Page 82 of No Ordinary Lady

Marian looked at him over her shoulder, her eyes considering. “Could you? It would make things easier with your mother.”

So, she had been tied up and didn’t want any fuss made about it. He frowned, confused but willing to accept her decision. “I suppose I could, if I had assurances that it won’t happen again.”

“I can promise you nothing like that will happen again,” she murmured, smiling. “Your mother and I want the same things. I like it here, and so does she. I wouldn’t want to change a single thing, or for anyone to be banished.”

Daniel nodded, finally understanding. He’d been angry about Marian’s night of captivity, but she was a peacemaker. She wouldn’t make a fuss; she would never pit him against his mother or grandmother the way Amy had already tried to do.

He grinned. No wonder he loved her, and that Mother was in such a good mood today. “I’m glad to hear it,” he whispered.

Marian’s eyes grew soft. “I like the way you’re looking at me now, my lord.”

“I’m looking at someone I like very much,” he said, biting his lip.

“So am I,” she whispered. “What are you waiting for?”

“Permission.”

“Gladly given, my lord. Always and anywhere.”

“Stay there,” Daniel whispered and moved toward her feet, caught both her ankles, and parted her legs under the water. Her breath hitched, and she held his gaze as she looked at him over her shoulder, as he waded into the space he’d created between her thighs.

Marian held tight to the ledge in front of her as Daniel pressed his sex against hers. “Mama knows there is something between us.”

“Is there?”

“You know there is, or there will be from today,” Daniel whispered.

Marian moaned as their bodies connected, and his cock brushed her sex.

He fairly trembled with anticipation of what would happen next. The minute he’d seen Marian, touched her, a pleasant weight of certainty had settled over him. She was his, and he belonged to her. Marian made him feel both at ease and excited. She would change his life certainly, but only to make it better.

Marian suddenly stiffened. “Is Miss Wilson expected today?”

“I hope not.” He slid his cock back and forth between her thighs, creating friction against her sex for a moment. “Marian, I will not ask Amy to marry me after all.”

“No?”

“No.”

Marian turned around, her expression one of utter astonishment. “You’re really not going to ask Amy? Ever?”

“Never,” he admitted, pulling Marian so their lips were inches apart. What a miscalculation he’d almost made with his love life. He could not marry someone who cared so little for harmony in his family or ignore someone who made his heart sing with lust and hope. He’d come home to make a marriage, and only Marian could make that possible. “How could I want her when there’s you?”

“You could have both of us,” Marian whispered, and then winced. “I could be content to be your mistress.”

“Never.” Daniel was so shocked by the suggestion, he dropped her. She sank like a stone and came up spluttering.

Daniel hauled Marian against him and closed the distance to seal his lips to hers. His kiss was not subtle, nor anything but possessive. He urged Marian’s arms and legs to wrap around his body and made sweet love to her mouth.

When they eventually parted, both of them were panting hard, he pressed his head to hers. “I would never dishonor you like that,” he whispered, meaning every word. She could only be his wife. “I want you and only you in my bed.”

“I want that too,” Marian whispered back, and her grin returned, bright and joyful.

Daniel captured Marian’s face between his palms and kissed her again. He’d never shared his grotto with a lady he loved before and found it freeing to be alone with Marian here like this.

But he knew such an interlude could only last so long. Someone would come looking for them both, eventually. They would have to go back to the manor, and he would proudly tell his family of his new plan to marry Marian.

They could hardly be surprised.