Page 65 of An Earl for the Archeress

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She collapsed down to her knees, too, and threw herself into his arms with so much fervor it made Robert’s heart ache with pleasure. He dragged her against him, falling to his rear on the rug before the fire and taking her with him so that they sat pressed together in a heap. He pulled her down so that they lay against each other and he encompassed her securely in his arms, feeling her head resting on his shoulder and her face pressed to his chest. Rolling her onto her back, he propped himself up beside her on his elbow, his head resting on his hand, his legs outstretched and tangled against hers, hidden by the fabric of her gown. He looked down into her eyes.

“Beautiful woman,” he whispered, touching her cheek. Lord, but she had taken his breath away in the hall. “I’ve wanted you alone, all to myself, since I met you.”

He kissed her again, sensually, letting his hand tease her skin, pushing the pendant with slow precision into the nest of her cleavage to ensure his gift was received and well-secured. She sucked in hard at the stone against her skin, her breath then hitching as he took to caressing circles upon it. She was aroused, which only aroused him further, and he dared to trail his fingertip along the edging of her gown, over each swell of her breast.

His thoughts moments ago, so planned and prepared, scattered now, and it took summoning his deepest determination to resist climbing between her legs.

“Wear this pendant so I know you’re mine. I’ll never break your trust,” he vowed. “Though we are certain to have disagreements, even arguments, in the years to come, know that I will always honor you.” His fingers continued to tease her skin. “And know that as you entrust your heart to me, I’m entrusting myself to you as well.”

She nodded, draping her arms around his neck, pulling him down to her, where she initiated a kiss of her own. He groaned. God, how he had been wanting her to desire him fully. She was now, her fingers squeezing his shoulders, cupping his face, sliding over his chest and arms. His hand slid down her front to her waist, feeling where the corset cinched tightly above her hips. Then his hand slid down over a hip, down the top of her thigh, and back up again in a slow caress that promised sin but didn’t quite touch any sinful part of her body.

“What are you doing to me, Rob?” She sighed.

“Making myself irresistible so that you cannot refuse me,” he murmured in reply, giving her the cocky grin he knew she hated yet adored. She smiled the most gentle, most un-Mariel-like smile he had seen. He nearly took her body in hand right then and had his way. There was no harshness or bitterness upon her brow, no guarded frown. It was a look of dreamy contentment just for him. “In all seriousness, I’ve come to realize in only some short days that you’re the only woman I care to keep at my side.”

“I could have told you that from the beginning, for you have refused to let me leave,” she jested, to both of their surprise. He laughed, and she hushed her giggle, but her smile persisted, rising to her eyes and turning the almond shapes into happy squints.

“Ah, my beauty.” He exhaled and rested his forehead to hers. “Do you know how much of a favor it is when you cast your smile at me?” he said. “Marry me. Elope with me. I’ve waited the whole of our journey home for your answer to my proposal and yet you still don’t give it. I suspect you’re compelled to flee, but I wish to hear you say yes. I know a priest not far from here who can marry us, if you but say the word.”

“Home. You say it so freely, like it really does belong to me, too,” she said wistfully.

“I’ve made the offer.” He shrugged. “It’s your home if you wish it.”

Still, she looked away. What would it take for her to throw caution to the wind and accept him? “Despite your declaration to protect me, I need to know for certain if marriage is truly what you want. I must hear you say you want it, or I will forever fear that you’ve only married me out of pity.”

Why is she being so stubborn? He gazed into her eyes, a darker green in the firelight. If deep down, he never had a desire to marry, why was he so persistent now to keep her at his side, yet still so afraid to put the simple sentiment into words? What was the pinch in his heart that plagued him at the mere thought of losing her? Did he really want to unite both their souls at the altar and was too afraid to admit it? Was he truly in love but too afraid to admit it? Together, they could make an incredible team, a lord and lady united in a common love for their fellow man, and woman…and for each other.

Lord, the idea of love made him more edgy than the idea of marriage. Did he love her? Did he want to marry her? His mind began to swirl with all his competing thoughts and desires. He was good at jesting, but he was no good at serious matters of the heart.

“You’re taking too long to answer,” she began, her face becoming impassive.

She was withdrawing from him.

“Give me time, Mariel,” he whispered, reaching to her arm that she had dropped from his neck to place it back, “to come to terms with what I’m feeling. To find the best way to describe how you affect my heart…I’m new at this.”

She scoffed, as if she knew he was a liar and a rake, but he continued.

“Believe it or not, I am. Can you honestly say you’ve been in love with a man?” She said nothing but seemed to hang on the last of his words. “We might have learned loving from others, but I’ve never been serious about a woman…until now. Give me time to find the words. But know that regardless, I plan to marry you. I plan on binding you to me. If you have faith in me, you’ll feel compelled to elope with me. For soon, your father will be briefed by his man, Teàrlach, and a hunt for you will be mounted. There’s no delay to be had between now and getting to the altar.”

He continued to gaze down into her eyes. “And I’ll refrain from taking any more liberty with you until I know God has witnessed your union to me, as proof of my true intentions. But believe me…” He paused as his hand came back up and over a breast, leaning down to kiss the skin at her throat, her collarbone, and then downward, resting on one pillow of her exposed chest in a fiery kiss. “Waiting any length of time to join with you will be my hardest test of strength.”

He reluctantly withdrew and pushed himself back up on his knees, giving her assistance to right herself in the restrictive corset she wore. They rose to their feet. He helped her smooth out her wrinkles, running his hands over her rear and legs to push the fabric into rights.

“Then yes,” she said, looking into his eyes. “I’ll marry you.” His mouth split into a grateful smile and he began to drag her against him, but she held up a palm to stop him, her eyes solemn. “I know you only promise the effort of fidelity, and do nay profess to adhere to it, and I suppose I must settle in that regard.” He didn’t like the sadness it brought to her face. Had he not convinced her he intended to be faithful? “But know that if you ever turn harsh toward me, I shall leave you as I did my sire and I won’t look back.”

He returned her gaze. He never wanted her to leave. But finally, he nodded once. “A fair agreement, woman. Which means you’ll be stuck with my arrogant arse forever.”

He grinned, and she deigned to laugh. He draped the dangling string from the pendent in her cleavage over her neck, loving the look of his mother’s adornment upon her.

“You’re overly confident,” she teased.

“Ah, but I’m also right,” he added, earning that huff and roll of her eyes he was coming to relish.

“Arrogant arse was certainly an accurate description,” she said, and he rewarded her jesting with a carefree chuckle. They walked to the door. “What were you and Will nodding about?”

“What?” He turned to her with a confused crinkle to his brows.