AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Kate smiled. “I am very happy to be home,” she said, feeling a startling jolt of pleasure as she said it. When she and Aidan married, this would be her home at least part of the time, and what a grand place to feel welcomed.
“Aidan mentioned that you wished to pierce your ears.”
Kate blinked at the strange change of subject. “He said that?”
“He did, along with a hundred other things. He was quite eager for you to arrive today. He talked incessantly. I almost wished him silent again, though I never truly would. So would you like to?”
Kate stared blankly. “What?”
“Pierce your ears! Come to my room tomorrow. I’ll have Cook send some ice. It is just the sort of thing that sisters do.”
“Oh.” She smiled tentatively and touched her bare ear. “All right. Perhaps I shall.”
“Wonderful! Now you must excuse me. A waltz is starting, and I promised my husband. . . .”
“Of course.”
Kate couldn’t help but grin, but she moved closer to the French doors in the quietest part of the room. Aidan’s family was a bit overwhelming all at once. Her father had considered them quite vulgar, which is why she’d never been able to attend one of their famous hunting parties.
But now she could do whatever she liked. She watched the party unfold around her and began to relax.
But then an icy wall of air touched her back. A strong grip circled her arm. The hand tugged her carefully through the French door and out onto the terrace where her body was instantly warmed by the press of him against her back.
“You promised to dance with me,” Aidan said. His deep voice rumbled through her body and tickled the skin of her neck.
Arching into him, Kate purred. “I certainly did not. I said I’d think about it and that was only after you badgered me for fifteen minutes.”
“We’ve never danced together.”
“I know. I just . . .” She shook her head, then softened and smiled when his arm curled around her to offer a glass of champagne. Taking a sip, she shrugged. “I’ve never had much practice, Aidan. You know that.”
“I do.” He wrapped his arms around her waist and rested his jaw against her temple, and they stood, quietly, comfortably, and watched the guests in their bright finery, talking and laughing and flirting, unaware of the couple nestled outside in the shadows.
Champagne bubbles tickled her tongue and Aidan’s fingers stroked the line of her ribs, setting off twin vibrations of pleasure. The icy air was a balm to her heated skin, the soft notes of music from inside soothed her fraying nerves, and the body of the man she loved set her heart tripping happily.
She didn’t realize her glass was already empty until Aidan plucked it from her fingers and turned her in his arms.
Staring up at him, his hair highlighted blue with moonlight, his hard jaw softened by a smile, she felt a painful swell of love build in her chest. The stroke of his fingers over her lips set off a shock of heat low in her belly, and she wondered that she’d thought she could live without this, without him.
“Dance with me,” he whispered. “Here. Beneath the stars.”
“Here?” Her voice was high with surprise and arousal.
“Here.” His hand slipped down her arm, leaving nerves dancing, and slid into her hand to grasp her fingers. “Listen.”
She took a deep breath, closed her eyes and heard the strains of the waltz.
They began to turn, to step and revolve, and she felt th
e magic of the cold night air seep into her. He was a strong lead and his ability let her imagine she was graceful and light, young and confident.
The world around her spun, and she felt pleasantly dizzy—with love, with champagne, with pleasure. Opening her eyes, she found Aidan watching her with a smile. The dance was over.
“Marry me,” he breathed.
Kate’s heart thundered. She’d known he would ask, but for some reason it still shocked her. Or perhaps her heart was simply flooded with joy.
“We can marry here,” he said. “This week. My family is all here. And Lucy.”
