“Why would you do such a thing?”
He leaned down to brush a soft kiss over her lips. “Because I intend to devote myself to my wife and children.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
DIMITRI PRESSED HIS THUMB to the rapid flutter of Emma’s pulse at her wrist, wryly aware that she appeared closer to swooning than leaping for joy.
How was it possible that a woman who had confronted scoundrels and kidnappers and slave traders without flinching was in a near panic at his marriage proposal?
“Dimitri,” she at last managed to rasp. “What are you saying?”
“I am asking that you become my wife.”
“Your…wife?”
His lips twisted. Perhaps he should have rehearsed his proposal. It was obvious he was making a botch of it.
“Am I not speaking clearly?”
She shook her head, her expression wary. “I comprehend the words, but I cannot accept that Dimitri Tipova, the scourge of St. Petersburg, could ever be satisfied spending his days seated in front of a fire in some remote estate.”
“Ah, but I intend to keep myself fully occupied.”
Her wariness deepened. “Occupied with what?”
His gaze lowered to the temptation of her scooped bodice. She was exquisite in the beautiful ivory gown, but she would be even more beautiful with it stripped away to reveal her own ivory glory.
He swallowed a groan as his body stirred in anticipation. “There are a few pleasant activities that come to mind.”
“You cannot remain forever in bed,” she muttered.
He chuckled at her ridiculous accusation. “You should never underestimate my desire for you.”
“I am not jesting.”
He felt her pulse leap, but she remained uneasy, as if afraid that she might shatter if she lowered her guard.
That knowledge tugged at his heart with a small pang of tenderness.
He cupped her cheek in his hand. “Neither am I, but I do have other plans.”
“What plans?”
“To begin with I must learn the duties expected of a gentleman farmer.” He pretended to be offended when she regarded him as if she feared he’d taken leave of his senses. “You need not smirk, I have no intention of brandishing a hoe or mucking among the pigs, but I never acquire a new business without discovering the means to make it a profitable enterprise.” A determined grin curved his lips. He was astonishingly eager to begin his life on his country estate. There was nothing he loved more than a new adventure, and beginning a family with Emma would be the greatest adventure of all. “Before I am done I will know the cost of each and every seed that is planted, where to purchase the latest farming implements and which of the staff have been stealing the silver.”
A grudging amusement shimmered in her eyes. “That will indeed keep you occupied.”
“I shall also need to learn how to perform the typical pastimes of a gentleman of leisure.”
“I am almost fearful to ask.”
“I might be a master at tossing dice and picking a pocket, but I have never learned to hunt or fish or play snapdragons.”
She frowned, clearly puzzled by his ramblings. “Why would you wish to play snapdragons?”
Dimitri faltered, his palms suddenly damp and his mouth dry.
He had never before been so nervous. Not even when he had been taken hostage by a particularly nasty highwayman.