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‘Really? So you did not intend to demand my obedience at the altar, then?’
He looked almost surprised. As surprised as a stone statue when someone asks it to be more flexible. ‘Of course I will! What’s nonsense is that you would object to the idea.’
I felt fire spark inside me. ‘You…you insufferable flapdoodle!’
Tightening his grip on me, he shoved me back until I was pressed up against the remnants of the snow Ambrose. Cold bit into me from behind, while icy fire burned me from the front.
‘I could easily demonstrate the incorrectness of that insult,’ he growled, ‘if the marriage contract were signed.’
‘Forget contracts! Forget promises! Show me here and now!’
I didn’t care about the cold. I didn’t care about the snow. I had one Ambrose behind me and one in front. And, all right, one was headless and made from oversized snowballs, but still! There was only so much a girl could stand before catching fire.
‘I’m not going to say it again!’ Using my hair like reins, he pulled my face forward until my lips were nearly touching his. I desperately wanted to close the last bit of distance between us, but he wouldn’t allow it. He was too strong. ‘You know what I want. You know what you want, and what you’ll have to do to get it.’
I met his gaze head-on. ‘And I’m not going to give you my answer again! You know it already, and knowledge is power is time is money, right?’
I saw something flicker in his eyes then - something I had never seen there before. It wasn’t exactly conf
usion, and neither was it exactly anger. Such useless emotions were foreign to Mr Rikkard Ambrose. What I saw was realisation. The realisation that right here in front of him was something he wanted and couldn’t have.
I might have laughed had I not felt exactly the same.
My heart gave a painful tug. Blast! Why him? Why does it have to be him? Why not someone simpler? Someone who would jump at the chance of a clandestine affair?
The answer to that question came a moment later when he roughly pulled me towards him.
Not to kiss me.
Not even to glower at me, or give me a reprimand.
No, he just wrapped his arms around me and held me close. And suddenly, for one moment, my heart overflowed with warmth, and all was right with the world. That moment stretched into two moments, then into three. That was some premium time-wasting we did in those moments. For once, Mr Ambrose didn’t seem to mind.
‘How did you even find me back here?’ I whispered into his chest. ‘We came back here to be alone.’
He made a derisive noise in the back of his throat. ‘You’re never alone.’
‘What?’
‘Did you think after what happened with Dalgliesh I would be taking any further risks? My men have been watching you since we returned to Battlewood.’
I thought for a moment whether I should protest against this. I was, after all, an independent woman, who was very well capable of watching out for herself, right?
Then I thought about Lord Dalgliesh and his smile, sharp as a knife.
No. Wrong.
I couldn’t watch out for myself. And neither could Mr Ambrose. We would have to watch out for each other to survive. And if we had help - all the better. There was only one thing I had to make sure of…
‘Err…when you say your men have been “watching” me…do you mean all the time?’
Like when I am getting ready for bed, for instance?
If he said yes, Mr Snowman Ambrose wasn’t going to be the only one to lose his head!
Somehow he seemed to read my meaning on my face. His arms tightened around me, holding me so close I could hardly breathe. Who knew lack of oxygen could feel so nice?
‘Do you think I would ever allow something like that to happen?’ His voice was so cold. So terribly cold and ruthless. How come it made me feel so wonderfully warm inside? ‘You’re mine. No other man will ever see you, let alone touch you.’
