Chapter 15 #2
“None at all. You are perfection itself,” he replied. His hands trembled with the depth of his desire to pull her into his arms.
“Then perhaps I should check you for injuries now?” she asked with a seductive huskiness.
“Well, the doctor was just here,” he said, raising his bandaged arm as evidence.
“But it is always wise to garner a second opinion in such matters.” He chuckled and held his breath as a deliciously naked Meredith turned to face him.
Her hand slid over his waistcoat and began to free the buttons.
It was the sweetest of tortures to allow her remove his clothing.
Once his chest was bared to her, she kissed his chest, his shoulders, his chin, exploring him in ways she hadn’t had a chance to in the gardens the night before.
His body grew hard and hungry for her, but his heart refused to let him rush this moment with her.
This wasn’t a moment of lust to be slaked, but something more to be savored.
She sat back on the bed and beckoned him to her with a curving finger.
He had no desire to refuse, and crawled over the bed until he covered his body with hers.
Their mouths met in soft, fervent kisses that were sweeter and hotter the longer their bodies pressed against each other.
She parted her legs, and he settled in the cradle of her thighs.
It felt like coming home. This … this was where he belonged.
Here, loving this woman until nothing else existed and empires crumbled, and new stars were born in the night sky.
“You are everything to me,” he whispered against her lips. “Everything.” These he knew, were the right words to say, because they were so very easy and so very true to how his heart felt. He sank into the welcoming heat of her body, and Meredith moaned in pleasure against his mouth as they kissed.
Darius became lost in her—the taste, the feel, the intoxicating magic of all that Meredith was. He would have forsaken his sight to hear her laugh in delight again, and he would have surrendered years of his life for one last lingering look upon her face.
Meredith lifted her hips, meeting him in a gentle rhythm.
They were unhurried in their lovemaking.
He taught her how to love with his body, to let their heat and passion burn like a fire on a dark night, unable to be blown out by even the strongest of winds.
Even if he could not find romantic enough words for it, he showed her in every kiss, every caress, every gentle thrust in their joining what it was to love.
She cried out his name, her legs tightening around his hips, and he released himself inside her, breathing her name in a soft chant. If ever there was a moment perfect enough to create a new life born out of love, he prayed this was it.
This was the simple truth of it. He wanted a life with Meredith, a future of endless wonder and adventure at her side. He would show her the world, teach her to take up space in it, and never again feel like she had to cower or that her voice was silenced because society didn’t think she mattered.
“Marry me, Meredith.” He nuzzled her nose with his own before sealing his question with another kiss. “Please marry me…because I cannot live without you.”
She opened her eyes and looked up at him, their bodies still joined so intimately.
“Are you asking this time?” She arched a brow, and he wanted to laugh and kiss her senseless.
He nodded.
“Do you love me?” she asked, her gaze solemn.
He nodded.
“Say the words, Darius. I need the words.” She said this so earnestly that he knew she did in fact need the words, the words that until now had been so hard to say because of what he feared would happen if he admitted loving her.
But he’d gone too far now down this path to deny her what she deserved to hear.
“To say the words in a way that conveys all that I feel for you would take years to speak, and to say them in their simplest form would sound woefully inadequate,” he replied honestly.
“All that matters is that the words come from your heart, Darius. That’s the only thing that’s ever mattered to me.”
He knew he had to speak the words that mattered more than anything as simple as they were. “I love you,” he whispered, praying that was enough for her to know how much he loved her.
Her gaze searched his for a long moment. “Yes, I will marry you. But what if you regret your choice? Lady Mary will not let her slight be forgotten.”
Darius stole another kiss. “She will not make it easy, but now that we are both prepared for the coming storm, we can weather it together.”
What he did not add was that he planned to visit Lady Mary and warn her that if she said another word against Meredith, she would make a very powerful enemy. What happened at Gunter’s today would never happen again.
“Will you write to the prince tomorrow and tell him that I asked for your hand in marriage, and that you accepted?”
Meredith smiled at him. “Yes.”
“Good. Now let’s get beneath the covers. I want to hold you.”
Darius held Meredith until she was fast asleep.
He waited until the shadows of night settled over her face before he slipped out of bed.
Darius put on his trousers and retrieved his dressing gown from his room, wrapping the belt around his waist. Moving through his house barefoot, he headed for the kitchens to retrieve some food.
To his surprise, he met Mrs. Petersham on the stairs coming up.
He had forgotten that she hadn’t returned with them.
“Frances. You’re back late.”
“I was watching over your friend, Lord Grey until half an hour ago.”
Darius nodded. “How is he?”
“Far too glib for a man who has taken so many blows. You’d almost think the man had enjoyed himself.” Frances replied with a frown.
Darius chuckled. She might not have been far from the truth on that.
“How is Meredith?” Frances asked as if she’d been aware where Darius had been, but was polite enough not to mention it.
“Better now.” He paused, then smiled. “She’s finally agreed to marry me.”
Frances’s serious gaze filled with the light of hope. “Has she?”
“Yes.”
“That’s wonderful news, Your Grace. This makes me so very happy but …” Her face fell.
“What is it, Frances?”
“In the short time I’ve lived here, I’ve grown to love this house, and love you and Meredith as my family. I will be sorry to leave. Would you permit me to visit you often? I would like to find a place to live that isn’t too far away by coach so that Meredith and I could have tea each week.”
Darius took the woman’s hands in his. “Frances, you’ve become family to us as well. You do not need to leave.”
She shook her head. “I would only be in the way of a newly married couple.”
“Nonsense. You are staying, and that is the end of the matter.”
Frances’s eyes shone with happy tears. “Then I shall bid you goodnight on such happy news.”
“Good night,” he said with a chuckle before continuing down the stairs to the kitchens.
* * *
Meredith woke to find herself alone in bed. Her first thought was that Darius hadn’t been there at all, and that what they had shared had just been a dream. Her eyes filled with tears, and she covered her face with her hands.
She didn’t hear the door open, nor the rush of footsteps until they were right next to her. A pair of strong hands caught her wrists and she looked up into Darius’s concerned face.
“Meredith, what’s the matter?” His dark hair fell in his beautiful blue eyes that seemed to peer straight to her soul.
“It’s rather silly. I thought … When I woke and found you gone, I thought perhaps I dreamed everything that we…” She choked on a sob.
He sat down beside her. “Sweetheart, you didn’t dream it. We did do that, all of that. You also agreed to marry me. After you fell asleep, I went to scrounge up a late supper.” He nodded toward the tray of food he’d set at the foot of the bed.
“Oh …” She felt even more silly now.
“Now, if you will permit me, I will fetch us some wine. I will be back.” He promised with a kiss that made her swoon before he left again.
Meredith pulled the sheet up around her body as she slipped out of the bed and walked over to the window overlooking the gardens.
It wasn’t a dream. She was going to marry Darius St. John. He wanted to marry her. He loved her.
The world became filled with wonder and possibilities. It was like a dream come true, one that she hadn’t even dared to dream for herself. Such things belonged in the realm of fairy tales.
But as Meredith’s gaze drifted to the darkened Crell house beyond the garden wall, she remembered that not every tale had a happy ending.
For a brief instant, she thought she saw the shape of Minerva Crell standing just beside the heart-shaped hole in the wall, but the figure was nothing more than shadows.
Meredith had the terrible sense that something was about to shift. She was standing on the edge of the cliff knowing that she would have to jump, but to what ultimate fate?