The Letter (36 page)
He stood up so quickly he knocked her backwards. Grabbing her around her waist, he pulled her against him. “Say it again. Say it in English.”
“I love you.”
****
Michael feared he might erupt into embarrassing giggles. Could a heart burst open from too much happiness? If it were possible, then this would be his last day on earth. His lips crashed down on hers and nothing else existed. Just her.
It could have been minutes, it could have been hours, days maybe, he didn’t know and didn’t care, before he lifted his head and looked at her. “Now do you believe I don’t see your thorns?”
“Liar,” she said, but the misery that surrounded her earlier had vanished.
“Call me a liar one more time and I will put you over my knees and spank that delicious bottom of yours.”
“You wouldn’t dare.” Interest sparkled in her eyes, belying her words.
He put his mouth against her ear. “Do you have the mettle to find out?”
Surprising him, she bit his earlobe. “Liar,” she whispered.
He swooped her up and carried her to his bed. Sitting down, he flipped her over across his knees and lightly tapped her. She giggled. Hearing her laughter brought a smile to his face.
She turned her head and peered at him with a teasing smile on her face. “Is that the best you can do, my lord?”
“I’ll show you my best, my lady.” He grabbed her around the waist and tossed her on the bed. “Sorry, Peggy, but you are not invited to this party.”
He picked the cat up and moved her to the chair by the fire. Practically tearing off his clothing, he joined Diana in bed. Capturing her lips, he kissed her, and when she opened her mouth, he tangled his tongue with hers, tasting her honey and spice.
While he plundered her mouth, he stroked his hand over breasts, her belly, her bottom. Touching her was familiar, yet new. He had dreamed of having her naked in his bed for so long. Too bloody long. Never again would anyone take her away.
Breaking away from her mouth, he trailed kisses down her neck on a path to his goal. Reaching her breasts, he sucked a nipple into his mouth and had the satisfaction of hearing her moan. He threw a leg over hers and pressed his erection against her thigh.
“Michael, please.”
“Patience, love. Have patience.” He moved over to her other breast and played with that nipple. Her skin was soft and warm under his exploring hand. He slipped a finger through her curls and into her wet sheath.
The ache to cover her body with his and slide into all that slick heat was great, but he clamped down on his raging lust. This was for her. Sliding his finger in, then out and back in, he found her little nub with his thumb and rubbed it in tiny circles.
More than anything, he wanted to put his mouth on her and taste her, but was unsure if she was ready for such intimacy. He looked forward to a lifetime of loving her in all the ways he wanted.
“Oh God, Michael.” Her body went rigid and her inner muscles clenched on his finger.
When her breath evened out again, he crawled over her and nestled his erection between her legs. Supporting himself on his elbows, his eyes devoured her heat-flushed cheeks, the beads of sweat above her lips and the eyes that had turned so dark he could easily drown in them.
“Myana,” he murmured. He lowered his head and kissed her.
Her hands grasped the back of his head, her legs wrapped around his thighs. “Michael, please. Please.”
“I am my lady’s servant.” He reached his hand down and guided his aching shaft into her. She was tight and wet and hot. He hissed in pleasure when the tip of his cock pressed against her womb. This was where he belonged, this was his home and this was how it was meant to be between them.
“
Je t’aime
, Myana,” he said softly. “
Je t’aime
.”
****
Diana felt him slide into her and then it seemed as if he was going to leave her. She started to protest, but he came back and she sighed her pleasure. He lifted up on straight, rigid arms, and looked down at her. She met his gaze and they stared at each other. She smiled and touched his beloved face, feeling the bristle of a beard trying to grow back.
He turned his head and kissed her palm and then began to move, filling her completely and possessively. When stars exploded in front of her eyes, she bit down against a scream from the overwhelming pleasure.
A low, feral growl sounded from him. His seed exploded, hot and pouring into her. The air hissed out of his lungs.
Please God, don’t let this be a dream.
He fell onto her and she welcomed his weight as proof he was real. She wrapped her arms around his back and held on to him for dear life. His chest heaved against her breasts, his breath puffs of hot air on her neck.
She pressed her cheek against the side of his head and thought about all that had happened tonight. She had been so sure once he saw her body he would turn away from her, and she realized now how unfair she had been to think him so shallow.
“I am trying to find the energy to move myself off you.” Michael pushed himself up on his elbows. He grinned down at her. “You look like a thoroughly ravished woman, my love.” He gave her a quick kiss and then rolled over on his back. Reaching down, he took her hand and laced his fingers through hers.
She pulled the sheet over her breasts. He chuckled and pushed it back down. Though she had stood before him naked as the day she was born, she still wasn’t comfortable exposing herself.
“Your days of hiding from me are over.” He let go of her hand and turned on his side, his gaze roaming over her body. “Why you should want to conceal something so beautiful, I cannot fathom.” As he spoke the words, he trailed a finger down her middle, from the valley of her breasts to the curls of her mound.
Gooseflesh rose on her skin under his touch. In his eyes, she saw desire, and wanted to believe she was beautiful to him. But her disfigurements were ugly and she couldn’t make her mind think otherwise. Unable to help herself, she rested her hand over the bite mark, hiding it.
He pulled her hand away, lowered his head and kissed the scar. “You are my warrior queen and have the marks to prove it, each one a testament to your courage and bravery. Wear them with pride, Diana, else you give the blackguard his victory.”
