‘And the rest?’ Nathan’s blue eyes were dark under frowning brows.
‘In trust for my children, should I have any, and some lucky young Ravenhurst cousins if I do not. It had become apparent to me,’ Clemence continued as Nathan appeared to be struck dumb, ‘that my money might be putting off honest men and could attract fortune hunters.’
‘Why one thousand pounds?’ he asked. There was, surely, a faint relaxing of that frown?
‘I asked Captain Melville how much a captain in the navy might hope to be paid and then I doubled it because I thought, from what he said, that even the most indolent or unlucky might expect that much prize money in a year.’
/> ‘A captain in the navy,’ he echoed. The frown had gone. The corners of his eyes were beginning to crinkle.
‘Such as yourself.’ A tiny, warm flame of hope was beginning to fan itself into flickering life inside her.
‘Oh, dear. I am afraid, my clever Clemence, that you have miscalculated.’ The flame went out with a sizzle. ‘You will keep this confidential at the moment, but I will return to sea as a vice-commodore.’
‘A promotion? To vice-commodore? Nathan!’ And somehow she was in his arms, her own tight around his neck, and they were no longer sitting up, but were full length on the bed. ‘That is wonderful!’
‘I am moderately pleased,’ he agreed with a grin.
‘You can support a wife possessing moderate means herself, in that case?’
‘Is that a proposal, Miss Ravenhurst?’
‘It most certainly is, Vice-Commodore Stanier.’
He rolled on to his back, taking her with him to lie cradled against his shoulder. ‘I had become so used to the idea that I could not, must not, wed you that it seems almost impossible. I am not sure I believe it now. Clemence, you are certain you do not want the life the Ravenhursts can give you here?’
‘Certain. Now, say yes,’ she prompted, wriggling up on her elbows so she could look into his face.
‘Yes, Miss Ravenhurst. I am honoured to accept your very flattering proposal of marriage.’
‘Oh.’ She dropped her head so her face was buried in the soft blue silk over his right breast. ‘Oh, thank goodness.’ The relief rolled over her in waves as she lay there, absorbing the warmth and strength of his body.
‘Might I hope for a kiss?’ Nathan asked.
Suddenly very shy she mumbled, ‘Yes.’ And found herself rolling again, this time on to her back.
Nathan leaned on one elbow and looked down at her. ‘I have dreamed of this moment. I love you very much, Clemence. I realised it as I was denying it to your aunt, knowing you were listening. It was the hardest thing I have done, crushing that feeling just as I became aware of it, knowing I was wounding you as I did so.’
‘Kiss it better.’ She looked up at him, awed and a little anxious. He was very close and very big and all hers. All hers. ‘I love you, too.’
She had thought, when she had dreamt of this moment, that his kiss would be familiar. But it was not like the times before when their lips had met. It was not the sudden flare of physical attraction, the heat of temper or the deliberate incitement that those kisses had been.
Nathan’s mouth on hers was sure, firm, very gentle. And it was quite evident that this was a beginning, a claiming, that she was now his and he would take what she could offer him, lead her, teach her until what she could offer and ask went far beyond her imagination and experience now.
Her lips parted for him and he took possession of the heat and the soft intimacy of her mouth with lips and teeth and tongue until she was moaning and writhing against him, her fingers tight on his shoulders, her body arching, seeking. His hands stayed still, cupping her shoulders, his body held away from hers, his control absolute until he finally broke the kiss, leaving her gasping. And she saw the heat and the desire in his face.
‘Clemence,’ he said huskily, running his hand down the curve of her cheek. ‘My beautiful Clemence.’ As he sat up and looked down at the bed, his expression changed to one of rueful amusement.
Clemence sat up, too. ‘Oh, my goodness. This bed looks as though we’ve been making love on it for hours. Did I really do that in my nightmare?’
Nathan nodded. ‘I’ll help you straighten it. You can’t sleep on such rumpled sheets.’
‘I don’t want to sleep at all,’ she murmured, sliding her hand into the front of his robe.
‘Clemence, I am trying to be a gentleman.’ His breath caught as her exploring fingertips slid over his nipple.
‘No one is going to believe that who sees this bed,’ she pointed out, fascinated by the effect on his breathing of running her nails down his ribs and towards his stomach. She found his navel and twirled a finger into it and he groaned.
‘Clemence! Will you make an honest man of me very soon if I let you seduce me?’