Chapter Sixteen #2
All too soon, the unrelenting pressure came due.
Tingling need went through his stones and shaft.
He pistoned his hips faster, thrust into her with so much purpose that the sound of flesh hitting flesh blended with the soft sounds of the night around them.
Distance laughter reminded him they were on borrowed time, but he ignored that.
“Laurence!” Rose’s hold on him slipped. With a cry her body stiffened. She contracted around his length so intensely that it pulled him into his own release.
With one more deep stroke, he shattered hard.
A strangled shout left his throat, for the release was so intense, it stole his breath, and then he collapsed into her with her name on his lips.
He wrapped his arms around her, content to hold her, and as something special, something binding—something forever—passed between them, he pressed tiny, feather weighted kisses to her cheeks, her chin, her forehead, her closed eyelids.
There was no denying it, not that he ever had, but he knew she would always be his until the day he died.
“Is there any wonder why I want to marry you?” she whispered, and the warmth of her breath skated over his cheek.
“Ha.” Even though he was fully spent, damn if he didn’t want another coupling merely to see her face again as she fell over the edge, to have her beneath him, or hell, take her against a tree, on a sofa, pin her to a wall, claim her on a chair, make her scream until everyone in the county knew that she was worth so much more than a scandal. “That was amazing.”
“I quite agree.” Amusement and exhaustion threaded through her voice. “I still wish to explore your body, though.”
He might indeed perish. “After we thoroughly enjoy the bonfire and gathering I have arranged for you.” He kissed her forehead before rolling onto his side, where he tucked her against him with an arm beneath her head and the other slung across her hips.
Rose stared up at him, the stars reflected in her eyes. “Why did you do it, though? Mrs. Henderson tried to explain it to me, but I’m still confused.”
“I wanted to see you smile.”
“But I do that regardless.”
“Not a real smile, one that reaches your eyes.” Needing to touch her, he brushed a lock of hair away from her cheek.
“Mrs. Henderson told me how much you enjoyed bonfires and harvest celebrations, and then you confirmed the stories. I knew I wanted to give you the opportunity to feel happy again, to show you that there is still much living to do.” The breeze through the branches overhead was soothing, and the cool air sucked at the lingering heat on his skin.
“Promise me that you’ll go down and enjoy everything before midnight. ”
“I will, and I appreciate all that you’ve done for me.
” Tears sounded in her voice. “I thought the ballroom dance was the height of romantic, but I rather think the bonfire is that.” With her free hand, she brushed at the moisture on her cheeks.
“I wondered if you would change my life the moment I saw you unconscious in the stable, but I had no idea how true it was.”
“That’s how it was for me when I opened my eyes in that bedroom, and I saw an angel when you came in.
” All mirth faded in the face of the serious thoughts of the future.
“You not only changed my life by saving it, but you gave me a new purpose merely because you believed in me, though of me more than an indigent solider.”
“Do stop, Captain. You are also Baron Wendlesham. And even if you were neither of them? You would still have potential.” She briefly rested her palm against his cheek, and that featherlight touch sent shivers careening through him. “I would have saved you even if you were no one.”
“Because you are a lovely woman, inside and out,” he added in a whisper. “Your family is wrong for pretending you don’t exist, Rose. You have so much potential as well, and there is nothing I want to do except see how you grow into it.”
She turned her head and met his gaze in the darkness. “And?”
Clever girl, this one. Laurence couldn’t help his grin. “I am well on my way to falling tip over tail for you, and because of that, I would be delighted to accept your proposal of marriage.”
“Truly?”
“Yes. Finally, with you, I feel as if I’ve come home, and with you, I’m accepted for who I am regardless of my family’s past.” It was an amazing thing to realize, and it humbled the hell out of him. “Thank you for that. I don’t deserve it.”
“Laurence, out of everyone, you do.” She slipped her hand to his nape, tugged his head down, and gently kissed his lips.
Then she held his gaze in the inky night.
“It’s time to stop wandering, I think, for both of us, and it’s almost time for us to stand in our strength.
We might have been battered along the way, but that only means we are better prepared to face the future. ”
Moisture filled his eyes, and he let the few tears fall. “I completely agree.” He took her hand and brought it to his lips to kiss the back. “And perhaps because of that, our union will have a better chance than most to survive.”
“Yes.” She caught a tear with her thumb then kissed his lips again. “I will write to my father tomorrow.”
“Or we can make a sensation and go to London so I can talk to him in person.” When she violently shook her head, he grinned.
“Write to him. I’ll include my own letter with yours.
If luck is with us, he will be agreeable to all of it.
The sooner that happens, the sooner we can start our life together. ”
Rose nodded. “What of your sister? Are you still leaving?”
“I think, perhaps, it would prove too shocking to arrive on her doorstep in person with this news. Instead, I’ll pen a letter and post it so Beth can come to grips with the idea of having a brother, or at least a half-brother.
” He blew out a breath. “Then, if she is agreeable, we can arrange to meet, but whenever that happens—if it does—I want you by my side. I was a nodcock to think I could exclude you.”
“At least you realize this now rather than later. I’d hate to have to shoot you with an arrow.” When they both chuckled, she burrowed further into his arms. “Let us lay here for another few moments, then we’ll go enjoy the bonfire. It can act as our private celebration as well.”
“There is nothing better than to start a new life with laughter and food.” And her. Essentially, that was all he needed, and he’d known it deep down from the moment he’d seen her for the first time.
Perhaps that was why he’d been spared while in the military, because he was needed for this time, for her. It was a good feeling.