by Julia Quinn
Then he lost his rhythm, and his movements grew frenzied. She met him with every thrust, unable to contain her need to move, to writhe beneath him, to touch him wherever her hands could reach. And just when she didn’t think she could possibly bear it any longer, that she would surely die if she continued on this course, her world exploded.
David’s entire body changed at that moment, as if he suddenly let go of the last thread of his control, and he let out a triumphant shout before he collapsed atop her, unable to do anything but breathe.
The weight of him was stunning, but there was something so…comforting about having him there. Susannah never wanted him to leave.
“I love you,” he said, once he was able to speak. “I love you so much.”
She kissed him. “I love you, too.”
“Will you marry me?”
“I already said I would.”
He grinned wickedly. “I know, but will you marry me tomorrow?”
“Tomorrow?” she gasped, squirming out from under him.
“Very well,” he grumbled, “next week. It’ll probably take me at least a few days for a special license.”
“Are you certain?” she asked. Much as she wanted to shout in delight at his hurry to make her his own, she knew that his position in society was important to him. Mann- Formsbys did not marry in hastily arranged ceremonies. “There will be talk,” she added.
He shrugged boyishly. “I don’t care. Do you?”
She shook her head, her smile spreading across her face.
“Good,” he growled, pulling her back into his arms. “But perhaps we need to seal the deal more firmly.”
“More firmly?” she squeaked. He seemed to be holding her quite firmly indeed.
“Oh yes,” he murmured, taking her earlobe between his teeth and nibbling until she shivered with delight. “Just in case you weren’t quite convinced that you belong to me.”
“Oh, I’m”—she gasped when his hand closed around her breast—“quite convinced, I assure you.”
He smiled devilishly. “I need more assurance.”
“More?”
“More,” he said, quite definitely. “Much more.”
Much, much more…
Epilogue
Happy Valentine’s Day, Gentle Readers, and did you hear the news? The Earl of Renminster has married Miss Susannah Ballister!
If you are grumbling because you did not receive an invitation, you may take solace in the fact that no one received invitations, save, perhaps for her family and his, including Mr. and Mrs. Snowe-Mann-Formsby.
(Ah, how This Author loves to write that name. Brings a smile to the face, does it not?)
By all accounts, the couple is blissfully happy, and Lady Shelbourne has reported, quite delightedly, and quite to everyone who will listen, that they have agreed to attend her ball this evening.
LADY WHISTLEDOWN’S SOCIETY PAPERS, 14 FEBRUARY 1814
“We’re here,” murmured the Earl of Renminster to his new wife.
Susannah just sighed. “Do we have to go?”
He raised his brows. “I thought you wanted to attend.”
“I thought you wanted to attend.”
“Are you jesting? I’d rather be home, stripping you naked.”
Susannah blushed.
“Aha. I see you agree with me.”
“We are expected,” she said, but without conviction.
He shrugged. “I don’t care. Do you?”
“Not if you don’t care.”
He kissed her, softly, slowly, nibbling at her lips. “May I begin the process of stripping you naked now?”
She lurched back. “Of course not!” But he looked so crestfallen she had to add, “We’re in a carriage!”
His glum face didn’t perk up.
“And it’s cold outside.”
He burst out laughing, then rapped on the carriage wall and directed the driver to return home. “Oh,” he said, “before I forget. I have a valentine for you.”
“You do?” She smiled delightedly. “I thought you’d given up on those.”
“Well, I have. And it’s a good thing you’re already well and truly married to me for eternity, because you shouldn’t expect flowery words and fancy valentines in the future. This attempt nearly killed me.”
Curiously, she took the paper from his hands. It was tri-folded, and sealed with a festive red bit of sealing wax. Susannah knew that he usually sealed his correspondence with a serious dark blue, and she was touched that he’d gone to the extra effort with the red.
With careful fingers, she eased the missive open and smoothed it out on her lap.
There were only three words.
“It was really all I meant to say,” he said.
“Oh, David,” she whispered, her eyes filling with tears. “I love you, too.”
Julia Quinn
When Julia Quinn created Lady Whistledown in her groundbreaking novel, The Duke and I, she never dreamed that the character would take on a life of her own. Readers everywhere were fascinated by the mystery of her identity, and Julia’s Korean publisher was even forced to put up an internet bulletin board so that her fans in that country could discuss her books.
The author of eleven novels for Avon Books, she is a graduate of Harvard and Radcliffe Colleges and lives with her family in the Pacific Northwest. Her next novel, To Sir Phillip, With Love, will be published in July 2003.
Please visit her on the web at www.juliaquinn.com.
Don’t Miss These Romantic Anthologies from Avon Books
SECRETS OF A PERFECT NIGHT
SCOTTISH BRIDES
THREE WEDDINGS AND A KISS
Copyright
This is a collection of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the authors’ imagination or are used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
THE FURTHER OBSERVATIONS OF LADY WHISTLEDOWN.
One True Love copyright © 2003 by Suzanne Enoch
Two Hearts copyright © 2003 by Karen Hawkins
A Dozen Kisses copyright © 2003 by Mia Ryan
Thirty-six Valentines copyright © 2003 by Julie Cotler Pottinger
All Lady Whistledown excerpts written by Julia Quinn,
copyright © 2003 by Julie Cotler Pottinger
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
ePub edition June 2005 ISBN 9780061744303
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
About the Publisher
Australia
HarperCollins Publishers (Australia) Pty. Ltd.
25 Ryde Road (PO Box 321)
Pymble, NSW 2073, Australia
http://www.harpercollinsebooks.com.au
Canada
HarperCollins Publishers Ltd.
55 Avenue Road, Suite 2900
Toronto, ON, M5R, 3L2, Canada
http://www.harpercollinsebooks.ca
New Zealand
HarperCollinsPublishers (New Zealand) Limited
P.O. Box 1
Auckland, New Zealand
http://www.harpercollinsebooks.co.nz
United Kingdom
HarperCollins Publishers Ltd.
77-85 Fulham Palace Road
London, W6 8JB, UK
http://www.harpercollinsebooks.co.uk
United States
HarperCollins Publishers Inc.
10 East 53rd Street
New York, NY 10022
; http://www.harpercollinsebooks.com
