Ten Ways to Ruin

“Well, that would be the right thing to do,” she replied lightly.

“I suppose it would since I have ruined you already.” And he wanted to ruin her over and over again.

“Ruined? I don’t feel ruined.” She moved closer to him until she stood right in front of him. “In fact, I hardly feel I know much about what we did. I might need some lessons.”

“I suppose I could teach you a few things over the next fifty years.” He drew a finger down her jaw.

“Well, only if I get that proposal,” she replied with a smile. “You do want to make an honest woman out of me, don’t you?”

He pulled her into his arms. “Well, if you are going to be the mother of my children, I suppose, I must. I should show you the house, but right now, there is only one room I’d like you to see.”

“I do hope you mean your bedchamber because I would love to see that room first.”

He slanted his lips over hers and showed her how much he wanted her. Pulling her up against him, she moaned softly. The feel of her tongue on his created a myriad of sensations throughout his body. He wanted her right here, up against a wall, on the settee, anywhere.

Drawing away, he looked at her smoldering blue eyes and was lost. “We need to retire to my bedchamber now.”

“Someone might see me,” she mumbled.

He laughed. “You were at an inn with me the first time. Considering you will soon be mistress of this house, no one will say a word about you being here.”

“Still, everyone will know what we are doing.”

Nuzzling her neck, he said, “Yes, and they will be extremely envious that a scoundrel like me has such an incredible beauty in his bed.”

She swatted his shoulder. “Enough flattery, take me to your bed already.”

He picked her up and cradled her. “If you insist.”

EMMA COLLAPSED ON TOP of Simon with a sigh. Her heart pounded, not just from the lovely exertion they had shared but from knowing the man under her loved her as much as she loved him. Slowly, she rolled off him and then rested her head on his shoulder.

Remember this was the same side he’d been shot, she asked, “Is this all right? Am I hurting your wound?”

His arm wrapped around her, cocooning her in warmth. “I am very much healed, thanks to the nursing of a beautiful woman.”

Her fingers traced his chest. “Yes, but you have lost quite a bit of weight.”

“I am well now.”

“You must become accustomed to someone worrying over you,” she said, lifting her head to stare down into his sapphire eyes. She would never tire of looking at him.

“I suppose you will have to do the same. After all, someone will have to watch over you as you attempt to complete your list.”

“My list? I completed that.”

“No,” he said, shaking his head. “There is still number ten.”

She laughed softly. “There is no number ten. I could not think of any.”

“There is definitely a number ten.” He moved away from her to reach into the drawer of the table next to the bed. He pulled out a piece of paper before laying back on the bed.

“How did you get that?”

He chuckled. “Your sister found it for me. I’ve been waiting to get settled into the house—“

“And planning my abduction,” she interjected.

“And planning our wedding,” he continued as if she hadn’t said a word. “I thought today would be the day to show you that you have forgotten number ten.”