Page 98 of Lord Halsey's Tempestuous Minx
“She was sent to England with her mistress to spy on Charles for Louis XIV.”
Inès stared at her husband in surprise. “Did she convey any special secrets?”
“Quite a few,” Evan whispered as he spread kisses down her healed throat and pushed aside the collar of her robe. “She told Louis secrets only Reggie knew and conveyed to her.”
Evan moved aside her robe and pushed down the beribboned décolleté of her night rail.
“Oh,” she sighed, as her husband laved one aching nipple and suckled her so strongly, she moaned. “What did Reggie know?”
“How to love Mirabelle to sighs and moans.” Evan pushed down her night rail to reveal her other breast, and that nipple he took in his mouth and caressed to a high peak.
Inès grabbed at her husband’s curls. “That is so wonderful.”
“Mmm. All of you is delicious.” He drew back and took one hand. “Come to bed, sweetheart.”
Through the dreamy haze of her contentment and desire, she tugged at his arm. She had come up here with a purpose, to discuss his family and their future—their child, too. “No, no! I must tell you something before we go.”
He swooped her against him. “Tell me quickly, love. I am badly in need of you—and I wish to make you frantic for me.”
“I am. I am. But first…” She put a hand to her rounding stomach. “I think you know this. You have not said. But we have been in each other’s arms for months and I have never told you no.”
He sank both hands into her hair and curled her close. “Say it, my love. Then we can take each other’s bodies and celebrate your news.”
“I carry our baby.”
His smile was glorious. “I know you do.”
“He…she is our future. His or her portrait will be here one day. But…but I want you to know I have had…I’ve had a challenge reconciling what I was as a child with what I became as a young woman, and then how I wish to be forevermore with you.”
He held her so tenderly that she thought they might fly into the air together. He kissed her deeply. “Tell me. Tell me and we will march into all our days together.”
“From the day we met, you gave me so much. A challenge, an acceptance, a need, and your love.”
“My fondest dream is of you, happy in my arms.”
“Oh, Evan, I know! I do! But I have given you nothing but challenge and secrecy. I threatened your work, your family, and your honor. How you could love me and forgive me, I do not know.”
He began to object, as she knew he would.
So she shook her head and held her ground. “I do not understand how you could care for someone who lied as a practice. But I do not doubt you. Mon Dieu, how could I? You have given me everything! Your name, your house, your heritage, your very honor. But I will not question it. You declare it true, and thus, so do I. You have proven to me how love is given with grace and forgiveness.” She cupped his cheek. “I love you, Evan, my darling man. And to you I promise that all of my days will be devoted to showing you with grace and honesty how dearly I adore you.”
The tears in her eyes matched those in his.
“I saw who you were at heart, Inès. How, why, I cannot explain, but I love you. I love you.”
She rose up on her toes and kissed his lips.
He wrapped her close. “Are you finished talking?”
“I am.”
“No more questions about rascally Reggie?”
“None.”
“Thank God! Then come downstairs and let us ravish each other, shall we?”
She giggled. She had a thousand reasons to agree.
The challenge continues…
