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“What?” she whispered, torn between unfulfilled need and the rush of shame beginning to claim her.
“This.” He indicated their position, half naked and entwined on a wooden floor, and shook his head in awed amazement. “This is what you do to me. I’m frantic. So crazed to have you I’m ready to erupt. I planned nothing more than to taste your mouth, and I’ve all but taken you on the bloody cabin floor. No wine, no flowers, no soft words.” A self-deprecating pause. “The accomplished lover you fear is no more. He vanished the instant I took you in my arms.”
Those words went straight to Nicole’s heart, holding her humiliation at bay. “That is the loveliest compliment you could ever pay me.”
“It’s no compliment,” he replied solemnly, kissing the hollow between her breasts. “It’s truth.”
She shivered. “I still ache,” she confessed in a tiny voice.
“My beautiful, honest
Nicole.” With the greatest of efforts, Dustin left her, rising to his knees and tugging her clothes into place. “I ache, too.”
Watching his fingers refasten her gown, Nicole blushed crimson, reality descending in a great, rushing wave. “I look like a wanton.”
Dustin seized her chin, forcing her to meet his gaze. “Don’t ever say that,” he commanded fiercely. “Don’t even think it. A wanton? You’re a total innocent. What happened here was my doing, not yours.”
Her smile was soft, starting deep within. “Thank you for your gallant attempt to spare my sensibilities. But I seem to recall participating quite fully in our … our …” Again she blushed.
“Lovemaking,” he finished for her. “Call it lovemaking, Nicole, because with us, that’s all it ever could be.” His grip eased, his fingers shifting to caress her cheek. “Shame has no place between us. Neither does regret.” He started to say more, then decided against it.
“Every time I think I’ve adjusted to these feelings you inspire, you incite new ones,” Nicole admitted. “I’m constantly flailing about in uncharted waters … and drowning.”
Dustin gathered her against him, his lips buried in her hair. “You might not believe this, Derby, but I feel exactly the same way. What’s happening between us is astounding.” His voice grew husky. “A miracle.”
Nicole squeezed her eyes shut, moved beyond words by his implicit meaning, equally terrified by the enormity of what lay ahead—an enormity that was suddenly too great to bear.
Once the threats to her father were resolved, she’d no longer be able to hide behind the myth of Alden Stoddard, no longer be able to hold the future at bay. Presumably, she’d resume her life as Nicole Aldridge—leave Tyreham, the turf, and Dustin.
Unless she chose otherwise.
She knew, without question, that Dustin would expect some sort of decision from her with regard to their relationship. He’d stated over and over that he wanted her in his life, although in what capacity, she wasn’t sure. But whatever her role, he certainly wouldn’t settle for broken, isolated moments of privacy such as these. Neither, for that matter, would she.
So where did that leave them? Did he intend to offer her his name or only his bed and his protection? And, even if it were marriage he had in mind, did she have the strength—or the will—to sacrifice her way of life for his? To become, of all things, the marchioness of Tyreham? A role which, regardless of what Dustin claimed or how smitten he was, would involve relinquishing the stables for the manor, overseeing a staff, entertaining noblemen, taking tea with their wives.
Dear Lord, how could she abide such an existence, much less conform to one?
“Nicole?” Dustin caught her face between his hands, tilting it back to read her expression. “What are you thinking?”
Her lashes lifted. “That there are so many obstacles.”
“I’ll overcome every damned one of them.” With that, he stood, tugging her to her feet, steadying her when she swayed. “I will, you know,” he vowed quietly, rebuttoning his shirt and waistcoat. Tenderly, he reached forward, touching her wishing locket and giving her that bone-melting smile. “I’m not so foolish as to let a miracle get away.”
Ten
THE MAN FROWNED. THE grounds outside Epsom were exceedingly muddy, leaving ugly stains on his fine leather shoes. That meant he’d have to return home and change—an annoyance that did not fit into his plans at all.
Whatever the cause for today’s meeting, it had best be important. Damned important.
“I’m over here,” came a raspy voice from a nearby cluster of trees.
The man veered toward it. “What is it, Cooper?” he hissed, glaring at the stable owner. “Have you found Aldridge?”
“Not yet, no.”
“Then what the hell was so important that you sent for me? Haven’t you learned from our previous complication that we’re not to be seen together?”
“Yeah, I learned.” Coop leaned against the tree, folding his arms across his chest. “But we have a problem you should know about.”
