“I have never forgotten it. Indeed, I have revisited the memory many times over the years.”
“Well, we may not have the opportunity to elope, but we could certainly take a ride to Kempston. I should like to see the gardens again, to frolic next to the fountain.”
He rather liked the train of her thoughts. “And on the way, we could find a way to sate our excitement.”
“I am sure there will be time to find more than one way to accomplish our task.”
Without needing to hear another word, he shot out of his seat, opened the window and relayed their instructions to the coachman. Closing the window and the blind, he dropped back into the seat next her.
“Kempston it is then.” He took hold of her chin and kissed her with five years of lust, love, and longing. “Promise me we shall marry upon our return.”
She pulled down the blind on her window, gathered her gown and sat astride him. “I promise to marry you upon our return. Bloodthirsty hounds and wailing ghosts could not keep us apart. I promise to love you all of my life.”
Thank you!
Thank you for reading What You Deserve
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Adele x
What You Promised
Anything for Love
Book 4
Chapter 1
Matthew Chandler stared at the petite golden-haired lady standing in front of him. Her perfect bow-shaped lips were formed into a delightful pout. Her wide blue eyes gazed up at him as though he was a wise scholar who knew the answers to all life’s weird and wonderful mysteries.
He had seen desire, seen lust and longing flash in many a woman’s eye. But never in all his years had he seen hope.
It certainly was a novelty.
“Do you want to marry Lord Morford?” Matthew gestured to his friend whose persistent shuffling indicated a desperate need to find a solution to their impending problem.
Miss Smythe glanced at Tristan’s handsome countenance, her gaze passing over him as one would a rather tired, faded bonnet in a shop window.
“No.” She shook her head vigorously. “I do not want to marry Lord Morford. But what else can I do?”
Matthew witnessed Tristan’s shoulders sag, heard the sigh that expressed his relief. But something had to be done. In a matter of minutes, the three of them would be found in a secluded corner of the Holbrooks’ garden. The matronly figures heading their way would take immense pleasure in spreading news of the dishevelled maiden hiding behind the shrubbery with a couple of rogues.
With a raised brow, he considered the torn bodice of Miss Smythe’s gown.
The frustrated groan left his lips before he had a chance to rein it in. Regardless of the lady's wishes, Tristan would make her an offer of marriage. He would not let an innocent woman, used so cruelly by Tristan’s mother in a plot to manipulate events, suffer the shame of a ruined reputation.
Matthew’s gaze fell to the soft curve of Miss Smythe’s breasts. “Would you like to marry me?” The words fell from his mouth far more easily than he had expected.
Tristan sucked in a sharp breath. “What the blazes? We are trying to salvage something of the lady’s reputation, not ruin it completely.”
Matthew smiled as the lady’s curious gaze drifted over the breadth of his chest. She bit down on her bottom lip, and devil take him, he did see a flash of desire in her eyes.
How intriguing.
This timid little creature might prove to be far more entertaining than he’d originally thought.