“It will hardly be amusing for me,” he said dryly.
She laughed at his exasperation. At that husky, glorious laughter, Heath felt a rush of heat arrow through him.
I want you, sweet Lily, he thought. I want you beneath me, beside me, sharing your vibrant passion with me. I want your laughter surrounding me.
“I expect you won’t find it amusing, my lord,” Lily agreed. “But I warned you, remember? This is what you can expect if you insist on continuing our game. Are you willing to give up yet?” she asked sweetly as she turned her horse toward the street.
“Not on your life.”
He wasn’t about to give her up now, Heath reflected silently. He wanted this bright-eyed spitfire who radiated vibrancy. And the only honorable way to have her was through marriage.
The prospect was growing more appealing by the moment. He could imagine Lily as his wife now. He could even imagine willingly spending time with her once they were wed.
Long pleasurable nights filled with passion. Delightful days filled with laughter and adventure.
However, it would be a tactical mistake to suggest any such future to Lily, Heath knew. “You will find that challenges only spur me on to greater lengths,” he said instead.
“They do the same for me,” she replied.
“See, I’ve been trying to tell you we have a great deal in common.”
Her smile returned. “I don’t deny that, but my love of a challenge will prove very uncomfortable in a wife.”
“Actually I think it will prove exhilarating. And I think you are utterly enchanting.”
That made her smile falter. “I wish you wouldn’t do that, Lord Claybourne-shower me with empty flattery.”
“It is not empty, believe me.”
“Well, I don’t want your compliments.”
“Very well, if it makes you uneasy, I will stop.”
That was another difference between Lily and most other women he knew. She was so unassuming about her beauty. And she had no idea how desirable he found her.
But he did find her utterly desirable. There was a fire in her, and he wanted to be burned.
He had never expected to encounter a woman like Lily, Heath reflected. She continually surprised him, even if she left him exasperated and very determined to win their battle. She was feisty, clever, tart-tongued, generous, with a lively sense of adventure.
His mother had possessed her same high spirits, he recalled. In truth, he saw something of his mother’s vividness in Lily…except that his mother had been rather gay and flighty, always living for the moment.
Camilla was always laughing, also. He still missed the laughter she’d instilled in his childhood. She had died in childbirth when he was ten, dealing Heath a severe blow.
It had been a blow to his father as well, surprisingly enough. Before Camilla’s death, his father had been a staid, boring, deadly dull stick in the mud. And afterward, Simon had become more like a corpse, as if the very life had drained out of him. He’d withdrawn even further into his shell, closed himself off to any kind of joy or pleasure.
Heath was adamantly determined never to turn out like his father, which was why he’d pursued his own pleasures all those years-to prove he was totally different from his illustrious sire.
His desire for excitement and adventure had been a chief source of argument between them when Heath was in his salad days. His father had put great store in responsibility and duty, perhaps because he had so little in his life to fulfill or gratify him.
The fact that his parents had been so unsuited to each other in personalities and temperament was a prime reason Heath had resisted matrimony in the past. His greatest fear was that he would end up wedding an insipid, spiritless gentlewoman merely to sire necessary heirs.
But he certainly needn’t fear that with Lily. She was the first woman he’d ever met who could lure him into wanting to give up his freedom. If he’d had any doubts about wanting to wed her, they had been vanquished during their ride.
He wanted her. And he intended to have her. As his wife. Nothing less.
It wasn’t a rash decision, made with his usual impulsiveness. There were several practical reasons to choose her for his bride. In terms of birth, breeding, and compatibility, Lily would make him an ideal marchioness. Moreover, it would save him the trouble of having to search for a wife in the near future.
But mainly his decision was based on sheer instinct. He feared if he didn’t act now, he would let something precious slip through his fingers.