“Worried,” Dominic replied deciding not to spare her blushes. He recalled the reluctance that had plagued him that last morning, and the sheer effort it had taken to bid her farewell without touching her. “I had taken your virginity only hours before.” He watched the faint blush stain her cheeks. “I hated leaving you so soon afterward. It was a time for lovers to be together. I should never have touched you knowing I was leaving so soon.” He moved to stand before her, dropping to his haunches as his eyes met and held hers. “Tell me darling, can you remember much about that night?”
“Of course I can,” Isobel was incredulous he could even ask. “I gave myself willingly to you. It was incredible. How could I not remember every second?”
“Because when we made love, I spent myself inside you,” Dominic declared harshly, raising his hands to cup her face. He needed her to understand the significance of their actions and the worry it caused him. “I didn’t want to leave you at all, much less carrying my baby. Whether you are moving within Ton circles or not, your life would have been very difficult had you discovered yourself with child while I was not there to marry you.” Gently, he leaned upwards and kissed her face. “My departure aside, when you are carrying my baby, I want to be here for every second of it. I hated to leave you at all. To leave not knowing what you would face while I was away disturbed me greatly. I dare not touch you that morning, because I was very much aware I would not have let you go again.”
Isobel felt tears pool in her eyes at his explanation. She was stunned at his next comment.
“If you remember the last time we made love.” He nodded towards the bed. “I spent myself inside you again.” Isobel stared at him steadily.
“You could most definitely be carrying my baby. Not that this time I have any intention of going anywhere.” Dominic placed a gentle kiss upon her startled lips. “You need to understand that neither are you.” He willed her to accept his need to protect her.
“A baby?” Isobel queried in wonder.
“Most definitely,” Dominic said with a smile. “There is no way you are going anywhere, baby or not. It would make both of our lives considerably easier if you were my wife, and we could set about making those three babies of ours.”
“Three?” Isobel whispered, considering the possibilities he was opening up to her.
“Maybe two?” Dominic queried huskily.
“Four.” Isobel placed a gentle kiss upon his.
Dominic drew back to consider her carefully, his manhood already growing. “Four?” At that moment, he would give her anything she desired.
“Most definitely four.”
“First you have to marry me though,” Dominic reasoned, carefully withholding the kisses she sought.
Isobel rested her head against his briefly. He still had not declared his feelings for her, if he had any, but she couldn’t find any argument with his reasoning. She was just as culpable as he. Whether he loved her or not, she loved him enough to be relatively certain she could achieve some level of happiness. But would it really be enough to know that he cared for her, but didn’t love her? She knew instinctively that it wouldn’t be but couldn’t bear living with anything less than all of him. Was she strong enough to hold out against his seductive persuasion?
“Marry me Isobel,” Dominic whispered, placing tender kisses along her jaw, knowing she was weighing matters up. Deciding on his; their future.
Isobel knew there were a lot of issues that needed to be ironed out but reluctantly acknowledged that her fate was sealed. “If you are absolutely certain this is the right course of action, then yes I shall be your wife.”
“Thank God,” Dominic’s heartfelt murmur was accompanied by a surge of elation he struggled to control. A huge weight suddenly lifted off his shoulders as he deepened the kiss and slowly eased her toward the vast expanse of bed behind him.
“My family will adore you,” Dominic declared some time later as they lay beneath the sheets, watching the crackling fire.
“I am not so sure. I cannot see myself moving within Ton circles. Nothing leaves me more discontent than having to spend my afternoons ‘doing the rounds’.”
“I don’t expect you to do anything that would make you so miserable, however as my wife there are certain estate duties you would be expected to undertake. Visit the various tenants, help to organise the annual harvest festival that kind of thing.”
“I should like that,” Isobel replied, considering how nice the house staff had been to her since her arrival.
“My family will laugh their backsides off,” Dominic declared ruefully after several moments of quiet contemplation.
“Because of me?” Isobel couldn’t hide the hurt in her voice.
“Oh, most definitely!” Dominic assured her with a rueful smile. “They will be inordinately pleased that you are strong willed enough to stand up to me, and don’t fall in with convention. My brothers, in particular will find it highly amusing that I have succumbed so easily to matrimony, much less appear to be in such a rush to set up the nursery!” Dominic mused with a small smile, feeling nothing but satisfaction at his predicament.
“You are a rogue,” Isobel murmured with a small shake of her head. “I doubt my wisdom at marrying someone like you. There is one thing I want to discuss.” Carefully, she eased from his arms to sit splendidly naked before him.
Focused on the delectable vision she made as she sat bathed in the soft glow of the fire, Dominic’s voice was vague, “Mistresses?”
The word fell between them, snapping Dominic out of his lecherous observation of her, “Mistresses?”
“Yes, Mistresses,” Isobel nodded decisively and tilted his head upwards until his eyes broke away from their very thorough investigation of her breasts, and their gazes met. “I won’t tolerate them.”
“My mistress?” Dominic frowned, wondering if he had missed something. “You want me to get rid of my mistress?”