Page 135 of Kathryn

“That is twenty-two games you have won,” Gerrit said, replacing the pieces on the board.

“You have won some, too,” Kathryn generously pointed out, replacing far fewer pieces on her side of the board.

“Four. I have won four. And what is worse than losing all those games is the fact that you trounced me using only fifteen pieces three times.” It had been his wife’s idea to give up a piece of his choosing—other than her king or queen—and she had still beaten him.

She bit her lower lip.

“Ah, you find that amusing, do you?” he demanded.

She pulled her lips between her teeth, but the corners of her mouth curled up all the same.

“Go on—laugh. I find it amusing, too.” He did. In a painful sort of way.

Kathryn laughed and then all the pain was worth it, just to hear her joyful gurgle.

You are a fool for her.

He was, but he didn’t care. In fact, he was grateful to learn that his father had been wrong about him. Gerrit could feel strongly about a woman. He’d known filial love, of course, but it was nothing like the powerful roiling sensation that seized control of him whenever he looked at—or even thought about—Kathryn.

Tell her.

Before he could over-analyze his impulse, Gerrit held out his hand. Eyes wide and lips parted in surprise, Kathryn set her slender fingers in his palm. “These past weeks have shown me how pleasurable and fulfilling life is with you. I am grateful every single day that you came to my bed that night to bridge the gap between us.” Gerrit enjoyed her blushing before continuing. “Were you aware that Chatham spoke to me the day I made my offer to you?”

“I knew you had a meeting with him, although I do not know what was said.”

“He wanted to make sure I was not going to take revenge on you for being trapped into marriage. I assured him that I would not. I wasn’t lying—I truly believed I could be fair. But right from the first day I was very unfair to you. I was so hidebound by my first marriage that I could not see anything but protecting my own pride. Will you forgive me for behaving in such a selfish manner?”

Her green eyes glowed and she squeezed his hand. “I already have. And will you forgive me for behaving so combatively?”

Gerrit cocked his head. “Were you combative?”

She opened her mouth but then must have noticed the amusement in his eyes. She laughed. “Ah, you are teasing. Now that will take some getting used to.”

He lifted her hand to his lips and kissed her palm. “I will give you all the time you need to become accustomed to me.”

“I think you enjoy making me blush.”

“I do,” he said simply, and then gestured to the chessboard. “If you are quite finished thrashing me for the night, I propose we go to bed.”

“I cannot promise I won’t thrash you there, too.”

Gerrit laughed. “That is a challenge I cannot resist. Are you ready to go up?”

“I am.”

Gerrit stopped outside her bedroom door as he always did but took her chin between his thumb and forefinger and tilted her face up to his. “Come to my chambers tonight.”

Her delicate nostrils flared, and her pupils swelled. “Very well. When should—”

“Just give me enough time to shave and wash—ten minutes.” And then he gave her lower lip a light caress with his thumb before opening her door and gently pushing her unresisting body over the threshold. “No more than ten,” he said, and then shut the door.

***

Dulverton was lying in his massive bed, the sheets and blankets pulled up to his waist, his chest and mountainous shoulders bare when Katie entered his chamber ten minutes later.

She closed the door and then leaned back against it, finding it hard to breathe for some reason. Well, not some reason, but because her gorgeous husband was naked and staring at her, eyes blazing.

And he was gorgeous. Katie could not think why she had ever found him ugly. Is that what beauty is in the eye of the beholder meant? She could not believe that every woman didn’t find him irresistible. He might not possess the lissome elegance so prized by tulips of the ton, but his powerful body, keen intelligence, and generous nature made him the masculine ideal as far as she was concerned.