Tess completely agreed. She was coming to love Ian’s young ward and knew he would make a wonderful older brother to their own children someday … hopefully someday soon.
“What are you suggesting, dear husband?” she asked innocently.
“That I endeavor harder to sire an heir—merely to please your godmother, of course.”
Tess laughed softly, feeling a sunburst of joy inside her. “Of course. But I would like nothing better than to bear your children, my beloved Ian.”
Catching his hands with her own, she held them to her breast, where her heart thrummed with love for him.
Naturally, her gesture earned Tess a
nother heated kiss that sent shuddering thrills through her pleasure-flushed veins and made her hurt with longing.
“You were right,” she panted when he finally raised his head. “We do owe Lady Wingate our thanks for bringing us together.”
“I am not so certain,” Ian responded, short of breath himself. “She gave us a decided push weeks ago, but in the end, I would have eventually married you.”
“Would you now?” Tess asked, delighted by the thought.
“Yes. My heart was captured long ago by a beautiful romantic who fascinates me, arouses me, inspires me.…”
Ian claimed her mouth in another cherishing kiss, letting her feel the fierce burn of his love.
Tess melted into his embrace. Her heart had been captured by a vexingly arrogant duke who fired her emotions and challenged her to reach for depths of passion she had never known were possible.
After a lengthy interval, Tess drew back far enough to murmur against his lips. “Love me forever, Ian.”
“I will, I swear it,” he promised—and then proceeded to show her precisely how he intended to keep his vow.
Dear Readers,
I’ve had a marvelous time embroiling the Loring sisters and their friends in their spirited Courtship Wars and helping them find their perfect mates. Thank you for joining me in their romantic adventures.
Next up is a brand new Regency series entitled Legendary Lovers, where the passionate, pleasure-loving Wilde cousins vie to follow in the footsteps of the world’s greatest lovers.
Best wishes and happy reading!
Nicole Jordan
Read on for a look at book one in Nicole Jordan’s exciting new Legendary Lovers series
The flash of amber silk intrigued him, although not as much as the lovely woman wearing it.
Lounging negligently against a column in his crowded ballroom, Ashton Wilde, eighth Marquis of Beaufort, narrowed his gaze as the blond beauty disappeared through the French doors and onto the terrace beyond.
Maura Collyer, his younger sister’s bosom friend. What the devil was she up to?
Curiosity warred with odd disappointment as Ash speculated on her intent. It appeared as if Miss Collyer was trysting with one of his noble guests, Viscount Deering.
For all her beauty, he would never have taken Maura for the scarlet woman sort. As far as he knew, she didn’t even like most men, and at four-and-twenty she was long on the shelf. And yet she had pursued Lord Deering onto a moonlit terrace in the middle of a grand ball for what looked like an assignation.
His boredom suddenly evaporating, Ash pushed away from the column and forged a path through the glittering, bejewelled sea of company. He had expected better of Miss Collyer.
Wry amusement twisted his mouth at the quaint thought. How the leading member of the scandalous Wildes could condemn a lady for flouting propriety with a lovers’ tryst was the height of irony. The Wildes were legendary for their passionate exploits, their surname synonymous with a blatant disregard for the rules governing the Beau Monde, and Ash himself was currently his family’s greatest offender.
Still, he couldn’t entirely banish his contrary stab of displeasure at the notion of his sister’s closest friend taking the likes of Deering as a lover.
The terrace doors had been flung open to alleviate the heat from the chandeliers and the crush of perfumed bodies. Upon reaching the threshold, Ash paused to let his eyes adjust to the dimmer light on the terrace and focus on the couple near the stone balustrade.