Page 36 of Hell Hath Frozen Over

“You are certain? You are not simply caught up in the emotion of the evening?” He would not want this woman to feel beholden to him. And yet she’d told him…“You love me?”

“Oh, Thomas,” she whispered against his lips, her mouth tasting sweet and warm. “I was so angry with myself after you had left. When I thought of the words I said to you… I didn’t mean to hurt you. Sometimes I am the coldest, most horrible woman. Simply ask my maid—”

“Hush.” He quieted her with a long, deep, searching kiss. And then, “Never speak that way about my woman.” At his words, he felt a shiver run through her.

She broke the kiss and tucked her face beneath his chin. “What do Devlin and Sophia know? I imagine they are expecting me to return.”

“Dev knows only that you were unhappy, and that you’d confided in me. They expected you would not be of the disposition to be around large groups of people for dinner, even if many of them were family. I told them I’d either leave you to rest here or return you to your chambers later tonight.”

She leaned back then and gazed up at him. “I don’t want to go back to my chambers alone.”

Ah. Sheer delight shot through him. “Your wish is my command, Duchess.” He growled into her neck.

“And tomorrow, at the Christmas feast, you will announce our engagement?”

He’d not been confident that she’d wish to make their promise to one another public quite yet. “You do not wish to wait?”

“Only if you do.”

But he did not. “I will make a very formal, very public announcement tomorrow at dinner.”

He didn’t deserve any of this.

“Thank you. Thomas. Thank you for everything.”

But he would not accept her thanks. He lifted her and carried her to the bed. They were not pups, setting off on a life together. They had both lived, and loved, and lost. They would appreciate each moment they had together, and they would embrace all the love and joy life had to give them.

“Happy Christmas, Duchess.” He set her upon the bed gently and began to remove his jacket.

She undid a few pins from her hair, allowing it to cascade down her shoulders and across one breast. “Happy Christmas, Thomas.”

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