleep,” he murmured in her ear, and she let herself fall into him, having never felt more secure in her life.
He was still there when she woke the next morning.
“What time is it?” she asked as he nuzzled her neck.
“Ten in the morning.”
“Ten?” she asked, her eyes flying open. “And you’re still here? Do you not have so much to do?”
“I do,” he said with a shrug, and she realized then that he had no shirt on. “But it can wait. I wanted to stay with you. Make sure you are well.”
She turned over, facing him, unable to keep her eyes and fingers from trailing down his chest, tracing the indent of his muscles.
“I am well,” she said before sighing. “Still slightly shaken at all that Lord Norwood did and the lengths he went to, but it helped that all along, I knew you would come for me.”
“You did? Truly?” The smile that lit his face was one that replaced any doubts that he might not actually feel anything for her.
“I did,” she said with a smile. “I didn’t doubt it for a second. Even if you hadn’t been…” she swallowed, still unable to believe the truth of it, “in love with me, you are too good a man to ever let down someone who needs help, whether you feel that person is your responsibility or not.”
He looked down before meeting her eyes. “I’m sorry if I ever made you feel that you would be a burden. Because you’re not. I don’t see you as a responsibility, but as a privilege.”
“As I see you,” she said in reply, tilting her head up and giving him her lips. He took them eagerly, and she slid her arms up, wrapping them around his neck.
“Asher?”
“Yes?”
“How would you feel if I redecorated these rooms? I don’t want to do it because I am the duchess but because—”
“Because they are awful? Ostentatious?”
“No,” she laughed. “Because I want to make them true to who we are.”
“Of course,” he said. “Do as you wish.”
His fingers trailed down her side, causing heat to fill her body, until he stopped, gazing at her. “Are you sure you want to continue? I don’t want—”
“Asher. Come here,” she said, her eyes narrowed. “I am fine, and I will tell you if I’m not. Understood?”
“Understood,” he said huskily, before his lips returned to hers and he made quick work of their clothing until they were lying side by side, their bare skin against one another.
Evelyn tilted her head back to give him better access to her neck, and he pressed kisses down it, warming her to deep within her core.
His hands found her breasts, tweaking her nipples before he replaced one hand with his mouth, his tongue swirling over it.
She could hardly believe that this was her life now, that this man was hers, that they could be like this, together, whenever they wished.
Before long, his fingers were between her legs, opening her, making sure she was ready for him. Then he didn’t spend much time doing anything else as he was quick to sheathe himself within her, finding her, joining them together as they were meant to be.
Evelyn met his eyes and surrendered to him, yielding herself fully—her thoughts quieting as sensation took their place, her body welcoming him, opening to him, letting them come together until nothing remained but the joining of body and soul.
His thrusts became more urgent, and he found where she ached for him between her thighs, rubbing her in slow circles until she was wound higher than she ever thought she could be. Soon, she was coming for him, around him, while he released inside of her, and they cried out together.
When they finally came down, he left her for only a moment before he returned to clean her up, then settled her back against him.
“How long are we staying here like this?” she asked with a smile.
“As long as we’d like.”
“While I’d like to stay here forever, I do believe I shall get hungry soon enough. And I’m sure your mother and sister will have questions.”
“That might be the very reason I’m hiding here.”
She laughed, even though she knew he was likely only half joking.
“I’ll be by your side,” she promised. “Whatever you need.”
“I’ll take you up on it,” he said before planting another kiss on her lips. “You might regret saying that.”
She laughed again as he rose and they dressed as best they could before calling their valet and lady’s maid, but the truth of it was, she would always be there for him.
As he would for her.
Finding a life partner was a puzzle she never thought she’d solve.
Yet maybe this proved that sometimes, one didn’t have to try so hard… but just be open to receiving.
And then love would come.
Asher filled the doorway, his smile warm as he stared at her.
Even better when it came in a package like that.
“Ready?” he asked.
“Always,” she said, taking his hand.
“You know,” he said, looking down at her. “We married to protect your reputation.”
“I know,” she said, wondering where this was going.
“But now that you have trusted it with me, I will do anything to protect your heart.”
“I love you, Asher.”
“And I you.”