Constance shrugged.“If I wasn’t what you really wanted.We are very different, you know.”
“I know,” Neil confirmed.“But you’re what I want, Connie.I hope you can believe that.”
“I do,” Constance said—and the words swept through her like a revelation.
Happiness bloomed inside of her like something made to fly.She smoothed her hand over Neil’s chest again, feeling his solid strength through the fabric—and the way his breath went ragged at her touch.
“So will you marry me, then?”She glanced up at him with wicked slyness.“I promise I’ll make it worth your while.”
Neil let out a helpless laugh.“Why does that sound like a threat?”
“Because it is.”Constance flashed him her teeth.“One that I intend to make good on in the mornings.And over lunch.And on your desk, after I shove all your precious papers onto the floor.”She dipped her hands under the loose hem of his shirt and stroked up his skin, her nails lightly grazing the flesh of his abdomen.“I’m going to make good on it until the two of us are so sated we can barely stand.”
“I yield,” Neil groaned.“Damn it, Connie.Yes.I’ll marry you.Even though I was supposed to be the one to ask.”
Constance shrugged.“Well, you were leading up to it nicely.”
And then—at last—Neil leaned in to kiss her.His hands cradled the small of her back like they held something achingly precious, and his lips glided over her mouth with a taut, eloquent restraint—a perfect balance of hunger and delicacy, heat and reverence.
He kissed her like she was a poem that he held in his arms.It was a promise and an act of worship, aching with bone-deep joy.
All of which was perfectly lovely.
Constance grabbed the lapels of his coat, spun him about, and shoved him down onto the bench.
“Let’s try it my way now,” she declared as she climbed on top of him.
?
Forty-Three
The party wasmoving outside when Ellie and Adam returned to it.They found themselves herded from the salon with the rest of the boisterous guests, entering an adjacent garden where lanterns hanging from archways spilled abundant light over lush hibiscus flowers and golden trumpetbush.
Music kicked up, tabla and sitar picking out a lively beat.Laughter bubbled up into the star-studded violet sky.
“Where are Constance and Neil?”Ellie wondered aloud.
Adam’s mouth twitched with suppressed humor.
“Never mind—don’t answer that,” she warned him.
Adam raised his hands innocently.“Wasn’t going to.”
Ellie groaned.“But now you’ve put the notion in my head.”
“I didn’t say a word!”
“You didn’t have to!”She flapped a hand at him.“Give me something else to think of.”
Adam nodded to where Constance’s uncle and a few other gentlemen were puffing on their cigars.“It smells like Balaram’s smoking some really nice stuff over there.”
“That’s what you have to offer?Tobacco?Tobacco isn’t going to make me stop thinking about my brother and… things… that I have absolutely no wish to think about!”
“I’m gonna go have a smoke.”Adam’s eyes glinted with mischief.“After all, I did win our bet.”
Ellie threw up her hands.“I never took your bet!”
“I’m gonna cut way back,” Adam assured her as he backed away.“Promise.”
