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She tipped her head back, granting him more access to her throat. “I am pleased you think so.”
“I know so.” He caught the fleshy lobe of her ear in his teeth and tugged. “I want to devour you.”
Loving his wife may have rendered him quite soft and domesticated in some ways, but it did nothing to diminish the hardness of certain other parts of him. Of course, he had yet to tell her he loved her. But she had not spoken a word of tender sentiment either. They existed in a comfortable idyll for the moment, spending evenings and nights together. Making love often. Fortunately, she’d proven amenable to his plan of having her in every room of the townhome.
Just another way in which moving from The Sinner’s Palace to the townhome had been a boon.
“You may devour me later,” she said, her voice husky with desire. “It is the midst of the day, and we are in a carriage.”
“I assure you, I’m perfectly capable of devouring you in a carriage.” He grinned as he kissed her jaw, then took her lips.
She was smiling too.
But not for long.
Her hand came to rest on his shoulder as she turned toward him, first to deepen the kiss, her tongue slipping into his mouth. On a groan, he met her with a foray of his own. He could kiss this woman forever and never have enough. She was everything he had never supposed he would ever want. The man who had desired neither wife nor children, whose life had been consumed by his gaming hell alone, had discovered he had been wrong.
Life was better with Octavia at his side, with his daughters and the promise of more one day.
He hoped she felt the same about him.
Jasper ended the kiss before he was tempted to do far more. There would be other days for introducing his wife to the pleasures of making love in a rocking conveyance. They had the rest of their lives.
“If I am not careful, you are the one who will devour me,” he said, kissing the tip of her nose.
“I suppose it would not do to return home all rumpled and disheveled, looking as if I have been thoroughly ravished.” She grinned up at him, the gold flecks in her honey-brown gaze sparkling in the sunlight from the carriage window. “What would Sheldon say?”
“The butler can go f—”
“Jasper,” his wife interrupted, her tone chastising. “You must learn to watch your tongue.”
“The girls ain’t under foot just now,” he grumbled. “Although, knowing them, I wouldn’t be surprised if they weren’t hiding under these damned benches.”
“They are under the watchful eye of Miss Wren,” Octavia reminded him, speaking of the new governess she had also recently hired to aid in making certain the girls were continuing to improve in their reading and writing.
Thus far, the young woman had been an excellent addition to the household. Anne and Elizabeth adored her. She was neither too soft nor too stern. And, most importantly, she possessed a sharp intelligence and a formidable determination to see her charges succeed. After working with Octavia, the twins had already learned their letters and begun to read. Miss Wren was seeing to their continued advancement.
“Thank heavens for Miss Wren. Those hellions of mine need someone to keep them out of trouble.” He winked at Octavia. “Much like their mama.”
Octavia had taken on the role of mother with aplomb. For a moment, his thoughts traveled to Tess Bellington, the woman who had given them life and then abandoned them. Hugh had given her funds, and she had promptly disappeared, likely having decided to flee the inn with her coin in search of more blue ruin. He understood well the manner in which some could fall into a life where drink ruled supreme.
His own father had been no diffe
rent.
“I am not trouble,” Octavia said now, keeping her tone light. “I have not even managed to climb from any windows recently.”
The reminder of her foolishness was enough to tear a groan from him. “And thank heaven for that mercy as well. No more climbing from windows. You are far too precious to me for you to break your lovely neck.”
“Am I?” she asked softly, her gaze searching his.
And he knew what she wanted. Or perhaps, more accurately, what she hoped.
Only, he was not certain if he dared to give it, for it was something he had never given another before her. It was something that was exclusively hers, battered and worn and dubious though the gift may be.
His heart.
Jasper stared down into her lovely face as the carriage rumbled over the roads. His mouth went dry. He licked his lips, forced himself to form an answer.
