Page 103 of The Seduction of an English Scoundrel

“I couldn’t agree more,” Grayson murmured as he drew one tender pink nipple into a point between his fingertips.

“I’m sure I shall feel better in the morning,” Jane said, then whispered breathlessly, “Stop doing that. He might be old, but he’s not incompetent.”

“I didn’t catch that, Jane,” Giles replied. “Did you ask for a hot compress? Excellent idea. I shall bring one up with a glass of warm milk posthaste.”

As his heavy footsteps died away, Jane disentangled herself from Grayson’s arms. “Will you court me?” she asked, placing her heart in his hands, her request not pleading but more a condition of her terms.

“Jane, I would take on all of Napoleon’s armies single-handedly to have you.” Having confessed that, he felt compelled to add, “But it does go against the grain.” He tugged her robe open. “Wooing one’s own wife.”

“Oh,” she said in exasperation as he caught both ends of the robe’s sash. “The objective is to woo me into becoming your wife.”

“What is the point of wooing a woman you have already won?” he teased, pulling her toward him by the sash.

“Grayson,” she said, “that remark is another example of your astounding arrogance. Go away.”

He breathed a sigh of pleasure at the contact of her body against his. “May I remind you that this is my house?”

“You may call on me at a later date when I am not indisposed.”

“I may call on you any damn time I please.” He gave the ends of the sash another firm pull to show her who was in control. At least for the moment. “Dash it all, Jane, we have gone about all this backward. Meeting at the altar first, becoming friends, having a love affair. And now a courtship at the end.”

“I suppose it’s all right if it ends well.”

“I owe you your heart’s desire,” he said gently. “If that is what it takes to prove my love, then I will.”

“Really, Grayson?” she asked, placing her hands against his bare chest.

“For you and our families. We shall do it properly this time.”

She bit her lip, laughing up at him. “Properly? You and I?”

“Well, as close to properly as the pair of us shall ever come.”

Grayson stared pensively across the candlelit library at his brother Heath, his arms folded behind his head. “Go on and have your laugh. She turned me down.”

“Who would believe it?” Heath said in a droll voice. “A woman rejecting my irresistible sibling.”

“This is a serious matter, Heath. She has refused to marry me unless I meet certain conditions.”

“Well, no one makes you do anything, so that’s the end of it then.”

Grayson’s eyes glistened in amusement. “The hell it is. The devious lady is probably carrying the family heir. Do you think there is the slightest chance that we won’t be married?”

Heath set aside the book he’d been reading, rather enjoying the situation. He had never expected to like Jane as much as he did. Secretly he admired her for standing up to his brother. “That presents an intriguing problem. What are you going to do? Abduct her?”

“Don’t think the idea hasn’t crossed my mind,” Grayson said darkly.

“Scotland is rather pleasant this time of year. I assume her parents wouldn’t raise a fuss if you eloped?”

Grayson snorted. “Belshire is so infuriated with her, he’d probably push her out the window into a waiting coach. But my Jane wishes to make the choice herself, and I don’t fancy a bride who won’t speak to me on our honeymoon.”

“Nor would I.”

“You?” Grayson looked closely at his brother, a man whose actions and emotions had for years seemed cloaked in shadows. Heath had always been subtle in his affairs. “You don’t fancy anyone for a bride at all. Do you?”

Heath gave an evasive smile. “I have other obligations to fulfill.”

“Then your work for British Intelligence isn’t over.”