Page 37 of Wicked with Him

“Go?”

She looked on the verge of tears. “I never wanted you to feel honor-bound to offer for me.”

He squinted at her. “What about love-bound?”

She sat up straighter in her chair. “What?”

“Surely you must have suspected I had a hidden purpose in coming to find you. I have worried for your disappearance, and, upon finally finding you, discovered a distinct reluctance to leave you again,” he admitted, sliding to his knees to cross the short distance between them. He took up her hand and kissed her ice-cold fingers. “I know we hardly know each other enough yet to discuss the future, but I feel utterly bound to ensure your continued happiness. If a marriage to me will make you happy, then I agree we should wed—and it’s not because your cousin suspects me, either. I have been considering ways to broach the subject since I first saw you again.”

Amity stared.

He winced. “If your answer is to be no, I understand completely. I’ll explain that you never wanted me when I go to visit the new duke to offer my condolences. You need not worry about my feelings in this. I suspect they are quite one-sided.”

His heart thudded as Amity moved, reaching out to cup his cheek. “My husband is a scoundrel…and something of an idiot, too. Of course I want to be married to him. I love him. I’ve been waiting, dreading the day he would announce he was leaving me.”

Roman’s breath caught, and then relief flooded him as he took in her trembling smile. He pressed his head to hers, astonished by her words. “I’ll never leave you. I love you so much more than you would ever believe possible.”

“And I love you,” she whispered, kissing him thoroughly. But then she pulled back to meet his gaze. “What about that estate? All those plans you were making for a future family life there.”

“They were lures for you to voice an opinion on the house, and on us making our pretend marriage something real. I think I might have been too subtle.” He dug his fingers in her hair, turning her face up for more kisses. “The house could be for us if you wanted to make our home here. I could be very happy living here as anywhere, really. As long as I can see your smiling face every day, I’ve no strong opinion on the subject.”

Her fingers slipped into his hair, too. “I enjoyed talking about the house and discussing its repair, but I don’t want us to live here.”

“So, we’re getting married?”

“Yes…yes! We are going to marry, and in Gretna Green, too,” she promised, raining kisses all over his face. “And you don’t need to purchase an estate for us to live in. I have a dowry, and that includes property.”

He’d never asked anyone about the particulars of her dowry, but he’d always known one existed. “What kind of property? A little cottage somewhere?”

“No. Not so paltry as that. The London townhouse is mine by right of inheritance. My grandmother left it to me. George tried to contest the will because he’s coveted the townhouse for years.”

“Which townhouse?”

“The one I was living in when you ruined me,” she told him, grinning from ear to ear. “Once it was clear he’d not get it, he obtained the late duke’s approval and simply took over its management, despite my protests that I was more than capable. I will expect my husband to give him—everyone—their marching orders very promptly. For too long the family have had the upper hand, George pretending he owned something that was always mine. It will be my greatest delight to see my much-loved husband escort him and his wife to the door and close it in their faces.”

Roman sat back laughing and slapped his knee. “He’ll think I married you to extract one last revenge on him.”

Amity shrugged. “My revenge this time, and George deserves everything coming his way for how he’s treated me.”

“I couldn’t agree more.” Roman bowed to her. “Then I will do as my wife commands and remove the intruders as soon as I have a chance.”

“The sweetest revenge imaginable must wait, unfortunately, until after the wedding. When my cousin acknowledges our marriage as legitimate, George will indeed be powerless, if he isn’t already without the late duke’s support. But I warn you, we will never escape them. How do you feel about Melody?”

“Who?” Roman shook his head. What a fool he’d been to pine over a woman so ill-suited to him. But then again, if he hadn’t, he might never have met and had a chance to fall for Amity. And he had fallen so completely and utterly that he could barely remember what he’d once felt for her sister-in-law. He drew in a deep breath and smiled “With the old duke gone, George will be at his most dangerous.”

Amity nodded. “But as you say, the new duke prefers me to all others in the family. He has already given us his blessing to marry by suggesting we detour to Gretna Green.”

“So that’s it then. We are husband and wife.”

“Almost. There is a little matter of the formalities to be attended to.”

Roman dropped the letter to the floor, widened Amity’s legs and wedged himself between her parted thighs. “The first task….” He took up her hand. “My love.”

“Handsome,” she replied with a cheeky wink.

He laughed. “Amity Sweet, I come before you today to ask for your hand in marriage. I wish to love you and support you all the days of your life. To live and love with you for as long as we both have strength, and beyond that, too.”

Tears of joy fell from her eyes. “I would be very honored to accept, sir.”