by Jane Ashford
“You did say that I was obliged to marry you after that,” he pointed out, gaining confidence now.
“It was a joke!”
“Was it?”
“Yes.”
“Many women wouldn’t think so.”
“I am not ‘many women.’”
Richard let himself smile. “I know. But I wasn’t referring to that, er, interlude.”
“What then?”
“Perhaps you don’t realize that until we discovered that coal deposit, I was nearly penniless?”
She frowned as if he had said something confusing.
“I had no right to marry.”
“Because of money?” She looked incredulous.
“Absolutely.”
“You mean, if we had not found the coal…”
“I never would have touched you. I would have asked that you honor our bargain and break off our pretended engagement.”
Emily shivered. Richard pulled the covers up.
“Even though you cared for me?” she whispered.
“Even though I have known for a long while that I would never love anyone else.”
She gave a little gasp at the word love. “You would have left me alone—for money?”
“Honor,” he corrected this time.
She sat up and glared down at him. “I would never have forgiven you as long as I lived! I don’t care anything about money.”
He laughed a little. “I know you don’t.”
“But you still…”
“I cared. I wanted to give you the ease and comfort you’ve never had. I wanted you to have all the luxuries of the duchess’s household and the passion of your parents’.”
Emily gazed at him. Her blue eyes pooled with tears. “How did you…?”
“I know you. How else could I love you?”
She threw herself into his arms. He thought she might weep, but she didn’t. She held him fiercely, possessively, for a while. He enjoyed it.
“There’s something you haven’t said,” he pointed out when she relaxed a little. “It’s rather important.”
She raised her coppery brows. There was a challenging glint in her eyes.
“I have told you that I love you,” he pointed out.
She nodded regally, a smile tugging at the corners of her mouth.
“You haven’t…reciprocated.”
Emily tossed her head. “I don’t believe I shall. I think I’ll keep you wondering for, oh, a year or two. You’ll have to cater to all my little whims and fancies and…”
Richard pulled her down against him and kissed her lingeringly. “I could keep you here until you admit it.”
“Mmm,” breathed Emily. “Oh,” she said as his hand moved. “Yes, why don’t you?”
Dizzy, intoxicating minutes passed. Richard was breathing hard, desire driving him further than he had believed possible before this night. It was like a molten wave carrying them both beyond ordinary realms of sensation, into the transcendent. It rose and rose until the demands of passion nearly overwhelmed him.
“Richard,” murmured Emily. “Please,” she pleaded. “Oh, please.”
“Tell me,” he demanded through gritted teeth. He resisted the wave with all his strength.
“I love you,” Emily breathed. “I’ll never love anyone else so much.”
Gloriously, the wave broke.
* * *
Emily nestled closer into the curve of Richard’s shoulder, her arm thrown across his muscular chest. They would sleep side by side in the night for the rest of their lives, she thought drowsily. She could hardly believe it even now. “So everything came right in the end,” she murmured, mainly to herself.
“Very right,” Richard agreed.
“When are they coming about the coal?”
“Tomorrow, I’m afraid.”
Emily remembered something else. She rose on one elbow. “What did you mean that night, at the evening party, when you said I had cut through weeks of pondering and confusion?”
Richard looked up at her, his expression tender. “You said someone should make certain that the new inventions were used wisely.”
She nodded.
“It was the hint I needed. The purpose I had been looking for in my life,” he added simply.
The appreciation and respect in his gaze rendered her speechless for a moment.
“And with this coal deposit, I will have the funds to act as well.”
“And you owe it all to me,” she teased. “If I had not come down to Wales, you would not have been chased through the countryside and found the coal.”
Richard frowned. “A method of discovery not to be repeated.”
“I certainly hope not.”
A thought struck Emily. “You know, I have a friend who might be very helpful about new inventions…”
Richard’s expression stopped her. “Another friend?”
She nodded.
His hazel eyes danced. “A pickpocket? A singing teacher who used to smuggle brandy out of Napoleon’s France?”
“No. He is quite respectable. Except…”
“Yes?” He was smiling. “Except?”
Emily gave him a look. “He has a sad habit of designing his own banknotes.”
Emily’s brand-new husband dissolved in laughter as he pulled her close.
Order Jane Ashford's first book
in The Duke's Sons series
Heir to the Duke
On sale January 2016
Order Jane Ashford's first book
in The Duke's Sons series
Heir to the Duke
On sale January 2016
About the Author
Jane Ashford discovered Georgette Heyer in junior high school and was captivated by the glittering world and witty language of Regency England. That delight was part of what led her to study English literature and travel widely in Britain and Europe. She has written historical and contemporary romances, and her books have been published in Sweden, Italy, England, Denmark, France, Russia, Latvia, the Czech Republic, and Spain, as well as the United States. Jane has been nominated for a Career Achievement Award by RT Book Reviews. She lives in Los Angeles.
Heir to the Duke
Book 1 in Jane Ashford’s brand-new Regency series,The Duke’s Sons, available January 2016 from Sourcebooks Casablanca.
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