Because she wanted more than anything to triumph over Leo, she made up her mind to stop pitying herself and to wear her scars as the mark of a warrior. Even thinking the word as applied to her made her feel strong and victorious.
Giddy with happiness, she pounced on him. “I am a warrior queen and you are my love slave.”
Chapter Twenty-Nine
A light dusting of snow covered the grounds at Draven Park. Michael stood at his bedroom window and watched the fat round flakes float gently to earth. A line of carriages waited below to take the wedding party to the church. Even from two floors up, he could see the white breath of the horses.
“There is magic in the air today, Hansen.”
“If you start seeing fairies, my lord, I am sending for the doctor.”
Michael turned from the window. “Tell me I am not dreaming, and it is really going to happen this time.”
“If you are, then we are having the same dream.” He walked over and pinched Michael.
“Ouch. Why the devil did you do that?”
Hansen held out his arm. “Now, you pinch me to make certain I’m not the one dreaming.”
“Are you aware that hurting your master is grounds for dismissal?”
“No, my lord, that is a new one.” He removed a sheet of paper from his coat and went to Michael’s desk.
“What are you doing?”
“Adding the new reason to my list. There are so many, the only way I can remember them is to write them down.” He held the paper up. “Ah, this one is my favorite. Do not tell his lordship you had to let out the waist of his trousers.”
Michael swallowed a laugh. “Here is another one you should write down. A proper valet should be invisible. His lordship should not even notice his man is in the room.”
“That is a good one, my lord, but I still favor the other.”
Jamie entered, carrying Peggy. “Papa, is it time for us to get married?”
Michael looked at his son, dressed in a blue velvet coat that matched his. “Soon. You look very handsome.” He eyed the cat. “Jamie, exactly what is Peggy wearing?”
“Grandmamma made it for her so she wouldn’t get cold when we go to the church.”
“Yes, but what is it?” It looked like a flannel shirt and trousers with a cut out for her tail, and a matching lace trimmed cap. Peggy’s ears poked through holes in the little bonnet.
“It is her wedding day clothes. It’s blue so she will look like us. She wants to get married, too, Papa.”
The traitorous feline had fallen in love with Jamie the moment she saw him, forgetting all about Michael. The two were now inseparable, and when Diana told Jamie the cat could not attend the wedding, mother and son had experienced their first fight.
Michael had stepped in and negotiated a compromise, something at which he was becoming quite an expert. Peggy could ride in the carriage with Jamie and would wait there while they were inside the church.
“It is time to leave.” He took his son’s hand and walked him and Peggy to their carriage. Aubrey and Derebourne’s carriages had already left. Rotharton joined them and they left for the church. Diana would follow with her mother and his.
Michael had once thought this day would never come. Now it was actually happening, he could hardly wait for the vicar to pronounce them husband and wife.
Wife.
He very much liked the word.
When they arrived, Jamie fussed with the blanket they had brought, getting it just right for Peggy. “She will be fine, son.” Son was another word he liked.
“I am worried she will be cold. Can’t I take her in with me?”
“No, you may not. Jack will take good care of her.” Jamie had assigned the footman to stay with Peggy.
Finally tearing Jamie away from his cat, they went inside, and Rotharton took a seat next to Aubrey. Michael, holding his son’s hand, went to the front to wait for his bride. He stood facing the door and in a few minutes heard her carriage arrive. His mother and Lady Rotharton entered and took their seats.
His heart beat a tattoo in his chest as he waited for his first sight of the woman he thought he had lost. And then, there she was. She stopped at the door, their gazes met and she smiled.
Sweet Jesus, he was blessed.
She wore a blue velvet gown with white fur around the high neck and at the sleeves. The sapphire earrings he had given her last night, and that matched the ring in his pocket, dangled from her ears.
“Beautiful,” he mouthed. Her smile widened.
She was halfway down the aisle when he heard faint giggles. The titters grew as she neared. He could not imagine what anyone would find amusing until she reached him and he saw Peggy wobbling along behind her. Jack stood at the entrance, panic on his face. Michael shrugged, letting the footman know there was nothing to be done.
Diana looked at him with a question in her eyes. He lowered his gaze to her feet and she glanced down. When she saw the cap-wearing, trouser-clad cat, she gave a little burst of laughter.
He grinned, took her hand and kissed it. “Let’s get married, shall we?”
She squeezed his fingers. “Oh yes.”
They put Jamie between them, and each took one of their son’s hands. Peggy curled up on Jamie’s shoes and went to sleep. Michael beheld his family; the one who would be his wife in mere seconds, his son, his three-legged cat and smiled.
All was right in his world.
A word about the author...
Sandra Owens lives in the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina. Most days, you can find her with her fingers on a keyboard, her mind in the world of her imagination. It’s a land where romance and happy endings exist, a land where anything is possible.
A few highlights of Sandra’s life she fondly recalls are jumping out of a plane, flying upside down in a stunt plane, and riding her Harley in the mountains of Southern California and along the coast of Maine.
Although those events were great fun, nothing compares to the joy and satisfaction Sandra gets from writing her Happily Ever After stories.
You can find Sandra on Twitter @SandyOwens1, Facebook, and at
www.Sandra-Owens.com
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